Guide

Your first home, step by step: the Malaysian checklist that tells you what to pay and when

Written by the Loankira editorial desk — Malaysian finance writers, every figure checked against BNM, LHDN, KWSP or PERKESO · Last reviewed: 3 October 2026

The first-home buyer checklist is the ordered run of checks — budget, DSR, title and caveats, loan offer, stamping and insurance — that has to clear before a Malaysian purchase can complete.

Most first-time buyers in Malaysia find out about the real cost of a house after they have already paid the booking fee. The house price is only the headline number — on top of it sit the deposit, stamp duty on two separate documents, legal fees, loan fees and insurance, spread across three to six months. This checklist puts every step in order, with the money you need at each stage, so nothing lands on you as a surprise.

Before you hunt: fix your borrowing power first

The single biggest ordering mistake is house-hunting before you know what a bank will lend you. Two quick checks up front save months of disappointment. First, your Debt Service Ratio (DSR): banks decide affordability from your total monthly debt commitments divided by net income, and most want it comfortably below 60%. Run your numbers through the DSR calculator before you fall in love with anything. Second, your credit report: pull your CCRIS record free through BNM's eCCRIS portal and check for arrears you have forgotten about — a six-month-old missed phone bill can sink an application. If your DSR is too tight, clearing a small committed debt now is worth more than a bigger deposit later; the home loan calculator shows the loan each income level actually supports.

The nine steps, in order

1. Book the property (pay the booking fee)

When you decide on a property you sign a Letter of Offer to Purchase and pay a booking deposit — 2% to 3% of the price is the usual range for resale (sub-sale) properties. The rules depend on who you buy from. For a new project from a licensed developer, Regulation 11(2) of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 bars anyone from collecting a booking fee or any other payment before the SPA is signed, so a developer's "booking fee" is not permitted even though the practice is widespread (The Star, June 2026). On a resale, the deposit goes to the seller or their agent and whether you get it back depends on the Letter of Offer: it is usually forfeited if you walk away, and refunded on a loan rejection only if that condition is written in. Get the refund terms in writing before paying. You typically have 14 days from booking to sign the SPA.

2. Apply for the home loan immediately

Do not wait. Submit full documentation — three months' pay slips, EA form and tax returns, EPF statements, bank statements, IC, SPA draft — to two or three banks at once so you can compare rates. Banks usually issue a Letter of Offer within one to four weeks.

3. Loan-in-principle and valuation

The bank grants a loan-in-principle and instructs a registered valuer to value the property. The loan is sized on the valuation, not the agreed price — if the bank values a RM350,000 house at RM330,000, a 90% margin finances RM297,000 and you must find the gap in cash. Who pays the valuation fee depends on the bank and its current promotion: some banks absorb it for home loan customers, others pass it on, so ask each bank to state it before you accept an offer.

4. Sign the SPA (pay the balance of deposit)

For a sub-sale (resale) property the standard practice is a 10% deposit in total: you paid 2–3% at booking, so you sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement within 14 days of booking and pay the balance — 8% on top of a 2% booking fee. Your lawyer and the seller's lawyer handle the contracts; for under-convention properties the SPA follows a statutory schedule of payments instead.

5. Stamp the SPA (pay stamp duty on the purchase)

The SPA itself carries a fixed stamp duty of RM10 per copy and, like any instrument signed in Malaysia, must be presented for stamping within 30 days of signing — late stamping attracts a penalty (Stamp Act 1949, section 47). The large ad valorem duty on a purchase falls on the instrument of transfer (the Memorandum of Transfer, MOT), charged on the price or market value, whichever is higher: 1% on the first RM100,000, 2% on the next RM400,000, 3% on the next RM500,000 and 4% above RM1 million (see the full stamp duty guide). As at October 2026, first-time buyers get a full exemption from stamp duty on both the MOT and the loan agreement for one home priced up to RM500,000, provided the SPA is signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2027 — the Budget 2026 extension of the Stamp Duty (Exemption) Orders for first homes (Malaysian Bar Circular 090/2026). Your lawyer claims it with a statutory declaration.

6. Loan approval and Memorandum of Transfer (pay MOT stamp duty)

Once the loan is fully approved and the charge instrument is drawn up, title transfers to your name by Memorandum of Transfer and the bank registers its charge. This is where the two big stamp duty bills land: the MOT, charged on the price using the bands above, and the loan agreement, charged at 0.5% of the loan amount (RM5 per RM1,000). If you qualify for the first-home exemption, both are waived for a home up to RM500,000; if not, budget for both. Legal fees for both the purchase solicitor and the loan solicitor follow the statutory Solicitors' Remuneration Order scale — details in the legal fees guide.

7. Mortgage insurance — MRTA or MLTA

Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA) or Mortgages Level Term Takaful pays off some or all of your outstanding loan if you die or become permanently disabled. It is not legally compulsory, but most banks require coverage as a lending condition and will offer you theirs. Compare the bank's in-house plan against an independent MRTA/MLTA quotation before agreeing — the difference over a 30-year loan can be thousands of ringgit. Each bank sets its own requirement on how much of the loan must be covered and for how long, and these rules change, so ask your bank what it needs before you buy a policy.

