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Buyer Watch Issues
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Stop the countdown!
26/05/2007 NST
WE'RE almost at the half-way point of the two-year period the government
announced last June on the co-existence of a Build-Then-Sell (BTS) mode
of housing delivery with the traditional Sell-Then-Build (STB) system. Over
these past 11 months, a lot of government incentives and policies have emerged
to make BTS - or rather, a variant known as the 10:90 mode - a plausible
solution to ending the risks faced by buyers of property built the STB way.
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Electing your Council
Leader in your Home Community
21/04/2007 IProperty By National House Buyers
Association
The concept of a management body should be fairly clear to a Management
Corporations' Council' members or even many long-time strata property owners.
For non-involved owners and residents - especially first-time owners - this
form of common-interest 'governance' can be perplexing and, at times, bewildering.,
what with the many parties (developers, managing agent, management council,
other buyers) involved as well as with the legal duties of each party.
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Investment - Beware
of guaranteed rents
23/05/2007 By National House Buyers Association Published in Iproperty Magazine
Guaranteed Rental Returns, buy-to-let, leasebacks, buy-to-let, cash back,
own-for-free - you may have been tempted by these catch words, but how good
are these deals in real term and will there be any rental demand once the
guaranteed period is over?
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Transfer ownership of
strata titles or be fined
23/06/2007 Published in IProperty By National
House Buyers Association Published
When one condo unit owner was asked on why she has not taken action to transfer
the strata title for her unit from the developer to herself, she replied
that she has not decided to whom or the charity organization she wants
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Too good to be true
07/07/2007 NST
Call them what you like? leasebacks, buy-to-let, cash back or own-for free.
Developers have indeed come up with many creative plans to woo investors
to their yet-to-be-built properties. Known generally as Guaranteed Rental
Return (GRR) schemes, their offer of eight per cent to 12 per cent per annum
yields, or recovery of a proportion of the purchase price over a certain
length of time, are certainly attractive baits to many. But, investors need
to know that the scheme is not as simple as it seems, much like the advertisements
that appeal to our desire to lose weight quickly.
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Grappling with contentions
18/07/2007 NST-PROP By National House Buyers Association
We refer to the Viewpoint presented by Datuk Eddy Chen, a past president
of the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) and chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the Rehda Institute "Far from being rotten"
(NST-Property, June 23).
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HBA keeps
fingers crossed on new housing regulations
21/07/2007 NST By Zuhaila Sedek
THE path to implementing the Build-Then-Sell (BTS) mode of housing delivery
is now clear - except for one aspect: How it will be incorporated in the
standard Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA).
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A note of caution on
housing loans
26/07/ 2007 By National House Buyers Association Published in Iproperty
Magazine
Buying a home can lead to bankruptcy if you are not prepared
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Smokescreens
and detractions
11/08/2007 NST
FROM time to time, we've read of rather bizarre reactions by developers
to changes in certain government policies. One of them is the move to allow
the 10:90 variant of the Build-Then-Sell (BTS) system of housing delivery
to run alongside the conventional practice of selling, then building (STB)
houses.
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Protection from bullies
08/09/2007 NST
For a decade, more than 50 owners of a 90-unit condominium diligently paid
to their developer their share of the project s quit rent, as apportioned
by a surveyor.For a decade, they thought that this expenditure was bang
up to date. For a decade, they were wrong.What jolted them into this realisation
was a random check at their Local Council Land Office, which revealed that
their developer had used their remittance towards payment of quit rent that
was in arrears, amounting to some RM114,000.
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There's hope yet...
17/09/07 NST-PROP By G. Umakanthan
The National House Buyers Association (HBA) feels disappointed that Budget
2008 did not consider helping buyers who have to pay off bank loans for
houses in projects that have been abandoned. Nevertheless, the association
is not giving up hope, considering that even the official body representing
developers, the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda),
has expressed its concern over the plight of such buyers.
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Living as a community
13/10/2007 NST-Prop By National House Buyers Association
A look at who should take up the challenge of being part of the bodies looking
after a stratified project Whatever name you put it - Management Corporation
(MC), or Joint Management Body (JMB), or Residents' Association (RA) - these
are basically a community of property owners looking out for their best
interests.
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Smokescreens
and detractions
11/08/2007 NST
FROM time to time, we've read of rather bizarre reactions by developers
to changes in certain government policies. One of them is the move to allow
the 10:90 variant of the Build-Then-Sell (BTS) system of housing delivery
to run alongside the conventional practice of selling, then building (STB)
houses.
|
Protection from bullies
08/09/2007 NST
For a decade, more than 50 owners of a 90-unit condominium diligently paid
to their developer their share of the project s quit rent, as apportioned
by a surveyor. For a decade, they thought that this expenditure was bang
up to date. For a decade, they were wrong. What jolted them into this realisation
was a random check at their Local Council Land Office, which revealed that
their developer had used their remittance towards payment of quit rent that
was in arrears, amounting to some RM114,000.
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Management
Corporation - Preparing for an Annual General Meeting (AGM)
19/09/2007 By National House Buyers Association Published in Iproperty Magazine
If you thought you only have to attend meetings at work, think again, if
you are a strata development owner. One important aspect of strata ownership
is that by law, annual meetings that have to be convened. An annual general
meeting (AGM) is a yearly opportunity for owners to be active in their strata
development community. From time to time, the elected Council or Owners
may want to have other special meetings to conduct business between the
AGMs.
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Living as a community
13/10/2007 NST-Prop By National House Buyers Association
A look at who should take up the challenge of being part of the bodies looking
after a stratified project Whatever name you put it - Management Corporation
(MC), or Joint Management Body (JMB), or Residents' Association (RA) - these
are basically a community of property owners looking out for their best
interests.
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Building and Common
Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 633) – Highlights (Part
I)
15/11/2007 By National House Buyers Association Published in Iproperty Magazine
Legally, the common property of a strata development is owned by the developer
until the handover of such on or after the first annual general meeting
stipulated under the Strata Titles Act, 1985 (Act 318).
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Building and Common
Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 633) – Highlights (Part
II)
01/12/2007 By National House Buyers Association Published in Iproperty Magazine
Dissolution of a Joint Management Body
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