vampree

I think as long as gate do not swing outwards and 'cuts-into' main road it shd be fine. i doubt any swing-gate angle can be so wide that it cuts beyond the driveway and hangs above the drain.

A car's warranty will be voided if heavily modded - In fact some manufacturer do not even allow comestic mods ! I guess for basic reno without major 'structura;' changes, warranty shd still apply. But these days most units come fully 'loaded' and hence not much requirement to do heavy hacking/changes. My friend actually agreed with the developer to hack one wall when he moved in - so I guess it is possible but u will need to get agreement from developer.

did you get a reasonable quote from Michael ?

Can try Michael @ 96735085. He installed my autogate system 9swing) for me. Reasonable price. So far no issues with the system

at the end of the day ... i guess work within budget. If you are prepared to pay $x for the property, then stick to it. we can always begin low and work our way up till $x. if the agent wants his/her comm, then let them work for it ... but dun be 'bullied' or 'swayed excessively' by them ...

sometimes i believe it is the greedy seller who wants to up the price ... but my experience with agents is not very positive ...

kekeke .. house has potential to be money-spinning investment .. car guarantee loss-making one ... but i still buy and change car .... only after buying house lah ...

Suggest to tell the agent upfront the price you want and the conditions. Then get that cheque from the buyer ... my agent never got that elusive cheque and string me along until I gave up and told him off ...

Agree with above ... At the end of the day, there's a host of considerations when we purchase a property. Unless we are flush with cash .... choices will be limited by budget amogst others.

hmm .. wonder if we pass down debts to our kids . will the govt also 'want a share' keke ? leaving property behind .. i guess if one has been living in the house till death .. the condition of the hosue cannot be that bad ... anyway a landed place will retain a certain value ... for instance the value of the land ... so while it might not have been able to fetch land+house price .. kids will still be able to get land price ...

same same lah ... at the end of the day ... can make $$$ or not .. kekeke but a good forum is one where opinions/thots are shared and everyone agree to disagree rite ? TPY - my thot is that, at the end of the day, only we decide what is best for ourselves when we purchase our home .. be it governed by budget, location, amenities etc. Also if we want to leave our children cold hard cash, gold bars or house ... it's personal and and most of the time highly dependent on indv circumstances ... But I kinda agree with WaiLeong that our govt (fingers-x) are quite above board when they have to make unpleasant decisions ... $-compensation mighj not be the best but I guess it shd be fairly close to mkt forces although we all know mkt forces tend to be the next lower level from our expected prices ... aiyah, not happy now got STOMP wat ... encouraging more "compains" .... before i forget ... dun leave too much to kids hor .. else they will appear in news fighting over the millions .. kekeke

wazza ... dead dog in pool ... i always thot waking up in the morning, walking to the bus-stop to get to work and 'plonk' .. someone upstairs throw down a 'soiled pad' is bad enough ! yes - too many white-collared workers does not bode well ... not singling them out but when they are in a group and get drunk, they'll prob be brave enuff to do anything. one of my neighbour's maid was caught sleeping with a for.worker .. and got sent back ... i think we have become less tolerant these days ... i remember in my parents' flat, they know all the neighbours so well, left/right/up and down ... doors always open etc when i got my own place ... we hardly open the doors, only know the one on my left is Chinese and on the one on my right is Malay and the one right at the corner is Indian. Names ? Dun know ...

hmm .. i wld have thot having kids make it more prudent to get a 999property ? Means they will at least have a roof over their heads and/or some financial security when parents hit the deck ? yes - sometimes i envy those condos with amenities .. but maybe i'm getting old and less into crowds and jostling with them ... kekeke, need my space

For me .. it wld be 999yrs - i guess the price of such properties hold their value better over-time vs 99 leasehold. Also, depending on personal pref, I rather stay in an area that offers more privacy and less crowded ... if i want the crowd, I might as well stay in a HDB flat which is spacious, easy to maintain and typically near to everthing ... If i urgently need a loaf of bread in the middle of the night(now, why wld I need it then ?) or ice ... there's always the petrol station that I can walk to get ... When I look at properties like Kovan Melody or those with hundreds of units .. it shudders me to think of the parking, contention for amenities like BBQ pit, swimming pool etc ... although they do offer fab access to shopping/MRT etc ...

that's true ... but for the booming trade as it is now .. not surprise to see many jump on the bandwagon to earn some quick bucks ... therefore, a good agent can make/break your sale ... getting a lousy one will not only result in endles viewings with no closure not to mention having your property listed too long on the market ...

depends on whether it is owner-occupied or investment i suppose ... i mean if i'm buying a property for investment .. then perhaps it does not matter 99 or 999 ... what's key will be location and amenities.

kekeke .. my take on agent is "never believe them". As long as you have a sellprice in mind and they achieve it, then pay them. Of course getting more is a bonus and they shd get that little extra too. As a buyer, I will stick to what I can offer despite what the agent might have to say about the propective house. I even had one that used my house to sell my neighbours ! I din realised that he was marketing both our places... sigh.

agree with zirhk ... offer to pay minmial comm and higher comm if she/he can fetch higher price than what you are prepared to sell ... but i also share the thot that buyer (private property) dun pay agent comm ?

hmm .. reminds me of the agent I had which drove me up the wall, down the other side and plunge straight deep down into an ravine ! he simply refused to lower his commission to close the deal and can't even broker a deal between buyer and seller to compromise ... with such agents around, no surprise some 'super agents' make the commission they make ...

While mine has not given me any problem at all ... I bought my place almost 5 years ago (and it was about 7 yrs old by then) and it came with the solar heater. Until now, I have not had any problem except to changeout a leaking valve. But having said that, I find that products from yester-years are so much more durable and tough than many these days ... they are designed to break down immediately once warranty expires ! Not to mention workmanship ...

Instead of having multiple hotwater heater per bathroom, solar panel(s) are installed on your roof. The sun will heat up the solar panel(s) and in turn will heat-up the water-tank. Hot water can be used for all bathrooms and taps even in kicthen. On continuous rainy/gloomy days, owner can turn on the switch to heat-up the water tank if the solar energy is insufficient. A simple layman's attempt to explain ... kekeke Can goto this website "www.edwards.com.au" for more info ...

I think those are the shower floortraps mentioned by yoongf ... those shd eb standard sizes and can be bought off many hardware shops.

Agree that the speed of property prices rising has upset many ... but also I guess the number of instant 'millionaires' created by en-bloc fever also has a part to play ... I think there's still genuine sellers out there if one is patient and can expand the search boundary ... but of course the public tpt system, although efficient, sometimes leaves much to be desired. by driving, i take about 25min to reach my office after 9am ... 40min if between 8am-9am (because of jams) .. if by MRT/Bus, min 1.5hour

How much were you quoted for solar heating if I may ask ?

Oh, I forgot to add ADT ...