purecat

In reality I think the role of the buying agent is not to submit documents ? For our purchase, our buying agent help us source the flat. The documents to HDB is submitted by the seller's agent ( usually via resale net ) and not buying agent. Hence I dont think he can charge you 1% at all. However did you sign any commission form ? Btw I thought now rules already stated that the buying agent and selling agent cannot be the same person for the same HDB flat ? Maybe worth calling HDB to check on this.

Getting Ideas From ShowRoom

Getting Ideas From ShowRoom[ A few weeks ago , we visited the stretch of Tiles Shop along Balestier Road. It feels good to check out these places to have some ideas of how current designs are like. More importantly, because I am visual, I really need to see for myself to help in planning. Today ( or rather Sunday since so late already ) we visited Soon Bee Huat's Showroom at 3A Toh Guan Road This place is really huge. The ground floor like a" mega mart of tiles". 2nd level will be the showroom which will give you good ideas of how you want to do the tiles for your bathroom, kitchen, living, dining areas ( Comes with furniture !) Really Cool ! Do check it out yourself ! After that we also went to Sunget Kadut to check out for new displays of Zen furniture ( we are transferring our existing Zen sofa set to the 5 rm ), followed by Star furniture ( which happen to be on sale upto 70% ) But it is really to early to be buying anything right now. Just window shopping really. Lastly we past by another tile mega showroom " White Horse " which specialises in Ceramics and Homogenous Tiles. Really an eye opener! Took some pictures and I am all ready to show to my selected contractor when I next meet up with him. Some pictures to share.

Oh really ! When you are ready create your T-blog as well and let's exchange some tips ! When's your 1st appointment ? We are more or less decided with our contractor. Just need to make some more fine tuning before we finalised the quote.

