Nuar

Hi guys. I'd like to ask your advise on the following topic. We are married couple (no kids) who bought resale 3rm flat a few years ago. That time I was on EP (employment pass) and my hubby is Singaporean, so the flat was registered under his name (Owner) and I was listed as an Occupier. Payment was split about 60/40%: hubby pays by CPF, and I pay by cash. Now I'm PR. So, I'm wondering if it's wise to change my status from "occupier" to "co-owner". What do you think? Does it give any advantages/disadvantages in future? We do not intend to sell flat soon, maybe will be staying here for a long time, another 10 years or longer, but just in case I would like to check what can be the consequences of such a change to co-owner. Thanks!

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Hi, Seabass, Honestly, I have no idea about what kind of tiles are those bricks on the kitchen.... But those are not real bricks of course - the tile is about 300x200mm, it looks like a puzzle with a pictures and 3D effect of bricks. so, when tiles are laid, bricks pieces must match. This is a small sample of this tile (only a piece of it). The floor in the kitchen was about 10cm lower than in the living. We leveled it with living room, because we extended the dining area into the kitchen. But there is still a drop in kitchen area (tiled space). My contractor told that it the level can be increased everywhere in the kitchen - only then you they will need to make a higher "step" in the common toilet, coz it will become same level as the kitchen. I know that in some flats the floor in kitchen and living is already at the same level - so I don't understand why there should be this drop in other flats.

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Hi, Lyn, I'm using Room for Ideas for my 3rm now. my reno is 95% finished, but my blog here is not updated yet. Partial hand-over will be tomorrow, and touch up after CNY. I'll update pics once got more free time. Julia.

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oh, I see. Need to remind them to display then. Thanks for information.

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Looking on the toilet pictures - I'm wondering - how do they make sure that small debris does not fall down into sewege pipes? With so much trash on the floor - it's very easy to block the pipes... How to clean later?? And they didn't stick a HDB reno permit outside of the main door. maybe forgot? Is it compulsory that the HDB permit must be displayed outside? I saw it many times when passing by renovated flats, but not sure if it was done volunteerly or it's a regulation. Does anyone know about it?

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Hi, Dexufto, thanks. Yes, I can't wait till 5:30pm when I can rush from office to my home to have a look. Luckily I work only 20mins away from my new place. Yup, we are converting a squating to the normal McLaire WC. Even though my husband and I generally love "good old tranditional" stuff, but not to that extend. Hi, berry_surprise, Thanks for stapping by. well, I think this flat is still not as bad as some 3rm that they show on RenoAID. ))) Even though everything looks very old, but everything is functional, and no leaks or fungis was found. After all the ex-owners were the only owners of the flat (for 30 years), they are old couple and maybe were not able to take care of flat due to health condition, so can't blame them. (Actually they moved out coz mother couldn't climb starecase any more, and the lift is not upgraded yet). Anyway, we are changing everthing here, so it's gonna be totally transformed.

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Heheheh... yeah, I can't really check his drawers, but I think I know what type of drawers he means... I just want to confirm with him. I was thinking about not covering this part, but it will waist too much space in our case. So, decided to hide it under the bottom cabinet. Hope, that roaches are not fit enough to reach up to 13th floor. My drawing was done more or less to scale (can't confirm 100% scale, coz it was done based on HDB floorplan, and it looks that they give not inner wall measurements there, so I had to make some adjustments) According to it, I extended dining space for 3 meters. Basically, chopped kitchen in two. On the right handside remaining 3m are devidid between: 0.85 for fridge, including allowance. 0.85 for double sink, one of its bowls can be covered with chopping bord = additional work space. A bit of allowance from the window to sink, and about 1 m of working space. I was afraid it would be too little. Then i measured the space I'm using now in my rental kitchen: out of 3m of work space daily I use only about 1m - the rest is occupied by rice cookers, blenders, sause bottles, and some other stuff... So, it's not a matter of having a LOT of space, it's a matter of how you use it. Anyway, I will double check with my contractor if it's technically possible to make kitchen according to my drawing. If it is, I will proceed and since it was my idea, nobody else to blame except for myself, if it turn out to be inconvinient.

Hi, May_dream1, well, long living room - nevermind. If you really decide to go for open concept kitchen - it will make space more squarish. Alternatively you can just split living room into two sections, without phisically deviding the room of course. It will also be nice. hehe. Dream home is always too pricely somehow. I guess it all depends on how long you are going to stay in that flat - if it's a long-term purchase, it's best to make your home as homely and as high-quality as possible, so that you can live there comfortably for the next 5-10-15-20 years or longer. In my case, we intend to stay in 3rm from 5 to 10 years. So, will try to make reno as nice as possible, but keeping the budget to the minimum (but must not compromize on quality though).

Some updates: December 28 we had our second appointment. It was super fast - just sign one paper. To our surprise the ex-owner handed over the keys to us on the spot! By right we allowed them to stay 1 week longer to finish the renovation in their new place (they were doing contra), but somehow they managed to move out just in time. So, now our renovation may start a bit earlier. Not sure, maybe no - because our contractor was not prepared for such turn (neither were we), and not sure if he can re-arrange his manpower to start earlier. But anyway, worst case they start as planned - January 5th. Yesterday we went to the flat to look. I had a butterflies in my stomach when entering our first home! huhuhuh.... Thanks to ex-owners they left the flat totally empty and not messy. Just dust from under cabinets, that's all. The view from the window is a bit scary though (it's 13th floor), but I expect to get used to it. Other than that, I can't wait to start our renovation adventure!

Hi, 'May_dream1', Ok, I've been in Ikea, but it didnt help me to make a decision. )))) (actually I'm quite bad at making decisions, especially when you need to choose between two, and that's exactly the case!) Wire baskets are of course cheap, and quite deep, and the structure looks quite steady, but the rail part is not very smooth... It's not flimsy, but have some bumps when you slide it in and out.... Ikea also have pull out drawers (hidden behind the casement door of the cabinet), and those feel much smoother, but the price is much higher, and also they consist of some plastic parts, that doesn't look reliable to me, especially after you use this drawer for 5 years... So, I'm still contemplating. I'm meeting my contractor tonight and gonna ask him what exactly he means under drawer for 80 sgd, if I like what it looks like, and it has smooth slide in/out, I'll go for it. If not, I go for Ikea baskets. After all, smooth sliding maybe just a cosmetic defect, and may not effect the lifespan of the basket. I'll keep you updated.