chronograph

You have your answer. Go for it. As for the clementi one, better check with your lawyer what are the possible outcome? Will you end up have 2 units?

70k reno, u must have overhaul the whole unit right?

6 pax, 5 room ave around $135 without aircon, 170 with aircon.

Seriously, your choice is pretty clear, u have to ask yourself whether u like the unit? Offer if u r really sure about it. Besides, your earlier purchase, what are your options?

conservative guess around 600 to 700k?

You know ah nie house very colorful, good for kids.

The approach is good if u r really keen on buying the unit. Like i was keen in an EM in Bukit Gombak, high floor, unblocked view, need only minor touch up(15k at most) cos unit well maintained, NS facing, near amenities etc, only draw back is loud track noise from MRT. The seller said cov nothing below 50k. But i only willing to offer 40k because of the noise but in the end i up it to 43k and signed a 1k cheque for seller but seller did not break so no deal. Thus it is a mind game played on the seller, if the seller is desperated to sell then u would have a upper hand and it might just work when seller see $$$.

Guess we belong to the same era. I was also looking for a EM in 1998 but u told the story already. In the end submitted my application for a new 5I in JW. Waited for 1.5 years before they called me up for selection. At that time it was like no body wants JW, so queuing was not a issue, got to select my first choice. Like i said have to salute u cos i was hunting for my EM since dec 07, it was like so disappointing and frustrating cos the cov was really high, got turned down by so many selllers till i questioned myself was my cov low? And there were like a few families viewing the unit at the same time (agent plot again) which turned up the heat. Well, cov < 50k is what i intended to pay, anything more i will walk. I'm lucky to have bought my current Em as i was the 2nd viewer and offered immediately so not much competition. Otherwise i would be walking around again.

1k in cheque paid to who? I guess your agent is playing a mind game here, probably the unit is not being offered as claimed by him. The 1k should be part of the 5k used to exercise the OTP. Thus, this 1k should be made payable to the seller and not a cash cheque. What u need to do: 1) Signed on the OTP, make sure that the unit address, name of seller and selling price is stated clearly. 2) Cheque pay to the seller. Behind put "1k used for OTP on unit xxxx" Now as for whether it is worth it or not depends on u. For me i will decide based on the direction, which floor, amenities etc, reno is the least. U might not like the theme/design but u can redo on your own.

Not worth it. No harm offering at valuation price, u might just get lucky. They will probably turn it down, check back 2 weeks later, if the unit is still in the market, ask your agent to make last offer of 5k cov. Then take a wait and see approach.

From what i know, there ain't many EM on the market for sales. So you have to ask yourself whether it is the one? If u miss this, when will be the next chance? Next year? or 6 years later like hello88(salute u man)? For me, if i'm buying not for investment but as a home, i will go for it if it is really the one.

One word - Swee Love the stair way. From the pic, am i right to say u have a open concept kitchen?

HDB webby reflects sales price with COV. Besides, it does not differentiate EM and EA, all classified under EXECUTIVE. U can tell by looking at the block number and st number.

with 40k cov i will choose higher flooring.

Already bought, don't think too much. Hopefully it is not to noisy cos u mentioned facing main road. Besides, u wanted to upgrade in a few years time and maybe by that time the trend, taste and selection criteria changes? My sister a property valuer said EM no longer in production so making it rare and thus command a certain value. Of course that is only one of the factor to consider, there are a lot more to look at also, like age, location, transport etc. For me, i will be staying for quite a long time.

I will only pay high cov if it is high floor, unblocked view, good location, good reno condition etc, like most people would want! If there is none, difficult to ask for high COV.

Renovation is the least to consider to the valuer. Take for example, i viewed 2 units on the same floor in BB, one was heavily tenated and the other designer deco and their val is only 5k diff. Renovation u can change, but location, floor, direction, transport...etc cannot or rare to change.

It must be a heavily tenanted unit, i have been to one. Super cramp with all the partition in hall and even in the toilets. Super smelly cos the ventilation is not good. The owner has the window all sealed up. The seller asking for cov 50k that makes the unit selling at more than 1/5 a mil. I will not even consider at val.

I think lawyer fee around 2k. I'm taking the loan from UOB @ 3.08% with a locked down period of 2 years. I'm in the safe zone, will not hit my AWHL even with 15 years loan but i prefer to finish my loan earlier. HDB with private loan is @ 120% for AWHL.

I will be staying in my EM for long, guess easily more than 6 years cos there are a number of primary schools around, so can save on school bus fees. My eldest daughter going primary 1 next year.

There you go: - U sold your 5 room and bought EM right? sell high, buy high? Yes. I guess consider sell high and buy high as my neighbor sold their at 290k 1.5 years ago. I sold my at 358k, val 330k cov 28k. I bought my EM at 415k, val 375k cov 40k. I think it has not reach the peak yet cos my seller sold at a lost to me. Heard the HDB officer told him to top up balance into CPF on closing transaction. - U didnt take HDB housing loan for purchase of EM? Thanks to HDB 8k ceiling, well done to them to maintain this after HDB house are going at more than 1/2 a mil. I didn't qualify so have to get private bank loan. - we have to pay upfront 5% cash if we taking bank loan right? Still have to engage a lawyer to execute the sales and loan? Yes, 5% of the val will be 375k * 0.05 = 18.75k. Lawyer is appointed by the bank cos i don't have one myself so let the bank decides. Of course it will be more ex compare to getting HDB to act for you. - roughly how much u loan from bank for this EM and what's the estimated monthly instalment? About 135k loan, it can be lesser but decided to keep some funds in our CPF for raining days. Monthly at 950 for 15 years cos same reason as above. But we will do a partial principal sum pay up every 2 years depending on the locked down duration. That will reduce the loan further, hope to clear fast cos we r paying 2 interest here, one from CPF and one from HDB/Bank.

My first appt to sell took 3 hours, my appt was at 10am but only get to see the officer at 12:20pm, came out 12:40pm. I think it could be those in front of us asking too many questions. Like my buyer went into the room at 11:45am, then they call us 35 mins later. If everyone ask too many questions it will delay the waiting. I tot these questions should have already been answered by the agent???? As for the 2nd appt date, both buyer and seller have to agree upon a date and submit a written agreement to HDB with both seller & buyer signatures. I took the max 8 weeks. If HDB is acting for you, u will have to pay the COV on first appt. HDB is not acting for me so my COV will have to be paid via the lawyer. But with so many recent case of lawyer running away with clients $$, i didn't give the COV to my lawyer but instead will have to prepare cashier orders to be paid to seller & HDB on my 2nd appointment. The only thing i paid was the lawyer fee, stamp duties etc, $7050 on first appt, paid to my lawyer.

Nice floor lay out, i like the balcony, one in living room, the other in bedroom 2. Too bad the BR2 balcony's door can't be shift to the middle due to a structural beam and there is no bathroom otherwise I will make BR2 my master bed room. As for lightings, if u r not going to relocate your light point, it will only cause you 10 to install(some charges 8). Relocating of light point is 30 to 35. So one light point (relocate + install light) will cost u around 40 to 45.

As mentioned by some here, it is a tedious job. If u have the budget, u can get it done for 2k plus. FYI, my EM whole house is texture paint at the moment and i have no intention of removing it to save cost. Which street of Jurong West?

OK, WI painting does require some skills to do but don't think this skill cost 1300 and the paint is like less then 100. U can get it in homefix or any paint shop. My contractor told me to get the WI paint and he will ask his "tau chui" to do it.... guess it is FOC, or u can see it as cost already factor into whole house painting in the quotation.