13 nov 08

my id called me today to ask me to be present the whole day tomorrow to supervise the work to make sure it's to my liking. i was like 'the whole day?'
which made him go on about how i had 'so many thing to add on to the defect list'. he refused to listen to me when i said that alot of the additions were due to his workers doing bad patch ups, and went on a tirade of how he's tried but we're hard to please & that he's very busy & got other things to do, not only my hse.

i raised my voice at him to tell him to let me speak (coz i couldn't get a word in sideways with him going on about how he doesnt want to listen to what went wrong) & he just raised it back at me even louder! i couldn't take it anymore, and honestly, for one of the few times in my life (and i can count on one hand how many times that's happened), i just exploded & started shouting at him that he was being extremely rude to me and that he should not be shouting at me and not allowing me to speak at all.

almost everyone i know have NEVER heard me shout. (you know right gals?) that's how angry i was loh!

so yeah. we pretty much had a shouting match for a while. (during which i told him i'd go down to his office to complain to his boss at his office about his bad attitude, and that he's made this renovation experience an unhappy one for me. and that i have NEVER had anyone shouting at me like that.)

anyways, to cut a long story short, he finally 'sort of' extended an olive branch by reprasing what he said last ('i dont mean that i want you to do my job, but i just think that if you are there than the defects can be corrected there & you wont have any more defects after that') - which i actually doubt btw being that i have heard of TONS of stories where after some time of living at a place, you find out that certain things are not working well/ plastering falls off, etc.

he also 'explained away' his shouting by saying he was 'outside' (unconfirmed, but will dubiously take that as true), and that he talks to contractors most of the time so he might raise his voice unconsiously. (might be true, but if he's as experienced an ID as he claims he is, he'd know that raising his voice BACK at a client for whatever reason is a no no.)

anyways, i have agreed to take off work & go down to my house for the whole of tomorrow to oversee the workers.

but really, i still don't understand what's so difficult.

i compiled a 5 pg list of defects (& where in each room to find them) for him & informed him promptly on only 2 or 3 other seperate occasions on additions to the defect list. (between which almost no work was done anyway!) i even tagged each defect in each room with masking tape & written instruction on the tape so it's OBVIOUS to him to know where each defect is. but i'm still accused of being unreasonable and adding to the defect list (what am i to do if i see more defects? just keep my mouth shut & live with it?!?).

honest to god i had not been so angry in a LONG LONG LONG TIME.

tha dear- do you have an idea of what can be done for this? pfft. really must make sure that i don't get bullied on this. can't stand mike's unreasonableness!!

i REALLY can't wait for this reno to be over.

Angry Day

if there's anything i've learnt from this reno episode, it's this: KEEP A DAMNED GOOD EYE ON EVERY BIT OF THEIR WORKS, AND DON'T PAY THEM TILL THEY'VE COMPLETED EVERYTHING TO YOUR SATISFACTION!!!

the workmanship we got was VERY SHODDY. so shoddy that i had a 5 PAGE DEFECT LIST that my ID is going through. The worst part is that the ID feels affronted when we put additions to the defect list & told us that the reno will not be done on time if the defect list keeps expanding!!

Here are a list of my grouses with them (ane believe me-there are MORE)

1) Our reno is already more than 3 wks late. We've were promised 6 wks, and we are currently on our 10th wk. And it's always the same thing- 'by next sat, by next sat'. I don't care WHEN it's done, I just want you to have the INTEGRITY TO DO IT WHEN YOU SAY IT WILL BE DONE!!


2) There was so much bad work that we had a 5 page defect list in our home! The ID we had actually insinuated that we were being demanding in having a 5 page defect list. (We typed out all the defects & tagged them with tape all around our hse). But come on, if there weren't so many cracked tiles, holes in grouting, cracked aircon trunking, holes in electrical casing, and stained walls, would any home owner bother to be picky?!?!? FURTHERMORE, an ID is SUPPOSED to LOOK OUT for the customer, and make sure these defects DO NOT HAPPEN! OTHERWISE WHY WOULD I WANT TO GET AN ID?!?!?!? I WOULD JUST GET A CONTRACTER SO THAT I CAN SAVE THE MONEY AND HAVE A SIMILAR AMOUNT OF HEADACHE RIGHT!??!?!?

