Vista Bay Paradise

31th March 2009
When buying a condominium, many consumers don’t realize that compared to other types of real estate, condos are a completely different animal. And although they are one of the greatest housing options ever, what you don’t know about them can turn around and bite you if you’re unaware. So it’s a good idea to learn as much as possible about the peculiarities of condo purchase, before you begin to shop for one.

One of the main differences between buying a condo and buying a single family or "detached" home, is that when you buy into a condo, you are also buying into the entire building or physical property that houses it. Buying a conventional style house, you don’t necessarily worry about whether other homes on the street or in the neighborhood have problems with their roof or heat pump. But everything from appliances to sub-soil conditions - and elevators to trees - can become your concern if you share it in a condominium ownership situation.

This means that whereas you would hire a building inspector to check out only your own space if you were buying a bungalow, when you buy a condo you need to ensure that your inspector checks the entire building or condo complex - to the extent that it is reasonable. Beyond your own condo unit, the inspector should also carefully examine the building’s foundation, plumbing system, and other structural and mechanical items connected to your unit. The more you learn the better off you’ll be at closing - and in the future as a resident.

For instance, if you are paying for the use of the condo’s swimming pool, gym, or central air conditioning unit, you need to know if those are in proper working order before you buy - even if the amenity is down the hall, around the corner, or in an adjacent building.

And in condo life, one person’s leaky plumbing can be another person’s destroyed hardwoods. On the positive side, one fabulous gardening job can be everyone’s beautiful view from the balcony. It’s certainly not communal living, but there is a sense of shared assets that comes into play in a condo situation.

As always, it is prudent and highly recommended to have a real estate attorney and real estate broker to inform you of your legal rights, obligations, and what precautions to take to minimize problems if and when circumstances that are unexpected land in your lap. Your upstairs neighbor might go away for the weekend and leave the windows open to let in a little fresh air, but while they’re gone a thunderstorm could leave you with a soaked ceiling. The experts can at least educate you about what to expect when you assume shared responsibility as a condo dweller.

Here are some areas of particular interest to those shopping for a condo:

The Policy on Rental and Other Tenant / Owner Usage
Can you rent out your condo to others? Can you run a business from your condo? Can you own it as vacation property but reside elsewhere? These are important questions to ask regardless of how you plan to use the condo, because they also apply to other owners in your building.

Landscaping / Garbage Collection / Recycling
One of the greatest perks of condo ownership is that you don’t have to cut the grass yourself on weekends. But who handles such routine services and will you be expected to pay extra monthly fees for such things as landscape maintenance?

Emergency Repairs
Every condo project should have a contact person in case of an emergency. And if that person is on vacation, you should know who to call as a backup. Perhaps there is an on-site handyman, or service contractors who offer discounted rates.

Use of Common Facilities like Meeting / Banquet Rooms
You may enjoy the fact that your condo has a meeting room, but need to find out how to reserve it for yourself when the time comes.

New Construction Promises
Before you purchase a unit within in condo project that is under construction, scrutinize the seller’s obligation regarding units as well as recreational facilities. Salespersons might inflate statements about amenities. But if they are not promised on paper in the offering plan, there may be no obligation to deliver them to you. This extends to landscaping, the quality of materials used in construction, and deadlines for completion and move-in of residents.

Source: Edge

29th March 2009
HOMEOWNERS of properties without individual titles are in limbo. Most of them are apartment and condominium owners, whose numbers run into hundreds of thousands.

According to the National House Buyers Association’s website www.hba.org.com, more than 29 per cent of the approximately 30,000 complaints made each year to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government against developers relate to their failure to issue buyers with individual strata titles.

This figure is set to break the 30 per cent barrier this year. Failure to provide the buyer with the basic document of ownership, the elusive strata title, has become a disgrace in the administration of land matters, especially since it has been 22 years since the Strata Title Act 1985 was passed.

Without the strata title, homeowners face substantial problems and added costs in the use and enjoyment of their property.

For starters, they can be held to ransom by unscrupulous developers who choose to profiteer from service and maintenance charges and misuse sinking fund money while providing shoddy services.

Recently, homeowners have complained about this. They also face unjustifiable increases in charges when trying to sell their property when it does not have a strata title, as some developers have been known to demand unreasonable administrative charges and legal fees for "vetting the documents".

More serious, however, are the increased water and electricity rates these homeowners face because they lack an effective body to negotiate with the utility providers on the basis for charges.

The overall lack of transparency in many management companies and breaches of the Housing Developer (Control And Licensing) Act 1966, which requires them to give owners audited accounts, has made the situation intolerable.

It appears that the promises of the glossy advertising brochures have long since been forgotten, after the bitterness of the reality of high-rise property ownership sinks in.

In several cases, the developer’s management company or agent have misused even the sinking fund money, sold off car parks and spent the money allocated for the strata titles for other purposes.

Some developers and their management companies have also gone into liquidation, leaving the homeowners stranded and having to deal with a large number of creditors.

