littleones 0 Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Welcome friends and all! This is the very first post about our up and coming home in West Coast. We call it our Miracle Home because we believe it is a special blessing from God. Don't believe? Read on... We started looking for a house in end 2007 and applied for many HDB ballots to no avail. Even with 4 chances, we were also queued very far back. Competition was really tough. Thus, we resorted to looking for a 4-room resale flat in the Clementi and West Coast district. The resale market was also crazy at that time, flats were valuated at high prices and sellers were asking for about $30k cash over valuation (COV). We were not prepared to fork out that amount of cash as we considered the cash required for renovation, furnishings, and our impending wedding in Sep 2008. The cheapest COV was at least $25k (and the house was facing AYE, at level 2 and in a really bad condition ), thus we were ready to give up looking for a house since we knew we couldn't make it in time for the wedding One evening my husband received a sms saying that there was a house for sale in West Coast and buyer willing to top up cash. We were like 'huh? what does it mean?' but decided to call and check it out anyway. We went to view the house (which was only 2 blocks away from my house!) and met up with the agent, an elderly lady, who was selling the house (friend of the sms sender). The house was valued at $275k and owner was asking for $23k COV. Turned out that the first buyer agreed to the deal but later on realised that she could not pay the cash due to certain reasons. Therefore, she was willing to top up the difference to the amount we offered to make up the $23k for the seller. She could have forfeited the $5k deposit but she didn't want to burden the seller so she wanted to find someone to take over the sale. We decided that the maximum cash we could afford was $10k and if the first buyer was not able to top up the difference of $13k, then the house was probably not meant to be ours. While we felt bad about someone paying so much cash for us, to be frank, we were also very worried that it might turn out to be a scam as who would be so generous to pay $13k for some strangers? Friends and colleagues also thought we were stupid and asked us to think twice However, we decided to take up the deal in faith despite having not met the actual sellers or first buyer at all. It turned out to be a genuine and miraculous case for us The first buyer turned out to be the agent herself who wanted to buy the house for retirement as she had a good feeling about the house, found West Coast a tranquil neighbourhood, and the neighbours were nice people. However, the unexpected circumstances (we know why but it's confidential) forced her to give up this house and while there was another buyer who was willing to offer $15k, the deal couldn't go through (due to some unexpected circumstances again). There were also another elderly couple who was willing to pay a good amount of cash, but eventually she decided to bless us instead as she felt that it was harder for newly weds to start up a new home and also because she felt impressed by the Lord to do so. Somehow, she felt that we were THE one when she saw us. It was also amazing when we finally met the owners of the house and the owner's agent, we realised that we were all from the same church! We are sure our agent aka the lady who paid $13k for us will be greatly blessed by the Lord So there's the story of our miracle! How nice to have the Lord recce the house for us and give us a $13k gift in addition (maybe He knows we don't buy 4D/toto so He has to do it in some other ways) We have since gotten our keys in Nov 2008 and thank Him for it. Yep, that means we went ahead with our wedding without a matrimonial home. Everybody thought that was weird but we think it's ok. Even now after more than 6 months, we are still living separately as we just finally finalised our contractor in early May. Hence, we can finally share our story now as we build our nest step by step Enjoy your stay! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apples 0 Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Congrats to your new home! Thanks for sharing the testimony of the Lord's goodness to you and family. May He continue to shower you with many blessings! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Metalsubzero 0 Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Wow, this is indeed a miracle.. I'm a free thinker, but lately, I feel I might wanna explore more into religion as I've seen so many people's testimonies of the lord's goodness.. Anyways, congrats and good luck on the building of your nest!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinkpetter 0 Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Congratulations!! What a miracle indeed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angel81 1 Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Congrates on ur new home! Wah, must be hard for u guys to stay apart. Hope tat ur reno will start and end quickly! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
