kardtoon

Nice stair case! Like the modern touch. Think you need a good and creative architect to do the design. Looking at this staircase, it won't be cheap, contractors will look at the complexity and probably charge you quite a big as it's an *****. Also structurally, it looks like some sort of strong mounting to one wall needs to be deployed. I wouldn't really worry about saving architect's fees but rather make sure that you get a really good one, preferably one with experience building something similar. BTW, I submitted a plan to build an attic in the attic room (i.e. attic room within the attic) and did not get approval.

This looks nice. Where is it available locally?

I tried googling but couldn't find where this is being done in Singapore. Can you share the link on the equipment and pub link where this can be done? I'm interested to check this out for my house.

Hmm for investment, I don't think any of e above are relevant or important things to look at. I would consider other factors like area (I.e. Ability to hold value), rental potential (rental drives pricing), other factor that could potentially increase value (I.e. MRT that has not been fully priced in, future launches in this area, enbloc potential, etc).

I recommend 3 to 4 months before key collection to confirm an ID or contractor. For these types of projects, it's better to have more time form the contractors to plan than try to rush last minute. No potential downside except paying your deposit to the ID a little earlier. More time = less mistakes = less stress. This is my experience from 4 home renovations and 1 house reconstruction.

Maybe if you talk to your neighbour nicely, they won't mind, unless they also have a pair that they are trying to maintain a consistent look. Interesting but a real problem... let us know how it works out for you.

I doubt any PE will be willing to endorse or certify any loft extension if they know you don't intend to submit. It's placing their license to practise at risk. My opinion only YMMV

I believe your "Official size" refers to "Net saleable psf". That's the number, property agents, developers use to sell you a property. It includes porches, ledges, bay windows, terraces, open balconies, roof terraces, etc. A loft constitutes GFA. I was planning to build a loft in my new place, but scrapped it after submission to URA. After I removed the loft, I definitely saw GFA calculations go down. BTW, I'm not an architect and I suspect most of them don't lurk in these forums.

Yah agree PSF in itself is misleading. We have to count GFA rather than net saleable GFA. GFA will not include car porch, ledge, etc. For planning purposes $300 psf for GFA is a good estimate. During the process, one could get it at $220 to $260 but add fees, over runs, etc, may end up closer to $300. I find that a large part of the cost will come from materials used (tiles, paint, plaster, water proofing material, windows, roof, etc) so what those to maintain budget (but don't sacrifice quality please, house should stand up for decades!)

Your lawyer works to protect your interest. How would you like to pay money for a property that get's tangled up in a legal tassle and your might never be able to resell or move in until much later (or maybe nevergets resolved)??! Even if you have to pay termination of S&P, it's up to the seller to sue you for it and frankly I think that's better than buying a problematic property. I would advise you to trust your lawyer or if you don't, find one that you can trust. Untimately if you find that your lawyer is not acting in your best interest, you can take legal recourse. IMO much better solution than listening to internet chatter about how you should handle an expensive purchase. No one here is actually responsible for any mistakes or problems that you have from taking our advise.

Unless the seller knows about these issues and did not disclose this. I think there may be legal recourse though I'm not a lawyer.

Shouldn't this depend on whose lamp this is?

I guess you might want to give them a call though I suspect the officer will provide clear definate answers. You might want to use the guidelines given in the 2 links provided above (one for reconstruction and another for rebuilt...I think). One of the conditions given (for reconstruction) is that you must not be enjoying owner/occupier rates for an other property for the contruction period and for me that will disqualify me... if you are renting, it might be okay. Let us know how this whole thing works out for you, will be good learning.

