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AS
BUYER-FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F.A.Q.)
RELEVANT
AUTHORITIES CONTACT NO:
- CPF Board..................................................
62202422
- Singapore Immigration & Registration ............63916100
- Goods & Services Tax (GST) ........................635368633
- Income Tax (IRAS) ......................................63568300
- Property Tax ...............................................63568600
- How much should I set aside as
downpayment?
Unlike buying a residential, Buyer ideally, should set aside
30% to 40% as cash down payment. As valuation for shop is
more difficult and varies widely, buyer should shop for
Bank with higher/ highest valuation.
Generally, the better the location, the lower or wider the
gap between valuation and the purchase price. This gap is
called the premium and often need to be paid in cash.
- What is the cost of buying?
The cost include legal fee, stamp duties, loan mortgage
fee. Generally, the cost is about 4%of purchase price.
- Can you explain about using CPF
+ the Loan Quantum?
Most Bank would loan you 70% of valuation or purchase price,
whichever is lower. i) ii) Pair up with anyone & combine
the CPF and/or bank loan
i) You can combine CPF & bank loan for a maximum of 70%.
ii) Pair up with anyone & combine the CPF and/or bank loan.
- Can you explain the transaction
process?
Step 1 - Offer a price and put a 1% Option Deposit.
Step 2 - Obtain the Option to Purchase upon seller agreement
& check Lease Agreement if shop is tenanted.
Step 3 - Pay 9% within 14 days.
Step 4 - Standby cash downpayment, loan & CPF payment within
10 weeks. .
- Should I offer a purchase price
based on rental return?
Generally, a gross return ( less Property Tax & maintenance
charges) of 6% is reasonable + realistic in Far East Plaza.
But it is not the best way as current rental may be too
high, or based on extra benefits given by landlord, or tenant
may only last for a few months as rental was negotiated
during intense competition or promise of good retail traffic
/ predicted sales activity or promotion.
Factors Influencing Shop Purchase Price Include:
i) Location, Actual Site & Orientation.
ii) Rental return.
iii) Policies by the Management Corporation, like food-shop
& water supply restriction.
iv) Investment climate & state of the economy.
v) Government policies for e.g. No Capital Gain Tax.
vi) Demand of shopkeepers, investors & speculators in a given
area/building.
All shops in Far East Plaza have been valued by us and given
a price range recommendation for Sale/Rent.
Please come to #05-134B Far East Plaza or call us at
67326266 / 62353066
Email: enquiry@fareast-plaza.com.
- What is Phase I & Phase II?
Far East Plaza was developed into 2 stages. Thus the earlier
phase I is at the smaller concourse nearer to Hyatt Hotel
and the overhead bridge spanning Scotts Road. Phase II is
the bigger concourse surrounding the water fountain /
Performing Stage.
- What is the maintenance charges?
It is about S$1.20 psf.
Do I need to pay (Goods and Services Tax) GST for buying
a shop?
No, unless the seller is a GST registered member or corporate.
Please check that some private limited company-owner may
need to collect 5% GST on purchase price from January 2003.
What happen if I sell the shop within 3 years?
There is no more Capital Gain Tax since 13 Oct 2001. As
such, you can keep the profit without Tax. Opportunity arises
now to "buy today, sell tomorrow".
What is Joint-Tenancy and Tenancy-in-Common?
Joint-Tenancy give ownership to the surviving partner and
is most commonly used for husband and wife relationship.
Tenancy-in-Common give only the portion of share to the
estate of the partner.
Why do people invest in Far East Plaza?
Reasons:
i) Freehold Title.
ii) Orchard Road vicinity (Tourist Belt).
iii) Individual can still own (most good shopping centres
are not for sale as they are owned by 1 single corporate
owner)
iv) High yield of 6% gross return.
v) High demand from Tenant as there is generally no trade
restriction on Tenant mix.
vi) Little or low downside in value.
vii) Long term cashflow/ retirement income.
viii) Many end-users, investors / speculators. Over 500
shops transacted since 1988.
ix) Developed market in price transparency & communication
channel pioneered by Ginza Real Estate Pte Ltd.
x) Only selected retail properties ( including Far East Plaza)
are still doing well. Residential, Industrial & Commercial
(Office) sectors are doing badly and are expected to
remain stagnant and low in rental yield.
Where
can i find shops for sale?
Kindly come down to the Far East Plaza Tenants/Owners
Service Centre situated at
#05-134B.
Who can help me
after I became the Owner or the LandLord?