3) I got an ANGRY call from my neighbour downstairs because apparantly the workers who clean the house just THROW DIRTY WATER OUT OF THE WINDOW- A FEW TIMES THIS MONTH!!! When my bf called the ID to tell give him an earful & tell him to make sure it doesnt happen again- he said that my bf was WRONGFULLY ACCUSING HIS WORKERS & that the water they threw out the window was CLEAN, and just quickly disconnected the line when my bf wanted to say more!!! HOW RUDE IS THAT?!?!?! AND COME OFF IT- you think i was born yesterday and think that your workers suka-suka just fill a pail of CLEAN water to THROW OUT MY WINDOW?!?!?!?!

4) Everytime we point out a defect to the ID he will say the same thing: 'if you want, i will change it for you loh'. and that is usually followed with a fake laugh. MACHAM YOU ARE DOING ME A FAVOUR?!?!? COME ON NOW- I PAID FOR IT TO BE DONE PROPERLY. IT IS NOT NORTHWEST'S FIRST DAY ON THE JOB, SO WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DEFECTS IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?! FURTHERMORE, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT CORRECTING DEFECTS ARE SOMETHING YOU SHOULD BE DOING ANYWAY!!!!

5) The solid surface we chose for our vanity was the WRONG COLOUR- apparantly because '2007 colour different from 2008 colour', and my ID- the person who's supposed to be DEALING WITH ALL THESE, asked the solid surface supplier to call me. The solid surface supplier called me, and said they DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG because it was the RIGHT COLOUR CODE THAT WAS GIVEN TO THEM, and that it shouldn't matter because the COLOUR WAS ALMOST THE SAME. Again. I WAS NOT BORN YESTERDAY and I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SANDY AND **** BROWN!! After raising my voice at him, they finally decided to change the solid surface for me.

I don't know if my ID with northwest is gonna wake up his idea anytime soon but am prepared to have to be demanding to get what should be done done. am starting to do research on CASE & HDB complaints already to get to know what my options are if they give me more grief. hope you don't have the same experience that I do.

nov 7th

i think we're finally seeing the end of the tunnel!! *hopeful*

:) the ID is working through our 5 page defect list, as well as replacing our solid surface for the vanity area.

hope things will be done-- soonish!

Some Pics

ID has said that the reno should be done by next thurs.

We'll see.

Pics so far:

Wardrobe





Kitchen Cabinets

Wk 7 of renovation

bleah.

there has been no updates to this blog because our ID- NORTHWEST is causing us SOO MUCH grief.

Complaints so far
1) electical work is EXTREMELY SHODDY.
- casing on the walls have holes in them (casing cut too short & electrician can't be bothered to change)
- casing is broken at some places, but also not replaced
- casing is crooked and not flush against the edge of the walls
- wiring is just done in an extremely haphazard way! the electician put casing around half of both toilets even though all i needed was a single point going in for my lights-- so what's the point of encasing half of my toilet with wire & making it so ugly?!?!?
Extremely disapponted with the wiring work. Plus from wk 4 till now, the changes have not been rectified yet- despite repeated reminders!!!

2) Cabinets done up wrongly
So the cabinets are up, but the measurements for the kitchen cabinets were done wrongly.. so they will have to change a part of it to salvage the kitchen cabinets. sigh.

3) We wanted to change the position of one of the doors to our room, and so had to pay for a new door frame. Thing is- the new door frame was made too large for the door! so now they are gonna give us a new door. BUT Mike our ID says that when its painted, the colour might not look like our original door. ?!!?!?!?!?!?!? how can they do something like that!?!?!?!?!?!!?

4) The whole of Wk 4, there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happening at our home. Only after we called Mike to ask what's happening that he said 'oh, coz we are busy somewhere else...' Wow. I would've been fine if the work could be completed by wk 6, but it's clearly not happened. So what gives?

and everytime i tell mike of the problems, he says he will tell the contractors. BUT NOTHING GETS DONE!!! So the wiring is still crooked, etc.

AAARRRGGGHH!!!

wk 3 of renovation!

The tiling for our living room floor, toilets & kitchen walls are now done! We're hoping that the tiling will be fully completed by end of the week, so that the rest of the work (electicals, plastering, ect) can start!