RENO TIPS Basis the result of 5 quotes ( 1 of them no news to date ), sharing what we know 1) Have in mind how you want to do your house. This is important. You are the one paying. ID or contractor may propose things which are not practical ! Ask yourself if you wanted them just to be nice or more importantly durable ? 2)ID will markup in everything. ( Tiles , Cabinets, doors, installation of accessories, etc . Well cant blame them especially since they created the design of the whole house, including things that will be FOC if you ask a contractor to quote) 3)ID marked up about 10 to 15% as compared to a contractor. 4)ID we sourced so far asked for 6 to 8 weeks for completion. Some contractor are able to commit 4 weeks . I think the rationale is ID will be coordinating a few contractors. Hence they need more time ! 5)Generally ID may not supervise the work as closely as contractor (ie. also provided you get a good one ). The IDs we have spoken to do not seem to be able to answer technical questions as well as contractor. Eg. Type of Sealer , Type of Plastering corners - PVC , Type of material use for false ceiling, etc 6) Always ask for a detailed itemised quote. That allows you to do a side by side comparision via excel ( Make sure you ask for similar stuff, otherwise it may not be really comparable ) 7) The biggest bulk of the quote will likely be the tile. Do check out the unit PSF costs. You may have a higher quote simply because the ID or contractor uses a higher price tile to quote you. That doesnt mean his quote is unreasonable. Homogeneous tile , so far all our sourced ID uses $2.80. Black Galaxy alone, some quote at $9, some $10, some $12. Ask them to separate the labour costs and the tile costs. That will give you a better idea when comparing quotes. 8)Casement cabinets are cheaper than sliding . Tracks cost $$ 9)Aluminium Windows are cheaper than powder coated. Remember if you do powder coating, be prepared for wear and tear in a few years. It will come off ( check out your neighbours who have them !) 10)Tinted windows are prettier ? but more expensive. Plain clear or black glass is cheaper. 11)Sliding windows according to one ID today is supposingly cheaper ?? I need to reconfirm this with the contractor we are going to use. Maintenance wise in the long run, this may be true. 12) Balcony Doors - Glass Frameless is the most expensive. Wooden Frames and Aluminium frames are comparable. Consider the material and the maintenance in long run. Will rain get to " rot" the wood ? 13) Matt White ceramics may turn yellow in years to come. 14) Kitchen walls and Toilet walls preferably get those with smooth surface. ie ceramic glossy finish. Easy to clean and upkeep than matt finish. 15) Homogeneous Floor tiles, avoid too rough kind. Very difficult to clean in the long run... dirt will trap in the " lines " 16) False Ceiling- Check out the sealer. Oil base ( more ex ) encouraged. Sometimes seepage from your neigbour upstairs or walls outside your flat , may result in dampness... your false ceiling in 3 to 4 years will show a " yellow staining ". Oil Sealer reduces the chance ( we think ) 17)Use PVC corners when plastering . Our current 4 room, the ID that did ours used metal..... They will rust in the long run, and your paint will come off. We need to repair + " touch up" ourselves in the end. 18) Veneer skin is better than laminate. Though they will " fade " in colour if exposure to sunlight for a long time. However your can varnish or laquer it and they will look as good as new. 19) Laminate comes with more choices in colours/design but may pop in the long run. ID assured laminates these days are better quality ??? Hope so since we are also going for laminate. 20) Some quotes may quote a lumpsum for electrical. In reality, each power point has a different unit charge. Ask for the unit rates. Take your floor plan to start planning the no. of heater points, light switches, SCV point, tel point, etc. Markup for ID appear to be $5 each 21)Some packages comes with toilet bowls, basins, heater fittings. Ask for the quotes to be broken into Supply and Installation. This allows you to check if it is cheaper to get them on your own. 22) Cupboards are charged by PSF. It doesnt matter how complex it is inside. The length determine the pricing. 23) All solid surfaces are made of acrylic ( according to the contractor we are going to use ), what differ is the brand name. To have a comparable quote, get the brandname and ask all ID /contractor to quote the same. 24) Hacking costs will depend on how many fixed cabinets, floor area, etc. Do be as detailed as possible. Else ID or contractor may underquote and ask to increase the costs later ( not sure ) 25) When you compare your itemised quotes closely, you may realise one forget to quote things you wanted. One of the ID forgot to quote the bedroom windows and window grilles ! 26) Be brave to challenge your ID or contractor if you see the the price is quite different. Eg. Hacking may be higher because some quote replacement of old windows under hacking. But some quote as Replacement & supply. Eg. Wall tiles pricing may differ because quote may be for exposed area only. Some may quote inclusive of area that contain cabinets. 27) Be thick skin to ask for free stuff. Ask for overall discount after finalising. Asked for Eg. Free installation of curtain rods. Free planks for living room . We asked for free planks for store room instead.

Thanks happypie. Still months to go but really excited about it.

Actually when u buy first then sell u will also face problems. For us we buy first because we are choosy with the flat facing + the shapes of rooms + the fact that we cant afford high COV ( not enough cash ), we have to slowly hunt down the flat we want and within budget. When you secure the flat you want, you need to time the sales of current flat well. Do it too slow, your money return too late. You need to fork out outfront alot of cash for renovation, COV + agent fee of new flat. May end up taking loan. Do it too quick, you may risk little time for renovation. Unless of course you are cash rich ( pay high COV ) + you buy a flat that come fully renovated . So my woes is your exact opposite.. If my seller like you cant shift out on time ,( I wanted 5 weeks 2nd appointment if not earlier the better) my renovation will be delayed.. my current buyers of existing flat will kick us also.. haiz. Chicken and egg... is a chain further down.

oops didnt realise there is a similar thread. Can i ask this letter is done before 1st appointment , during 1st appointment or after 1st appointment ? If not in a contra situation, will hdb agree ? ( on mutual agreement from buyer and seller )

I have some questions. Need help here. 1) What is the current queue for HDB 1st appointment ? Anyone recently submitted in Dec ? 2) Can agent proposes the date to HDB when submitting resale transaction for 1st appointment ? Say take the latest possible date. 3) If 1st appointment date is not desirable , can my agent ask for a later date ? 4) Assuming if the 1st appointment date is say 1 April. Buyer of my flat wanted 6 weeks but we can want 8 weeks. Who will HDB listen to ? Or HDB decide according to own schedule? We are concern on time left to renovate new flat so trying to delay the handover of my current flat 1st and 2nd appointment.

