Information on Land Title

1. Type of title

This is to determine whether you eligible to buy or not. In Sabah, land title divided into 2 types that are non-native & native titles.

Non Native – It’s known as Country Lease (CL) which can be purchase by anyone around the world as long as they have the money and approval from local authority. You will be surprise to know that a lot of beach front land along Tuaran to Kudat has change ownership for the past few years mostly to outsider like Sarawakian, Singaporean, Korean and British.

Native Title – Native land only can be own by Sabahan Native or for those who have the legal Anak Negeri certificate. But of course you still can buy NT title even if you are not Native Sabahan. How? Ask lawyer on how to do it. I don’t really love doing it as there is some risk element that can’t be avoid.

2. Location

Land office has divided every area in Sabah into different code. You can differentiate it by reading the first 3 digit from the title number. Example:

CL 015 888 888 – Kota Kinabalu

CL 055 888 888– Kudat

Beside the code, the titles also mention the District of the land and the kampung name. It will be good if you double check the title at the land office and search for big map to find the actual location. So watch out carefully before you make any commitment as different code will cost you different pricing.

3. Land Tenure

The country lease land Tenure is ranging from 99 years to 999 years. Only certain location like Kelombong Industrial area granted 60 years of land tenure. Most of the owners are extending the land tenure by paying premium to land office as Bank dislike short land tenure. For those who love buying land to keep, try accumulating more 999 years land title as it’s worth more in the future. While Native Sabahan should be very grateful as the land tenure is held in perpetuity. Not only that, they are also exempted from stamp duty for any property transacted. Instead of buying more, they keep selling. Sometimes I also don’t understand why. If such opportunity given to me, I will even sell my personal belongings to buy more land.

4. Encumbrance of the title

The last pages of the title will be the most crucial as its show whether the title is clean or not. Most the town area land is charge to the bank as it’s a good form of security compare to outside town land like Keningau or Tenom which is clean and free from any encumbrances. But whatever it is, please get another latest land search copy from local land office to confirm the status of the land.

All the above is the most basic information I learn when I purchase my first property. Of course by knowing the information above is not enough to find a good deal but it’s good general knowledge for beginner who intend to add property into their wealth portfolio.

Happy Investing

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