Property Viewing Checklist for Malaysia: Show Units, Subsale Walk-Throughs and the Questions That Get Real Answers

Show unit vs the actual unit: what the SPA actually obliges the developer to deliver

A show unit is a marketing model, not a delivery specification. Its job is to make the space read as generous. What binds the developer is the statutory SPA – Schedule G for landed property with its own title, Schedule H for strata.

Three things show units do that the contract does not promise

1. Undersized furniture. Beds, sofas and dining tables are often a size down from what you would buy, which makes the rooms read larger. Fix: measure wall to wall and compare those numbers against your current home.
2. Non-structural walls removed or moved. Show units are laid out for circulation and sightlines. Fix: walk the show unit holding the Second Schedule plan and ask, wall by wall, whether it appears on the approved plan.
3. Upgraded finishes. Flooring, kitchen cabinetry and sanitary ware in a show unit are frequently above the contract specification. Fix: ask for the Fourth Schedule specification list and go through it line by line.

What if the built-up area is smaller than advertised? The contract allows 2%

Strata (Schedule H clause 13(3)): if the area of the parcel shown in the strata title, when issued, is less than the area shown in the building plan, the purchase price is adjusted for the difference in excess of two per cent (2%), at the per-square-metre rate written into the agreement. In plain terms: you absorb the first 2%.

Landed (Schedule G clause 14): if the measurements, boundaries or area of the building lot in the final document of title differ from the layout plan in the First Schedule, the price is adjusted at the per-square-metre rate in the agreement – but the developer may only claim back up to a sum equivalent to 2% of the total area of the lot.

Subsale viewing checklist: 12 things to actually do on the walk-through

In a subsale unit there is no Fourth Schedule to check against. What you see is what you buy, so use your hands. These twelve take me 20 to 30 minutes, working top to bottom and wet to dry.

1. Smell the place before you look at it. A closed-up unit gives away damp on the first breath. If you smell mould, go and find it: window reveals, the wall behind the bathroom, under the air-conditioner, the back of the wardrobes.
2. Water pressure: run three things at once. Kitchen tap open, flush the toilet, turn on the shower. How far does the pressure drop? High floors and older blocks show their pressure problems in that moment.
3. Drainage: half a bucket into every outlet. Watch how fast it clears and whether smell comes back up. Floor traps, basins, the kitchen sink and the balcony outlet. Flush each toilet twice and watch the refill.
4. The ceiling directly below the upstairs bathroom. The most expensive spot in the unit. Stand in the bathroom, the kitchen and the corresponding bedroom and look up: stain rings, blistered paint, one freshly filled patch, new nail holes in the cornice.
5. Signs of past patching. A section of wall slightly newer or a different shade, re-nailed skirting, one or two tiles from a different batch. Patching is not a reason to walk away – it is a reason to ask when it leaked, how it was fixed and whether there is an invoice.
6. Back of the hand against the skirting. Especially the wall behind the bathroom, the inside face of external walls and around the balcony threshold. The back of your hand reads damp better than your palm.
7. Open and close every window and sliding door. Tracks, rubber seals, latches, insect screens, and whether the sliding door has dropped. Re-doing the window ironmongery across a whole unit is not a small bill.
8. Open the distribution board (DB box). Count the circuits, look for an RCCB/ELCB, check whether the labelling is legible, and look for obvious later additions or temporary joints. Then test every socket and every light switch with your tester or charger.
9. Floor level. Put the marble down in three or four spots in the living room and the master bedroom and see whether it consistently rolls one way. Then tap the tiles with a key or your heel – a hollow sound means the tile has debonded and will lift later.
10. Look for unauthorised renovation. Removed walls, enclosed balconies, added mezzanines, relocated kitchen plumbing, rear extensions on landed houses. Strata renovation needs management approval, and structural or extension work needs local authority approval – see renovation permits and rules. Unapproved work becomes your problem at valuation and at resale.
11. Walk the parking bay and measure it. Go to the actual bay, measure the width, look at the columns and the turning angle, and check for signs it has been occupied by someone else. Ask whether it is an accessory parcel or a management allocation.
12. Lifts and common areas. Press the lift button during the morning peak. Count the lifts and the units per lift core. Then look at the refuse room, corridors, hose reels and fire escapes for stored junk, the colour of the pool water, and the basement walls for water marks.

