MONEY SPECIALIST

If you would like to widen your property search, an auction is another marketplace for home buyers. A bank may sell a property it has repossessed via auction because the borrower cannot pay his mortgage. The bank auction method is fast, neat and transparent way to acquire property at 20 to 30% less from the market value.

House for auction by bank

As real estate agents usually earn around 1% commission of your successful bidding price, you may save money by taking things in your own hands. If you are interested in taking this route, here are 10 simple steps as a guide on how to make a bid for your dream house.

1. Identify
Identify your desired property and take note of relevant information according to your preferred location and budget.

2. Inspection
Understand the state and condition of the desired property. Usually you may not enter the property to view the interior but you should conduct an external inspection of the property to ascertain the condition.

3. Independent research
Conduct a thorough research with the relevant Land Office and make general enquiries with the developer or management office. You can also contact the auctioneer or the bank to get additional information about the property.

4. Registration
Register your details prior to the auction. You may also register on the actual day itself before the auction. You have to get a copy of the Proclamation of Sale (POS) and Condition of Sale (COS).

5. Preparation
Take note of the auction time, date and venue. Prepare a bank draft or cashier’s order for the deposit amount equivalent to either 5% or 10% of the reserved price before the auction date. Also, prepare additional cash on the auction day to top up the difference on the deposit sum between the successful bidding price and the reserved price.

6. Auction day
Ensure that you reach the auction venue early and register at the auctioneer’s registration counter. If you are unable to attend the auction, fret not. You can authorise anyone who is above 18 years old to bid on your behalf. However, remember that he or she must bring along the original authorisation letter together with a photocopy of your identification card and bank draft to the auction.

7. Bidding time
The auctioneer will announce the commencement of the auction, and then provide a briefing of the bidding process. He will then read out the important clauses in the COS and the property information. After the auctioneer announces the starting price, the bidder should raise his/her bidding card to signify interest and also to indicate the bidding price.

8. Successful bidder
The bidding process will stop when the highest price is called out three times by the auctioneer and no further bids can be made. At the fall of hammer, the property is sold.

9. Signing the contract
The successful bidder is required to sign the Contract of Sale and pay the remaining difference on the same day itself if there’s an increment to the successful bidding price. The balance of the purchase price must be paid within 90 days from the auction day.

10. For unsuccessful bidding
If you are not the successful bidder, you may redeem your bank draft or cashier’s order at the registration counter immediately after the auction.

Are you new to the world of digital photography? Are you looking forward to buy a budget digital camera? Many low-cost point-and-shoot cameras include a range of standard features that are simple to learn and operate, making them an ideal choice for the beginning or casual photographer. Today I would like to introduce a new camera from Sony that is affordable and won’t break the bank.

Sony S930 box

The Sony S930 is a compact and easy to use camera which is a perfect entry to the world of Cyber–shot. It has a 10.1 megapixel lens and advanced features including SteadyShot and Face Detection which you would normally expect to find on more expensive cameras. The S930 is compact enough to fit into a bag or even a pocket, which means you’re ready to shoot whenever a special moment occurs. It comes in black, silver or pink finishes — so choose a colour that suits you and take it with you everywhere.

Sony S930 Black Digital Camera

If you are new to digital photography, you want controls that are simple to use and menus that make it easy to find the right selection. So the S930 has a 2.4″ LCD screen with clear icons and menus to make taking great photos as effortless as possible. The 10.1 effective megapixel resolution means you get finer detail in the image. You can zoom in 3x without losing clarity. What’s more, in Easy mode the camera simplifies shooting by limiting the number of camera settings and displaying straightforward instructions.

Sony S930 LCD Screen and Control Buttons

Face Detection is used to keep potraits in focus. So it is very handy for shooting larger groups and scenes where faces might get lost against a detailed background. The sensor recognises faces as faces and automatically adjusts the exposure, white balance and flash settings to show skin tones at their best. Up to 8 faces can be recognised in any scene.

If you are shooting with the camera in your hand, there is always a danger of handshake spoiling your picture, even if your subject is stationary. To reduce picture blur, the S930 features SteadyShot that takes two shots at the same time at high shutter speed and combines them for one bright, blur free image — all you have to do is press the shutter once.

The S930’s sensor is measured at ISO 3200 that enables great picture in low light conditions. It can automatically provides clear images indoors or at twilight. On top of that, there are seven preset options for you to quickly choose the best settings for a particular type of scene.

Compactness of Sony S930 against Canon S50

This camera uses two AA batteries. It is always handy that you can purchase batteries for your camera from convenience stores. If you are really taking a lot of pictures and your battery runs out, you can always just buy the batteries. So S930 is a perfect travel companion. You no longer need to worry about forgeting to bring a charger on your trips.

A minor niggle is that there is no speaker. So if you do take a video you can’t hear the sound until you plug it into your computer when you get home. Another disadvantage is that taking photographs in strong sunlight can be difficult since it does not have an optical viewfinder and you solely depend on the LCD screen.

All in all, Sony has produced a value camera that delivers for those day to day events at bargain price of RM399. It is extremely easy to use and the exterior quality is of high standard as expected from Sony. For the price, you get to shoot in wide variety of presets, and the picture quality is a pretty good one.