hello88

ya ....cant imagine having to walk to the shared rubbish chute whenever my girl poo poo and not forgetting the smelly trash bags after doing up the prawns and fishes after marketing. Plus the openspace carpark which is so much cheaper. anyway, i've seen some SK residents placing big dustbins outside their unit and clearing it only when its full at the end of the day so not a bad idea.

heee.....later Mace angry that we commented on his area (Lor Ah Soo)...hahaha. I also still prefer staying nearer to Hougang Mall area. Dont really like further away like in Hougang Ave 9 as our sides still walking distance to MRT. Furthermore, those newer flats no rubbish chute. Just a personal preference so no offences to anyone. wow, at these age, super active....fighting still ok la....wait till they get older....would fight and argue more. My flat got no peace!!!!!!

ya, i read from an article about paying off HDB housing loan and the financial adviser also stated that its actually not a good idea to settle your HDB loan (2.6%) earlier (eg. u too 20yrs and 10 yrs down the road u pay it off) unless u decide to sell it after paying off as u wont benefit much since its merely 1% over your CPF interest rate. Anyway, most people logically would want to pay it off if they have sufficient funds while 'lazy' ones would forget about the whole loan and let it continue deducting. actually its also not a bad idea to downgrade to either 4 or 5 room, years later to make a profit from your EM as the S & CC also cheaper as compared to exec flats.

roughly how much is the lawyer fee? wow, not bad...only need to loan 135k...which bank did u opt for and how much is the interest? huh? partial principal sum payble every 2 years? Then would we hit the CPF withdrawal limit? biggest 5-room in Hougang would be near MACE's area, Hougang St 21/Lor Ah Soo. I also need more bedrooms as my parents staying with us....we also prefer to have the rubbish chute inside our unit and open space carpark. u also have 2 boys? The boys would have fun climbing the stairs. Mine did but after a while, started complaining but now they're used to it.

Hi, need some info from u. - U sold your 5 room and bought EM right? sell high, buy high? - U didnt take HDB housing loan for purchase of EM? - we have to pay upfront 5% cash if we taking bank loan right? Still have to engage a lawyer to execute the sales and loan? - roughly how much u loan from bank for this EM and what's the estimated monthly instalment? Thanks in advance.

if HDB acting for buyers/sellers then 2nd appointment date would be scheduled between 6-8 weeks after 1st apointment. wow, valuation very high. Like that, estimate how much per month for housing loan? there'll be a counter to purchase fire insurance....u wont miss it as usually long queue plus there's also a sign directing u to buy fire insurance. Very cheap nia cos it basically covers the walls..nothing much on our renovation or valuables. I think less than $10 for 5 years....sorry, cant really recall liao. I bought another home insurance from AIA over and on top of this miserable fire insurance. It covers burst water pipes, lost of keys, etc wow, that's good cos reno cost really very ex. Save the available cash for furnishing and rainy days cool! Bishan also got some unique EMs whereby there's another entrance. My friend been to one.

yup, 1st appointment gotta pay COV...in fact, most $$$ to be paid during 1st appointment. 2nd appointment got to buy fire insurance and prior to that, settle any S & C with Town Council. Not forgetting the cheque to your agent...sob sob.

for 2nd appointment, u might wanna purchase the fire insurance first while waiting for agent n seller as the queue can be very long. 2nd appointment date usually given as an estimation on 1st appointment but there are instances whereby both seller n buyer agreed to a much later date (longer than the proposed 4-6 weeks after 1st appointment) then the officer can indicate the proposed date agreeable by both parties in the document. Eg. 1st appointment on 17 Jun, 2nd appointment specificially picked by both parties to be 1st Oct. During my time, we requested for the earliest possible time so agent drafted a simple letter which both parties signed and handed over to the HDB officer. He didnt give us a definite answer but accepted the letter, saying that he'll take note of the request as there were instances whereby sales were hindered by problems with seller or buyer status or CPF monies. I checked for my 2nd appt date online every now and then after the 1st appointment and even emailed to the officer and pestered for the 2nd appt date after Resale Transaction 'published' my transaction (meaning the sales went thru). Eventually got the date in 3 or 4 weeks.

yup, many lighting shops in both Balestier and Geylang. U can ask your friends especially those who just reno their place or relatives to recommend. Alternatively, u can visit forums like this and Spore Brides (under Home and Deco) to cancel out those that has got very bad reputation for 'cheating' on customers. I think some people would not go for rewiring if the last done up was 8 years ago. It depends on yourself. I didnt have to consider cos mine was 20yrs and I rewiring and asked for powerpoints practically everywhere....except forgotten abt staircase landing...sob sob. I think most important is the kitchen as most people have microwave oven, conventional oven (like my babybelling oven), rice cooker, bread toaster, slow cooker, multi-cooker, etc. Oops, forgotten to mention that most are used by my famous chief aka my mum. how much u bought for your EM? a very ***** and i wish i had such a nice layout. Got store, staircase landing super unique (saw the pic showing your staircase railings)...wow! Hope to see more pics posted by u as really look very 'private property'.