In the past, even electricity and water supply have been cut to apartments because the developer’s management company was unable to pay the electricity bills, even though responsible owners had been promptly paying their charges.

In short, the situation is an absolute mess. Under the present law, until the strata title has been issued, a homeowner’s management corporation cannot be formed and so homeowners cannot effectively deal with these problems.

In fairness, there are some responsible developers who have done a good job, but the present number of complaints suggests the problem is serious.

Despite a 22-year-old law that ma- kes it mandatory for a developer to apply for strata titles within six months of the sale and purchase agreement, the strata title remains the elusive holy grail of high-rise ownership. There appears to be no effective enforcement against offenders of the Strata Titles Act 1985, and impotence on the part of some to make these errant developers accountable.

In addition to prosecution under the Act by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the blacklisting of errant developers and their directors by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, money in the housing developers’ accounts for the project should also be seized to cover the cost of the strata titles if, after six months, no proper application is made.

Unless there is genuine will to protect the public, the recent 2006 amendment to the Strata Titles Act 1985, which, among others, increases the penalties against the developer, will fail and it will just be a case of "all bark and no bite".

No doubt the 2006 amendment to the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1966, which links the final 2.5 per cent of the purchase price to the issuance of strata title, will help homebuyers of new projects.

But for the rest, the nightmare continues with the hope that the new Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2006, once implemented, will lead homeowners to the "promised land".

The management of apartments and condominiums is very profitable, especially if there is no transparency and accountability. Although Section 21 of the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act 1981 prohibits a developer from charging property management fees, some developers have resorted to innovative ways to "milk the cow".

Some of the techniques used are denying access to accounts, charging large directors’ fees, engaging service providers at inflated prices, selling car parks allocated for the public and, in some cases, building on, leasing out and using the common property for private benefit. In cases of commercial property, the whole issue of income from parking charges needs to be looked at.

Many of these actions may violate the law and some may constitute criminal offences under the Penal Code, such as cheating and criminal breach of trust. However, there must be a will to enforce the law.

What homeowners should do, once the new management corporation is formed under the Strata Titles Act or empowered under the Building and Common Properties Act 2006, is to immediately commission a forensic audit of all accounts inherited from the previous management, if the accounts warrant such treatment.

They must make sure that when they take over, everything is fully disclosed and transparent because, in some instances, they end up with a serious cash-flow deficit.

The simplest solution to the strata titles problem, and a solution to most of the homeowners’ complaints, is to make mandatory the 10/90 model for the sale of property governed by the Housing Developers Act 1966.

This means unless the strata title is registered in the name of the buyer, the developer will not be entitled to the balance purchase price. This is quite normal when property with an individual title is bought and sold.

However, there are a lot of "lame duck" excuses as to why this cannot be mandatory, even though most people conduct business on the basis that full payment is made after the job is completed.

It is a joke that when a person has paid the full purchase price for his property, he has not got the strata title after 10 years.

It remains to be seen how effective the amendments and new laws will be in solving this problem. If they don’t work, then the 10/90 model must be made mandatory. Until then, caveat emptor (buyer beware).

Source: Derek Fernandez

29th March 2009
What is Strata Title?
Strata title is a form of ownership devised for multi-level apartment blocks. The 'strata' part of the term refers to apartments being on different levels, or "strata".
Strata title was first introduced in 1961 in the state of New South Wales, Australia, to better cope with the legal ownership of apartment blocks. Previously, the only adequate method of dividing ownership was company title, which suffered from a number of defects, such as the difficulty of instituting mortgages.

From what i heard, our strata title might be ready in 5 years time but then again, all this is changeable and therefore, you guys should start to save up money for the transfer fee already because the amount is not small for some people.

Below are information or should i say the law quoted from the Ministry Of Housing and Local Government. I've manage to link to 2 sites which shows this information in 2 different format and they are in pdf as well as html form. Enjoy!!!

Strata Title Act Malaysia ( In PDF )

Strata Title Act Malaysia ( In HTML )

28th March 2009
In my previous post, you guys might be able to see a few pictures that show views from the city side as well as the sea side. This time around, while i was crossing over to Penang Islang using the service of a feri, i manage to capture these pictures which able to show Vista Bay Condo from very far out. Althought building kinda small but nevertheless, its still viewable from the point where i snapped the picture, just that you guys need to look closely. Enjoy !!!

28th March 2009
While waiting for our OC, only maintenance work are being done and this is to ensure when we get our key later, we would not have a lot of issue to complain about. This is why, if you were to go to this condo, on-site, you can only see a handful of things are being carried out. Once the OC is out, beautification process will start coz by then, we all could move in already.
Anyway, i manage to go to the site recently and took these pictures. For those who did not manage to go and see for yourself, you can take these pictures and imagine yourself being there. Bear in mind that all these pictures are taken outside from the building on the road leading to the area. Enjoy!!!

24th March 2009
All the pictures below are taken from Vista Bay main web site by the developer. Just would like to share it with you guys so that you can get the picture on how the condo has progress so far. Indeed it has come a long way. Enjoy!!!