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adrian_john

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Everything posted by adrian_john

  1. Recently, some agents have 'revised' their rates to 2% to sell, 1% to buy. But as a norm, usually 1% sell and 1% to buy is also an acceptable market rate for HDB sale/purchase. For Private property sales, it can range between 1.25% to 2% borne by the seller. In general, buyers need not pay any agent commission if they buy from seller's agent directly or even via a co-broke. Also, some agents may charge GST, others may not. It all boils down to individual negotiation.
  2. Haven't logged on to RenoTalk for almost 2+ years now. Looking at these pages gone by really brings back a lot of nostalgia and memories of the many nice people I met here and made friends with, and also of all the time and effort spent in doing up the home. The plan for the home was a long term one, but due to changes, we have decided to let go of this beautiful home, which we had built from scratch and enjoyed living in for the last 2.5+ years. Yesterday, our home finally found a new owner who really loves and appreciates it as much as we do. We will be moving out around September and moving on to another new place and another new Reno chapter. Will share more in time to come.
  3. Why is Rondy stalking you leh? You owe him something ar? I thought the other way round? Hehehehe! Wah Rondy, you very mean leh!
  4. Rondy, still not too late mah. The only troublesome part for you is that you'll have to move your furniture around abit here and there; And maybe suffer abit of slight 'overspill' of the wallpaper glue. If its laid properly, I don't think popping out's an issue. I think the lifespan of wallpaper, if properly taken care of and not abused, can last a few years. After that you can change.
  5. Ahahaha .. thanks Pal. I'll consider about the Barcelona and Ottomans. Right now I'm seriously having a big headache with the Living Area. A big ghost wing chair would really be a welcome thing lah. Sometimes hor, perhaps getting a 42" TV was abit of a mistake cos' of the close viewing distance. Also, the high-back sofa is another headache. I was thinking perhaps I will put the high-back sofa against the wall where the TV console is now and create a low-height partition for the TV console, which will now run parallel to the balcony. Haiz ... headache!!! Hiya Pet, long time no see. Welcome back. Have you started Phase 2 of your place yet? I got the wallpaper from Europa. Am still exploring Wallpaper on some other key walls ....
  6. Thanks Flyingballoons. I've done another wallpaper in my MBR as well. Will take a pic.
  7. KC, nice touch with using the truss-type lighting at your living room. Its really unique!
  8. Hahaha, ya Char, I think soon your blog will be the doggie thread for the RT Dog lovers liao! My little girl also very scared of water and like you, we were also afraid of getting her fur in a mess with all the fine sand, so I thought the best way is to bring the water back to her instead. We bring about 2 to 3 10-litre containers and put it in the boot and bring it home. Char, I had this debate over the clear vs frosted glass for the MBR Bath as well. In the end, we went with the frosted option. So far from my experience, frosted is not as bad as I thought. You can still have the transparent effect as you can still see the shadows, more so with the lights on. If you stand close to the glass door, the sillhoutte is quite clear although the frosted glass blurs abit. So in a sense, frosted is not on the other extreme, but sorta like an in-between. And somehow, in a closed passage like yours, the aesthetic of a frosted will looks quite nice as well, especially with the lights on. Kopi, your little doggie so cute. Aiyo, very fluffy and adorable!
  9. Yo Kopi. Congrats on getting the keys! Finally get a glimpse of your soon-to-be-transformed palace! Hack and re-do man! Hope the FSM's instructions doesn't affect much of what you planned though. This can be frustrating, depending on your preferences and level of belief for the FS elements. Pet's idea about the mosaic is what I think would make a difference if you were to go ahead with doing a strip. If its that sort of proportion, it'll look really outstanding. The only thing I can see that will be quite annoying for you is all the sanitary pipes in the bathrooms. For some, wanna do box-up also like very difficult or impossible. Sometimes I wish the HDB architects could've done better with these! 2 sanitary pipes in the shower spoilt the whole look of my common toilet too. Eagerly awaiting for your progress to unfold dude!
  10. Hi Ling3bzr! Welcome back. Nice to see you again. I recall both our homes were being done at the same time, but Mr Yeak told me yours was delayed. Hope everything's been sorted on your end and see your progress soon!
