First-hand info at housebuyers meet

Friday December 5, 2008

First-hand info at housebuyers meet
By TAN KARR WEI

IMAGINE using your life savings to buy your dream home but ending up with a nightmare when developers fail to deliver the promised product.

This is a reality that many house buyers in Malaysia are facing, leaving them with a bank loan to service while paying for a rented home.

“I bought the Phase 1 Dahlia Medium Cost Apartment in Taman Setapak Jaya Baru about seven years go. After a year, the project was abandoned. I lost all my savings and my children were still in school. I had to service a bank loan that was 80% released and pay rent as well. My wife had to start working,” said Ranjit Singh.

Lembah Beringin House Buyers pro tem committee chairman M. Gevanantham bought a house in 1996.

“Now my children are grown-up but I am still paying interest and do not own a house,’’ said Gevanantham.

Bob Steedman, came to Malaysia under the Malaysia My Second Home programme and bought a parcel of land in 2003.

Steedman saw for himself the ugly side of the Malaysian property market when the developer vanished in 2004.

“The land is still zoned for agriculture and the master title has not been divided,” said the British citizen.

Saujana Puchong 9 Abandoned Project Action Committee chairman Ahmad Nasuhar Hassan said buyers had attended many meetings with developers and various government agencies but help had not come their way.

Ranjit, Gevanantham, Steedman and Ahmad Nasuhar would be among the six speakers sharing their experience at the House Buyers Conference themed Protection Not Guaranteed organised by the National House Buyers Association.

The conference is on Saturday from 2.30pm to 6pm at the Putra World Trade Centre. Entrance fee is RM20 per person. For more details, call 012-252 4287 or 012-334 5676 or visit www.hba.org.my.

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