Was told by someone that if you are staying in hdb, two compressors are not allowed actually ? If HDB come to find out about it, they can request you to remove. so one more consideration if you are staying in HDB .

icic thks.

Shortlisted ID or Contractors 1) Decormark Design Pte Ltd ( JE) - Quote collected 2) 2form Interior Design Pte Ltd ( Trade Hub ) - Awaiting Quote, hopefully next week 3) Inspiration Living ( Upper Thomson Road ) - Quote Collected 4) Fuse Concept Pte Ltd (Sims Avenue ) - Quote should be ready next sunday. 5) Meng Design and Build ( Jurong West ) - Awaiting Quote, hopefully next week 6) Primework Solutions ( Tampines ) - Awaiting Quote, hopefully next week Today visited Inspiration Living. Basically this was the ID recommended by our neighbour who did his flat several years back. Basis first quote from Decormark, we already know quote will likely exceed budget because of the expensive granite tiles. Hence before the visit, we already asked him to prepare an additional quote to change floor tiles to homogeneous tiles for living/dining and 3 bedrooms. The diff is about 10k. Also visited Meng Design and Build in the morning. Ok another ID. I guess the pricing more or less around the same range. Late afternoon , we visted Primework Solutions recommended by a forumner ( Thks Jaden! ) . Looking forward to seeing Primework's quote since they major as a builder and their main customers are IDs and commerical/institutional work . Pretty impressed so far Fingers Crossed. Btw we learnt about one new type of "flooring". It is call sediment flakes , some sort of splash paint. Can be done over existing tiles / timber / walls or pipes. Now we are thinking if we should keep the old toilet walls and have it refurbish with this paint ? Anyone tried before ? Comments welcome ! Most likely we will do it for the balcony area. Toilet wise need more thoughts .... hmmm..... Once all quotes are ready., I am going to put into a spreadsheet and do a side by side comparison.

谢谢您。平面图已有。我还真的向图书馆借了好几本书。就差决定用那家装修公司了。我想也不会装潢的太复杂。因为这是第三次搬家。吸取了上两会的经验，会以实不实记为考梁。 btw my chinese actually also "limited company"... hopefully i chose the correct chinese words heehee....

Altar I like your altar design too . Sleek and modern !

那可要叫您等上一阵子了。最起码４个月。因为还没见ｈｄｂ嘻嘻。 真期待二三四月的到来呀。

because i am purely a cat lover. heehee. thks tomorrow will tell my ID to update the quote when we meet him for discussion.

From those FS books I read, sink and stove can be side by side BUT must leave a space in between. ( So long as not immediately next to it will be alright.) Stove means Fire, Sink means water > Water destroys Fire. Fridge represent water also. Same meaning as above. Not sure about b) though. Some believe that stove represents wealth . It is not suppose to face the entrance of the kitchen ( to living room ), neither to toilet. Otherwise risk losing wealth. The wall which the stove is ( behind the wall should ideally not be a bedroom ) Heard it is no good but cant remember why ?

Interesting . Can elaborate abit further ? So you mean if house facing is any of the 4 above, it is very good ?　Good in what ? My upcoming 5 room house faces South East but I cant remember is more to South or more to east. Though if you read most fengshui books, they will tell you that south facing and south east facing are the best. But it also depend on your GUA group. Basing your above, my current flat quite good also. Southwest facing. Think more to south also. 　　

May i ask what is this kind of window call ? Will want to get these for toilet windows as well ( instead of the one pane one pane kind. )

对呀，用不乐观的想法便是 “一起饿死”。我的同事车牌4444， 可不待表死死死死。 真正代表“ 事事是势” means every situation is advantageous. And he is really a lucky man btw. 做人嘛要乐观，一切变会顺利。有手有脚，如果肯努力，哪怕没饭吃呀。现任屋主也混得不错，屋子两架piano, 孩子有本是，现在大家搬进豪宅啦 ！ 7 福建人觉得代表财。 那你的门牌便是 赢财，依旧发！（hokkien pronounciation : gao huai! means easy to win !) 非常吉利喔 ！

Whatever happens it is good to realise the errors now then to dispute with the ID later. I am sure you will find a good ID to do your reno !