Here are some pictures of the progress thus far:

Our new casement windows:
to replace the old, slightly rusty & stiff windows that were originally in the flat. *drool* ;)


kitchen toilet:
we chose to have three strips of 'wood' looking tiles as accents. think it turned out pretty well. we're gonna ask our ID if he'd be able to do a darker grouting between each of those tiles though, so it looks abit more natural.


its all coming together! :)

Reno Commences!

We are into wk 2 of our reno now! Here are some pics of the work so far. keke

Week 1
Day 1 of reno: Hacking commences


Hacking done, debris cleared!


Week 2
Tiling in kitchen getting done


Tiling in toilet getting done

Where to look for toilet & kitchen related stuff:

toilet & kitchen related fixtures:
pls note that i'm only comparing jambans because in my mind, taps & shower stuff are pretty similar. a good practice i think is to always take a note pad along with you to keep track of the models that you like, as well as the prices each place sells them for.

1) royal fanco (135 Jln Besar. Tel:62990453)
good to go to get initial first quotes as the prices tt are quoted from the uncle (henry) there are pretty reasonable- so you at least know what the 'going rates' are. the uncle there is also pretty knowledgable.

2) Poh Joo (159 Jln Besar, but they have many branches!)
prices for the water closets there were pretty competitive, & the director there (benjamin) is pretty experienced & helpful. definitely good to check out.

3) Hoe Kee (8 Genting Road)
it's also recommended due to variety i think. again, i have not personally checked it out, but have heard it's good.

4)Chuan Heng Hardware (144 Jalan Besar)
prices quoted from his were reasonable too. the dude we spoke to seemed pretty knowledgable. good to check out. :)

5) Sim Siang Choon (551 Balestier Rd)
i had visited this place briefly, but had not compared prices. it does come recommended though.

6) about the jamban
from what i've heard, these are the usual 'brands' to look out for: toto, rigel, genova, american standard, baron, velin, crizto.
also- look through the papers for warehouse sales, as you can get pretty good deals then.

let there be light (part 1)

after extensive light hunting over the past few weekends, we finally decided on our lights!

the bf's friend recommended lights arcade (321 balestier rd), saying that they had very reasonably priced lights, and that if we had any lights in mind that were not on display, we could get them to check if they could get it for us & do a 'package' deal with them.

the lady we met there (jen-e loh) was really friendly & went around recommending lights that to us when we told her the type of look & feel that we wanted. her opinions were really helpful. definitely will visit their shop again if i ever need to change lights next time. and yes. i'd recommend them too. but of course with the disclaimer tt it's always wise to 'shop around' first so you know what the prices are like la.

the total quote that she came up with was reasonable- we actually meant to just go there to get a quote, but the fact that she chased me down to return my handphone which i accidentally left at their store was probably the clincher. lol. we ended up paying the deposit (only $50) to them & the rest was history. hehe.

bedroom entrance downlight (halogen light, movable. $20)


study room light (rectangular with wooden border & glass top $90 for double tube)
we got recommended this as the jen said that the tubes would be significantly brighter for the study. other than the shape & tubes used, it looks the same as the rest of the rooms!


bedroom lights (square with wooden border. $65 each)
we actually wanted a simpler looking one with just a plain brown border tt was going for $90 in other shops... but was told that the one we wanted would be a hassle as the bulb changing is difficult due to the structure. oh well. this was just as good. save $$ s'more. :)


toilet lights- mini 'hamburgers' (fibre glass acrylic $30 each)
we wanted to get the cheaper normal versions, but were told that these would not turn yellow for loooooong loooong time. so ok la. hope it means i will be better able to squeeze those tiny tiny zits easily coz i can see them so well in the white light for a loooong loooong time!

let there be light (part 2)

downlights for hall (13 by 13 cm. $25 each)


corner living room light (the birdsnest. $70)
yes i know it's gonna be difficult to clean... but i likey. hehe


dining room light (dark brown string lamp trio $165)
originally wanted a more 'woody' type light, but was told by the owner that they no longer brought it in coz they had problems with the workmanship. so we settled with this one.


kitchen lights (big 'hamburger- fiberglass acrylic $48)
also decided to 'upgrade' this due to the 'stay white' reason. well. hopefully i'll be able to spot & baygon all would-be pests easily for looong looong time with this.


