garfy_ting

Hello! I'm juz gonna start my reno too, according to my ID some flats hdb allow hack half walls but some they dun allow.. Like for my case, they submit permit application for hack half wall it's rejected. Then retry again hack all the way down then rebuild half wall back up then approve le.. Ya PE stands for dunno wat engineer, if need their endorsement for wall hacking need to pay $500 -_-" n I think u cn build feature wall to hide the bomb shelter door, but I think depends on where's your bomb shelter.. Mine is along the corridor leading to the bedrooms so I feel it'll make the corridor too narrow if I build anything there.. So I decided to juz leave it then mayb I'll do a painting or something on the door to decorate it

Hi, just wanna share some of my experience with Straaten. I went down to chk out the free-standing cooker in Jun, the lady there intro me a model with a double oven and I really liked it. However, something fishy was that when I enquired about other models, nothing was in stock and she doesnt know when stocks will come in. ok, fast forward to 2wks ago when I decided to get that model she recommended, we corresponded through email to bargain abt price, and when we finally firmed up on the price, her attitude changed. I asked what if there's scratches or defects since its the last pc. She replied that there won't be any scratches cos the protective firm is still there, and it'll boxed up for delivery once I cfm. she then asked when I need it to be delivered. I told her that I do not have a fixed date yet cos my reno only gonna start in end Jul so we are looking at delivery probably ard end August. And she actually requested for me to make full payment if we need them to hold on to it "indefinitely". If I pay 50%, they cn only hold til end Jul for me. By then, I was really pissed off. cos if I say end August, it shdn't be considered to be "indefinite", and how cn I even pay up in full (it costs a freaking $3200!!) when I have yet to receive the stocks in good condition?? how can she guarantee that with protective firm there means no scratches? what if something happens along the way during delivery? they would have nothing to exchange with me and yet they wan me to make full payment?? then the best thing was next morning, she replied that her colleague sold off the unit!! Anw, I was keen to get La Germania cos my mum had a cooker from them and it lasted her 30yrs and it was still going pretty strong before my dad decided to change to something newer for my mum. But well, with such service from the agent, I'm not sure whether I want to get anything from them. It really makes me worried abt the after sales service, even though she said that there'll be 1yr warranty. After they sold off that unit, we decided to look elsewhere for my oven, so we found out from a neighbourhood electronic shop (my htb's family knew them for more than 10yrs) that the brand is pulling out of Straaten already! so that explains everything! why they are out of stock for everything, why they wanted me to pay in full amt and refused to let me pay deposit and hold til August. In the end, I bought a Turbo hob and hood, and a Brandt oven for $2660. And my Brandt oven is higher specs than the La Germania one

yup, the BTO that i applied is in woodlands, which is exactly where my bf n i intended to look ard for a flat.. the 5 room units are going for abt 250k-290+k, which is still below 300k.. i have also checked on hdb website for resale prices of flats in woodlands, it ranges between 290+k-350k, i think.. checked it quite some time back, so i dunno whether the economic recession has lower the price.. we have roughly factored in renovation cost already.. but that is something that will need to save over the next 2yrs, while the flat is building.. as compared to getting a resale flat, u will need the cash almost immediately.. i dun think that is very helpful for cash strapped couples leh..

hi there! im also VERY new to this forum.. but have heard of it in the past few mths as i try to get myself as prepared as possible in case im getting my new flat soon.. i guess we are very much in the same boat.. 1st time hme owners-to-be.. somehow feels a bit lost.. though have "shopped" for new home with my family before, but its still a very new experience cos im now "shopping" for a new flat to start my own family.. having some advice from pple who has being thrgh it will be nice.. well, i applied for BTO n juz got my queue no.. nt too bad.. but hope will be able to get something that we both like.. since we applied for the BTO in early Mar, my bf n i have been doing some hmework here n there.. we went to walk walk in departmental stores like Best Denki, Courts, Ikea, Harvey Norman, etc.. to do market research on the price range of furnishings and also to get a rough idea of wat each other's home idea is like.. this helps us in coming up with a more realistic budgetting on how much to put aside from nw til the day we get our flat (if we manage to get it this time round!).. but since nothing is concrete yet, we could only do rough estimates here n there.. but gd learning experiences for us though.. at least it makes us look forward to getting our own home soon.. i used to want to get resale flats, cos they are more spacious! but nw come to think of it, think its nt very realistic to do so.. cos the average resale price of a 5 room flat is abt $500k, vs the $300k for a new one.. even if u managed to find a resale flat with move-in condition, the difference in price of $200k will be more than enough for renovating your new flat n getting it well-furnished.. but then again, if you want to stay in a particular area, and u cant get a new flat there, then mayb got to settle for resale.. thats wat i will do at least.. gd luck in your hse hunting too!

heard stories from my frens n colleagues abt how hard it is to get a new flat in spore.. i guess im a lucky gal then.. first time i applied for flat in feb09, and i got queue no of 120, out of 185 units.. i think thats pretty gd considering there's almost 980 applicants fighting for that 185 units.. should be able to get a flat, juz a matter of whether me n bf will like it.. we r quite particular abt the facing of the flat.. nt so much cos of fengshui n stuff, but more cos we would like to avoid the afternoon sun! and there's so limited units in this estate that wont get the afternoon sun! think i will need more luck!!