delirious_jeff

Neither, DIY the rental. Tenancy agreement, you can find various samples yourself on the internet. If you are not comfortable about drafting the TA, you can hire a lawyer who shall probably pull one from a existing template. Bear in mind, the tenant may want to make some changes to the terms and conditions of the TA. You can obtain past rental data of the apartments/condo from www.URA.gov.sg. This will aid you in deciding how much you want to rent out the unit. The reasons why I chose to DIY. 1) When bad things happen, property salesperson is never around. Once they paid, they vanish till a year or two later just before the TA expires. 2) Lawyer services are not cheap. One advice: take the security deposit and 1st month rental in cash!

Payment of rent is on time!

Just got rid of a family of 4 non-paying tenants, a Malay man with NRIC S14XXX98A.

I am also looking for one. Any good recommendations?

I too am looking for professional cleaners. The kind where they will clean a unit thoroughly prior to moving in. Any company to recommend?

Is there any website where we can find out if the seller/owner of a HDB aprt is bankrupt?

You need to read thru' all the documents. At what stage of the purchase process you are in? Why did you request for a revaluation of the valuation report? Was it because it was expiring? What extension of stay are you referring to?

Contract template you can obtain by googling for it. There are many samples to refer to. It is in the advantage of the tenant to get the agreement stamped. If the agreement is not stamped, they can evicted anytime. http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=8578 Remember to get one month advance as security deposit.

Contract... you mean tenancy agreement, right? Was there a tenancy agreement stamped? If tenant defaults on payment, you should get a writ of distress from the Court. Remember you are the landlord, you own the apartment so you have the upper hand. What was agreed in the tenancy agreement?

My opinion... Good agent should advise and accompany the seller to SP services located in HDB hub to terminate the utilities account at specific date during the first appointment. Good agent should advise and accompany the buyer to SP services to re-activate the utilities account. Renovators need water and electricity. Also, agent can also help to purchase the fire insurance while the seller/buyer wait for their turn. HDB will do the HDB inspection to check if there have been unauthorized/illegal modifications to aprt and call the buyer to inform them the outcome. Final inspection is up to buyers and sellers. This is because final inspection should be carried out after sellers have completely vacated from their flat. Coordination effort can be done by their agents or themselves. If everything the buyers have to do themselves... engage agent for what? If buyers have to engage an agent, at least get the agent to chauffeur you guys around to view flats. Cos after the signatures are penned on the comms agreement, you have pretty much agreed to pay them and some of them kinda provide lousy services after that.

Are you selling?

You signed commission agreement? If you have, you lan lan have to pay him even if you terminate his service.

I think you need to spend time going through the sat papers, making calls and visiting those apartments for sale. Don't worry about wasting agent's time or owner's time? Allowing potential buyers to view their apartment is part and parcel of selling. I don't think you should make your $10k offer but you should ask for the COV that the seller is asking for. Eventually you may have to contact the seller. The seller will have to be willing to wait for the exclusivity contract before they can transact with you. Good luck!

LRT, mistake or not... I don't mind having that running around my neighbourhood.

Just my experience... Most Yale cam lock turn in one direction so cannot use. The moving arm of some cheaper locks used for locking drawing may be too long for use in the letter box. So, need to saw off the excess portion. I think the simplest way to change letterbox lock is to check with your town council first (see link below). http://www.amk-ycktc.org.sg/index.php?opti...2&Itemid=62

Any feedbacks/comments on ABB brand of switches?

Luckily, most of us bought a flat when the prices were low. Hehe... Too bad for the younger generation of Singaporeans.

Here is my advice... 1) buy direct for HDB and use CPF for the repayment of housing loan. No cash payments are required and save up on the cash. (not sure if possible now, but it was possible for me back then cos HDB are dirt cheap then!) 2) after 5 years of MOP, use the saved up cash to buy a condo and use that for speculation! hehe....

Condo in "ulu" sites provide their internal feeder bus service to nearest MRT station... typically (not always). In my opinion, if you belong to the "sandwiched" group, earning more than 8k but less than 10k, buying a "subsidised condo" apartment seems like a good deal. If the EC is near MRT, that EC is a "must have!" Still, I think you need to consider if repaying the housing loan is well within your financial capability factoring in the uncertainties in the economy these days. Just to share... A relative of mine bought an EC near a Seagate plant way up north some 10+ years ago. After selling EC, repaying the outstanding loan (which remained a lot), they are now renting out a place to serve out a 30-month period. After renting out a place for 30 months, he complained there would not much cash left and he betting on the property prices to drop soon. Nevertheless, he is thankful that he is able to transfer the debt (interest) incurred to the buyer.

Yes, I think you should make a trip down to HDB and clarify. Sometimes a face-to-face discussion is better than many emails and phone calls. You may want to ask HDB if the newer apartment under SERS is offered to Owner Y with a brand new lease of 99 years. In my opinion, owning a HDB is like owning a car. The initial value starts depreciating as the remaining number of years of the lease reduces with each passing year. Obviously, it will very good if the new flat comes with a brand new lease. You may also want to check how CPF monies is used to purchase the current HDB flat. This shall probably determine how much money needs to be put back to the CPF if you want to take the reimbursement. Assume Owner Y is more than 55 years old, some minimum sum needs to be placed in the CPF, which would affect the next apartment purchase. Good luck!

You need to see first what the unit is facing, which floor, age of flat, etc. I think maybe one of those high floor units unblocked facing the reservoir.

Think an agent representing the seller can ask his/her partner agent to represent for the prospective buyer and get the partner agent to share the buyer's commission. The more effective way, I think, would be eliminate the need for the buyer to pay commission. Only seller shall pay for the commission similar to how it is practise in private property transactions.

Guess some things never change. Do the agents now still do those "secret" COV stuff between sellers and buyers now?

This EC is next to Lilydale, right? Quite ulu, don't you think?

One word of advice... (something I learnt myself) If you intend to sell your own HDB by yourself, get another mobile number and use that number for this purpose only. When you put up a newspaper ad, make that looks like one that an agent would put up, e.g. end the ad with "OT" or "ERA" or "PN". Once you put that ad, many many many agents will call you.