In a strata unit, whose leak is it?

Section 142 of the Strata Management Act 2013 presumes that the defect behind inter-floor leakage lies in the parcel above, the common property or the limited common property, unless the presumption is rebutted. Note what it presumes: where the defect is, not that the owner above is liable. Liability follows the Form 28 certificate — management must inspect within 7 days of notice and issue Form 28 within 5 days of the inspection, naming the cause and the responsible party, who must begin repairs within 7 days or management repairs and recovers the cost. The procedure and the usual causes are in common strata defects and water leakage.

What to photograph and note, and how to make the second viewing comparable

The value of a second viewing depends entirely on what the first one left behind. The aim is two sets of records you can lay side by side, not two impressions.

Photograph these

• The unit number and the floor sign, so nothing gets mixed up later.
• The distribution board, open, with the labelling visible.
• The water and electricity meter serial numbers and readings – you will need them at handover.
• All four corners of every room, plus the ceiling-to-wall and wall-to-skirting junctions.
• The ceiling directly below the upstairs bathroom, and every patched, discoloured or blistered area – one close-up and one wider shot with something for scale.
• Every window and sliding door: track, seal, latch.
• The view from the balcony, plus a screenshot of your phone compass.
• The parking bay with its column number, and the route from the bay to the lift.
• The refuse room, hose reels, fire escape, and the basement walls at skirting level – looking for water marks.
• The management office noticeboard – arrears notices, works notices and special levy notices are usually pinned right there.
• The facade and roofline from across the road. Neglect shows on the outside first.

Add a one-line caption to each photo on the spot (“master bedroom, west wall, damp at skirting”). At home, fill the same sheet for every unit: asking price, built-up, price per square foot, maintenance charge, parking, facing, floor, time and weather of the visit, three things you liked, three you did not, and one question to resolve.

On the second visit, change three things

1. Change the hour. Daylight the first time, evening rush hour or a weekend the second. Noise, parking and lift waiting only appear then.
2. Change the weather. Going back an hour after heavy rain is the most useful viewing technique there is: water marks, seepage, ponding, poor drainage and whether the car park ramp takes water all reveal themselves at once.
3. Change the company. Bring someone who is not in love with the place – a relative, a friend, or a renovation contractor. Paying an inspector to walk it with you is a few hundred ringgit well spent.

Sources & verification

1. Schedule H (HDA 1966 / Regulations 1989) — statutory SPA for strata, REHDA Melaka copy
2. Schedule G (HDA 1966 / Regulations 1989) — statutory SPA for landed, REHDA Melaka copy
3. EdgeProp — When is an ad considered misleading? (23 Aug 2019)
4. Lui and Bhullar — What Malaysian homebuyers need to know about misleading developer ads
5. EdgeProp — Be mindful of the 'Certificate' in Section 73 of the Strata Management Act (2 Oct 2020)
6. iProperty — Apply for a Section 73 certificate to check outstanding charges (updated 6 Nov 2020)
7. Malay Mail — High Court rules strata auction buyers need not inherit previous owners' arrears (15 Jul 2026)
8. MahWengKwai and Associates — Strata management handover timeline (Strata Management Act 2013)
9. DNH — Dealing with inter-floor leakage (Strata Management Regulations 2015, Form 28)
10. MS 2680:2017 Code of Practice on Energy Efficiency for Residential Buildings (orientation and shading clauses)
11. JiranLink — Why a citywide condo maintenance-fee table was withdrawn (25 Mar 2026)
12. MBJB — Tax assessment (cukai taksiran) billing periods
13. KPKT TEDUH — housing project and developer licence search

Verified: 2026-09-20. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change — confirm in writing with your lawyer, bank or the relevant authority before you sign.