post discount, we ended up with a grand total of $865 spent, as well as a written & signed disclaimer from the boss of lights arcade that read like so on our invoice:
'any lights not suitable can be exchanged or rejected (before mounting) without any penalty or surcharge'

he also assured us that if for any reason we need to replace the light parts in the future, his company will die die try to find a replacement for us. lights that he provide will also come with a 6 month warranty, after which if there is a problem with the lights, he will still change for us if anything wrong within 1-2 yrs. sounds good la.

home choices- mbr toilet

showerhead set ('upgraded' for $125):


shower mixer ('upgraded' for $90 i think):


toilet basin mixer:


mbr toilet basin:


mbr wc:
still to be confirmed. :p i didn't really like the rest of the choices of wc at lucky khoon.. so am thinking of buying this seperately on my own..

home choices: kitchen

now for the kitchen stuff:

kitchen hood:


kitchen hob:


kitchen mixer (we 'upgraded this one'.. dunno what the damage is yet):


kitchen sink:

home choices- kitchen toilet

went to lucky khoon (31 Joo Chiat Place) to pick our home 'accessories' that came with the northwest package. btw- don't ask me what brand cuz i didn't really take note. think cuz it's provided by the ID firm, should not be too 'good' brand also la.

kitchen toilet showerhead:


kitchen toilet shower mixer:


kitchen toilet basin mixer:


kitchen toilet basin:


kitchen toilet wc:

furniture we bought!

hehe just an update on the furniture we have so far:

bedframe:


shoe cabinet:


sofa:


1-seater:

Very packed weekend!

We went to meet Mike (our UD) to show him our home & let him take measurements as well as choose the tiles for our home on the weekend. Oh. We also decided on a few changes to our room layout

1) Change of Layout:
Our initial layout was to knock down a portion of wall between the MBR & the bedroom like so:


However, we realised once we went to 'view' our flat on our own, that we get very good wind flow from the living room area windows... so we decided to maximise the ventilation, by changing our layout to this:


Mike has said that he will get back to us on what the additional costs might be... so we're keeping our fingers firmly crosed. We have both hacking & sealing of areas to deal with on our original & recent design, so hopefully the damage will not be substantial *crosses toes too*


2) Mike views flat
First thing when we went to our home: Mike pointed out a long crack along the side of the wall. Suggested that we give HDB a call to make sure that there was nothing structurally wrong with the room. Felt very concerned when I heard that. He also did some measurements on the vanity area we wanted outside our MBR, as well as confirmed the length of the cabinetry we wanted done. exciting!


3) Viewing of tiles at Hafary
Me and the bf were a little ks. Mike told us that the tile shop that Northwest has a business relationship mainly with Hafary, so we'd probably be picking our tiles from there. So we happily made our way down early last week to 'see see look look' took a few samples of what we thought we wanted. I had a friend also doing renovations presently who went to 2 other tile shops, so I bummed the samples which he didn't want off him & we picked the samples from there too. keke. So once we went to Hafary, we simply took out our tile sample choices & showed them to Mike. It was then pretty much a 'look for matching tile' game there at Hafary. We did however change our 'simple white walls' idea for our kitchen toilet & went for tiles which looked slightly 'woody'. I wish wish wish that I took pictures of the samples, but I didn't... will update once I do get the samples from Mike next time we meet him! (He very kindly offered to pick up samples of our tile choices!)

Pictures!

Bedroom 3


Bedroom 2


MBR Toilet


Master Bedroom


Kitchen Toilet


Kitchen


Living Room

2nd appointment confirmed!

hdb really is quite efficient these days- we received a notification via sms that our 2nd appointment date has been confirmed!

d-day: 08.08.08

hahahaha. in the words of all the aunty-uncles out there: HUAT AH!!!

we'll be liasing with the owner's agent to do a final inspection of the flat before the appointment. (as per hdb instruction)

note to self: bring a camera so you can get trigger happy!

whohooo!! this is so exciting!!

home layout

here's our home layout! :) a 4rm in serangoon central!

Reviews: IDs

hehe. oops. sorry for the long lapse. have been realy busy with work, our 1st appt, id reviewing and various other market research. keke

but firstly, let me share on the various IDs that we've spoken to so far:


Plush Design: 4/5, $$$$
Spoke to Sky from Plush. He's the boss there I think. He's one that really gives alot of confidence that the work he turns out will be good. First thing he did was to show us the carpentry that his workshop turns out, and he really emphasizes on quality. He's really professional too- provided us with a work file, with quote, drawings, etc, and shows all costs clearly (ie: no unseen costs). Design wise also not bad- practical layouts which we agreed with. We definitely liked him, but unfortunately, his price range was on the higher side, so we decided to drop after a while. Would def. recommend him for pple with bigger budgets though.

