born_again

any idea if there's plans for lift upgrading?

hmmm...dont really get what u meant. Both my bathrooms are installed with ventilation fans and both using bi-fold doors. No problem using the fan and it works.

afraid that the seller will play play any trick? draft the agreement and do a detailed inventory checklist to ensure that they dont remove whatever is agreed to left behind

get from hardware shops (cheaper if the shop is located near to those old estate wet market). The latch can cost up to $15-18 if u get it from those shops doing windows and grilles. Whereas its just a few dollars to get from those at hardware shops but u'll have to DIY. U'll have to confirm whether its left or right hand open.

changing the laminates can be costly too and sometimes its just a difference of 1k. Try to get the carpenters to quote u both.

congrats. 113sqm is really big, especially when the new 5-rooms are only a miserable 110sqm. I think the layout of your block is the same as mine. Has HDB done the lift upgrading or in the pipeline as the layout of the blk makes lift upgrading not that possible.

Here's some info: 1st appt 2 Mar 2nd appt 5 Mar HDB 1st installment would be deducted in Jun Get both agents to draft out the agreement to let sellers stay for another month and since they would probably still hold on to the utility account under their names so they'll have to pay for it. Maybe u can just ask for the conservancy fees for that month so that the sellers wont take it that they can easily take advantage of u. Win-win situation. Everything done in goodwill as there are instances whereby some sellers 'damage' some of the things before the moved out when the buyers are mean to them. sellers have already reduced the COV by 50% so its really up to u whether u want to collect rental fee from them. I was ever in this situation years ago. Seller wanted to stay on for more than a month and the seller's agent (we didnt have any agents) also felt we should not collect any rental. We didnt know the market practice back then so gong gong agreed. Luckily seller found a place and pang-tang that she had to move out before 6th month of the lunar calendar so she only extended for a week after 2nd appointment.

Electrolux.

well, there's always bound to have problems in one way or another when we buy over a relative's house. Like what was mentioned above, defects dont really play a huge part in the outcome of the valuation as its more to do with current market trend, recent transaction records in the vicinity or estate as well as the number of amenities nearby. First n foremost, u may like to ask yourself what u intend to do if u decided to proceed with a 2nd valuation and the report came out showing that the valuation had gone up? So far, the valuation for HDB is more or less quite stable but market talk is that it'll be an all time low next year and it'll be a buyers' market. Valuation report is something that's very tricky and beyond our control. Previously when I sold my 4-room, the valuation was below 200k but 3 years later, when my buyers decided to sell, the valuation had gone up by 50k. They didnt even do any renovation and the kitchen had no cabinets as I had shifted it to my new place. My unit was on high floor, renovated and all the rooms were equip with built-in wardrobes but the stupid valuer took photos, wrote down notes and valuation was below 200k. A mid floor unit, original condition, no built-in wardrobes, paints on the ceilings for both toilets were already dropping but yet the valuation came up to 200k+. By the way,Valuations for both flats were done roughly the same time. Seriously dont know why.

u're the buyer for this unit? I was told that appealing would take sometimes and also difficult unless u can really prove that the valuer really didnt do his/her work like the cooker hob in this instance. In fact, most of the valuer snap photos here and there, take quick notes and would be out of the unit within 5 mins. That's just how they work as everyday they see so many units. u can re-submit and pay to get another valuation done. The difference might not be alot, it might be more or might be lesser as it'll depend on various factors like the market trend, recent transactions. Its usually more like a gamble when people do another valuation either back to back or just a couple of weeks apart. They valuers (usually are from different companies) also could not give very contradicting reports i.e amounts differs alot)

ya, i think need to scout around at NTUC Xtra. As for materials, if stated nylon then should be better ones as its pricing is at least $15 and above or even slightly above $20. If i remember clearly, OG also have. Remember to get those with the tiny metal ring at the top of the shower curtains as those without would tear easily.

my eldest son has plenty of these animals that came in the form of an egg shell and he'll fix it and admire the animals. Over the years, his collection grows and I always wanted to get a display cabinet for him as displaying it on open shelf means collecting dust. My 2nd boy also had some Ben 10 figurines that he wanted to display. Search everywhere including those selling 2nd hand display cabinets on the net but none was suitable and some were pretty overpriced. Luckily we got the perfect Ikea display cabinet and here's the pic now also saving up to get another 2 for myself in MBR to display some of my own stuff like Winnie The Pooh collection,snoopy,etc

Thanks alot. Talking about WIW, I still prefer WIW and this is the 1st time that we dont have a WIW. Sob sob. I love 'camping' in this renotalk as really learned alot. It was from this forum that i came to know that we could buy 2nd hand stuff from ebay, yahoo auction (now no more) and other online sites. I'm addicted hahahaha. So now, if I need anything, i'll search on the Internet first. Expensive and branded stuff doesnt mean its good and lasting. Something that's cheap can actually last u very long.

may or may not affect as it'll depends on how turn off the valuer who come to access the place on those cracks, holes on the walls etc. Most of the time, valuation depends alot on the recent resale transactions nearby and the current market trend. when i got my EM, the valuation was 50k more than a neighbouring unit though the neighbouring unit did its valuation half a year later and only need min. reno as sellers renovated it 2 years ago. The unit I bought was in really bad shape, wall tiles in the toilets were barely there plus the toilet floor tiles had cracks everywhere.

