Bunnymummy

Whoops! I dunno why leh, I go and check maybe my inbox is full Sorry, just cleared my inbox, it should be okay now. Thanks!

Wah.. I guess he is the only one offering that idea issit? Okay, all the best! I hope it goes well for you, will be excited to hear more details as I only spoke to the boss on the phone!

Oh dear! That sounds so annoying. Well lots of us seem to be sourcing for builders now, I'm sure you will find one that will suit you.

Hey TS1, I've been calling builders left right and centre for the past few days. I just found one who told me that he can build me a brand new 2.5 storey house 3500 sq ft GFA for 800k thereabouts! He is an architect by profession but he fronts a one stop design and build co. I believe this is because his company has "template" houses which they just adapt to your land shape. I'm actually sort of okay with this cos I quite liked a few of his templates anyway. It certainly is one of the cheapest quotes for full tear down and rebuild that I have obtained thus far! Yours seems very reasonable too if its truly $800k for new erection. PM me if you would like the details of the co. I am not sure what the forum etiquette is for sharing details of the builders so shall play it safe since I am kind of new. If you don't mind, would you also let me know who you are considering? That's if you don't have a problem with it of course.

Hi TS1. I've gotten some estimates from a few different "one stop shop" design and build cos. They have told me that for a final built up for 4500 sq ft approx (conversion from 2 to 2.5/3 storeys and work done on 1st and 2nd floor) A&A/reconstruction costs between $500-$800k. There's some variation depending on the company, will need to explore it further once I actually purchase the place. If tear down and rebuild...seems like it will cost between $800k min to $1.2m onwards. Do share if you come across any good builders too! I have not found any that can quote lower than the above.

Lauer: Thanks for your views. I guess my thinking re looking for big land size is that ultimately whatever is built on the plot may disintegrate over the years but the land will remain forever as it is freehold. Plus a semi-d will be a better classification no matter what. For long term investment as well. Sadly trying to get the best of both worlds... to get a decent land plot and to obtain a livable house on it, with long term investment potential. If the guy next door wasn't going to build a huge home, I would be more likely to just do minor reno and move in. Even the ceiling height is fine to me, just need some reflooring, fixing up toilet and kitchen and moving some interior walls etc. Although the current structure is not very large, it's currently just my hubby and me and my kid so it's still sufficient room for our small family even if there's a plus one in future. But I can't stop myself from feeling like if I'm gonna spend all that money and wind up with a house which looks squashed and small next to the giant work of art next door then I will feel less satisfied with it. I can probably scrape up the money somehow to do even a $1m rebuilt exactly the same as neighbour if I REALLY want to but we will feel very pinched and heavily indebted... hence I am questioning whether it is really necessary to do so.

Architural and Professional Engineer submission to URA and BCA.Inclusive SIP/DIP plan charges. 36,000.00 Pre-Topographical survey. 1,300.00 Post-Topographical survey. 590.00 Site survey mark out by surveyor 570.00 Pre and post con sewer CCTV charges. Exclude repair if required 4,000.00 Would anyone be able to tell me if the above charges are reasonable? I read in another forum thread here that the submissions etc is around $30k? Also is $17500 total reasonable for site clearance? Very appreciated. (P.S. Electrical works for the house - quote given was almost $54k... OMG. Is this for real? I feel so sad.) (P.P.S. Any kind and helpful souls willing to help me take a look at the detailed quote? Pls PM me if you are willing as not nice to spam the whole thing here.)

Hi Yunn26, how is your project going? Did you pick the quote you linked above in the end? Do share!

Ooh... really? I didn't know. Yes I noticed that a lot of the "new" houses around the area look similar. I just did some CSI now that you have told me that. Checked Google maps... the address is 689 Changi Rd. It's a sort of triangular/rhombus shaped plot of land right next to Esso station! Don't know leh... I'm not fond of odd shaped plots. (Also the builder is called Mint Design... haha! Listed on the board, Google Maps street view was when it was being built.)

Heh I saw this on Property Guru too. A lot of agents marketing it. Looks not bad but a bit out of my humble budget. I might go and take a look though, it looks like the location next to petrol station like you said which is not really ideal... also might be odd shaped plot.

Haha! I believe I went in to view that one. I don't think it's the same builder but nowadays it seems like a trend to have super high ceiling! If it's the brand new one which is currently for sale, land 2700 sq ft or so then that's the one that I have viewed. However, after thinking twice we felt that the land area was too small for the price that they are asking even though the house is brand new and nice. The neighbouring house next to the one I am eyeing is not yet completed. In fact, they are just starting construction. Thanks Yoongf for answering my qn. I guess I will mention it to seller anyway just to make things clear.

P.S. Lauer... I would be super happy to find a decent plot of land at $3.5m to redevt. But then.. I also don't have $1.2m to throw on rebuilding a nice big house! Lol. Too bad I did not think of starting my search some time last year.

