Mansionette Owner

[frostyflake 0]

huh.. daily traffic jam?? my wife lives around that area.. we havent encountered much jam when i send her to work in the morning.. i think its much betta than the cte jam from hougang area.. and to go to orchard where our office is, only have to go thru one erp gantry at nicoll highway

going home is also acceptable to me when i compare to i go to my parent's place in serangoon

no jam ah? no jam good we always had the impression that paya lebar and geylang there traffic bad... so gave up that area

[Countryliving 0]

Hi Countryliving,

Wow ! EM with original condition also have to pay $60k of COV.

Which area you bought ? Hougang or other area ?

I hope all the buyers can stop to pay high COV to cool down the market. But, this is impossible.

It seem like a lot of peoples are rich to pay high COV for their dream house.

This is the reason why so many sellers are testing the market.

I bought EM in potong pasir which is located around the fringe of town - 4 mrt stop away from dhoby ghaut and next to St andrews village. The amenities are pretty good as there are lots of shops around and the community club is within 5 mins walk. Also the unit is on the ground floor which may explains the high cov.

I have seen other EM like those in stirling and mei ling st asking 100-150k cov and buyers are still willing to pay for it. It is the location but to me a hdb is still a hdb. You may pay a bomb but you will still be sharing the same hdb lift and walking along the same hdb void deck. I know of one EM at sunset way. Valuation for the unit is about $500-$600K but owner is asking a whooping $920K (very nicely renovated and selling with furnitures).

[masschaoz 0]

no jam ah? no jam good we always had the impression that paya lebar and geylang there traffic bad... so gave up that area

ya ur right on paya lebar and geylang.. but usually tat stretch of road is avoidable for us, tats why no hassle..

[masschaoz 0]

to revamp a whole unit of a EM, the minimun reno excluding soft furnishings can easily comes up to $80k!!!!!

to date i've alredi spend 81k.. but its almost done.. juz left my customized study table, n bookshelf.. and redoing my stairs..

guess what i did up is cheap as compared to others.. friends were commenting why i spent so much on reno..

[hello88 2]

its going to be CNY soon.. will stop viewing for a little while till CNY is over.. hopefully, after CNY there will be more flats availble...

is it gonna be your first flat? Maybe can consider getting a 5-room first then upgrade to a EM in the near future if u really wanna stay in a EM. Get a 5-room first then do the min. reno.

Me and hubby always wanted to stay in EM but didnt wanna give in to the crazy COV back in 1997/98 when we were looking for a flat. We started viewing from EMs, then gradually 'downgraded' our 'target' flat to 4-room flats. Even direct HDB flats at Sengkang during that time was more than 300k for a mere 5 room flat and the sqm was only 110. There were some at 120sqm but the shape of those flats were really weird. We gave up our queue number though we were 2nd on the list on the very 1st day for the flat selection. HDB called up and asked for feedback. Guess what, HDB immediately slashed the price of HDB flats by around 20k. Maybe there were many others like us who didnt turn up to select the flats cos never heard of HDB calling up to ask y potential flat owners failed to turn up. Anyway, we eventually bought a 4-room flat, took the 50k grant and 6 years later, we upgraded and bought our EM.

Spend a bomb on reno and yet after a while, wondered why we spent so much on this, on that and ended up not satisfied with the reno after all. We were even not satisfied with the furnitures which were likely to be purchased during a rush.

For my boys, they like the staircase so much yet after a year, they start to complaint abt having to go up n down to get their stuff . Haiz! Whatever it is, me and hubby realised our childhood dreams of staying in a EM. Hopefully we'll be able to 'downgrade' either to a EA or a big 5-room flat in the near future, if we have the $ .

to date i've alredi spend 81k.. but its almost done.. juz left my customized study table, n bookshelf.. and redoing my stairs..

guess what i did up is cheap as compared to others.. friends were commenting why i spent so much on reno..

huh, cheap as compared to others? 81k is alot right? but happy ok liao. If staying for many years then its ok. Some owners in my block shifted out for a month or two and re-renovated the entire flat cos they didnt wanna move away from the estate. Not a bad idea too. Re-do the renovation and have a fresh look years later.

[TPY 0]

Maybe you would like to consider D'zire Home Styling as your renovation partner. You may wish to log on to www.dzirehomestyling.com to check on what are the services we provide. Likewise you may wish to e-mail your enquires to sales@dzirehomestyling.com

Happy New Year

[amyyeo 0]

Hi Hello88,

Yes we are first time buyers, and we personally want to buy a house for a long term plan. To me, its waste of transaction $(lawyer fees, reno) and interest if you purchase 1 smaller unit then 5 -6 years later upgrade and stuff.. moreover, HDB only allows you to take HDB loans twice in your life. So i do not want to waste that.

Moving twice meaning u have to spend twice one reno, twice on agent fees and twice on furnitures and etc...

Most importantly, the time and effort spent to go house hunting, coordinating with contractor are very time consuming and tiring.

[TPY 0]

Hi Hello88,

Yes we are first time buyers, and we personally want to buy a house for a long term plan. To me, its waste of transaction $(lawyer fees, reno) and interest if you purchase 1 smaller unit then 5 -6 years later upgrade and stuff.. moreover, HDB only allows you to take HDB loans twice in your life. So i do not want to waste that.

