JCase 0 Report post Posted April 7, 2011 So I've finally bit the bullet and started a blog. The journey began sometime in May last year when we started looking for a 2nd property. Timing is never right as we were waiting for prices to ease but it did not seem to be happening. Our criteria for a place was relatively simple. Upgrade to condo, leasehold as FH and 999 way out of price range. The place had to be near to my mom's as weneed to drop kids there during the day. Close by to amenities although it does not come anywahere close to our current place in AMK. We were looking for something with 3 toilets and 3 bedrooms. After looking at many condos e.g. Seasons Park, Seasons View, Bishan Point, The Gradens at Bishan, Grandeur 8, Castle Green and Serenity Park, we decided on a 16 year old unit along Sin Ming Ave. This is along Bishan Park 1 and there is currently a plan to convert the longkang into a river (via Kallang river). It'has actually shaped up very nicely and we can walk to the longkang / river or lets refer to it as water promanade from the back gate of our block. The development is old but it has charm. Very green landscaping with adequate facilities. A total of 300+ units in total and each floor only has 2 units - so very private. Our unit is decent in size (1506 sqft compared to our current 1184 sqft flat) and we now have 4 bedrooms and 3 toilets and the benefit of a family room in addition to the hall. The balcony is rather poxy in size but what to do? Can't have everything. Made an offer and held our breath. After quite a bit of nego we agreed on a price and signed the OTP and exercised it soon after. Thankfully as the new changes about 2nd property ownership kicked in just as we completed the entire sales process. This was end August 2010. To date we haven't moved in yet as the place was bought with tenancy. They leave in end April and we can begin our reno in May. I really look forward to this as I can finally park my car on ground level and not go round in circles in a MSCP and end up on level 5 More on ID selection and some photos later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 7, 2011 Notice that a name a horrendous spelling error for the word Abode. How do I change this? Anyway, the ID story .... Started in Sept last year. Naturally we 1st went to the ID who re did out kitch and 2 toilets 3 years ago. She didn't seem that keen as the project was 8 months down the road. Came up with some floor plan and quote. Not an unreasoable quote but having dealt with her before, she is very calculative. Only saving grace for us is she's able to communicate very well. Guess it just stops there. This ID is from a company that is named after a citrus fruit. Good ideas ( i qualify this as ideas for the kitchen only) and concepts but execution and attention to detail can be much better. After looking at peoples blogs and magazines and looking at the wayy toilets are down, I feel quite short changed. Our toilets look very ordinary. So after a month, we dropped them. We looked at the following IDs 1. IntraDesign - Angeline - Very efficient, thorough and professional. Nice showroom. Able to listen and give you what you require. Pricing was fair and decent imo. Only troublesome aspect was lack of transparancy on price of individual items. Also the ideas were generally generated by us instead of her. We probably would have used her if we didn't meet our current ID. More on them later. 2. Wide Angle Design - Used them when we forst bought our flat back in '04. Green and did not know much or anything about reno back then. They quoted and it was on the high side. Put a lot of items in that we did not ask for and said we can remove. Waste of our time so we dropped them. 3. Altered Interior - Seen their work at my friends place - superb, quality workmanship and finishes. Got them to quote and if we we engaged them we would have been financially finished. Highly recommended for those who are flushed with cash. 4. Gplan - Not much to say, so says it all really 5. Borouge - Was quoted via email. Cheap but we did not explore further. 6. Tree Affair - Sent email and have not heard back from them 7. Highly popoular contractor - innovative So after the entire ardous process we shortlisted our top 3 ... not in any order.. 1. IntraDesign 2. Popular contractor 3. Colours by Leslie Chua We finally sealed the deal with CLC Interiors. Both wifey and I felt that we communicated best with him and he was very accommodating. So far we has acceded to all our requests to meet at late times and on Sundays which is really the only day that we are free. We met 5 times before we signed with them. Their pricing is average, not to ex and not too cheap either. He is willing to work with us based on our needs and design ideas. Very promt in handling my queries and always on time for meetings. I have a sales designer assigned to me and he does all the running around at all hours. He's come twice to my office to drop off / pick things up for me. I will also have a PM assigned when we start reno next month. So far we have 95% selected our tiles. He has a decent sense of taste and is willing to be guided by us and not impose his design ideas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LADY_R 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2011 Hellooo!!! ::WELCOME:: Finally.. u create ur T-Blog. Hope to see ur reno progress picture Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2011 Hellooo!!! ::WELCOME:: Finally.. u create ur T-Blog. Hope to see ur reno progress picture Thanks Lady R. At work so not convenient to upload pics. Reno will start in May but I'll upload what I can tonite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2011 (edited) 140 sqm Headache with the MBR slant wall. From FS perspective bed should be on that side of the wall, so will have to flush the wall and create some built in storage. The distance between foot of bed and wardrobe at opposite end is about 50-60 cm Edited April 8, 2011 by JCase Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 10, 2011 Pre Reno Pics The door there leads to MBR. Not sure why the tenants like the placement like this? Kitchen is the biggest headache. Very small. The current stove needs to be relocated to where the dishwasher is, so no hood at all as that is a window. Sainz. Family room. Ridiculous amount of carpentry here and the whole unit. Costing a lot to dismantle and dispose of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 11, 2011 Finally selected our tiles. Took us 3 visits to do so. Kudos to Marcus and Leslie for their patience. Now waiting for some 3d drawings which will be ready by end of the week. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
froggy 0 Report post Posted April 11, 2011 Notice that a name a horrendous spelling error for the word Abode. How do I change this? hey welcome jcase! just click on yr name, then "edit my signature" and make the change Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2011 hey welcome jcase! just click on yr name, then "edit my signature" and make the change i think he meant the t-blog title has typo error... probably gotta contact admin to change~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2011 hey welcome jcase! just click on yr name, then "edit my signature" and make the change Thanks Froggy. Does not work but no issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2011 i think he meant the t-blog title has typo error... probably gotta contact admin to change~ Yeah, but no need to contact admin for this. Just have to live with it. Thanks all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kobelala 8 Report post Posted April 20, 2011 Hi Jcase, very spacious condo u have here, all the best for your upcoming reno and do share more pics Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2011 Hi Jcase, very spacious condo u have here, all the best for your upcoming reno and do share more pics Thanks you. Will be uploading later over the weekend. Now at work... maybe dangerous to do so Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mae29 2 Report post Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) Hi, Jcase Finally you have your own t-blog! I will camping here for you to upload the pictures By the way, if you visited my blog, you will also noticed that my abode is also near the longkang...big one with few drowning incidents. Edited April 21, 2011 by mae29 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2011 Hi, Jcase Finally you have your own t-blog! I will camping here for you to upload the pictures Thanks Linda. Practically camped at your T-Blog. Good stuff. Now I will manage my ID after learning from you - The Guru Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