Inzen: 3.4/5 $$$$
Had heard alot about their pricing being very reasonable, so decided to try them out too. However their price range is only slightly lower than that of Plush Design. Design wise also ok la. Nothing too earth shattering cuz we already knew what we want. ID I spoke to (Roy) there was not too bad though. Seems pretty experienced. Good to 'check out' I think.

Love Home: 1.5/5
Was walking around the toa payoh area and chanced upon their showroom. Spoke to Samuel who said he was one of the directors there. Went to meet him a 2nd time with our floorplan as we didn't bring it the 1st time round. Wah. Service damn bad. Supposed to meet him in the morning at 10am. We turned up, but he didn't. Called him repeatedly, but no ans. Only in the late afternoon did we get an sms from him that he overslept. Didn't even bother to call. Wah. Nevermind, we set another appt with him. And he was late again. We were quite put off by the lack of professionalism. Although he apologised, I the damage was already done. He also didn't bother to contact us again for a follow up discussion & to give us a quote.

Ideal House: 1/5 $$$$$
Heard about Ideal House from renotalk. decided to check it out since we were nearby. Experience was not ideal la. An ID named Alton served us. He smelt of stale smoke, and pushed us the package & asked us if we wanted to sign on that day itself. Put off coz I don't think it's right for IDs to hardsell their services without showing what they can deliver 1st. Gave him the floorplan & budget. When we met him for follow up, the budget was busted by about 30%. Very pricy, with significantly 'contractor' feel. Not impressed.

Wea Design: 4/5 $$$
Along the same stretch as Love Home. Their pricing is extremely competitive, with very good package deals. They throw in ALOT of stuff: system 3 aircon, cooker hood & hob, kitchen sink & mixer, 2 toilet bowls, toilet sinks & mixers, shower, accessories & instant heaters. However, you have no choice as to the type of freebies you get. No 'upgrading'. They will reimburse you whatever you don't want from them. Their workmanship is also not bad, though I suspect you'll have to be a little anal with them, as they have a 'contractor' feel to them as well. ID was Apple. She seemed very sincere, but not too experienced. Had to check about the pricing of alot of items. Also, somehow their co name is not listed under the approved list of contractors! Spoke to Apple about it & she said that they're under a parent co that IS under the approved list. We decided to drop coz not comfortable with that, and coz we met another ID which we felt would be better.

Northwest Interior Design: 4/5 $$$
Went to Northwest coz they had some promo in the newspapers. Decided to check them out. Met with an ID called Mike. Quite a good impression of him. He could draw out mockups of what we wanted various cabinetry/layouts to look like off the bat. Seems quite experienced & could tell us based on our works what the estimated costs would go to based on his experience. Took us to a showflat his colleague was doing up to look at the carpentry. Not bad as well. The co also gives ALOT of freebies with their resale package, which look quite good: system 3 aircon, kitchen hob, hood, sink, mixer, 2 sets of toilet bowls, sink & taps, bath mixers, toilet accessories & a storage heater. You have a choice of a small range of each item & can even change/top up for more expensive items at their supplier's shop should you want to. Decided to go with them coz the price was reasonable and we have faith (hopefully not misplaced!) that the ID will be a good project manager. Will def. be taking lots of pics of the reno in progress!

deferment granted!

whoohooo!

we're allowed to get married next year in mar 09!

thank you the powers that be in HDB!!!

1st Appointment!

We just had our first appointment a few days ago. Went very fast! Took a queue number once we got there & waited for our numbers to be called. before we knew it, we signed our names, and prepared to have empty cpf accounts for the next few years. lol

We also have to pay up the COV amount to HDB within 7 days.... so a good portion of savings will be signed over soon! Plus the home reno and wedding expenses....*gasps for breath* starting a home is expensive business man!!

Oh! We also asked for deferment for our wedding- as we're only planning to get married next year in march. :) have booked our restaurent venue already, so hopefully hdb will give us the go ahead to defer.

On the bright side: We'll be getting our keys in the 1st-2nd week of Aug! Yay!! We're gonna have our first home soon!

