New Purchase

[EricTan100 0]

Hi Guys,

Came across this forum only yesterday. I am in the process of selling my condo and will purchase a landed in D26 within the next 6 months. Few houses came to my mind and would like to clarify my doubts.

1) House #1 : Build in 2014. Not very convenient as far from main road and mrt.

--> Land is around 1700sqft. Nice and well maintained house (perhaps a new coat of paint was done).

--> Few things to be done.

1) Kitchen too small and would like to double the kitchen area and will eat into the car pouch area. (Estimated an increase of 50sqft).

2) changing of sanitary fittings and adding some awnings.

3) Change of aircon.

 

2) House #2 : Build in 2000. --> The pro is nearer to mrt but it is a old house.

Bigger land size, cheaper in term of selling price, but need to do a major overhaul.

1) My question is how much do i need to set aside for renovation for a build up of 2500sgft? assuming all floorings, kitchen cabinets, aircon wardrobe etc to be hack.

2) what is the kind of budgets I should be looking for if intend to build another level to increase 2500sqft to 3200sqft?

3) Attic or roof is better in term of maintainence for long term consideration?

4) Roughly the timeline for the above AA.

 

Intend to stay in this landed for the next 15 years and I am still considering.

Thanks.

Eric.

 

 

 

 

[3Cube 9]

I can help to prepare plans & estimate. The estimate will includes everything from authority's fee, consultant fees, etc to final completion.

Please contact me at threecubebuilders@ymail.com

[snoozee 98]

1. what is the normal mode of transport for you and your family? by public transport or by private vehicle? if by private vehicle, then I would say proximity to MRT or main road should not be a priority concern.

2. timeline. assuming you do not want to incur ABSD or want to claim ABSD back, you will need to dispose of your existing property within 6 months. unless your new landed property is in another family member's name who would not incur ABSD then this is not an issue. if you can't "siam" ABSD, then you will have to make sure you sell your condo and complete the landed purchase within 6 months. if the new house just needs a slight makeover, it can take maybe 2 months or so. but if you need to do major works, it could take 6 months or 1 year to complete not including submissions which can take 2 to 3 months for approval. do you have a place to stay in the meantime?

attic is an additional floor area and it does need a roof as well. unless you want an open roof terrace then no need roof.

the older house may be cheaper upfront but you may end up paying more to redo the house and the additional cost may exceed the price difference between the 2 houses.

so you should ask yourself on whether you have the time to wait for a major renovation to complete or you need to move ASAP? do you prefer to make do with existing furniture, etc or you want to have new things for your "new" house.

[EricTan100 0]

Hi Snoozee,

Normal mode for most of us are public transport except my wife who is taking the car.

Definitely want to avoid ABSD so has just dispose my HDB and now waiting someone to purchase my current unit. Will go to rent a place for 6 months and look for landed to purchase. Shortlisted 2 units.

Want to get the one nearer to MRT but since it is old... will have a lots of things to do up. I have taken a look at one house last year and the owner claim that 200K was done up for the A&A. I am quite surprised that 200K can changed a 20years old house to quite a modern look. Build up is around 2500sqft in a 2 storey house. Is this normal? 

May i get your opinion, if i purchase a house which is 20years old around 2500sqft buildup, and would like to reno it, Ie, not touching the structure, but would like the "window opening" to be bigger,changed all flooring, repaint, re-tile, what is the budget I should be looking? Is 400K enough?

 

 

[snoozee 98]

since the normal mode of transport is via public transport, then the house nearer to main road and MRT would make more sense for you.

a 20 year old house is old but still not that bad as a 30 year old or more house.

depending on the land size, 2500sqf for a 2 storey house is normal. assuming a land size of 6m wide and 30m deep, the actual land size would be about 180sqm or 1926 sqf. after deducting 9.5m (7.5m front and 2m rear) setback for front car porch and rear, you get a buildable foot print of about 6m by 20.5m which is about 123sqm or 1316sqf. so 1316sqf for 1 level, you can get about 2600sqf for a 2 storey house (without attic). so your 2500sqf of built up area is quite normal if there isn't an attic built up.

400k budget seems doable. you may wish to talk to a builder and see how much it would cost to do what you want and also maybe change the electrical wire, water pipes and roof at the same time as well. for window resizing, do check if there are columns in the way or not. cos if there are, you would still be restricted by the columns which you can't shift. but for an inter terrace house, it is unlikely there would be columns on the front and rear walls where the windows would be so your only constraint is the location of the internal walls for the rooms.

[petetherock 13]

The one nearer MRT sounds better but you should have a checklist that only you can fulfill properly 

Eg immediate surroundings also play a part

Some ball park numbers - you really need to talk to builders instead of just asking in a forum

300k for a makeover 

add 150k to build one more floor 

Unless you change the interior and sewer layout then you need to pay more. 

All the best!

20 year old is perfectly fine but your builder needs to assess the actual condition  

[EricTan100 0]

Hi Snoozee and petetherock,

 

Thanks for the advice. Any good builder to recommend?

 

Can PM me. Thanks.

[CoralHC 0]

If you are renting a place before the house, i suggest that you do some homework first. My uncle's house at Jalan Melor suppose to start construction like end 2017 but dragged till Oct 2019 then start work. Initially was an A&A then follow by Reconstruction but his builder found out that there is no column in the house hence delay... end up became a  New Erection. Heard him saying that initially  don't need piling for A&A but ended up with piling for Reconstruction cause adding 1 more attic. Lucky his builder is quite fast with structure works, they complete the works in Dec and now starting architecture work.
 

 

 

[EricTan100 0]

Noted CoealHC

1 hour ago, CoralHC said:

If you are renting a place before the house, i suggest that you do some homework first. My uncle's house at Jalan Melor suppose to start construction like end 2017 but dragged till Oct 2019 then start work. Initially was an A&A then follow by Reconstruction but his builder found out that there is no column in the house hence delay... end up became a  New Erection. Heard him saying that initially  don't need piling for A&A but ended up with piling for Reconstruction cause adding 1 more attic. Lucky his builder is quite fast with structure works, they complete the works in Dec and now starting architecture work.
 

 

 

Noted