Buying a Property in Macau

I'm in the process of buying a property in Macau.

Its a lovely litte appartmnet close to the Saint Paulo ruins. The real estate agent I'm dealing with is very nice, but is very local, speaks only a little English, and seems a little slow in taking action. I appreciate that Macau transaction smove a little slower than HK. But can somebody advise:

1. whats the proceedure - I've paid a holding deposit. What next?

2. I'd like to hire my own solicitor to view and negotiate the lease. Can anybody recommend a firm?

3. The facade of the building is extremely old, and protected by the Cultural departmnet. the body of the building is is only 20 years old. Am responsable for any construction costs for the protected exterior facade? If so, should I have a surveyor check the structure.

Thanks a lot

Matt

Whoa! Sorry, I'm very boring but I'd steer clear of that one mate! 2 reasons:

1. you probably are responsible for any costs to repair the facade, and you may even have to use certain materials/methods (expensive and difficult to find ones) to preserve the historical value of the facade.

2. these places usually have a low re-sale value because such a designation makes it costly and difficult to develop or knock down and rebuild later.

Common sense would have suggested you get an INDEPENDENT surveyor/builder to check the place over BEFORE paying a deposit (is it a refundable or non refundable deposit??), since it may be structurally unsound/full of termites/dry rot/concrete cancer or all of the above.


Suggest you:

1. See if you can get the deposit back and/or

2. get some local advice though since I am not a lawyer and don't know much about how the law works in Macau.