waileong

Of course. Where did you expect the $$$ to go? However, there is a 7-day period before the $$$ goes in.

Wattage is not as important as lumens. Lumens not as important as the design of the light, ie whether the light is direct or indirect, clear or frosted glass or acrylic, etc. You also got to decide on the colour-- you want warm white, soft white or cool white. I believe you are talking about fluorescent lights. Normally people use 2 x 40W for living room, 1x40W for bedroom and 1x32W for small rooms (eg store room). But people who have additional floor lamps or down lights or halogen lights may choose to use less. Your ID should help you with all these. Even your contractor will be able to advise you.

I don't think you'll be happy. Those are the Macpherson type, small, old and cramped.

If the contrac says "vacant possession", then you could bill to the seller.

Yes, copper pipes now more expensive.

Workers will bring their own lights if need be. What is important is for the wiring to be planned properly so you don't have to undo anything, esp. if your intention is to hide the wires and trunking. If you have an ID or general contractor, they will do all this worrying for you, that's why you pay them $$$.

Value drops if you do the wrong thing. Reason is simple-- whoever wants to buy over have to incur extra cost to undo your "mistake". Eg. some people hacked walls of EA to increase their master bedroom size at the expense of the adjoining bedroom. However, this means that a buyer who wants to have 4 bedrooms will now have to rebuild it, and will cost him a few thousand $$$, plus all the hassle. So this limits your available pool of buyers to those who do not need all the bedrooms. Hence the potential drop in valuation and selling price, all other things being equal. On the other hand, valuation increases when you do the right thing, eg. your renovation is very tasteful, you hide your bomb shelter very well, etc.

I think all wood will change colour when weathered. The culprit is UV. That's why paints were developed. Alternatively, regular wood oil and varnishing can also help preserve and restore some lost colour.

Your agent and lawyer will advise you on all the procedures. That's why they charge fees.

I guess the ID uses good design software then. To make a house really Peranakan will take a huge effort. You'll need to find people who can copy and reproduce what they see from photos. You'll need to custom-make things, and find people who can and are willing to do it. And once you live in it, you'll understand why certain things were done in a certain way. Are you ready to be Peranakan?

I don't think the colour makes that much of a difference. The problem in toilets is usually mildew or water stains, which occur more in the grouting. Keeping grouting looking good is tough.

There's no way to "cope". It's just a question of what you want to give up. I don't think $$$ is the problem for you. So if you want more time for yourself, you have to get a maid or equivalent.

The pictures don't look very peranakan to me... Magazines in Singapore are a lousy place to start as they are focused on the mass market (ie contemporary modern looks). Buy some books that deal with Peranakan houses and heritage and look to their pictures for clues. A Peranakan design is more than just finding an ID... In many cases, it's the decorative items the owner has collected over a lifetime-- furniture, ceramics, paintings, books, etc.-- which make it work. In many cases, I think it's also a case of educating the ID rather than finding an ID who knows exactly what to do. It's also not just about liking or loving Peranakan design. An important thing to consider is whether you can live with the Peranakan design in the long term. It also means using certain colour schemes, certain types of wood furniture, certain types of tiles, etc. Your butt must be comfortable on certain types of chairs, for instance. It means not having any Ikea stuff in your house as that detracts from the overall theme. Etc. Etc.

What is your question?

It is normally about 1 foot higher than the other units.

Your info is partly correct but you've attributed it to the wrong reasons. HDB is not concerned about your tenants per se. The reason they generally do not allow you to rent out your whole flat (except in special cases) is because they have to ensure that you are not living elsewhere. In other words, they sold you a "subsidised" flat in support of a national policy to home ownership, they don't want you to abuse the "subsidy" by renting out your flat to earn rental income and live somewhere else. HDB can make exceptions, eg. if you kena posted overseas for work. But in general, they will not approve subletting of whole flat. Illegal immigrants are a concenrn ofICA, not HDB. Whether you rent out your private condo or HDB flat to them doesn't matter-- if you do so, you will be charged with harbouring illegal immigrants. HDB is not here to provide an additional check on illegal immigrants. And they are certainly not here to give you a clean bill of health for your tenants in case anything goes wrong. If you are caught harbouring illegal immigrants, saying that you informed HDB of these tenants is not going to reduce the charge!

Hypothetical answer: the guy who charges the most. Maybe the guy who did the St Regis residences.

What's there to say? Go see for yourself. If there really is a hole there, it doesn't matter if other people have or don't have the experience, you'll still have to patch it up.

Get used to it. People in flats along MRT tracks had the same problem.

How can anyone recommend an ID to you without knowing what you like? Some people want price cheap cheap, some people want cutting edge design and price is not issue, some people want ID to take care of everything, etc. It's like recommending a car. Without knowing if you want a big car or small car or 4x4 or sports car or whatever, how can we recommend anyone?

At least $5k.

Agents are paid commissions, not fees. So if there's no sale, they get nothing. Don't feel guilty, they are used to it.

If you are creating a new study area, you can certainly ask the contractor to make a doorway that is the right size for your door, then put in a door frame and then install the door. The only problem is that door + frame + lockset are normally sold together, so you won't save much by not taking the door, even if you could persuade your contractor to do it.

You'll likely have to spend your own money, unless it's near GE. Property is normally bought and sold on an as-is where-is basis, especially for resale property. Hence, you have to live with whatever defects came with the flat.

Bad idea. Normally ID's not only come up with drawings to help you visualise their design, they also handle all the project management (ie find the contractor for you, find the materials for you, etc). If you just take the drawings and the list of materials from them, the savings may not be much but you take on all the work of finding a reliable contractor who knows what you ID wants and how to achieve what your ID visualised for you. That is a tough order. Why do that to save $1-2k? The hassle of project management-- is it worth the saving?