preciousjam 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 it has been a blessing for both of you....Enjoy your reno!!! Post pictures... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XiaoBinBin 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 Welcome to West Coast! Have been staying here all my life! Near stadium or near Nan Hua? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ivy 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 whooooa u are really bless. which part of west coast are u at? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littleones 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 Hi apples, Metalsubzero, pinkpetter, Angel81, preciousjam, XiaoBinBin, and ivy, Thanks for your good wishes and welcoming us to this reno family Nice to meet you all! XiaoBinBin and ivy, we are staying at Blk 708, in between stadium and West Coast Plaza ba. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrspiglet 2 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 welcome! Such a lovely blessing from God! He must have heard ur prayers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XiaoBinBin 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 Hi apples, Metalsubzero, pinkpetter, Angel81, preciousjam, XiaoBinBin, and ivy, Thanks for your good wishes and welcoming us to this reno family Nice to meet you all! XiaoBinBin and ivy, we are staying at Blk 708, in between stadium and West Coast Plaza ba. Oh!!!!!!!! My parent's place very very near you!!! Lucky for you that the lift upgrading has completed! I'm getting married and moving out towards end of the year...so gonna miss WC. WC Park - Big macdonalds and Big Playground! Two food centre and One West Coast Plaza now.....more than enough for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littleones 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 welcome! Such a lovely blessing from God! He must have heard ur prayers. hello mrspiglet! indeed He has heard our prayers. at the beginning of the year i had prayed to get a wonderful house by the end of the year and it did come to pass as we got our house on 1 Dec XiaoBinBin, yeah the MacDonald's and West Coast Plaza are our favourite haunts now! I've also been staying here for over 10 years.. You can still come back to visit your parents after you got married mah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
littleones 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 This is our original floor plan. and this is what we hope to achieve. As our house is not very big and we (or rather I ) have accumulated tonnes of stuff over the years, we had to make full use of the space available by constructing multi-purpose furnitures Our idea was to create a full-height shoe rack facing the main entrance so as to give us some privacy, and also act as a backing for the settee by the window. The settee will also give us extra storage space for magazines, etc. I'm already imagining relaxing by the settee on a lazy afternoon with a good book and a cuppa The original MBR was kinda small, so we decided to hack 1/3 of the wall separating the MBR and the other bedroom so we can take the other bedroom as our MBR and also incorporate a walk-in wardrobe right outside the toilet. The WIW will act as the room divider itself Of course that also meant that the other bedroom will be smaller but we think it's still ok to function as a study room or a child's room. However, there is a problem, there is no window for this room! Therefore, we will incorporate a sliding door next to WIW to ventilate the room when not in use Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ivy 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 Hi apples, Metalsubzero, pinkpetter, Angel81, preciousjam, XiaoBinBin, and ivy, Thanks for your good wishes and welcoming us to this reno family Nice to meet you all! XiaoBinBin and ivy, we are staying at Blk 708, in between stadium and West Coast Plaza ba. ohh ok i use to stay in 705 and now my grandma is still staying at 705. That estate is a pretty nice estate, quiet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Metalsubzero 0 Report post Posted May 22, 2009 Hmm, littleones, I quite like your idea about converting your bedroom 2 to become the MBR.. Very nice idea.. Your kitchen is very long and big!! I just envy people with long kitchens now, cuz mine is so short and small.. What to do? Dunno what HDB is thinking when they build new houses, kitchens all so small.. Hahaha.. I'm happy with my new home, but I'm not happy with the kitchen, something which I overlooked when we were searching for house.. But den, Sengkang area, all kitchens small la.. So bo pian lor.. Hahaha.. How long will the shoe rack be? I think alot of ppl do dat as partition to block out view of the living or dining from people who walk by.. But is yours a corridor unit? Mine is a corridor unit, so have to put one, somemore FSM says my main door is facing kitchen door, so die die must build a partition.. But I don't want a shoe rack to be there, cuz FSM says shoes don't put above shoulder level (or dunno what level, just means dun do to the ceiling).. Hahaha.. I think if you all don't believe in Fengshui, anything goes.. And don't have to worry about not being able to put anything you like or to arrange your house in the way you like.. I can't wait to see 3d images and the real pictures of your house, I think will be a solid one! Hope to see more pictures of the current condition of your house as well!! Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
