seek_a_home

these suckers ought to be castrated... >

i think people who are not superstitous dont even read about feng shui. ANyway, if u dont feel comfortable with the house, get someone to audit it. If there is a need, do a simple cleansing ritual. The house may or may not be haunted. But if a simple ritual can put ur mind to peace, do it. Otherwisw, your mind will always be wandering. Even if there is no ghost, u probably will scare yourself constantly.

from fengshui point of view, wind chimes is actually a double edge sword. Can help or destroy. The fengshui mater i went to, he mentioned if i place one in my living room, it can "activate" a fortune channel, unfortunately, it will be an "insurance fortune". Not the kind of money i want, so ask me don't put it.

actually i dont find it offending to advertise here if the master is truly that good. There might be someone out there who really need similar help, and by sharing your experience, u might have just saved a few more poor souls.

like what blueocean said, do it yourself, don't get agents involved is the best good luck

it depends on the resolution u r going into for the fengshui. The "macro" Feng shui for the project as a whole must be good to start with. If you go into the "micro" part, then its another art. From your personal and family members' elements, their respective favourable directions (and if the chosen unit complement the favoured directions), shape of the unit ( dun chose 1 that looks like a pistol/chopping knife shape ), to furnishing like colours, dinning table position, your sleeping position, and from my gathering of info, the position of the STOVE is one of the most MOST important thing to note. U can have almost a perfect fengshui for your house, but a wrong stove position can potentially destroy all the good things that u done.

Take a look at the home and furnishing exhibition at expo now. Their system 3 inverter are all below $3k. Right now they are providing free installation. Class "1" is the common standard provided from most air con sellers. They are fire-resistant and pass HDB standard. The insulation i got , as part of the promotion, is the Class "0" type, where the material is better which are usually for industrial usage.

One way to do it is to organise house viewing yourself. Then inform an agent of your choice that u had found a buyer yourself. All u need him to do is to settle the paper work and u pay him 1%. Many agents will accept the job becos they no need to prepare and spent time to do marketing. And they all have contacts with lawyers. So paperwork for private property is really much simpler than of HDB. Depends on how urgent u need to offload. If u are willing to settle for a price slightly lower than market rate or your property is very popular, u can tell Buyer to partial pay the commission also. Anyway, people always say real property situation lag 3 to 6 months behind the stock market performance. If u follow the stock market, u will know how the property market is about to take place towards end of the year.

i saw on paper today a few brands on offer for system 3 is about $2500-$2700 now. System 4 $3300 to $3500 can get. Unless u get a higher end one like Fujitsu which is abt $3800 to $4000 which has a BTU level of 34.5k

There is an design and decor exhibition at singapore expo now. i got it from there. The range they offer are all about the same price for system 4. +/- difference is about $100 across the few brands.

inverter air con more or less are the same. See whether u lucky or sway kena a lemon, and the need to service periodically. all the best

hmz...not sure the exact unit. But it is near the small chinese temple built below a BIG tree. Few years back there was a controversy about removing that tree. It was retained after all. The 3 doors Mitsubishi model with the new graphite finishing caught mine eyes. I had roamed Audio House, Courts, Mega Discount Store and a few small time outlets, that shop gave the best offer at mid $700. Most of the places are offering mid $800 after discount.

I just bought a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries unit, so i sure recommend that also..haha.. But seriously, it's pretty good. Last time my ex-gf, now my wife, got this brand for her house also. And she don't even know air-con need to be serviced. It was left running for like 3+ years before it leaked water. And that brand was recommended by her then contractor who is also a friend. It was a single unit, still working strong at the 5th year mark, but was replaced to a Carrier System 2...which is....erm..not as good for us. So now we are going back to MHI again. According to the sales man, its compressor has one of the highest capacity at 32k for system 4; 3 x 9000 and 1 x 18000. It is suitable for flats with big living hall and smaller rooms. However for some, design of the air con is significant to them. If so, then plain jane MHI air con units will be out of the list.

Mega Discount Store has some good value LCD/Plasma for sales. However their fridge and washing machines are not very attractively priced. I came across a shop house electrical shop in Toa Payoh Central. Their fridges, with full warranty, are the cheapest. However they accept no card, no NETT no nothing, only cold hard cash ..hehe

If that is your configuration then u need at least a 28k compressor. I think Mitsubishi Electric StarMex is 28k. I just got a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at $3399 and top up $300 for 5 yrs warranty.

I think the best option is to approach the HDB officer, show him the relevant paperwork that that been done and seek his opinion of your intent. Technically the deal is done after 1st appt. IMO, your chances are pretty high of winning if u intend to sue. But the proceedings will take time. Never mind the lawyers' fee. Make sure the seller bear all cost of the proceedings. Check with your lawyer if this is possible if u win the case. If the agent make unethical approach to help the seller, u can sue him for not acting in good faith also. If HDB can validate your claim, write to ST forum and tell your story. Make sure DWG execute the transaction for you FOC.