  11. Actually hor, the Barcelona is smaller than the wing chair size slightly by 10cm. Right now headache lah to shift around sofa and then mark out spaces for the wing chairs to test all the options. The 2nd life stuff are quite good lah. If only Kartell got Ghost Wing Chairs, that'd be perfect. It's like there but not there ... ahahahahaa. I'll take the living view so you can see the 'cramped' space. Thanks hor, of course with make up, styled hair beautiful la... Ehehehehehe!
  12. Dude, if you choose Option 1, you gotta stock up on Mr Muscle and Scotchbrite ... but don't worry lah, as you're cleaning it and looking at your nice wall, you'll come to the realisation that its worth it! Ahahahahaha!
  13. Pal, very nicely done strips for the wall! The visual impact is great!
  14. Yup, I'm that AJ. Wah, very touched that Kopi thinks of me and my asthma until he wanna cut your croc tiles! So extreme! No need to worry, I got my crocodile meat source already. Heehehehehe! Ya, I remembered you posted on my blog previously... You're right, my house is ZAI - As in SUPER CRAMPED in terms of space! Hehehehehe! My doggie's really living up to the Schanuzer's reputation of being a gulper with a big appetite and not knowing when to stop. I try to give her more 'natural' stuff like fruits to quell her hunger rather than treats. The dry food's also fish-based. Actually I learnt alot of the alternative 'therapies' from our dog-owner friends too. Like the Head and Shoulders thing was shared by a friend who has a Lab and JRT. She also recommends Selsun. I have another friend who uses Johnson Baby Bath and other gentle cleansers like Cetaphil and Esemthan (which I use for my kids too). I guess if its gentle enough on babies and humans, can't go wrong for dogs too. Just got to make sure its not drying. The bathing in sea water is also good, but we just have to make sure that the water is relatively clean. When we were doing this, it meant every Sunday, my wife and I would go to either Changi point, far end of East Coast or a clean stretch of Kallang River where there's less people and pollution. We'd gather almost 20 to 30 litres of the salt water in our jerry cans and bring it back to fill a tub to soak our doggie in for about 20 minutes a time, before proceeding to give a gentle shower. After a couple of weeks, it really helped get rid of the bad skin and rashes. I checked out the Pet Sun Chlorella. I think I'll give that a try! Yeah, good idea Pinklady. I think there's quite a number of Dog lovers here in RT.
  15. Hi Felix, Welcome to RT. Glad to meet a new 'Yeaker'. Hope all goes well for your reno! Just curious, were you and your wife the ones that popped by my place? Heya Amrasenelya, I hope Yeak does get back to you soon. Perhaps he's quite tied up. I know for sure the whole of last week and abit of the week before he was very occupied with a personal family matter.
  16. Kopi - For the mosaic choice, I'd go with the first choice cos' it'd really be very bold and give an edgy look to the shower that makes it stand out. Option 3, while practical, can still look good but the strip cannot be too thin or else its very minimal in terms of effect.
  17. Eh, you painted the stripes oredi ar? Hey Pal, I realised my Living area quite cramped man. I think maybe cannot get the Wing Chairs liao or else my Living will be too jam packed. If I get the Wing Chairs, then I'll probably have to ditch the sofa and sell it off. Now maybe I'll have to look at just ottomans. Doesn't make the Living look too blocky and yet fulfils the function of providing seating and also neat storage for magazines/books since I don't have a coffee table.
  18. Yeah, at most don't watch or 'tompang' some friend's house and watch. Alternatively, if your favourite club has a fan club, they always have meetings to catch games at their respective 'clubhouses', which is some pub. Good athmosphere plus you get to sit united with your fellow fan(atics). Unfortunately, I'm not really a fan of any particular club so I don't know where to go ... Ahahahahaha! Kopi, since you going to be kopitiam owner soon, can always open up for us poor deprived football fans. Ahahahahaha! Necrosis, didn't expect that you were a lady too! Yes, Singtel sucks big time. Always money-grabbing-minded. Watching at some kopitiams actually got good athmosphere too. Can be quite colourful lah with all the Uncles' live commentary and swearing. Quite enjoyable. Wow, glad to know you're a hardcore Spurs fan. I've seen alot of them diminish in recent years. Like 2 of my close buddies from young all Spurs fans...until recent years, they've dumped Spurs for Arsenal (of all clubs!) - Bloody traitors! Ahahahaha! For bundle, actually both Singtel and Starhub have now, but just that its not incorporated the Football aspect (for Singtel) as yet. Starhub's bundle would actually be good if they still had soccer though - cos' at least for their digital voice line, there's no monthly/quarterly fees unlike Singtel. Plus, their Maxonline always got those 35% discount rate.
