Journey Of My Minaret Walk

[Minerat 1]

Well, it's still some time before my renovation can start, as my handover is scheduled to complete 01 Aug 2012. In the meantime, let me share with all how I came to find myself in this situation.

My wife and I were happily staying at this place. Other people called it "The Eden at Tampines", we simply called it home. It was a simple EC we bought in 2001 for ~$500K. Though the house was simply done up, it was full of warm, love and happy memories. We really love the place. The thought of selling the place didn't really cross our minds and we were contented to grow old in our Eden. Many a times, we would jokingly said that we will capitulate and sell for $900K. But we only joke about it. There were calls almost everyday from property agents asking if we want to sell, and we would always say no.

As fate would have it, sometime in Mar 2012, we were in the same lift as a property agent engaged by my next door neighbour to sell their unit. They are migrating to Canada. Casually I asked the agent what price was my neighbour looking to sell. The answer shocked, or should I say seduced , me! They were asking for $1.03mil (their unit was sold for $1mil subsequently). Now that is alot of money, as I told my wife!!

After some calculations and countless spreadsheets later, we'd finally decided to seriously sell and buy a landed terrace whereby everybody could stay together. Well, the decision was easy, but the selling was a roller-coaster ride. We started off really enthusiastically. We'd (well, my helper at least) studiously tidy the house everytime there's a viewing. But as time goes by, our enthusiasm waned..... While there were many viewings, there wasn't a single offer.

While the selling was ongoing, we were of course also looking around for that dream house. My wife was always very sure she wanted a property in D16, specifically around the Bedok Ria to Minaret Walk area. Now, that's where the next problem was because we RARELY find any properties for sale in those areas. And I mean RARELY. At least not those in our price range

It was close to end Apr 2012 where a chance occasion got us a viewing of a property at Minaret Walk. We love the place so much that we made the owner an offer, even before we have sold our house. Unfortunately the owner rejected our offer, which was IMO a very good offer at $1393psf. Owner wanted more (well who doesn't). Faced with this double disappointment, we stopped all viewings. We also told ourselves that if we still can't sell our house by end May, we'd abort this whole silly idea.

I still remember the day very clearly. It was 05 May 2012. I was having my, well..not so usual, Saturday nap. I woke up to alot of missed calls and SMS from my agent asking my wife and my NRIC nos. I sensed something exciting! Sure enough, she has secured a buyer for my house at a price within my expectation. The most surprising thing was, that buyer viewed my house just the day before, and my house was actually the FIRST he has viewed. Yes, he has viewed a grand total of ONE house before he decided to commit himself. Wow! If you think that is miraculous, wait till you hear the rest.......to be continued

Edited June 13, 2012 by Minerat

[May_dream1 14]

Wow! EM in tampines for above 1mil.... really cannot imagine.... Congrats in selling the flat at price you wanted and i guess you gotten a terrace too.

[Valerie Low 0]

May, I think it is an EC not EM.

I'm looking forward to your story...

[May_dream1 14]

May, I think it is an EC not EM.

I'm looking forward to your story...

hahahah..... no wonder its $1mil and above. i blur...

[Minerat 1]

Aftermath of the Sale

After the initial euphoria, the reality slowly sank in. We were torn, and starting to get cold feet even. It finally sank in that we might not be able to find our dream house after selling. It was at this time that I called up the agent, let's call him Agent S, to enquire about the Minaret Walk property. We were prepared then to meet the seller's asking price.

Agent S said that the property was already SOLD! Oh oh, looks like it's back to the drawing board. We were quite disappointed, frankly. However, that night itself, Agent S called again and said that he has in fact spoken to another owner in Minaret Walk planning to sell his inter terrace. The owner has just decided that morning and he hasn't marketed the place yet. So we arranged for a viewing on 06 May 2012 afternoon. We were going to be the first to view the property.

