Mandatory Minimum Period For Transaction Of Property Purchase Is 3 Mths?

[prelude4 0]

Does anyone knows if there's a law that states that when u purchase a property in singapore, the whole

transaction process cannot be LESS than 3 months?

That's why when u buy or sell a property the whole process takes around 3 months to handover fully.

and do we really need a lawyer to handle the transaction?

[applefreak 1]

no never heard of that before

most prob it's due to the sheer number of transactions that's why hdb takes 3mths

for me, getting a new flat from time of submission of application to getting keys, total time less than two months

does that mean hdb had broken the law???

for hdb flats, there are resale seminars in english and mandarin

you can just go for it to understand more

lawyer's signature is required to sign on the caveat - that's what conveyancing lawyers do

[yoongf 11]

no law say is 3 months, but is a standard figure used for the following reasons.

Seller bank may need 2 to 3 month notice to redeem mortgage.

Buyer lawyer need to do title seach, as well as make sure seller is not bankrupt. Seller lawyer then need to liase with buyer bank loan lawyer.

Buyer need to do valuation, and resolve any loan quantum issues.

If everything smooth.. I think 8 to 10 weeks can do. If got somewhere not right, then 3 months required.

[waileong 0]

Does anyone knows if there's a law that states that when u purchase a property in singapore, the whole

transaction process cannot be LESS than 3 months?

That's why when u buy or sell a property the whole process takes around 3 months to handover fully.

and do we really need a lawyer to handle the transaction?

1. Actually, you could do it in 24 hours if you had the cash. All it takes is for the cheque to clear and the keys to be handed over. Problem is the paperwork with the authorities (to get your title deed, etc) takes a few weeks.

However, if you need to get loan, do valuation, check with all the authorities about encumbrances, road works, etc.-- all those activities take time. 12 weeks is the standard period, a reasonable period normally used in S&P agreements.

2. Why do you not want a lawyer? This is one of the largest purchases of your life. I fail to understand the reasoning.

[psfong 1]

Lawyer fee is normally waived by the bank (if you use their lawyer). So why not make use of that?

[waileong 0]

Lawyer fee is normally waived by the bank (if you use their lawyer). So why not make use of that?

It's more commonly capped at a certain % of your purchase price or valuation, rather than being waived.

[prelude4 0]

sorry to take so long to reply my posting.

My experience with the lawyer is not at all pleasant because she demanded me to hand over a cheque

for more than im supposed to pay as stipulated in the contract. She wanted to hold on to the money earlier for her own convenience.We only need to pay a certain percentage

at interval period of the whole process.

i told her i may need to take out overdraft n she kept quiet. My in law even short sell her stocks n made 10k loss juzt to come out with the cash. until we read the contract carefully ourself n i confronted the lawyer then she says i onli required to pay 15% at the stipulated date! she apologise to me

n said mayb its her fault if she overlooked it. But i was so pissed.

Y do we need lawyers to handle the process when paperwork we can do ourselves? we engage lawyers cos we layman may not understand contract terms fully. In the end its our responsibility to check ourselves so we dun get cheated by any1. since we had to oversee ourselves y hire lawyers n stil pay them exorbitant

fees ?

Edited August 27, 2007 by prelude4

[dizzy 1]

sorry to take so long to reply my posting.

My experience with the lawyer is not at all pleasant because she demanded me to hand over a cheque

for more than im supposed to pay as stipulated in the contract. She wanted to hold on to the money earlier for her own convenience.We only need to pay a certain percentage

at interval period of the whole process.

i told her i may need to take out overdraft n she kept quiet. My in law even short sell her stocks n made 10k loss juzt to come out with the cash. until we read the contract carefully ourself n i confronted the lawyer then she says i onli required to pay 15% at the stipulated date! she apologise to me

n said mayb its her fault if she overlooked it. But i was so pissed.

Y do we need lawyers to handle the process when paperwork we can do ourselves? we engage lawyers cos we layman may not understand contract terms fully. In the end its our responsibility to check ourselves so we dun get cheated by any1. since we had to oversee ourselves y hire lawyers n stil pay them exorbitant

fees ?

that's sounds bad...anyway to lodge a complaint about the lawyer ?

yeah, actually I too wonder about the usefulness of the lawyer. In fact, throughout my transaction, we only met the lawyer for 1 hour, when he explain the contract terms to us, and when he is explaining, he is so distracted and very rushed. I think that is pretty unprofessional behaviour. We normally liaise with his assistant, who is so rude to us, and I even have to change my schedule to suit hers to sign a document which she has forgotten to ask me to sign.

Sorry for my ranting...a bit outta topic, sorry about that

[waileong 0]

that's sounds bad...anyway to lodge a complaint about the lawyer ?

yeah, actually I too wonder about the usefulness of the lawyer. In fact, throughout my transaction, we only met the lawyer for 1 hour, when he explain the contract terms to us, and when he is explaining, he is so distracted and very rushed. I think that is pretty unprofessional behaviour. We normally liaise with his assistant, who is so rude to us, and I even have to change my schedule to suit hers to sign a document which she has forgotten to ask me to sign.