8. Disbursement and, for under-convention homes, progress payments

For a completed sub-sale home, the bank pays the seller directly once legal formalities (memorandum of transfer, charge, caveat searches) are done — typically within three months of the offer letter. For an under-convention property from a licensed developer, payment follows the statutory schedule — commonly 10% paid progressively by deposit and 90% released by the bank as construction milestones are reached (a structure often called "3+6"). You pay nothing to the developer out of your pocket beyond the deposit.

9. Vacant possession and key collection

For a completed property, handover happens once full payment is released: you joint-check the unit with the seller (for resale) or attend the developer's defect-check exercise, log any defects, and collect the keys. Budget for connection deposits (TNB, water, internet) and move-in costs that the SPA never mentions.

The cash timeline, worked on a RM350,000 sub-sale home

Take a completed resale terrace at RM350,000. You put down 10% and the bank finances RM315,000 (90%) over 35 years. Every figure below is shown with its arithmetic so you can swap in your own price.

Check the arithmetic: deposit is 7,000 + 28,000 = 35,000, exactly 10% of the price. The non-deposit costs are 10 (stamp on SPA) + ≈9,000 (purchase legal) + ≈8,000 (loan fees and loan legal) + 6,000 (stamp on MOT) + 1,575 (stamp on loan agreement) + ≈2,000 (MRTA) ≈ RM26,585, so all-in cash before move-in is roughly RM61,600 — about 7.6% of the price on top of the deposit. Legal and loan-legal figures are estimates on the statutory scale; your lawyer's quote governs. If you qualify for the first-home exemption, the MOT and loan-agreement duties (6,000 + 1,575 = RM7,575) fall away, bringing total cash down to roughly RM54,000. Your monthly instalment then depends on the rate you are offered: RM315,000 over 35 years works out to roughly RM1,490 a month at a 4.5% annual rate — confirm your bank's actual rate and recompute it in the calculator — and that instalment is what your DSR test must survive.

Where first-time buyers cut the cash requirement

Three legitimate levers. EPF: members below 55 with at least RM500 in Akaun Sejahtera (the former Account 2) can withdraw from it to help buy a home, with a housing loan or self-financed, for up to two residential properties; if you used EPF for your first home you must sell or dispose of it before withdrawing for a second (kwsp.gov.my). EPF notes that you first pay the 10% down payment from your own savings, and the amount you can withdraw is calculated for your purchase — check it in i-Akaun before you plan around a figure. Government servants: LPPSA financing can remove the commercial bank entirely, with its own salary-deducted terms. And negotiation: resale sales are commonly agreed on an "each party bears its own stamp duty and legal costs" basis — that is a negotiation term, not a law, and it is negotiable; on new launches developers periodically run stamp-duty or legal-fee rebates — get any such package written into the SPA or a letter from the developer before you count on it. Akaun Fleksibel can be drawn for housing, so know what the balance will actually be — the EPF projection tool compounds contributions to 55.

Common mistakes

• Paying the booking fee before checking DSR or credit. Once that money is down, you are negotiating with a deadline and a sunk cost. Check first; book second.
• Budgeting to the house price only. Roughly 7–8% extra in duties, fees and insurance is normal on a sub-sale if you do not qualify for the first-home exemption. The buyer who saves exactly 10% has, in effect, saved nothing.
• Assuming the bank finances the agreed price. It finances its own valuation. A low valuation is a cash emergency — build a buffer or add a valuation clause.
• Taking the bank's MRTA without a comparison. The first quote is rarely the best one; two quotations can save a four-figure sum.
• Missing the 30-day stamping deadline. The SPA, MOT and loan agreement must each be stamped within 30 days of signing; penalties stack up fast.
• Buying a second home by accident. The first-home stamp duty exemption requires that you are a Malaysian citizen who has never owned any residential property, including one inherited or received as a gift, whether alone or jointly, and it covers one home only — check your own record before assuming you qualify.
• No moving/renovation reserve. Keys come with agents' commissions, contractors' deposits and utility set-up that nobody stamped.

FAQ

Can I get my booking fee back if the bank rejects my loan? For a new project from a licensed developer, no booking fee should have been collected at all: Regulation 11(2) of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 prohibits payments before the SPA, so ask for it back and complain to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) if the developer refuses. In the resale market there is no automatic right — refundability depends on what you signed. Get the refund condition written into the offer before paying.

How much cash do I actually need for a first home? Plan for the 10% deposit plus roughly 7–8% of the price in stamp duty (SPA, MOT and loan agreement), legal fees, loan fees and insurance — about RM17,600 in total per RM100,000 of price at a 10% downpayment, or about RM15,400 if the first-home exemption applies. The table above works it through for RM350,000.

Is MRTA compulsory? Not by law, but most banks make some form of mortgage insurance a condition of the loan, and it does real risk protection: without it, your family either keeps the house with the instalments or sells it in a hurry. Compare MRTA against MLTA (level cover, some cash value) before accepting whatever the bank fronts you.

Can I use EPF savings for my first home? Yes — members below 55 can withdraw from Akaun Sejahtera (formerly Account 2) to help buy a home, for up to two residential properties, if they meet EPF's conditions: a minimum RM500 balance and an approved housing loan or self-financing. The amount depends on EPF's calculation for your purchase, so check it in i-Akaun or at kwsp.gov.my before planning around a specific figure.

This guide is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Fees, exemptions and bank policies change; figures were checked in October 2026, so confirm each one with the relevant body or bank before you rely on it.