INTRODUCTION

Property and real estate lawyers may specialise in or run a broad practice covering different types of properties and transactions, including commercial, retail, industrial, hospitality or healthcare properties, residential properties such as HDBs and private property, and collective sale and purchase transactions. You may also be involved at various stages of a property’s lifecycle, from the acquisition of the land by a developer, its planning and construction, the selling and leasing of the completed units, and obtaining of mortgage and financing for the purchase of units.

The clients and parties you may encounter will also span individual purchasers, developers, banks/lenders, real estate funds, REITs, insurance companies, family offices, institutional investors, and government and public bodies.

SUB-AREAS

• Sale and Purchase – This can range from representing individuals in regular conveyancing work involving the purchase of their residential home to advising real estate developers and REITs on large-scale additions to their commercial or industrial asset portfolio and (in the case of a developer) the subsequent sale of the completed units. In Singapore, developers may also engage lawyers to advise on the purchase and tender of land from the government. 
• Mortgage and Financing – This refers to the obtaining of financing to support the purchase of the land or property, often using the real estate as security. For individuals purchasing a single unit, these typically involve mortgages from banks. Large-value transactions may get more complicated where multiple lenders/banks are involved and where there is cross-collateralization with various assets, in which case you be supported by banking & finance professionals.
• Lease – Leases and tenancies are entered into between landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee. You will need to advise on clauses such as use of premises, improvements and alterations, repair and maintenance, insurance, sub-lease and assignments, rental escalation and renewal.
• Construction and Development – This refers to the construction of buildings on the land or the development of larger-scale projects and is often handled by specialist construction lawyers.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

• Prepare Legal Agreements – In a sale and purchase transaction, the property owner and potential buyer will enter into an Option-to-Purchase (“OTP”) stating the agreed purchase price, option fee and period within which the option must be exercised (and failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the option fee). Where the option is exercised, parties will enter into a Sale and Purchase Agreement, make additional payments of the deposit/price, pay the stamp duty and ultimately proceed to complete the sales transaction. Certain standard conditions may be available (such as the Law Society’s Conditions of Sale 2012 and 1999 for private property), though parties may also mutually agree to vary any terms. For lease transactions, lawyers would have to assist in drafting and reviewing the Lease Agreement. The ability of a tenant to negotiate its lease terms will depend on its bargaining power, such as an anchor tenant in a shopping mall or a long-term industrial lease.
• Conduct Due Diligence – When purchasing land in Singapore, lawyers assist with conducting searches (e.g. against the Land Titles Register and the Register of Deeds of the Singapore Land Authority) to ensure that the seller has valid title to the land. Searches with the Urban Development Authority will reveal whether any caveats have been lodged against a property.
• Apply for Legal Requisition – Aside from a title search, checks should also be made on whether the property will be affected by any development plans and planning decisions of the government. This typically involves making enquiries with government authorities such as the Land Transport Authority, Public Utilities Board, and Urban Redevelopment Authority.
• Registration – At the completion of a property transaction, lawyers will make the relevant registrations with the land authorities in Singapore to ensure that ownership, interest or encumbrances over the land are duly recorded.
• Planning and Development – Where the client will be building, developing or changing the permitted use of the land, lawyers will help obtain the necessary planning permissions and consents from authorities.
• Regulatory Compliance – Property lawyers have certain anti-money laundering duties. They have to verify the legitimacy of their client’s source of funds to ensure that money laundering is not involved. Foreigners seeking to purchase landed property may also engage a lawyer to assist with compliance with the Residential Property Act, which states that a foreigner would have be a permanent resident of Singapore for at least five years and have made an exceptional economic contribution to Singapore. Purchasers of HDB flats will also need to ensure that their purchase falls within the Ethnic Integration Policy and Singapore Permanent Resident Quota.
• Depending on the law firm that you join, your real estate work may range from handling a high volume of smaller-value purchases and leases (which often rely on standard term contracts) to complex large-scale acquisitions. That said, departments that handle volume work tend to also offer more opportunities to associates to handle files independently and face clients directly.
• Some property lawyers enjoy the fact that the end product of their work results in a physical structure or site that can be seen and visited, unlike certain other transactional practices where the end result is a signed legal agreement that parties are bound to keep confidential.
• The real estate industry is often badly affected when there is an economic downturn. As such, the work is cyclical, and deals can dry up during an economic crisis, though there will be an uptick in restructurings and mortgage defaults.