vampree

i think you can buy a proper newspaper holder at Toyogo warehouse in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh ... also if u subscribe to Straits Time, dun they give you one ? They did for me ... my Today newspaper also end up on the carporch and when it rains, sigh !

with 1200 sqft, one can have a decent size kitchen/LR/DR and granny room on the ground floor. Granny does not need to go upstairs since all activities (eg) from car to her room = same level or dinner/toilet = same level etc ... hence you can do away with the cost of the lift and spend it on something else ??? i hope besides the $500K budget, you do have at least 10%-15% spare cash to tide the unknowns ? Else it will be massive headache when things go wrong ...

I doubt $500K is sufficient for the above or it is very tight budget .... My thoughts (no offence meant): * lift - waste of space and undue maint cost * 4 storey - why ? My present bedroom is on the 3rd and each time I'm at the driveway and remember I left my wallet or keys, my legs go weak or I rather borrow $10 from colleagues for lunch * For land of 2500sqft, depends if u like some garden space ... if yes, perhaps a build-up of 3000 (1000/level) ? If not, perhaps a 3600sqft (1200/level) ? * Depending on layout, 900 for the ground floor to squeeze (decent size) kitchen, dining room, living room, granny room, toilet and maybe maid's room can be a challenge .... Btw, 2500sqft not that small ...

i think they are used on many houses ... it is the inter-lock type that helps to ensure the tiles do not slip-off unlike the older Jap-design ... should be quite reasonable priced and amny colours to choose

Wat about The Windsor along Upp Thomson ?

I contact this person to repair my roof ... nice guy and charges are very reasonable ... i'll PM you his number.

think the 10-year cycle school of thought is over .. the "cycle" has narrowed down considerably, some saying 7 years and others even 5 years ... in any market, depending on your buying needs (rent or stay), there are bound to be the odd good-buys ... it's a matter of paying more attention to the papers, having good network of agent contacts .. etc

renting is not as easy as many deem it to be ... alot of factors to consider (eg) location, potential demand, amenities within/without, ability to pay-off mortage if unable to find tenant, tenant problems etc if one is thinking of using the rent to subsidise a huge portion of the mthly mortage repayment and has no $$$ reserve, it is overly risky and may cause undue stress.

Wow - interesting read Yoongf .. thanks for that ... Cookcpu - testing moments that can make/break relationship with neighbour ... hope things will turn out well for you and new neighbour ..

yes and no la .. some agents can be very i had one who was being led by the nose by 'potential' buyer and in turn he led me on a wild goose chase too sadly i led another agent on the same wild goose chase too .. (1) Ms Potential says will buy my place at my price (2) Happy agent tell me (3) Happy me tell new house agent (4) Happy new house agent agree price with seller then ... (1) Ms Potential disappears and backs out (2) Embarrass agent tell me (3) Angry me agent (4) Pai-seh me update new house agent sigh ... my reputation goes down the drain ... But to be honest, most time we, as consumers, rely on the sales-person (or agents) to advise us on the pros and cons ... maybe we are trusting in that we expect them to be professional ni their conduct and provides what is best for us ... but in the end, I guess we need to be a little more diligent in doing some ground-work and know as much as them ... Put myself in an agent's shoes, I will be pissed the black-sheeps in my industry is 'screwing' my rice-bowl. Some buyers/sellers can at times be more than a handful .. pay $x wld demand more than $x worht of service. But I feel that if one chooses to be in the service line and be successful, one needs that little bit more tolerance, tact and experience in handling pple.