Wow, thanks for all the perspectives! Very grateful, I learnt a lot from this forum. I just spoke to the neighbour's builder recently. He informed me that if I do not do a full rebuild and just do a reconstruction with adding a 3rd storey (to somewhat match the height of the neighbour's new building - cannot match 100% because neighbour is making his ground floor ceiling super super high at 4.5m!) would be approx $700k vs $1m for rebuild. I guess that's just a ball park figure cos depends on my interior finishings and how much changes I want to make to the interior walls/any extension to the sides etc. He says I can expect around a $30k savings or so if I were to engage them to do my unit at the same time as the neighbour's and not much more. :| I do have an important question I would like to seek any advice on if possible from all the more experienced folks here. I was shown the floor plans of the 2 semi-ds which was obtained by the builder's next door. I noticed that the backyard and living room in the house has been extended out in the house I want to buy but this is not shown in the floor plans. Does that mean that they didn't get approval to do the extensions?

Thanks for your views, appreciated. Yes, that was my thinking too. I am only looking for a semi-d or corner terr with a decent land size. So many on the market now with small land size (e.g. 2100-2500) and selling for so much due to big build up. Lauer, I would like to find a single storey old house to tear down too but I can't find one where the price is right. It seems like lots have the same idea as you. My ideal situation is honestly to find a decent house, >3000 sq ft land, at least 4 BR that is liveable and just do it up to my liking with minor works. But hard to find too. Very tired of the house hunting... sigh. Got a lot to think about! I will persevere in my search!

Hi! Thanks for sharing! I totally agree with you on your viewpoint! I might PM you eventually to find out who is your constructor, do share if you are happy with the job he has done for you! It's so hard to resist trying to "keep up with the Joneses" but with the prices of landed property nowadays my hands are tied unless I want to give up on the idea totally and just get a bigger condo to move into.

I read the next thread too.. but think that lady is using a famous award winning architect and probably going for higher end finishings. I'm prob going to be much more conservative and boring... just average stuff can already, my only must have requirements is marble floor and a really nice kitchen! I like simple and clean lines and I think will be fine with a simpler and efficient design.

By the way, if you are the neighbour who had already designed your "dream house" would you be pissed off if your new neighbour decided to copy your facade design? Might be quite paiseh... like no originality like that.

Wow, $1m is considered cheap for a new erection? Oh dear.. perhaps I need to do more research. The company that is handling the neighbour's construction is a one stop shop (design and build) type co. From the drawings sent, really looks very impressive leh. But I don't know, it must be much bigger than the footprint of the current old house which explain why they wanna tear down instead of reusing the old structure. I'm also quite confused.... Looks like I may have to consider other options... very sad. I thought that I would be able to do a straightforward A&A with no fancy pool or whatever for around $500k. Btw, I asked some banks about construction loan today. They informed me that interest is around Prime lending rate +2%, depending on bank. Thanks for all the views, very kind of you guys.

Hi, I am seriously considering purchasing a old 2 storey semi-d and was planning to do some A&A to add maybe an attic and revamp the interior, maybe move some dividing walls around. Thus I expected that my budget would not exceed $500k even if I wanna do till it's really nice. Now I found out that the next door semi-d which is the other half of my potential house is going to tear down and build to 3 storeys! Saw the drawings and it is really nice and very huge. Now I think my potential house might look less attractive compared to the new one next door (currently it's in a similar or worse condition). I have called the builders for the house next door to check and they said my potential neighbour is spending around $1m or so. That's quite out of my budget considering that the price of the house is already quite a bit at this time. My question is, should I stretch my finances and consider a rebuild too so that both house will look as nice or just stick to original plan? And a further question, does anyone have any idea if I can save money by using the same building company? I am quite lost! Thanks in advance, from a complete newbie to landed property/major reno. (Forgot to add, the land size is approx 3500 sq ft.)

Hi David, you are most welcome! Thanks for the job well done. @Streamatic: you can contact David or Jim for a quote at 91279454... dunno if they check this forum often. Very nice guys! Good luck!

If you have the time, contractor will def be cheaper. ID quoted me $30k for my new condo (no hacking or wetworks, just for built in and false ceilings!) which does not include lights, furniture, painting, curtains, appliances. I got a few ideas from the IDs then I engage my own contractors to do the built in etc and I spent only $9.7k on the reno works. Total was $35k including all lights, fans, whole house furniture, painting, curtains, solar film and appliances.

I ended up using 100% recycled plastic decking instead (which has colour and texture of real wood). Happy with it so far as it withstand sun and rain with no fading/shrinkage and even my pets pee on it and can be wiped off with no stain (it's completely non-absorbent). 1.5 months already and so far so good. After calling around the price of it was cheaper than WPC by a lot and cheaper than quite a few of the Chengai wood quotes too (those from reputable cos).

The decking looks v close together in my pics but so far I have no problems with water draining thru the boards.

Have you considered other alternative to chengai wood? Wood is vulnerable to termites, cracking, fading and so on. For myself I chose recycled plastic that looks exactly like wood, very beautiful and neat, no need to restain every year, more eco-friendly and very durable and lasting. If you are keen you can see my pics on the forum thread here: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41775 I paid quite a reasonable price for 2 balcony planters totalling about 115 sq feet. Around $20 psf. Good luck in your search!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.