Aerial view of HDB flats in Singapore.
If you are considering buying a resale flat or a previously occupied private home, you may want to know all there is to know about it. But your estate agent may either be unwilling and / or unable to disclose it such information; here’s how you can find out for yourself.
1) The human touch
If your real estate agent is unable to provide you with information regarding a home’s history, or is uncomfortable doing so, get acquainted with your potential neighbours. Be friendly and approachable, and speak to those living in the same building or neighbourhood. Once they know you may be moving in and are concerned about past events or previous owners, they are likely to empathise and tell you what they do know.
A superstitious neighbour might be less willing to do so if something untoward (a murder, occult activities and the like) happened in the house you are thinking of buying, but this is one of the ways to find out more about a property’s past that won’t cost you anything but a little conversation.
2) Be your own historian
If you are indeed keen on finding out more than your potential neighbours can or will tell you, put in a little more effort and do some research into the property or properties in which you have taken an interest. As long as you know when it was built, you can search online for information regarding the property from the year it was built.
If anything unusual has happened at the property in the past, chances are you will be able to find some information about it online. Murders, rapes, occult activities (such as in the infamous case of Adrian Lim), reported hauntings and other incidents of interest may very well have been looked into by others and documented on certain websites.
3) Make it official
If you are willing to spend some money, you can go through official channels to get your information. The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has a Registry which allows you to search for details regarding the property you are interested in, including property ownership history.
Though the two systems the SLA uses to record such information are known as the Deeds System and Land Titles System, you can conduct a search using the property address. There are search fees that you can pay either with your debit or credit card or NETS GIRO, and no subscription fee is involved. Find out more at the SLA website (bit.ly/2cJ8PsB).
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This article was first published in the print version PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDFs of full print issues or read more stories now! | ||