Extra-reno costings

hello folks!

lol me & the bf have been spending the weekends trawling various shops etc to look at what extra-reno costs will be, so here's just a rough gauge to share with you guys- just so you'll get as horrified as me. *grin*

Appliances:
TV: $1700
cooker hob/ hood: $1000
Air con system 4: $4500
Fridge: $1000
Oven: $ 800
Washing Machine: $ 600
Vacuum cleaner: $ 200
Fan: $ 200
Instant Heater: $ 200
Airpot: $ 70
Rice Cooker: $ 90

Furniture
Curtains: $ 300
Dining Table: $ 800
Sofa: $1600
Bed Frame: $ 700
Matress: $1000
Bed sheets: $ 200
Study Table: $ 500
Coffee Table: $ 200
Working Chair: $ 200

Est. Grand Total: $15860


think i might pop by singapore pools to buy some hope ;)

home reno sites!

here's a list of home reno sites to share

www.renotalk.com
this i think is the most popular reno forum in singapore. pretty good stuff. has ALOT of info on reno, though you really have to sift through it. Good thing is that there are many very friendly & active forummers who are happy to share their views should you put up a question/request for help.

www.apartmenttherapy.com
i luuurve this site for the ideas they give. just looking through this site lets you get loads of inspiration for what you want your home to look like. plust it focusses on apartments- perfect for the hdb dweller!

www.bhg.com
better homes & gardens website. lots of nice pics with good ideas too! lots and lots and lots of info & pics! :) i likey.

http://trendsideas.com
another online mag of sorts with a whole load of pics of beautifully renovated & constructed homes. what i like is that they have a seperation of different parts of the home that you can look at- kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms etc.

www.homeanddecor.com.sg
the website for home & deco magazine. has alot of pics & info on IDs, etc. definitely useful and very easy to navigate!

www.myhappyhouse.com.sg
this website has an online reno/deco magazine which i think they produce every month. Singapore centric, so it'll have useful info.

www.livingpod.com
another website with really nice pics of renovated homes. it focusses more on architecture & really good design though. drool worthy pics.

first appointment date confirmed

We've exercised our option & have received word that our 1st appointment date will be on 28th Jun!

Excited!

Time to start with the next phase: ID & Contractor reviewing!

commission to agents

Hmmm. The bf and I filled in more forms today regarding the resale checklist which they told us should be backdated as they were not able to obtain it till now. Apparantly it's something that they told us we need to do in order to buy a flat. Somehow there are suddenly 2 agents now as well, the first lady which was showing us the flat originally, and now a guy, who's going through the details of the sale with us & telling us that we will need to pay 1% commission to the lady. Fishy. Fishy. I thought she was helping the sellers sell the flat coz she said they were relatives. How come we need to pay her commission too?

We didn't want to make things difficult, so we signed... but when I got home & started searching online again... :p I think we got chopped off 1%. I mean, that lady wasn't our agent at all. She NEVER arranged viewings with us other than when we wanted to see her relative's flat, and apparantly we were supposed to go through the checklist & sign it even before we signed the option to purchase!

Geez... "$(*&%£!!!!

Told the bf about it. I was peeved. He was philosophical. Said that since they were handling it, and getting so much money out of it, they should handle it well. :p Ah well. Lesson learnt for sure.

Anyways, FYI, you CAN buy a flat on your own WITHOUT an agent. You just need to do more paperwork on your own. Click here to find out more

Sigh. Hope you guys don't get 'chopped' like me.

Anyways, here is some info on the commission for real estate agents for your reference.

Wah. My heart is still aching at the loss of money :p

Offering!

We saw a place we liked on our 2nd week of viewing. However, we were hesitating from putting up an offer as we thought that we probably had not seen enough units out in the market yet, and so should wait.

Thing is, even though we've seen many more units since then, we still kept going back to thinking about this one. So the bf & I finally decided to make a move on the property, & put in an offer.

It was accepted by the buyer!

So we just wrote the check for the option fee & deposit & filled in the forms.

Wow. It seems like such a short time, but it seems that we're now on our way to getting our new home!