Below are the services and facilities offered by us;
A)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F.A.Q.) GUIDE
These series of questions are designed to answer the most
common questions that
prospective
Landlords and Sellers would often request.
Like in :
1) What should I do if my Tenant owed me Rental?
2) How do I
know about the market rental?
3) Why is it
I always have Tenant problems?
4) What are
some reasons for selling a shop in Far East Plaza?
B)
CARETAKER ROLE
Having been stationed here for the last 18 years, we have been
appointed by many owners
as a caretaker
agent.
Our role include :
1) Collecting rental
2) Third
party negotiation with existing or new Tenants
3) Providing
free replacement if your Tenant quite pre-maturely to prevent
you from
suffering loss of income and disruption to your cashflow
4) Reporting
& enforcement of illegal sub-letting, unauthorized trades,
assisting in
Landlord/Tenant disputes and help in recovery and re-entry
into the locked premises.
5)
Forecasting rental and sale value.
C)
ANNUAL VALUATION OPINION ON MARKET VALUE FOR SALE /
RENT
Every year since 2003, we will carry out a massive project,
courtesy of our Research &
Development (R&D) department, to express an opinion as to the
current market price for
sale and for rent on shops in Far East Plaza. (We have also
collected 600 sales
transaction records since 1988).
Such opinions and forecasts will help the owners and landlords
to evaluate their
decisions to sell/rent/hold/buy. These individual
records will be compiled into a
"one-look-see-all-value" data into the site plan of all the
levels from #02 to #05.
Prospective owners-turned-buyers can review these data as a
guideline to the offer
price of available shops as well as future potential value of
shops for sale and rent.
Owner are encouraged to meet us in person to discuss about
their plans to sell/lease
and buy.
D)
TENANTS/OWNERS SERVICE CENTRE @ WE HEAR YOU sm
Envisioned like a Business Centre in a Hotel, the
Tenants/Owners Service Centre is
to provide and evolve into a one-stop service centre for
existing Tenants and Landlords
as well as prospective Buyers/Sellers/Tenants.
Landlords who appoint us can tap into our Service Centre as a
third party venue to
resolve disputes with the Tenants regarding rental arrears,
subletting lease assignment
and pre-mature termination of lease.
E)
PAST NEWSLETTERS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE
Since July 2002, we have published a bi-monthly newsletter on
Far East Plaza. Past
topics raised include :
- retrofitting work in Far East Plaza
- Turnover problems of Tenant
- Illegal partitions infringing the bye-laws
By accessing to these past newsletters, the new owners
would be able to review the
past years history and crisis so as to be well informed in
their investment decisions.
F) WEBSITE :
www.fareast-plaza.com
Through our website, locals and foreigners alike can
access into information on the
shops for Sale/Rent and search for occupants by trade unit
no., shop names and can
hyper-link to their own websites.
Our website is among the top site from the various search
engines like Yahoo, MSN,
Google, Atlavista, etc. Currently, our daily hit rate is
50 per day.
Thus, prospective landlords and sellers can have an
international audience of
prospective Tenants and Buyers.
G) MANAGEMENT
CORPORATION (MC) COMMUNICATION AND
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) REPRESENTATION
We represent many Owners to request an appeal to the many
bye-laws administered
by the Management Corporation (MC). Oftentimes, both
Tenants and Landlords may
be faced with frustrating renovation application procedures
that may bound back and
forth in dealing with the Management Corporation.
We also represent a huge group of Strata-Titled Owners in
voicing issues and
grievances affecting them during the Annual General Meeting
traditionally held in the
last Saturday of September each year.
AS
FOREIGN BUYER-FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- How is foreign buyer taxed?
You can own the shop under your personal name or through
incorporating a Pte Ltd company. If you stay in Singapore
for less than 183 days in a year, your rental income will
be taxed at maximum of 20% personal income tax from 2005.
Expenses like interest servicing & maintenance charges can
offset income tax.
- How can I get a loan?
Yes, you can secure a Singapore Dollars loan and the rate
hovers around 3-5%. Foreigners usually get 10% less loan quantum
than locals. Generally, locals get 70% financing based on
valuation or purchase price, whichever is lower.
- Who can assist me before I decide
to buy?
You can do the following steps:
i) Go to www.fareast-plaza.com
ii) View listing on shops for Sale/Rent.
iii) View the occupants/Tenants Trade classification, telephone
number, related hyper-linked websites.
iv) View shopfront photographs of shops
v) Call or email your enquiry.
vi) Put up your offer with a goodfaith deposit or option
money. Obtain written confirmation before proceeding with
other payment / handing over to your lawyer.
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