Stagger

Looks like there are more and more new names coming out. Probably they are expanding fast. It doesn't really matter who is the ID, as long as the standard is maintained and the contractors they engaged is within the standard, I think it should be fine. Most importantly, the service attitude, creativeness and responsibility level of that particular ID must be there. Cheers.

wow at least we know that Small Claims is doing their job to protect consumers' interest! Congrats, finally an end to all the inconvenience that had caused to you!

hi, can someone also pm me their contact details? Many thanks in advance!

Wow I saw your renoblog...nicely renovated & quite amazing. Do you mind sharing how much you spent for the reno? What's the full name for A&D? Are they good?

Hi Jia Hui, Would you mind sharing with me some of your sweet home pics?

Will they ever be too busy to either attend to you when they have lots of project on hand? I'm planning to visit them probably within the next 2 weeks for quotations..

economy is gloomy now, we should have bargaining power over the renovation. Be sure to get the best deal out of your own budget and spend wisely. Just my 2 cts worth. I myself may be looking into tightening my initial budget just in case.

ermm...where's the link ar?

that's really nice but why isn't there feature wall for your TVs? Do you mind sharing your quotation with me? I just went for my 1st appt on 20 Jan...completion in March... thks in advance!

Thanks for the advice, no matter how I'll not dispense them from my list base on the quotation. I must meet them again for further discussion.

That's true, I'll be meeting the ID again and hopefully they can adjust it to stay within my budget..I've got another quote from Ideal House for 38K+ for the same request...so you could understand why my jaws dropped..

I received a sms today during lunch time to say that the quotation is ready. Was quite surprised + happy to know that the quotation is ready. ID warned that the quotation is above my budget, was thinking how high it would be and thought that somehow it will be due to negotiation and perhaps I can take away with certain things to stay within budget. My jaws dropped after seeing the quotation, it was amost 55k which is 15k above my budget...real expensive leh. Somehow, I'll still need to meet her up again to see the perspective drawings and for further discussion. Headache now..

I'm really lousy with blogs. I could only see some wedding pics, party pics but not the renovation pics..need some enlightenment..

hi guys, has anyone heard of Kass Design before? Could anyone bro or sis share their experience with kass Design? Many thanks..

had met up with Irene already, communication wise so far so good as what Yokoyoko said, she quite nice to speak to. Will wait to see her quotation and drawings..

It will be really bad if any parties back out after exercising the OTP. Not only on the legal part, the party backing out may need to pay for the seller and buyer's agent fees. This is what they may have to pay if they back out: 1. Buyer + Seller's agent commission (abt 2%+1%) 2. Bank penalty charges (if Buyer is taking up bank loan) Buyer would have signed the loan approval prior to exercising the OTP 3. Back out for buyer - pays the diff if seller sold his flat for a lesser price than the initial agreed amount with the buyer 4. Back out for seller - pays the diff if buyer purchased a similiar flat eslewhere but at a higher price this is my understanding...

It depends, you may speak to your ID about the scenario. If the transaction didn't really go thru, you still need to perform reno on another purchase right? My opinion is that it is really risky if you adopt the above: 1. Who knows if the ID decided to close their business (by the time you get another new house + all those waiting time) 2. If the new house that you purchased have already well renovated? (probably u lose some deposit) 3. The ID may mark up the quotation given reasons that the floor area is now different, different designs for diff flat etc. (Don't forget you already signed with him and he knows that you are already one leg inside) Just my 2 cts worth....

It appear to me that those firms going for the exhibition are those who needed the business badly. Comments about them are mostly negative. Can anyone quote one firm who exhibits and have good reputation?

Yeah that's quite true, those agents sometime post nice pictures to attract you from calling. But no harm if they take you to see other units..tell them your requirement. Ultimately, you are the final decision maker whether you want to buy the house or not...Happy searching!

I also felt that it can be cheaper...My quotation for my resale 5-room is around 38K but I have lots of carpentry + hackings (I think can still be negotiable) but I'm still looking around b4 committing.

Smart move, just fyi I paid only $200 for the initial OTP and the remaining $1.8K for exercising the Option. My buying price is $2K COV and therefore my cash committment is fulfilled at least on the seller part. But I need to pay 5% cash for the purchase as I'm taking the bank loan. Don't get conned by the agents that you need to pay certain high amount to secure the deal. It is always beneficial for the buyers as they get to refuse the deal within the 14 days "cool down" period after they sign the OTP, just that that buyer may have to forgo their initial deposit. Actually no need to buy newspaper, there are many website that advertise property. Just one sample link below for your reference: http://www2.realink21.com/npp2/PL_HDB.aspx happy searching...

Tommy is right, I faced the same problem when I purchase my flat (still waiting for my 1st appt). The seller wanted to sell me his flat @ $344K (val) + $18K (COV) but his valuation has already expired. I like the flat very much but the seller just wouldn't give in, insisting for $362K but at the same time, he refuse to do up a valuation report first and wanted me to pay $2K for the OTP. In the end, I told them at most I will pay for the valuation report (abt $200). After much negotiation, we all agreed. My plan was if the valuation turn out to be lesser than the original valuation amt of $344K, I can just forgo the $200. But luckily, it turn out to be $360K and I just need to pay $2K for COV...quite lucky I would say.

Yes I really agree that nowadays those housing agents are unethical. Is it because it is so market competitive that they resort into seeing $$$ only instead of looking into the consumer's actual need? They don't even bother to advise us on the forseeable implication. Basically, they just want to close the deal asap and get their cheque deposited into their bank. Few months ago, I was thinking of upgrading and since my cousin is working in PropNex as a housing agent, I thought why not I support her by giving her the job to sell my house and get me a new one. I called her up, arranged for a meeting. Since she's new in this line, her manager actually tagged along. When we met, I was asked by the manager (Mr. C) of hers to sign an exclusive. I told him NO straight on his face. Since I'm asking my own cousin to help me on the housing matter, I will definitely not involved other agents. So, few weeks or months down the road, my cousin managed to find me a flat. I signed the OTP and was advised by her how I should go abt, getting the bank loan and whatever process that is needed. After exercising the OTP, my cousin called me to say that her manager has submitted my application as his own deal and therefore, she will not get any commission. I asked her how could that be, she said that because I didn't sign the exclusive, it means that my transaction is opened for any agents. I wanted to make complaints to the mgt but she told me that's no use. I told her that the seller's agent (also from PN) was contacted by her and he should recognise that she is actually the buyer's agent and not Mr. C. She told me that both Mr C and the seller's agent, who is a director are friends and that they actually collaborated and processed the transaction without her knowledge. On the other side, I have always thought that Mr. C and my cousin belongs to the same team and I wasn't suspicious at all when I sign the documents with Mr. C. Even agents are scheming against agents and worst still, the manager who is supposed to help their associates achieve target, con them off their commission. So how could you trust them? At the end of the day, they still get their commission after completing their surface services leaving those unsurfaced problem to their buyer/seller.

Thanks so much for letting me know, I'll surely take note about this. Anyway, it seems that there are a lot of good comments about them in this forum. I'll give them the benefit of doubt that it is because of the tax issue?

My current block has just completed the upgrading project for all the toilets and is currently doing for the next block. Perhaps I can catch hold one of their foreman and ask? No promise but of cos no harm asking. Will let PM you if there's good news.