What you need to know before buying the property?

This is a Q&A on the housing loan and what you need to do before buying the property.This is based on my experience.Inform me if the information i provided is incorrect so i can make an amendment into it.

1)How long it will take to get loan approved once you signed S&P?
It would normally takes 4-5 working days on approval upon complete documentation you give to the bank. My advice is get the loan approved 1st before signing the S&P. It would be better if you only did a Letter of Intent to Purchase.

2)What documentation you need to apply for a loan?
*Copies of NRIC
*Latest EPF statement
*Latest 3 months’ pay slip / employer’s confirmation letter of current salary
*Latest 3 months’ bank statement / update savings account passbook (which your salary is credited into)
* Payment receipt(booking fees with agent is also valid)
*duplicate copy of S&P Agreement (vendor’s S&P agreement & title particulars)
*Any other bank statement / saving passbook (e.g:- ASB / Tabung Haji) to reflect on personal savings.

3)What is the difference between zero cost and non-zero cost?
Zero cost would mean that the Bank will bear all the legal, valuation & stamping duty fees for you and legal fee financing is that instead of paying the moving cost, the Bank allows you to include the fees inside the loan.

4)Can we apply a loan from a diferrent bank and see who offer the best deal?
Yes, you can apply multiple loans from different bank.Whichever offer you the best, you choose it but you must also consider other factor such as customer service,payment,reputation and etc.

5)How long it will take to the bank to reinburse the money upon approval obtain/signing Loan Agreement with the bank?
For full disbursement of the loan to the vendor, this will take a couple of months to do. The fastest I know is in 2 months from the start u submit the docs. This depends on the turnaround time on lawyers, land office and s&p lawyers. Leasehold will take a lot longer since need to get consent from the land office and if it is under master title also takes a bit longer since valuer have to do a land search and to get consent also from the land office. Estimation if under master title around 3 months. If leasehold prop, it can go to 1 year

6)How to check if the property has been caveat?
Well, you have to go to the land office and pay for the land search. But if the vendor(s) do agree on selling the property, then it should not be a problem on the caveat issue.

P/s :Make sure you file/record all the transaction/event related to the purchasing of your property to safeguard you if the transaction did not go smoothly in the future.