Well, the viewing blew us away! That has to be our dream house! It was everything and more that we could have asked for. When we viewed the previous property at Minaret Walk, we made a mental note of the changes we wanted done.....we realized this owner had done those exact same changes, eg lengthening the windows, closing up the balconeys etc. The house was bigger, view was better, renovation was better....We had to have this one. Hence right after viewing, we made the owner an offer. To be frank, it is still $100K short of his asking price. As we were the first to view his property, we expected for him to either hold on, or come back and bargain. Our fingers were tightly crossed! Agent S told us that the seller is eyeing a semi-D across the road. He had an inital offer of $Xmil rejected and has prepared a better offer of $Ymil to discuss with the seller. If he clinches that deal, the house is likely ours

That night itself, close to midnight, Agent S called. He told me that he has inked the semi-D deal for the seller, and is on his way back to him to discuss about my offer. I was told to wait for his call (at close to midnight!!??!!). I waited and waited and waited....and finally at 2am, the most important call of my life came. THE DEAL IS DONE! He will scan and email me the OTP as it was too late already. I can't remember if I slept that night. Hahaha

I've always believed everything happen for a reason and I can only be thankful for God's Grace that he made all these coincidences possible so that we can buy our dream house a day after we have sold ours! Till today, I have been surfing propertyguru everyday and I still cannot find a house that we will be remotely interested in, if this one had slipped us by.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Minerat

[rain 0]

Wow, it sounds like a really exciting tale with everything perfectly worked out for the protagonist! *envy*

[Minerat 1]

The Floor Plan

Well, I only had this from the marketing brochure, which I manually photo-shopped to include the structural changes done by the owner. I also had the copy from BCA but it's too huge and I haven't found a way to scan it in yet. So I have been using this copy to talk to contractors and IDs on my requirements.

The Facade

This is how my house looks like from the front.

Stay tuned...more pictures of the interior coming up...

Edited June 15, 2012 by Minerat

[May_dream1 14]

looks wonderful from outside.... but the 3rd level master bedroom no toilet?

[Minerat 1]

looks wonderful from outside.... but the 3rd level master bedroom no toilet?

The owner hacked away. The whole 3rd storey is one big Master bedroom. Owner hacked away toilet and wardrobe in the MBR. Then build a big wardrobe spanning full 2 wall lengths in the other bedroom. He also hacked away the door and created a sliding door at the staircase entrance. So effectively he had a whole bedroom of walk-in wardrobe!

[Minerat 1]

The back

Bedrooms this side faces a plot of empty field. 200m of unblocked greenery....where to find for a terrace? Enjoy it while it lasts...

Edited June 14, 2012 by Minerat

[May_dream1 14]

The owner hacked away. The whole 3rd storey is one big Master bedroom. Owner hacked away toilet and wardrobe in the MBR. Then build a big wardrobe spanning full 2 wall lengths in the other bedroom. He also hacked away the door and created a sliding door at the staircase entrance. So effectively he had a whole bedroom of walk-in wardrobe!

that's so good... ideal for all women!! hahahaha....

[OnTheRoad 0]

Hello Minerat, we've communicated on email but never realized our processes of selling & buying are both by God's grace.

We love our current estate too...if not for our things bursting out of our storerooms due to a big family, we wld be content to bring up our children in e condo estate. But God has better ideas for us.

Excited for u!

[Minerat 1]

Hello Minerat, we've communicated on email but never realized our processes of selling & buying are both by God's grace.

We love our current estate too...if not for our things bursting out of our storerooms due to a big family, we wld be content to bring up our children in e condo estate. But God has better ideas for us.

Excited for u!

You are right. We thought we have good ideas, but God always lead us to better ones. He probably had a hand in us communicating also

[Minerat 1]

Hello Minerat, we've communicated on email but never realized our processes of selling & buying are both by God's grace.

We love our current estate too...if not for our things bursting out of our storerooms due to a big family, we wld be content to bring up our children in e condo estate. But God has better ideas for us.

Excited for u!

You are right. We thought we have good ideas, but God always lead us to better ones. He probably had a hand in us communicating also

[chynaho 0]

Congrats on your latest acquisition, Minaret! Looking forward to reading about your reno