wroomwroom

Avoid JB projects as there is a huge oversupply. My JB friend told me only the Singaporean suckers buy the ridiculously priced JB properties. Locals will not even pay half the price for them.

Is buying from Taobao still cheaper than buying from online stores in Singapore for common items such as downlights? 4W LED downlights cost S$10 and 9W LED downlights cost S$15 from these online stores.

Depends on whether it is a new or old HDB and the condition that it is in. My friend just renovated his brand new premium 4rm flat for less than $20k and the result looks good.

For a unit this old, be prepared to change everything, including electrical wiring, aircon and water pipes.

You may need to monitor the reno so going on holiday may not be a good option.

They may run away with your money or they may not pay their sub-con after the job is done. My friend kenna before. The main con left the job halfway and owed a lot of money to their sub-con. The main con told the sub-con that the owner did not pay the main con, which was untrue as the owner managed to show the sub-con all the receipts.

For adventurous people, you might want to try to read home and décor magazines to get ideas, then engage specialized contractors (e.g. carpenter to do wardrobes and cabinets, tillers to do tiling and plumbers to do sanitary work) to do the work. You will be amazed at how much you can save by not going through ID. The IDs design but they normally engage these specialized contractors to do the work anyway.

Remember to use cheap paint for the first few coats then the expensive paint for the last 2 coats. My neighbour painted all coats using expensive paint (as he changed from original dark to light coloured paint) and he ended up spending more than he would have by engaging a contractor.

yafen.sg

The reason for the high price of custom made curtains is the high labour and operating cost in Singapore. Custom made curtains require more labour and overheads in Singapore.

For Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) items such as ceiling fans, sanitary and lighting items, my advice is not to go to the retail shops that the ID recommends. The ID gets at least 20% commission from your purchase and the prices are cut-throat. My friend learnt the hard way when he spent $120K to fully renovate his 5-rm HDB resale flat.

Don't bother buying lights from Taobao now. LED lights in Singapore are so cheap that they are comparable to buying from Taobao. I bought my ultrathin LED downlights for $15 each from a PRC MILF that runs an online store in Singapore with free delivery (cash on delivery) and 1 year warranty.