My opinion differs... Here's how I managed my last renovation on a brand new condo. 1) Get ID and design done on the floor plan. Most IDs can estimate the size and dimensions based on a draft plan. This is because size of certain items like doors are pretty standard and they use these to estimate and project the rest of the dimensions. 2) Complete layout planning, electrical plans, lighting plan, design of built in cabinets, beds, etc. It will take several rounds of revisions to get to a level where you are satisfied with. 3) Get cost estimates from the ID or from a tender process (if you are using a fee based ID). If tender is used, it can take a while to negotiate and revise plans to meet your budget. 3) Once you get keys, both ID and contractor go in to make measurements to confirm the plans. If you have a competent ID and developer, the initial estimates should be close but still worth to walk in and visually see the space as planning on paper can be different from physically seeing the place. 4) After tweaking of plans, you can start work. 5) A good time to buy loose furniture though imported pieces usually have a few months of waiting time. You can shorten this by buying earlier but have to take the risk of buying without actually seeing the physical size of your layout. You can of course wait until you get your keys before starting even step one, it will just take longer to complete the reno and your house will be left empty for a longer period. This is a low risk way to manage the whole process and get more of the planning up front.

Written Permission or WP is issued by URA to officially approve your planned building works. If you rebuilt or constructed your house, you should find the WP in corenet. If you still don't know how to locate it, ask your architect/builder. If you need to contact IRA, just click on the "contact info" link at the top right hand corner of their web page. BTW, do note that if you fail in your bid for a remission claim, you will be taxed for the land value which will usually be higher than just paying your property tax. http://iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=2422 Good luck!

Even without provisional sum, 400k divide by 3400sf is 117psf. That's could be a record low for current market pricing. It probably doesn't include a lot of things necessary to move in. I will check very carefully on what is included and be extra careful about a builder who would price low to get the business and then try to 'milk' you later on. Worse still if they don't make money and bail.

If your kids are still not in primary school, i suggest to think about which school you want to send your kids to and buy near there. It'll solve a headache you might have later and also property near good schools tend to hold value better. That's also why bukit timah is so expensive.

Contruction timing varies for different projects depending on complexity etc. For inter terrace, I've heard that it can range from 8 months to a year. My own reconstruction of my inter terrace is slated for a 10 months contraction. Planning happens before construction and you can already commence before your tenant moves out. Expect no less than 4 months, assuming that you need to work through a brand new design. 500k (assuming this is all in cost inclusive of everything to move in) to build 3000 sq works out to 166 psf which is extremely cheap. A safer planning budget is around 300 psf.

Open roof garden does not count as gfa.

Hop over to The Adelphi (opposite Funan center), drop by a few shops and have a listen to what they have. There are worlds of options beyond Bose. Cheaper and much better sound. Alternatively, hop over to www.xtremeplace.com forum to chat with other home theatre enthusiasts in Singapore.

As for your original question. Here's how I would do it assuming that I can find a $1M landed and rebuild for $300k. 1) Use your CPF/Cash to pay the initial 20% of the $1M house. Loan 800k from bank. 2) Use your remaining $300k for rebuild cost. Hopefully most of the $300k remaining is in cash because builders don't take CPF for payment That way you avoid taking out a construction loan.

250 psf cost is a good estimate. I think $300k is really tight and might not be doable. A rough estimation of construction cost will be... 1) $250 psf x the sq footage you want to build 2) Add 11% of (1) for fees (architect, submissions, etc etc) 3) Add $50 to 80k for provisional items (lights, curtains, toiletries, etc) For initial planning it's better to be more conservative rather than plan it too tight because once you start work, the house will be torn down and you have to fund it through to the end. So important that you get enough cash flow. As for construction loan, check around with different banks. Some are tighter than others. I did notice something consistent across a few banks. Once they know that you plan to reconstruct, your mortgage will only be supported at <80% (typically 60 to 70%), the banks explained that this is because if you build halfway and run out of funds, it's difficult for the bank to repo the house and resell as it may be only a piece of bare land by then. One of the bank that I called (3 letters starts with D :-) ) expects you to provide progress reports and quarterly valuation as you reconstruct . Some are more relaxed.

A lot of folks covert car porch roof into balconies after TOP inspection... aka not legal. You should check if your neighbour has approval. http://www.corenet.gov.sg/circulars/tables/dc92-08tb4a.html

Sounds like an A&A job and you know exactly what you want. In that case, just use a builder, since an architect won't be able to add much value here.

When I encountered this situation in the past, I asked the contractor to bring about 10 pieces of tiles that are closest to the current for me to choose. I subsequently selected one that I'm happy with and it was replaced. Don't take their word for it. Ask for samples to select from. Maybe you can even replace 4 or 5 tiles so that you don't have one piece standing out.