Moving twice meaning u have to spend twice one reno, twice on agent fees and twice on furnitures and etc...

Most importantly, the time and effort spent to go house hunting, coordinating with contractor are very time consuming and tiring.

True we needed to spend twice on agent fees and twice on furnitures and etc.. But come to think of it, it is an entittlement to Singaporean to benefits from the lower interset by HDB.

People normally make use of the opportunity to buy and start of with an affordable unit from the HDB using the loan. If opportunity arise, upgrade it to a bigger one with the concession loan, earn some money and live in it forever.

Hope you won't miss the opportunity in upgrading ... first timer buy an executive, next time if needed to down grade or via versa upgrade ( A windfall is ok but if financial crisis then how?) shall have issues.

Seriously deep financial calculating is required....

[blownup 0]

to date i've alredi spend 81k.. but its almost done.. juz left my customized study table, n bookshelf.. and redoing my stairs..

guess what i did up is cheap as compared to others.. friends were commenting why i spent so much on reno..

If you are talking about tearing out all the floor, wall tiles and wiring and total revamp to the EM, it is not surprise to see a renovation no less than $70K. Renovation are expensive these days due to the inflation of almost everything, from raw material and labour cost.

[hello88 2]

Hi Hello88,

Yes we are first time buyers, and we personally want to buy a house for a long term plan. To me, its waste of transaction $(lawyer fees, reno) and interest if you purchase 1 smaller unit then 5 -6 years later upgrade and stuff.. moreover, HDB only allows you to take HDB loans twice in your life. So i do not want to waste that.

Moving twice meaning u have to spend twice one reno, twice on agent fees and twice on furnitures and etc...

Most importantly, the time and effort spent to go house hunting, coordinating with contractor are very time consuming and tiring.

How come u factor in lawyer fees? Ya true, HDB only allow us to take up 2 HDB loan so I took one for my 4-room flat and one for my EM so none for me now. If u get a EM then u are left with zero HDB loan. I didnt really reno my 4-room flat. Only painted the walls, install system 3 air con, re-wiring whole house, hacked kitchen cabinets then installed made in Japan enamel kitchen cabinet (shifted the set into my EM so I spent slightly lesser for the final kitchen cabinet cos its movable and too expensive to let the buyer have it) and Dad helped me to change the W.C, sink, cement support for kitchen sink, cement support for stove & walk in wardrobe. So all in, I think I only spent less than 15k (5k courtesy from Spore pools when my number came out 1st prize) on reno plus furnishing.

Just a suggestion to choose a smaller flat cos the high COV is really crazy so dont feel offended. For me, I wont pay more than 20k COV unless I really dont have to spent more than 20k on reno.

If you are talking about tearing out all the floor, wall tiles and wiring and total revamp to the EM, it is not surprise to see a renovation no less than $70K. Renovation are expensive these days due to the inflation of almost everything, from raw material and labour cost.

ya, revamping a EM cost abt 50k during my reno time in 2005, now everything so exp so more hard earning money needed

I just wonder how those dual income less than 8k gonna pay the DBSS flats. Its more than 700k for some 5-room flats right? Definitely gotta top up cash for the monthly HDB loan

Edited January 30, 2008 by hello88

[TPY 0]

How come u factor in lawyer fees? Ya true, HDB only allow us to take up 2 HDB loan so I took one for my 4-room flat and one for my EM so none for me now. If u get a EM then u are left with zero HDB loan.

Good move and in the right timing. Now the EM definitely worth more than you brought and less financial burden in exercising your grant in concession loan from HDB correctly.

[hello88 2]

Good move and in the right timing. Now the EM definitely worth more than you brought and less financial burden in exercising your grant in concession loan from HDB correctly.

heehee ya, I think I can sell at least min. 100k above the price that I paid for my EM. Furthermore, its moved in condition. The property market was really crazy back in 97/98. If I had really bought that Blk 522 EM back then, I dont think I can still sell at a profit if I were to sell it now even though property going up & dont seem to cool down any sooner. The latest transaction in Jan for Blk 522, 11 to 15 floor is only $470,000, I think still a loss to the seller unless seller is 1st owner.

[amyyeo 0]

But for current market.. no matter 3rm, 4rm, 5rm or EM, the COV is still high.. so got to slowly see and wait for the right one with the right price.

Edited January 30, 2008 by amyyeo

[wumin 0]

heehee ya, I think I can sell at least min. 100k above the price that I paid for my EM. Furthermore, its moved in condition. The property market was really crazy back in 97/98. If I had really bought that Blk 522 EM back then, I dont think I can still sell at a profit if I were to sell it now even though property going up & dont seem to cool down any sooner. The latest transaction in Jan for Blk 522, 11 to 15 floor is only $470,000, I think still a loss to the seller unless seller is 1st owner.

Quickly sell your house now. Good time to sell.

[hello88 2]

Quickly sell your house now. Good time to sell.

hahaha, if I sell high then I also gotta buy high. If can sell at more then 500k, I dont mind getting a EA or 5-room flat though intending to but not actively on the look out now.

Edited January 30, 2008 by hello88