  19. Char, Nice to see you set up your blog. All the best for the upcoming reno! Look forward to the progress. I have a schnauzer too, and yes, their skins are very sensitive. She has had an outbreak of those 'Schnauzer Bumps' and dandruff before which could only be treated by medicine, proper diet and bath. Also, have to avoid those very strong shampoos that may dry the skin. In addition, we also found some alternative solutions that helped: 1) Bathe in sea saltwater 2) Shampoo with Head and Shoulders. So far, she's been doing quite OK. Only occasionally abit pop up but it goes away very fast without needing medication. Chicken is a definite no-no. Stick to 'safer' meats like Deer or Fish. We try to give her as fish oil supplements for her skin and coat too.
  20. It is a big blow for Singtel to have overtaken the rights to EPL coverage (not to mention Serie A and Champions League). I've never been a big fan of Singtel for any category of their services so I must say I'm cynical. Some conspiracy theorists would argue that although now they're promoting that their rates for Football will be cheaper than Starhub's, somehow, it'd be for a limited period only. Let's say they give you cheap for one year then they increase by double for 2nd year of contract also you LPPL right? You not happy wanna break contract also got to pay the early termination fee, which they also earn. In the bigger picture, maybe its the goal of the bigger fish's strategy to lure all consumers to have both Mio and Starhub Cable at the same time. After all, they all belong to T or G entity right?
  21. Weiweiwei ... Not only I say hor, BD, Ivy and PJ also say one! Ehehehehe! Sometimes actually, its not totally HDB's fault lah. Its really the mentality of greed and kiasuism and of course also the market spoilers who have contributed to 'affordability' or rather lack of; in terms of housing here. Economics of supply-demand and monoploy also play a part. I think HDB also has alot of catch-22 scenarios which are hard to solve (despite all the 'highly paid talent') because its simply is a case of alot of things not within control. Imagine, you make new house price low, then resale price drops drastically - Those who bought high or looking at asset appreciation kpkb; Then private housing people also kpkb say you make their values drop, or everyone buy private and push private beyond rich except to elite spenders... vicious circle that all boils down to kiasuism, greed and non-community mentality. Sadly Singapore.
  22. Hey DSMan. Congrats on starting your T-Blog! Waiting to see your reno progress! Yes, its also a good thing too to see a passionate supporter of an EPL club other than the Devils, Scousers and Blues. Have you been a long-time Spurs fan since the days of Hoddle and Gascoigne?
  23. Thanks lksoon. The main reno's done, but we've still got a couple of things left to settle and are working on it. Hope to sort it out soon too!
  24. LIVING AREA UPDATE We're glad that the Living area is more or less 2/3 done. We've gotten our TV as well as chosen a sofa, so finally we have a place to sit other than lean against the storage cupboards. Previously, we had wanted to tile the wall at the back of the TV. We scouted a few nice large-sized Italian tiles and even considered mosaics but in the end, decided on simple wallpaper so that we could have the option to refresh it every couple of years. My preference was more of a white-based Paul Smith striped type, but my wife felt it wouldn't be good to watch TV with too many find stripes in the background, so we settled for this simple black-grey-silver. Thanks to New's feedback and recommendation, we popped by Hommage to check out the sofa. We had initially saw a similar design at Harvey Norman, but was rather uncomfortable with the salesperson's continous upselling and persistence - From fabric they tried to get us to spend almost double to get full leather etc. Hommage provided sincere and efficient service and with very reasonable prices as well. Now the next step is to get the secondary seating chairs and side table to complete. We've also got to work the layout of the furniture there abit too, cos' its really quite a tight space. Actually, I had wanted to get the compact Muji L-shaped set, but my parents didn't find it comfy so had to give it a miss.
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