Caveats on Buying a Property - Has it ever occured to you?

When you buy a property in Malaysia, you would employ the services of a lawyer. This is the most important thing because the lawyer would not just be preparing the contracts, they would also be doing a search on the property and the owner and loads of other stuffs. The lawyer would check things like, does the seller own the property, is there a title etc etc... In Malaysia, it is on the onus of the buyer to look up on these things. So, make sure you have a good lawyer because if the lawyer misses out on any search and you go on and sign the contract, you can't back out of the sale. Unfortunately that's how our law works. You go and buy a property, you would ask the seller, "Why are you selling the property?" Obviously the seller is not going to say because the council is going to build a graveyard next door or the next door neighbour are a bunch of maniacs who turn on the music full blast every night. These are the things that buyers should be looking out for. Same goes for developers... I remember few years back when Titijaya was launching their 1st project in Subang Jaya SS16, Tiara something.... They were promoting the fact that Inti College actually owns the plot of land next door. Whether Inti College actually owns the land or not, I don't know but it seems immediately after the project was sold out, the same developer went on to launch a huge high density condo project right next door where they claimed Inti College owns and implied that Inti College would be building their next college there.

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In Australia, it is actually by law that it is the onus of the seller or the developer who has to inform the buyers of any issues relating to the property they are selling. Back to the Titijaya case, if this is Australia, buyers would be allowed to back out of the sale and get a full refund from the developer.