hahaha, ok. 3 bathroom all glass doors....nice nice. hey where u got your decals for yr kids? from online?

hardware shops, supermarkets like NTUC also have. Dont buy those that are too cheap as it wont last even a month. Hubby bought one nylon with metal ring at the top which doesnt torn so easily like the cheap one that we got initially. NTUC selling nylon ones for about $18++

confirm plus chop? No regrets? heeeee

hmmmm.....have u tried wiping it with detol or putting a bar of soup or even moth balls in your daughter's wardrobe? Or u can try my method. I bought Ambi Pur Mini Fresh that looks like leaf to hang it inside my wardrobe to get rid of the furniture smell. Dont buy this light green (vanilla) cos the smell is disappointing. http://www.fairprice.com.sg/ProductDetails...D=0000011008024 Thanks. We're really pleased with the grout lines final results as really sweat like ****. ya, this time round, I think we really planned our reno and we're also lucky that we only need min. reno which is the reason y we shortlisted this unit. We have gone thru actual reno once and we really dun wish to repeat our mistakes again. Our last reno was a major overhaul which not only exhausted our saving but we even took a reno loan. The past 3.5 yrs was living **** for us and the only way to slightly (yes slightly and not able to totally) overcome the situation was to sell our EM. We told ourselves that we would not take a reno loan for this new place and we would just get whatever is necessary first. Wanted to custom made the rooms wardrobes but we cant afford it. So we bought from hdb furniture shops and took over 2 wardrobes left by sellers. If its 3.5yrs ago, we would definitely had thrown away the wardrobes and tv cabinets left by the sellers even if it was close to 10/10 condition. Now, we're smarter as we 'fell' before. Life is really unpredictable and we had gone thru it and still in the process of getting out of it. We are trying our best to move on but its not easy as hubby yet to find a stable job. We're so thankful to have our parents helping us but we cant always burden them with our financial problems. We're still looking out for the light at the end of the tunnel and praying hard everyday. "To be happy, it doesnt mean everything has to be perfect".

so familyof4, decided on your toilet door? do PD doors have different range for different prices? IMO, its quite flimsy as tried it at friend's place. The technology is good as it could be used like a bi-fold door as well as turning it into some sort of a sliding door but the catch appears to be too shallow. My friend paid about $280 as he wanted something different from bi-fold door but already encountered few occasions when the catch couldnt hold the door and nearly dropped off. But he already master the skill to fix it back. Maybe u wanna try out the PD doors at the showroom and do some testing on it to see if it can 'survive' different levels of strength which you can anticipate when u eventually have guests visiting your toilet. I don't know why but most contractors dont recommend PD doors, they suggest bi-fold doors (different range too - the more expensive ones are those that r very quiet).

no la, i dont need to take reno loan and I have already renovated my place and moved in. Just KPO to see which particular company is tied up with RHB which u mentioned above. no la, the estimated 3k budget for plastering is indicated by me. I had factor in the scrapping away of the existing rockstone finishing for baconprorridge's wall followed by plastering. Estimated around 3k as I had asked around previously when I shortlisted a 5-room flat with rockstone wall finishing. In fact, i think some companies would shortchange us owners as my 4-room was given a 100% plastering to all the walls and every corner of it. When I renovated my EM, I realised that my ID workers didnt do 100%, merely a light coat to especially those areas that need to plaster. From my understanding, an actual plastering would really make the whole house super dusty. But I think as long as the final finishing to the wall is smooth then should be acceptable.

defects as in? For my understanding, i would consider defects as something to do with the house condition like broken doors, broken windows, falling wall tiles, etc. It might affect the valuation slightly but these are not what they look for which is y reno only carries a small % towards the final outcome of the valuation figure. Amenities, distance to town area and distance to city which is the reason y valuation for flats at Jelllicoe, Holland, Kim Tian, Queenstown, Bishan are so high.

HDB inspections are conducted before 1st appointment nowadays. If the layout of the flat u intend to buy differs from the original floor plan and u're worried about the approval and illegal reno then u can try calling HDB area office to check with them. Tell them your dilemma.

after sign OTP, submit to hdb for 1st appointment date then hdb would call owners up to inspect the unit. Nowadays very fast as they want to expedite the sales without delay. Just few years ago, inspection was carried out after 1st appointment and 2nd appointment date would be delayed in the event that sellers delay in rectifying what needs to be rectified as spelt out by hdb after the inspection.

wow serious?

we also found them by chance when we first moved house in 2005. We didnt compare with other movers as we thought we should give these ex-addicts a chance. They were very nice and careful with our stuff. In fact, we found them not that experience, probably they were new to this whole moving biz. This time round, we got a few quotes and still choose them as they were the cheapest n also very sincere. We're surprised that they are so experienced now. Really pity them cos they had to move the stuff 2 floors down from lift landing especially our huge side-by-side fridge n the marble table. Bravo to them! They really did a good job. On that day, we couldnt get everything into one load and had to get them to make a 2nd trip to really empty our old house. The most senior fellow gave us a reasonable quote for the 2nd trip. There are many movers in the market and I'm sure Helping Hand is one of the few who provides good service. We ordered curry puffs from Old Chang Kee to be delivered roughly the same time as when they would finish moving our stuff and also got drinks for them. Hahaha, they still remembered they helped us move to our old place in 2005 cos we also bought food and drinks for them.