QUOTE (wolflet @ Nov 24 2009, 11:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi peepz, I've been browsing thru this forum but not really posting much. We have just acquired a 5rm resale flat in Jurong West and is looking forward to collecting our keys, renovating and moving in to our new home. I will post pictures soon once i got my image host account up and running. For now, I've been doing ID shopping even though my 1st Appt is at 22nd Feb 2010. A few IDs I've been to include; - Chew Interior - Innerview (IMM) - ** - *** Interior - * interior (Tradehub 21) - 2form (Tradehub 21) So far, we feel that Sky and *** looks most promising although their prices are on the high side. Will be meeting ###### Interior later in the afternoon. Will add more stuff as we go along. C'ya Wow what a coincidence. My 1st appointment is just a few days before yours ! Like you , we are also sourcing for a ID or contracting company now. We are also getting 2form to quote. Awaiting quotes, hopefully ready next week. Was considering Chew Interior but the reviews from this forum sounds bad?

Shortlisted ID & Contractors We have umple of time to source a suitable ID or contractor. So glad to have found this forum ( while surfing for ideas ). Suggestions welcome ! ID / Contractors 1) Decormark Design Pte Ltd ( JE) 2) 2form Interior Design Pte Ltd ( Trade Hub ) 3) Inspiration Living ( Upper Thomson Road ) 4) Fuse Concept Pte Ltd (Sims Avenue ) Just receive the quote from Decormark last Wed. Exceed our budget and we saw a few " markup " basis experience from our past flats . We will most likely check out a few contractors as well since it is still early. We wanted granite ( going for long term durability ) but not sure can afford or not ? Labour costs seem very high. Granite choices are limited. Alot look like " Ah Ma " Clothes Fabric print ? No wonder some forumner decided to hack their resale purchase that comes with granite flooring . If we do go for granite, ideally it should be the sleek colour black , but prices will be high... room will be dark... Anyway we are visiting Inspiration Living ( Neighbour's friend ) tomorrow. Already know roughly if we do Granite, will exceed budget, so we told the guy to revise another two sets, one with marble flooring, one with homogenous tiles. But honestly havent given up. We will try some contractors to see how much we can save as compared to an ID.

为何易财二世 ？ Chinese has an exquiste mind. We stayed in 8th floor before back in Woodlands. Generally , Cantonese will like our unit no because of the no 8 ? It was #08-68 . Think in a positive manner, it represents, 赢发又发. It definitely helped in our sales then. 2nd family viewing the flat and deal was concluded. That was like 5 , 6 years back. We shifted to Jurong to be nearer my parents ( west coast ) and his mum & siblings ( CCK ). Current 4 room contain nos like 3（升） , 2 (利）, 6 1 ( lucky ) Cool ? In our flat hunting, husband explained that his brother will never get 8th floor ? I asked him why. He mentioned 七上八下. Well human. We always have reasons to justify our choice and similary reasons we gave agents when we reject heehee. Honestly when we like the 5 room we are buying. It is squarish and faces an ideal fengshui direction ( Southeast ). Family that stay there are doing quite well ( evidenced by their photo displays in the living room ). We made an offer immediately after viewing . Husband actually made an effort not to highlight to me the unit no. It really depends on whether you are a positive or negative person.1724 viewed negatively will sound bad. We are hokkiens. Husband feels that 7 means 财 . So well it really depends how u choose to perceive. His mum and siblings were happy for us to . ( They were staying in 7 floor btw. ) So think in a positive manner. 1724 means Easy to get wealth which lasts two lifetimes ! 易财二世 Cool eh 　 ? Heehee..

Hi Kelvin , JE Ave 1. Think it should be 24 or 25 yrs flat forgot the exact yr of built. It is probably not as near as my existing 4 room which is only 400 m to MRT and walking distance to market. Now it is further away (900 m from MRT) though still walkable ... But i know my husband grumbled because food centre is abit further away heehee... but then there is a coffee shop mah ( self consoling, lolz )