Winson Teo Malaysia Property Specialist

Yes. Foreigners may own residential property outright on freehold or leasehold title, with no requirement to be resident. Two things govern it. First, each state sets a minimum purchase price: RM1,000,000 in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, RM2,000,000 in Selangor, RM1,000,000 for strata on Penang Island and RM3,000,000 for landed there, RM500,000 for strata on the Penang mainland, and RM1,000,000 in Johor. Second, the state authority must consent to the transfer, which is granted case by case and typically takes one to three months. Some states also restrict or prohibit foreign purchase of individual landed title.

RM1,000,000, for both strata and landed property. That figure applies across the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. It is a floor on the purchase price recorded in the sale and purchase agreement, so what matters is the figure written into that agreement rather than any headline figure quoted earlier.

Because it is a different state authority with its own policy. Selangor sets the minimum at RM2,000,000 for foreign buyers, and restricts foreign purchase of individual landed residential title. Petaling Jaya, Subang, Shah Alam, Klang and the Damansara neighbourhoods are all in Selangor, not Kuala Lumpur, even though they feel like one city. A development on the wrong side of that boundary can be closed to you at a price that would be fine a few kilometres away.

The largest is stamp duty on the transfer of title, which from January 2026 is a flat 8% for foreign buyers on residential property — substantially above the tiered rate a Malaysian pays. On top of that: legal fees on the sale and purchase agreement and on the loan documentation, which developers often absorb on new launches; stamp duty on the loan agreement; valuation and disbursement costs; and on a later sale, real property gains tax at the rate applying to foreign sellers. I set all of this out as a total cash requirement by stage before you commit to anything.

No. The whole process can be done from abroad. Viewing is a live video walk of the show unit and the site rather than a rendering; the booking form and the sale and purchase agreement can be executed remotely with the developer's solicitor; and the state consent application does not require your presence. What does need care is the banking side, because opening an account and arranging financing as a non-resident is the part that takes the longest.

No. Ownership and residency are separate. You can own Malaysian property without any visa, and MM2H does not exempt you from the state minimum price or the consent requirement. MM2H is worth considering if you intend to spend real time here rather than to hold an asset. Its tiers and financial requirements have been revised more than once, so I confirm the current position case by case rather than quoting a figure that may already be out of date.

It matters more on resale than on purchase. Freehold is held in perpetuity. Leasehold is a term, usually 99 years, and what matters is how many years remain: financing gets harder and the buyer pool narrows as the balance falls below roughly sixty years, and extending a lease requires state consent and a premium. Foreigners can buy either. I tell you the tenure and the remaining term on every unit I show you, and I do not treat a long leasehold as a problem or a short one as a detail.

Nothing, on a new launch. On developer stock the agency commission is paid by the developer, so my fee does not come out of your budget and does not change the price you pay — the price list is the price list. Where I act for you on a subsale or a rental, the fee is the standard scale set under the Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers Act, and I tell you the number before you engage me.

Search REN 29818 on the public register of the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers at lpeph.gov.my. Every negotiator operating legally in Malaysia has a REN number and sits under a registered agency — mine is IQI Realty Sdn Bhd. Do this for anyone who asks you to transfer a booking fee, not just for me.