Sorry for my ranting...a bit outta topic, sorry about that

That doesn't change the need for a lawyer.

Frankly, if the lawyer does a good job, everything is smooth, and you wonder why you're paying for his service.

If the lawyer does a lousy job, things screw up, then you wonder why you engaged a lawyer.

[prelude4 0]

that's sounds bad...anyway to lodge a complaint about the lawyer ?

yeah, actually I too wonder about the usefulness of the lawyer. In fact, throughout my transaction, we only met the lawyer for 1 hour, when he explain the contract terms to us, and when he is explaining, he is so distracted and very rushed. I think that is pretty unprofessional behaviour. We normally liaise with his assistant, who is so rude to us, and I even have to change my schedule to suit hers to sign a document which she has forgotten to ask me to sign.

Sorry for my ranting...a bit outta topic, sorry about that

Same thing here. lawyer unprofessional, her secretary even more unprofessional and rude.

from what i gather, alot of ;awyers who only do conveyancing n administrative legal paperworks are like that. point is, we dun even need them to handle such stuff for us. its not unlike u need a lawyer to handle

defence issues.

we r literate enuff to handle paperwork stuffs. y is it mandatory to go thru a lawyer?

[dizzy 1]

That doesn't change the need for a lawyer.

Frankly, if the lawyer does a good job, everything is smooth, and you wonder why you're paying for his service.

If the lawyer does a lousy job, things screw up, then you wonder why you engaged a lawyer.

That's true...however, in my case, I was buying a HDB and the lawyer was needed because I took a bank loan. If I can take HDB loan, I dun need a lawyer.

I think paperwork is pretty straightforward for HDB cases, unlike private property.

[prelude4 0]

i sold off my old hdb flat and u still have to go thru a lawyer. hdb have their own in-house lawyers

which u dun even get to see but have to include their fees to handle ur paperwork.

u dun need a lawyer even if u taking out bank loans. u can go to bank directly n fill in application forms

for them to approve ur loan. when loan approve juz get the "letter of offer" from bank n show it to hdb,

proving u got a loan. then hdb will approve selling u the flat. its painfully simple. but we're juz not lawyers by occupation to do it ourselves...

That doesn't change the need for a lawyer.

Frankly, if the lawyer does a good job, everything is smooth, and you wonder why you're paying for his service.

If the lawyer does a lousy job, things screw up, then you wonder why you engaged a lawyer.

im wondering why we need to go thru a third party when we can do it ourselves.

but if there r ppl out ther who for example find applying for credit cards challenging... lawyers are helpful.

[waileong 0]

Same thing here. lawyer unprofessional, her secretary even more unprofessional and rude.

from what i gather, alot of ;awyers who only do conveyancing n administrative legal paperworks are like that. point is, we dun even need them to handle such stuff for us. its not unlike u need a lawyer to handle

defence issues.

we r literate enuff to handle paperwork stuffs. y is it mandatory to go thru a lawyer?

1. Have you ever tried reading legal docs in legalese?

2. There are many procedures, forms, signatures, copies, many govt agencies to deal with. If you screw up just one bit, you could cause delays in the whole process and perhaps cause you to miss deadlines with your seller and other third parties. Is that a risk you're prepared to take?

[prelude4 0]

1. Have you ever tried reading legal docs in legalese?

2. There are many procedures, forms, signatures, copies, many govt agencies to deal with. If you screw up just one bit, you could cause delays in the whole process and perhaps cause you to miss deadlines with your seller and other third parties. Is that a risk you're prepared to take?

...........so you need professional help to handle all legal docs tat you r to submit & sign within some datelines. but before u sign, u STILL have to take it upon urself to understand wat u r signing for & who/when to submit before any dates(unless u dun). and u can be guided constantly and kept in the loop on the step by step process of the flow of submission thru helplines(FOC) if u want to keep track or enquire anything. I, the lawyer will on behalf of u liase with the many agencies like bank,cpf board,hdb,developer and only these 4. Will liase not more than 3 times to each agency to finalise. U wont even get to see me more than 3 times. and finally, i still dun guarantee that there wont be any delay,misses of datelines & that U will get ur keys in time. !!

[prelude4 0]

Anyway, to end it off. we have to be careful if we dun wanna get ripped off

by others. its our money and our own interests..so the only ppl to protect this interests will be ourselves

and no others. its always useful to get 2nd opinion to make sure that u get the best offer on the market.

there R respectable n responsible professionals out there to help u. u juz have to be sure.

to quote another incident. thers once when i ask my housing loan officer to calculate the interest rate for

me if i want to take out anothter overdraft. Verbally she told me 3.4%. but when she inputs the digits onto her calculater, many ppl wont even bother to peer over to c wat she calculates. But i saw that she inputs 3.6% and told me the interest is $16/day per 100k overdraft. when i retorted that i thought she say 3.4, how come she key in 3.6? she quickly diverted and told me tat ther is a promotion and onli 3.2%...which when she inputs into her calculater again...tell me the interest only $11/day. lucky she looks cute..