I am excitable now. lol.

the search so far

The weekends, and even some weekday nights have been spent searching for that perfect location now, and it has been an interesting experience so far. In almost every instance, the viewing of each flat involves invading into the seller's privacy. It's somewhat surreal, especially when the agent happily brings you around, then whispers quite loudly that 'owner's son/daughter sleeping, so can see this room but must be quiet hor'. Of course, not forgetting the time when we walked into the study to find a shirt-less middle aged man perched coolie style on a chair in his study. Oops.

Some useful tips to share though:
1) I've done up an excel sheet (which I recommend for forgetful people like me) of the units that I've visited. Keeps things in perspective, reminds me of which units I've already seen & also helps as a gauge on what the average COV is around the areas I'm looking for.


2) Another useful thing to do is to go through a street directory & mark out the specific estates & block numbers of the flats you don't mind looking at. Keep it with you at all times so that when an agent calls you with a potential viewing, you will be able to easily know whether or not the block fits into your criterion & whether or not to pass on the viewing.

3) My last tip would be to pencil out your budget with various loan amounts and bring that along when you're viewing flats. You can do this budgeting via HDB's financial plan site. Look at my 'affordability post' for more info on this.

Our budget write up takes only about 10-15 mins to fill, depending on how many 'scenerios' you want to consider, but it really helped us know right off whether a unit was good to consider. Looks like this.

agents

I'm not entirely sure what it is with agents, but they seem to operate similarly.

Many of them ask you to let them be their 'sole agent' to view flats so that you won't need to go through the papers & go through the trouble of searching for the homes you want on a daily basis. Why they ask you to do this, is of course more for self-interest than real interest in your convenience. Why? Well, if you only use their services, it pretty much means that they will be able to find you a flat eventually & get the commission off you for it. If you had multiple agents show you flats, the agent knows that only one 'lucky' agent who shows you a flat you like would get the commission. (ie: showing you around would potentially waste his/her time)

However, when push comes to shove, I find that many of them don't deliver on what they promise (ie: give you the service you want), perhaps simply because they might be too busy to do so.

For example, I've realised that many agents don't want to bother with you till after you tell them that you've recieved your HLE. They can also be very nosey & will ask for you & your partner's income details, etc. You DON'T have to answer them if you don't want to. Just tell them that you are earning above/below the income bracket, & that YES you know all about the grants etc already. (Please read my previous posts if you need to know more)

Many of them also tell you that you HAVE to be married by a certain time in order to buy a resale flat, that you will HAVE to apply for your marriage cert by xx amount of time, etc. However, this is NOT necessarily true. I know of a few couples who have managed to seek an extention of 6-12 months from HDB in that regard, in order to have their love nest well feathered before they get married & so that both solemnisation & traditional wedding can happen on the same day. Of course, you must prove to HDB that you have the intention to marry & show them sufficient info in that regard. Request for an extension can apparantly be done on the 1st appointment date after you exercise the option to buy a flat.

Also, many agents I've met so far don't necessarily show you flats that you want to see. The bf & I have told many of the agents we've spoken to that we only want corner units which are either 4 or 5 room, in specific areas (we even gave them the block numbers). However, many of them after hearing our specs, still try to coerce us into seeing maisionettes, or multiple corridor units, which we don't want at all.

In addition to that, many of them don't give 'up to date' viewings for flats that are available on the market. (ie: the newspapers have adverts on available units that interests us, but the agents don't call you till a week or so later to arrange for a viewing of that particular flat) So my suggestion is this: if you want to work through an single agent, all fine & good, but keep a look out in the classifieds for units that interest you (it takes less that 5 mins to flip to the page & do a quick glance through)& make sure that you get your agent to bring you there. :)

money matters

Woah- A big kudos to HDB for being a fantastic resouce yet again!

Post HLE application, me & the bf were wondering what that meant in terms of monthly instalment etc if we maxed out our loan budget, and whaddayaknow, HDB already had it all figured out & placed on a silver (internet) platter!

First, they have the enquiry on the maximum loan amount that you would probably get in the HLE.

Then, they even have a monthly instalment calculator which would give you a gauge of how much it would cost on a monthly basis if you were to buy your flat for X amount.

And, even more fantastically, they have a financial plan, which gives a detailed breakdown on how much you would need to fork out depending on what type of hdb flat you buy!
For buying a new flatresale financial plan
For resale flats
For SERS flats
and lastly,
For design, build & sell scheme flats

So, if you choose the 'right' budget, you could potentially just use your combined CPF payments to pay off the monthly mortgage with absolutely no cash payment subtracted from your monthly paycheck!

