carol

Started reno on 30 April (dismantling all the built-in cupboards) as my mil said must be before "Qing Ming". But hacking only started on 5apr as the u-home admin applied for the permit late. So far on schedule, yesterday went to U-home to finalise the colour of laminates, shelving of wardrobe etc.

We took the loan from OCBC but not sure the lawyer is appointed by HDB or OCBC.

Had my 1st appt (flat that we're buying) on 24 March and officer in charge asked how long we want for completion. We said asap and she put as 5 weeks. Then we went to lawyer office and they said they can only do 6 weeks earliest but if we pay cash for legal & stamp duty then can 5 weeks. As we wanted to use all cpf, no choice but to complete 6 weeks, so 2nd appt is 5 May but we don't have to go down, only seller and agent will do.

Dec09 : We sourced for the resale flat ourselves and didn't know that we have to pay the seller's agent commission but because we really really like the location, we offered our price on 1st viewing. He told us about his commission and we agreed (we were 1st timer in resale buying and didn't know that we could have just not agree to pay). Anyway, he managed to secure at the price that's agreeable to both seller and buyer. His explaination regarding dates, loans etc were very clear even though he wasn't our agent but his sincerity won us over. When it was time to sell our flat, we asked him to be our agent as we trusted him and also we negotiated his commission. So in the end, he earn both sides from us but we are very happy with his services. Though the total commission we'll pay him is quite high, but we feel he deserves it and like us all, he needs to be paid too even if the work is deemed simple (though cumbersome).

We chose U-Home too and signed the contract end Jan-10. Reno started today and fingers crossed, hopefully everything go smoothly.