To live in, or to let
To live in, check that the monthly payment is comfortable and that the commute and daily life fit. To let, check that rents from signed tenancies cover the monthly holding cost, with room for empty months. No development comes with guaranteed growth or returns.
Tenure: freehold or leasehold
Leasehold affects the loan tenure and resale, so check the expiry date.
Skyline Kuchai, for example: leasehold, 99 years (expiring 16 November 2121).
Title type
An apartment on residential land and an apartment suite on commercial land may be billed differently for utilities and assessment. Ask before you sign.
Skyline Kuchai, for example, is an apartment suite.
Restriction in interest
Some land needs the land authority’s consent before it can be transferred, leased or charged, which affects how long a transfer takes.
Skyline Kuchai, for example: The land cannot be transferred, leased or charged without consent from the Federal Territory Land Executive Committee.
New launch or subsale
A new launch is bought from the developer and paid in stages as construction goes on. The risks are the timing and the final quality, so read the delivery period and the defect liability period in the Sale and Purchase Agreement. You buy from artist’s impressions and show units, and the show-unit furniture and décor usually do not come with the unit.
A subsale is bought from an owner. You can see the actual unit and how the building is run. Check for unpaid maintenance fees, the repair record and whether the strata title has been issued. The bank’s valuation may come in below the price, and you pay the gap.
Where the handover date is written
Adverts and sales staff give an “expected” date. What binds is the delivery period written into the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), with its terms for late delivery.
Costs beyond the price
Stamp duty, legal fees, the valuation fee, renovation and moving, plus agent fees if you let it. The monthly holding cost can be worked out with the calculator.
