ben77

In the past, the prices did drop during SARs is because HDB built without really looking at the demand. However, the building of new flats will only commence when there is take up ie. 90% or BTO or DBSS flats being offered. In this scenario, there will always be a healthy demand and no oversupply situation. That, in a way is to ensure that prices remain high.

My personal opinion is that the valuation of flats will creep up BUT the asking COV of sellers will come down to more realistic levels. On the overall, the prices of flats next year will be higher than now.

The low COV flat which we found is really by luck and chance. COV is determined by a few factors i.e location, proximity to MRT, town centre, condition of flat, age of flat, potential to SERs, economic conditions etc. However, by looking at today's market, the valuation of good location flats are still climbing and sellers are still asking for around 30k COV (around where i bought my flat, no doubt lower than before). I think in order to find a low COV flat, you need to look at further away places or popular locations where the valuation of flats have gone up a lot. At the end of the day, the seller would need to be more realistic in their asking price before you can find a flat that meets yr requirements. A good agent will only be able to tell you which flats are available bearing in mind of yr requirements and probably let you know the most recent transactions and COV that others have paid for that particular area. Other than that, it all boils down to patience and yr calculations to think if you want to wait out the market or not as it's you who is buying and financing the purchase and not the agent. Hope this helps you understand a bit more cos if agents can promise potential buyers that they can find them a low COV flat in xxx location, I think everyone will be queuing up to seek his services.

For this year, depending on the hotel (how many stars), I tend to give at least $120 if 5 star hotel. Now I fully understand why my friends tell me this year get married very xiong cos angpow not enough to cover the dinner. I was doing my rounds a few months back to book for my own wedding and i was shocked at the price per table. Easily hit $1k+. No choice, got to bite the bullet and place deposit.

i selected the mammut range (engineered laminate) cos of the feel and grain...looks exactly like real timber strips. Price wise, it's a bit exp at $8.80 psf. Not really heard of vohringer but i did a google search and it's a german laminate floor company. Looks pretty decent. I tried searching for the german website but cannot find. How much is it?

Any updates???

Just to share abit of my house hunting woes. My wife to be and I have been searching for a flat since Nov 07. I currently live with my parents in the east and my fiancee in the * in CCK. We've both decided to live in the east as we both like it there. So, that means looking at a few HDB estates. First of all, we have ruled out balloting cos there are not much new flats to choose from and they would only be ready in about 3 yrs' time. Cannot wait so long to have our own place. So, we decided to zoom into the resale market. The only few still affordable areas are Eunos, Aljunied, Bedok, Simei and Tampines. However, we will only choose Tampines as a last resort. After viewing several old flats in Aljunied, we decided that we did not like the environment there (no offense). Then we were quite keen on getting a flat in Eunos but the flats there are 30 yrs old and COV is around > 40k from low floor onwards. We did our calculations and realised that a 5 rm cost us > 1/2 mil after reno. So, we were quite sianz.....Next, we started looking at simei and we both quite liked that area. I must say that our agent is indeed very patient and attended to all our needs during the 6 mths of house hunting. Finally, we chanced upon a 4A resale flat and went to view it. It's abt 6-7 mins walk from MRT and 2 bus stops away. The area surrounding the flat is relatively tranquil and quiet as it is not situated along a main road and it faces all the condos there (upside potential). After a bit of thinking over 1 day, we put down a $1k deposit and agreed on a price. At that time, the latest valuation was not out but I was confident of a low COV cos of my research. At last, the valuation came and the COV we paid was $10k. Very very good buy IMO cos the neighbouring flats are all transacted betw the region of 30-40k COV. Why such a good deal? The catch is I need to hack the whole place down and reno from bottom up. Not a problem cos we knew that whichever place we bought, we are prepared to redo the whole flat to our liking. Rather put the savings into the reno than pay someone a handsome 'profit'. However, valuation is based on location and that location is pretty good. So, we were happy that we got a really good deal in times like this. Hopefully, we can get the whole flat renoed before our wedding before the end of the year. It'll be close but doable with proper planning. So, for all bros and sisters out there looking for resales, don't lose hope as I feel that resale flat in good location can be found at a cheaper price than new HDB flats. Good luck in yr search. : )

I also went down to the exhibition and put down a deposit for my laminate flooring (Kronotex) cos i've been thinking over it for the last 6 mths even b4 I found my flat. The price has crept up and finally, I bit the bullet to lock myself into the price of the flooring so as not to let it creep up again. Looking forward to comparing quotes by the different IDs i've approached and finalising one.

Can someone PM me kelvin's mobile and email from GPlan please. Thx.

Anyone else has any experience with Aaron Pan from GPlan? Thx.

Hi everyone, I received a quotation from an ID and had a heart attack when i saw the figure. (55k not incl. flooring !!!) Can anyone with experience please let me know and point out which items are not reasonable and what a reasonable figure is. Some background info: This is a 4 rm resale flat which needs to redo everything from bottom up as it is in near original condition. This means all windows, doors, grills etc must be removed. Thanks for looking. I have the quote in excel but unable to attach. If any1 wants to take a look and comment on it, please PM me with yr email. Thx.

I popped by the Changi branch last week and spoke to an ID (Carmen) about renovating my flat. First impression is not bad. She is able to give some suggestions on what could be done based on the theme we like. We're still awaiting her quotation and 3d drawings and see what she propose. Of course, we are also obtaining quotations from a few other IDs.

I'm also a newbie here and would appreciate if any kind soul would care to share with my Mr K's email address and hp no. Thanks a lot.

Hi Taiji, Thanks for the reply. Yup. I'm looking for a modern resort look. Nothing heavy but playing with a lot of neutral tones and lighting to give a sort of cosy feeling. As the flat is in near original condition, we will be looking to literally demolish/hack away everything and redo from ground up. After reading through numerous posts on the forum, we wanted to consult ids who have more experience in the modern resort theme as they would probably have more ideas on what can be done. Can you PM me yr ID and contact details? We have starting browsing some ID magazines and tagging things which we liked for a start so as to be able to communicate our thoughts and ideas more clearly. Btw, you have a nice blog and id for yr flat Thanks a lot.

Hi everyone, I just bought my 4rm flat with my fiancee. estimated completion is end Aug, early Sep. Just wondering if anyone can recommend a good/reliable ID who does a lot of resort/spa look? Can PM me the Id contact details? Thanks a lot. ----- Ben