Its from dealer. Best Tech Air Con

I paid 26K cov for my bishan 4 rm flat 3 months ago. 5 min walk to MRT/junction/schools etc. But it is in original condition. Need to overhaul the whole place

If can $ in hand can make more returns than the interest incurred ever year, then stretch the loan and use te $ to invest. If cannt make sufficient return to cover, then pay up asap

I just got my system 4 inverter from an Home Furnishing at Expo. System 4 all less than 3.5k

I just order a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries System 4 invertor at $3399. I think if ur house is big, u need to take into consideration the BTU rather than the brand itslf only. StarMex BTU stand at 28k, MHI compressor = 32k That extra 4k is helpful if u need to on all units through the night. I think for system 3, market rate is about $2700 to $2900 can get , system 4 $3200 to $3500 can get. Few things to take note: 1. Insulation material, are they using class "1" or class "0" . Class 0 is better material, commonly used by industrial usage, thus need better quality. Class 1 is basic insulation fire-resistant type. Both r approved by HDB one. Class 1 commonly used since cheaper. 2. Dismantling and discarding old air con (if any). Make sure they dont charge any of this or any labour. Suppose to be inclusive into the price. 3. If u are getting a resale flat, get them to give bracket FOC. It usually cost $100 +/- 4. If u are getting inverter technology, make sure u get extended warranty. My original warranty is 1 yr (all parts for compressor and units + labour) + 4 yr (compressor only). The chip board of the inverter technology cost $800 +/- if spoilt to replace. And its covered only 1 year. So i bought an extended warranty. For an additional $300, i got all parts,labour, transport covered for compressor and units, meaning if anything spoilt during the 1st 5 yrs, i spend $0 to get it repaired/replaced. I think its a decent amount to pay for a peace of mind for 5 yrs. Your ID will definitely get some referral $ from the air con guy.You decide whether he deserves this referral or not lor. If u buy else where, the coordination is no problem one. Once the flooring is done (before cornice andL-box), get the air con guy and your ID to meet together with u, and u direct them where to situate your units. Ur ID will say nice/practical or not. The air con guy will say whether can be done or not. Once settled, air con guy can start work right away for the piping.

no problem Buy and sell house is quite a tricky process. Important part is money management. Many people only focus on the affordability of the COV, but there are many hidden cost to it. By the time they realise, they need to take more loan/overdraft/cashline/readycredit...whatever there is available in the market.

U sell flat : 2% payable u buy flat : 1% payable Usually there are 2 scenarios to this case : 1. First, u got to ask the 0.5% means 0.5% for selling the executive flat OR 0.5% for buying the smaller flat. They will most probably tell u, if you let him help u sell your current flat and buy flat for u at the same time, he will charge 0.5% (instead of the usual 1%) for buying the smaller flat. He is most UNLIKELY willing to sell an executive flat, which is highly priced, at a 0.5% commission compared to the usual 2%. example : 1% of a small flat say 300k = 3k 0.5% = 1.5k ---> u save 1.5k, agent earns 1.5k lesser 2% of executive flat say 500k (very conservative here) = 10k 0.5% = 2.5k ---> u save 7.5k, agent earn 7.5k lesser which do u think it's a likely scenario? You can counter offer : tell the agent, i let u handle both selling and buying, but i pay u 1% for both selling and buying. U calculate, sure save more. He dont want to do, NEXT. Market so many agents, sure got 1 willing to do. 2. Unlikely, but maybe this agent focus on turnover than profit margin. He is willing to selling your flat at 0.5% instead of 2%, but most probably will want you to assign him the buying job at 1%. If this is true, snap the offer. However, if this is really the case, be cautious. There are rogue agents who prey on un-informed customers, especially the elderly. I know a colleague who sold aa Executive flat half a year ago without any COV!!!!!! And she still praise her agent very hardworking, highly recommended. PUI !!!! That agent must have told the buyer "hey! i got an EA, i can help u buy at value price WITHOUT COV but instead of 1% buying commission, u pay me 2%, ok?" If i am the buyer, i sure snap the offer. So what happen, buyer got it cheaper than market rate, agent earn 2% from selling AND 2% from buying of an EXECUTIVE FLAT, my poor colleague still thought she got a good deal. She was trying to sell since Lehmen bro collapse, but unsuccessful. But the moment got willing buyer, she just let go, din know market stage a "V" shape recovery. But i din tell her the truth. Deal already done, no point make her gek sim. Sell flat still must fork out cash from saving to pay agent. So bottomline is do your homework. Very simple one, just go HDB website check transacted prices around ur area, and add 10-20k to your asking price cos HDB transacted pirce history reflects prices were deal 3 to 6 months ago. Good agents usually will be more concern, especially for elderly, what happen after they sell the flat, where are they staying, with kids or what want to understand if currrent flat fully/partial paid so can buy a smaller unit at one shot without needing to take installment becos its hard for elderly to take loan After assessing its a possible job, then they make recommendations and then talk about commission last. Rouge agent will want to know how much they can make first. If they are satisfied, they will have 101 ways to make sure the transaction goes can go thru. Hope this help.

I thought we pay commission after 2nd appointment? Anyway i was lucky my personal friend was an agent and i got him to represent me for my recent sales and purchase of flat. His story reconcile with most people's comments; some/most agent are crook, one way or another. He chose to be an ethical one, but he says first 3 years, he really suck thumb for his sales cos good guys ended up last in this industry. But he is starting to reap rewards from 4th year on cos his previous clients appreciate his works; they either recommend referral to him or go back to him again. Actually one way of avoiding paying commission is to join an agency, learn the trade, and execute the transaction yourself. It's not difficult to pick up, and can save quite a bit. I actually did that But did not follow thru the course In the end still rely on my friend. Though got to pay the commission, i got a satisfactory return for my house.

sounds like a good deal