Tres tres bien!

grant me a resale! (hle & hdb grants)

Well. As might be expected, we chose the resale route, and have been viewing a few hdbs around the estates we're interested in.

Here is some info on resale flats that we've gathered so far

HLE (Housing Loan Eligibility): The HLE is something that first time buyers who are eligible for the HDB grant apply for before they make an offer to buy a flat on the resale market. As I understand it from the agents, you need it before you put an offer down on a flat, as it gives the sellers more surety that you will be able to fund the purchase. The HLE will also tell you what the maximum amount of loan you & your partner will be granted from HDB. This comes in handy when deciding what type of flat you will be able to affort. You can click here to get a gauge on out what your maximum loan amount will be.

Application for the HLE is free, and lasts for 3 months. You can appply for it at the hdb website link here. It takes about 2 weeks to get your HLE approval.

HDB Grants:

There is actually a good amount of grants that come from HDB for first time hdb buyers who choose buy resale flats. There is the basic $30k for all first time buyers, an extra $10k if you live near your parents (within the same estate or within 2km if your parents live in private property) and an extra $20k if you live with your parents. Once you have bought your home, the grant money will be transferred to your CPF. You can then use the money to offset the purchase price of your home. Excellent aye??
Garmen give money, definitely must find out how much you can take. So please make sure you go through the link attached above & know how much your 'present' is going to be!

new flats vs. resale- the classic dilemma

New Flats:

There are basically 2 types of flats which you can buy 'fresh' from hdb. Those already built (aka ballot flats -hahaha yup I do note that I've made it sounds strange), and those that are built-to-order.

Flats that are currently available (ballot flats) are usually either in short supply, or in less desirable locations. The short supply has also meant that instead of a bi-monthly ballot for the sale of flats, applicants can now only apply bi-annually for these ballot flats. (ie: see whether you lucky la) This basically means that you will have to wait for those 2 magical times in a year where you can apply for your flat, and hope & pray that your stars are aligned. :p It's obviously not ideal, but for many couples, it's pretty much a 'bo pian' scenario if you want cheap(er) flats that those currently out in the market.

Build-to-order flats are basically hdb flats which have not been built yet, but will be ready in 3-5 years time. It is obviously not ideal in terms of timing (ie: you have to be married before you have a home together), but again, these flats would be cheaper than those currently in the market in the same area.


Resale Flats:

Resale flats are flats that are for sale in the open market. They allow for flexibility in terms of area to stay, etc. However, they are more costly as they are bought at market rates. In addition, many sellers are presently looking to sell their hdb property for amounts higher than they are valued at due to market demand forces. (E.g: 5 room HDB in Hougang valued by real estate valuers at $400k, but seller is asking for $430k) This 'extra' is commonly referred to as 'cash over valuation' or COV.

What this means is that the potential buyer will need to fork out that extra $30k in cash from his own pocket, as loan amounts from HDB or banks will only allow for mortgages for up to 90% of the valuation of the property. And no- in case you're wondering, you will not be able to use your CPF money to pay off that extra $30k. You can only use your CPF monies to offset the valuation amount of the house.

HDB has a nifty site where you can see the market statistics of resale flats around the area you're interested to live in. They carry average COV amounts per area as well as the selling price of hdbs in the area.

Again, a whole load of reading to do.. but well worth it! :)

first things first: eligibility & info from hdb

HDB is actually pretty good in that they have ALOT of info on whether or not new applicants/ soon-to-be-married couples are eligible for new flats.

Basically, to qualify for a new flat, hdb loan, or hdb grant, your gross monthly household income must not be more than SG$8000. It does NOT include your bonus, so breathe easy. :) Apparantly, additional commission etc can also be argued upon on a case by case basis.

Click on the link here to find out more about eligibility.

I strongly recommend anyone who decides to get a hdb flat to check out the hdb website (click on the link here) to find out about the flats available for sale, how to apply, financing (very important!) & other options available.

Happy reading guys!

preface

the journey really began with the bf on his knee, with an utterly endearing proposal. ;)

but enough mush for now-

like most other singaporean couples, we've chosen the hdb way. (of course lah- young couple where got $$ to buy private property right? heh)

so here's the chronicle of our journey- of the hdb kind.