One you’ve had reached certain level of property investor, you will need to form a team to support your back. The first and indispensable member would be your conveyancing lawyer. You will need a trust-able lawyer to help you to process the S&P Agreement, loan document and tenancy agreements and always protect your interest in every transaction. They also stand an important role during the negotiation process in providing the legal guidance for some complicated transactions.
Here are the top 5 tips for those who wanted to start their property investment journey to select the right conveyancing lawyers;
➊ Visit your lawyer’s office
Do visit your lawyer’s office and check on how many staff are handling the documents, how efficient they are and etc. Here is a tips for you to check whether they are efficient, if you see that his/ her office has files lying all over the place and even on the floor, then his firm will be consider as inefficient. This is because they will need to take some times to find out which files/ documents are yours and it may caused delays on the part of your lawyers in concluding the transaction will cost you, they buyer, money in terms of late payment penalties payable to the sellers. On the other hand, if the lawyer firm is organized and the files are arranged neatly, then their efficiency in processing your documentation would be better.
➋ Your lawyer’s office should be located within your property
The lawyer firm should be located near or within the property areas that you plan to invest in. For instance, if you’re plan to buy a property in Area A, you should be engaged with a lawyer who is located in Area A. This is because they are familiar with the staff or officers in Area A Land Office or relevant government departments and other valuable information such as last transacted prices of the similar property and etc.
Besides that, if you’re plan to buy a property in Apartment A, you should find a lawyer who have done a several transaction in that apartment lately. This is because they may much more familiar in dealing with its property developer and its management office.
➌ Ask for the quantum of their PII
For those property investors who plan to buying big properties, ask for the quantum of the lawyer’s Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII), for in case of negligence or fraudulence. For your information, according to the Bar Council, the minimum PII is RM 250k per firm with the extra PII of about RM 50k for each additional lawyer employed. In addition, most of the banks will require the lawyers on their panel to have a partnership (no sole-proprietor)and the bank loan amount must be equal or less than the PII amount.
➍ Find the lawyer who invest in property too
A lawyer who invests in property is able to understand the commercial aspects of the transaction besides of legal aspects. They also know how to make a deal, increase the profitability and can give you the proper advises on the viability of various property investment strategies.
On the other hand, if the lawyers who don’t invest in property, they’re probably will hold you back rather than help you to achieve your goals as they don’t know the commercial aspects.
➎ Find a lawyer that suits to your “level”
If you’re newbie in property investment field, you shouldn’t go to the big lawyer firms. Oppositely, you should find a lawyer from small lawyer firms as they can give you the complete attention. New property investors are usually have many questions to ask their lawyer in order to understand every single things and details, and small lawyers firms are happy to answer all of it and try their best to meet your requirements. Besides, large lawyer firms are more likely to neglect your needs in favor of their large spending clients.
Once you think that lawyer is suit to you and may have built a certain relationship, you should use the same lawyer on every deal as they’re understand what you needs and your style of working.
As once said, in order to succeed in any fields, you will need a good mentor to give you the advises and give you the positive thinking and this quote can apply in this topic too. Once you’ve have find a suitable conveyancing lawyer for yourself, you should establish relationships with him/her. It can be a mutually beneficial long-term relationship if you establish right from the start, a clear indication of your goals and aspirations in property investing.
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