Hi Archilles, Unfortunately this is life .. all contracts I know are skewed towards the service provider ... the smaller the fine prints, the more it is skewed ... and the more wary we need to be ... I'm out of touch with the ins-outs of HDB agents' contracts but when I was selling my place, I told the agent that I will only sell at my price and if this price is not met, no commission. In the end, I sold at lower price but it was a win-win in that I agreed to a lower price and my agent took a cut off her commission to broker the deal. A contract, service or not, is a legal binding document and very often (unless a very compelling reason) is one that binds 2 parties to an agreement. It's unfortunate you had a novice agent but on hindsight perhaps you should have known he/she is a novice along the way and/or had raise the 'alarm' to agent's agency about the lack of service/experience etc. Then the agency would have had to act to redress this shortcoming ... and in the end, if you wish to bring up a case against not paying the comm and/or paying less comm, you will stand a chance at any legal hearings. I understand at any tribunals, very often the person is asked if the the other party is given notice of his/her lack of action (goods or service etc), and if you have had made any attempts to rectify the situation. This will help to prove that you have made a conscious effort but the other party had rebuff and/or not atempted to improve. But when it comes to service (or non-tangible items), it is even harder. What is great service to you might be minimal to me right ? Just to share (though not housing related) .. I bought car that is 'advertised - in perfect pristine condition ..etc". I asked to send the car for pre-evaluation which I paid before buying. I paid the deposit they asked and even stated "subject to pre-evaluation" and when the report came back with a report that requires "immediate attention" and an estimated cost of $8,000, the fun begins with regards to the deposit to be refunded. They threaten me with legal repercussions ... To cut a long story short, i read up on small-claims tribunal, some legal/advertising articles and check with a legal friend of mine ... recorded down all conversations, made notes on the activities/calls exchanged and also some attempts to compromise ...They change my salesguy to his 'pai-kia' manager to deal with him and in the end, I just said "ok - see you at the small-claims tribunals". Within a week, the "pia-kia" manager came to him and said "His manager said this and that and we will agree to my terms" ... it's funny in that throughout this episode, I have asked to see the boss and was rejected. Solution - we split the repair bill 50%. I'm still a little sore but glad the whole episode is behind me ... take it as a lesson learnt and treasure my car a little more Anyway, sorry to hear about yr horrendous experiences. What's done cannot be undone and take it as a painful but valuable experience. Glad you shared so that others might learn. Throw this episode out of the window and move on the next trecherous one of dealing with renovation IDs and/or contractors !

wow .. 1.6m to rebuild .. din know it cost so much to rebuild ... for that sum of $$$ involved, should all the drawings, permits and legal documents not officially signed-off by a qualified person ? If yes, i believe this person must be responsible right ? It has become a case of misrepresentation of sorts ... why dun you go back and talk to the people responsible for the drawings and seek clarifications ?

erh .. take a look at the petrol companies here .... i guess as in any industry, the black sheeps + totally incompetent agents bring more grief/despair to the consumers than desired .. just like car salesman etc but sometimes as consumers, we also need to manage our own expectations right ? For some pple, by paying a fee, they expect to be served 24/7 and all things to trn out right but in reality things dun work that way right ? As a buyer/seller, i see an agent as someone who will for a fee, manage all paperworks and arrange viewing appointments and answering questions on property/housing legalities, housing area (eg) amenities, procs and cons of area etc and dealing with the seller/buyer etc. But ultimately the difference is: as buyer, I have final say on which house I will buy and how much and as seller, I have final say on which buyer I want to sell to and how much.

I believe in the long run, it is better to pay a little more for product & workmanship quality than looking purely at the lowest $$$. Someone who is skilled and experienced will be able to offer advices that will help blend both designer-looks and practicality ... These days, I find many designers overly keen on showcasing their artistic designs but when it comes to day-to-day maintenance and usage, it is a nightmare.

wow - seems you have done quite abit of research ... i changed my auto swing-gate and have not had any problem so far (touch-wood) ... but you are very right in that the weight of the gate will have a direct impact on the auto-system

That's about right I believe depending on material used which I assume would be a mixture of wrought iron and chengai wood. I believe a decent price range wld be about $3K +- couple of hundreds.

Murphy's Law: when we wanna buy .. it's Up and Up and when we wanna sell .. it's Down and Down ..

dis-honest reno contractors are just like parallel importers for cars ... if they get bad reviews or sued, they simply close down and open/register a new one .. the losers are still the consumers ... sigh. the saying "if it is too cheap to be true, then it is probably not" still valid .. but then who does not want a good deal eh ?

for really old landed houses, sometimes seller will sell based on the value of land (ie) disregarding the value of the house which sits on them ... but in today's inflated market ... i doubt there is any good bargain out there unless one is prepared to sit and wait ... about 4-5 yrs back, i was viewing a 3900sqft 30+ yr corner terrace which was asking $1.08m .. the bank value the price on the land alone minus the house ...

no website i think ... got his contact from someone and called him to change-out my system. As mentioned, no problem and easy to talk to ...

ok - i was refering to owner engaging pest control coy .. i rather do it myself than leave to main con as I doubt if it will be properly done for the price ... and there shd be written black and white warranty ...

For pple starting major renovation ... do budget in a good pest control treatment is highly advised. The work is messy but with good planning ... home-owners can get long term benefits.

Oh $4K is for the entire works .... I thought you did the garden alone for $4K ... the pest control guy i used said for garden/soil will need to setup/install traps/stations at specific interval in the garden ... Yes for tiles, they will drill holes and not sure how they will look like even after patch-up ...

Termite infestation is scary is it not ? Just goes to show how fast they can spread ... $4k for the soil treatment sounds quite expensive ... did you have to do quite large an area or simply install quite a nbr of those stations/traps ...

depends on what you need to do ... suggest to get a couple of quotes and you shd know what to expect ...