got my lights from a shop in Balestier, recommended by friend. 3 more months and would be 3 years since moving in and only need to change a light tube in kitchen and a light bulb in my MBR. The tube in kitchen was faulty so changed it FOC for me. As for the one in MBR toilet, its energy saving and also quite cheap. Not trying to recommend the shop but go to those that are trustworthy and reliable and would give honest feedback and recommendation on which light for which area. There are some shops that ask u buy expensive lights and we did went to one at changi with an outlet in Geylang and Balestier if not wrong. Super lousy lights and we dump it away w/o getting our electrician to install it as the connection and whatever was really messy inside....connect here and there (electrician opened up to show us). The 2 lights very cheap nia ($29.90 each, one was a dragonfly, the other was a beetle). Cute only on the outside .

not sure but i saw the contractor use those cans of spray (tat ppl use for spraying artwork or bicycle,etc) usually dismantling or hacking comes in lump sum right? yup,some contractor/id charges single labour cost for labour rendered to each installation, eg. sink,basin,instant heater,etc plastering is one of the most exp reno item other than electrical rewiring for EM. Painting for exc flats starts from 1.4k (for decent paint job). I know of some who got bangla worker to do it cheaper but the job looks worse than DIY.

when my neighbour reno their place 2 years ago,i saw the contractor simply used sand paper to sand the WI gate then spray paint the gate to make it 'brandnew' again. Till date,still look very brand new. Maybe the contractor/id want to 'makan' u. Try a few more quotes cos doesnt make sense to remove the WI railings then install it back.

i'm opting for OCBC but yet to submit the forms....would go down one of these days (before end of this month). i choose OCBC more for convenient, they have more outlets and there's 2 in my housing estate. Anyway, i dont gain much from the interest as i'm using almost every single dollar

hmmmm.....6 more EM kakis to hit 50. Wonder if we'll be able to hit that target. anyway, welcome all those new ones onboard but thread getting boring leh. we want pics we want pics For those who want the easiest way to post pic...try photobucket.

ya, seller can request for certain number of days before agent submit for 1st appointment registration. Previously, my seller also requested for 90days (heard that's the max) as she need to locate a flat first. Luckily, agent submitted it 2-3 weeks after we paid the deposit as seller managed to find a flat. errr...... cant recall whether its before 1st appt or before 2nd appt that HDB officer to inspect the flat. Any unauthorised reno would have to be removed or rectified BUT there's ways to overcome this. Eg. the officer would get the seller to remove the gate that might not conformed to HDB standard, take a photo then have it installed back (but of course, if the buyer wants to take over the gate).

yup, 833 is considered very near to Interchange/MRT/Hougang Mall so valuation around 500k for most and asking close to 600k for some. Even Blk 428 which is over the other corner, also near to Interchange/MRT/Hougang Mall also asking for close to 600k. EMs in Serangoons usually fetches higher price cos its more centralised with CTE around the corner and not forgetting the up and coming Circle Line (MRT). I think Blk 609 440k quite reasonable at this point of time but heard the bubble going to burst soon....dunno true or not. Yup, Blk 609 got buses to MRT/Interchange/Hougang Mall so no need to worry. Its also near to Stadium, swimming pool. good luck.

hmmm....dont think it possible unless u know Hougang very well. Blk 140 series near Hougang Ave 1 (aka Lor Ah Soo) got EMs (got rubbish chute) Blk 230 series near Kovan Mcdonald as well as Blk 220 series opposite NTUC got EMs (got rubbish chute) Blk 312 Hougang Ave 5 got EM (unique layout, not seen elsewhere in Hougang) (got rubbish chute) Blk 440 series got EMs (got rubbish chute) Blk 610 series near Hougang Stadium got EMs (got rubbish chute) Blk 620 series near Bo Wen Secondary got EMs (got rubbish chute) Blk 570 series near Hougang Green got EMs (no rubbish chute) Blk 700 series near Serangoon Junior College got EMs (NB: some are HUDCs) (got rubbish chute) Blk 830 series & 850 series opposite Hougang Polyclinic got EMs (no rubbish chute) so u interested in which area?

their mutton satay very nice http://www.bbqwholesale.com/item.asp

now the price around there s everything gone up especially sand & wood but then for this price u paying...should go for hack & re-tile rather than overlay.

k, do let me see how the sellers organised the loo cos I'm still thinking which is the best even though already moved in for 2yr plus. yours also same layout?

huh? cannot la, cos i checked with HDB previously. The **** hole gotta be there lor. so are u going to reno that loo with shower area? How did the IDs proposed for the dry and wet area?

Hi Jessie, saw your floorplan on your T-Blog. Same same like mine, just a mirror image. How u find the common toilet upstairs? I just hate that stupid loo cos the WC right inside. Would be better if the WC is outside so can do up the shower area at the WC area.

since its already rod iron, u might wanna get it spray painted to a different colour of your liking.

what about crystal ball (those different colours for different purposes)? Just read from somewhere that the ball loses its 'powers' after something and had to perform some kind of 'cleansing' to 'activate' its powers again. Is it true?

wow...so happening recently. can even find neighbour here....heee......... looking forward to more pix. i lost touch...who haven been including in my signature on EM kakis can pm me.