forgotten

Congrats on being a daddy!

For furniture, u can try to get 2nd hand ones. I may get 2nd hand ones online to save $. We didn't ask parents for a single cent and we give them monthly allowances. Same as u, we think they need $$ for their own retirements. Though my hb & I love kids, we are putting our baby plan on hold due to financial issue.

A ground floor unit beside my block is asking for 40K COV in its ad this month. Another two units upstairs in my block are asking 30K and 40K COV in their ads this month. Yah agree with u, no point to renov for my case.

Berry, How much COV did u pay for your unit?

Ok long story... Yes this is our first house. We have booked an BTO unit. It's ready in 3 years time, so we must die die sell off this resale unit in 3 years time. If I take up the HDB loan or grant, we'll be locked down by the MOP of 5 years. We intend to paint the walls, buy furniture, then move in haha. Poor people like us don't have much option.

I paid 15K COV as my unit is only 2nd floor. My agent filtered out the units that exceeded 20K COV for me, so she brought me to see units that were within 20K COV. I cannot take up HDB loan and 30K HDB grant. I have to take up bank loan, so I have to pay another 5% downpayment in cash (about 20K). In total, I need to pay 44K cash for COV, downpayment and agent commission. My heart is very pain lor.

At that time, u were looking for low, mid or high floor? I realise COV goes up when floor goes up lol.

3-room units are around 230K at Woodlands. HLE of 160K should be sufficient for u. After combining with your spouse, the HLE loan is less than 160K?

Haiz I understand your pain. I've renting a room with hb for a year due to the high property prices for us, first-timers. I also tried HDB balloting for more than 2 years. I used http://www.iproperty.com.sg/ & http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/. I recently bought a unit around Woodlands. My agent specialises in Woodlands, Admiralty, Marsiling and Sembawang areas. She actually filtered out the unsuitable units accordingly to our requirements (condition, COV etc). She saved me a lot of time. I took less than a week to find my unit. PM me if u are interested in my agent's contact no.

Nesh, Agree with Berry's point... If one exercises OTP this month, 1st appointment will probably be in March. If one exercises OTP in Jan, 1st appointment will probably be in April (3 months later). Which town are u looking at? U can browse the property ads for that town and gauge the average COV amount that the sellers are demanding. 10K COV is likely insufficient for most towns now sigh. U must also be prepared that another buyer outbids your offer and u need to increase your offer to the seller.

Flowchart about the procedures: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10201p.nsf/WP...Menu=Procedures

Yes, you cannot book 1st appointment without HLE approval letter. See below. http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10201p.nsf/WP...et?OpenDocument Extracted from HDB Website: "Home purchase is a long-term financial commitment. Hence, it is important that financial planning is carried out before you buy a flat. From 1 Jan 2007, HDB requires all potential flat buyers who intend to obtain an HDB loan to apply for an HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter before committing to buy a flat. Resale flat buyers taking an HDB loan must obtain the HLE letter before exercising the Option to Purchase. To assist you in financial planning, you can approach our HDB officers for financial advice or counselling. The HLE letter provides you information on your loan eligibility, eligible maximum loan amount, eligible maximum loan repayment period and the monthly instalment to service the HDB loan. This is to ensure that you are able to pay for your home and service the loan without overstretching your finances. Resale flat buyers taking a bank loan must obtain a Letter of Offer from the bank before exercising the Option to Purchase."

U should get the HLE approved before u sign OTP. It's important to take note that HLE application takes 2-3 weeks to process and your OTP expires after 2 weeks. After u exercise your OTP and get HLE approval letter, then your agent can make a resales application to HDB and book 1st appointment date for u. HDB web site has a flow chart to explain the steps.

Paiseh there was typo in my previous post. I actually meant "The good news for the buyer is that the valuation of the unit will be higher after there's lift landing at his floor level next time. Thus it's fair that the buyer pays the fee for the lift upgrading." Yeah scary, the Dubai's news is a wakeup call to the global economy! Hope the economy doesn't crash again, otherwise a lot of people will lose their jobs again and fall into poverty. Now I already see many people begging for $$ and selling tissues at bus interchanges and MRT stations.

My friend and her seller requested HDB for an earlier 2nd appointment. The earliest date that HDB will grant is 5 weeks after 1st appointment. Yes, my OTP exercise form also stated 30 days.

You have my empathy. I agree with purecat. Please stay positive, gal. Moreover, I think the problem doesn't lie with the unit's fengshui, the problem lies more with the unit's greedy and selfish seller. The loansharks will give up one after they know that you are not the borrower. My mum's ex-neighbour borrowed from loanshark who came to splash paint on the unit door and corridoor area after the poor buyer moved in. A month after they reported to the police, the loanshark gave up and there was no more harassment on the unit. My friend's unit was also splashed paint after their upstairs neighbour borrowed from loanshark. There was also no more harrassment after the case was reported to police. Try to write and paste a big poster outside your unit to inform the loanshark that the seller is no longer staying there.

I think the prices of the units nearby the IRs will go up. Just don't know whether the increase will be as much as 10% next year? The private properties around the Marina Bay area are already quite hot this year. IMHO, your friend should look at his own financial health first and get a unit which he can afford to pay the monthly instalments (even if the bank interest rate goes up). If he can easily afford an unit in that area now, by all means he can grab one now.

The good news for the seller is that the valuation of the unit will be higher after there's lift landing at his floor level next time. Thus it's fair that the seller pays the fee for the lift upgrading.

I heard one 2nd floor Yishun unit near MRT station was sold at 55K COV recently. Didn't know that low floor units at suburb towns can fetch such a high COV. U bought your unit already? I guess the COVs will go up higher when the IRs open their doors next year. The BTO units take 4 years to build and another 5 years to be released into the resales market. I doubt the BTOs released lately can make the resales market go downhill. Nonetheless, I'm happy that govt is increasing the BTOs, at least more Singaporeans have the option to buy their units without cash.

Erm... Sengkang 4 rooms are also asking for around 30K COV on the average now. My friend is viewing Sengkang units. I heard that even units on the ground floor (other area) are demanding for COV wah~

Hahaha... ok I shall look forward to seeing the actual colour paints

They force buyers to sign some form stating the 1% commission+gst during exercise of otp. Don't think we can reduce the commission rate after we signed it in black & white. I thought we only find out about the 2nd appt date when we go for the 1st appt. How come you already know 2nd appt date now? My agent is still alright in her services, so I don't mind paying her the full 1% at 2nd appt. I bought my sofa at 50% discount, shall live with the choice for next 3-4 years until it breaks haha. I'm only particular about my bed.

The store allows me to park my sofa at their warehouse. I just need to call them up again next year to arrange the delivery date. It's good idea for you to withhold the payment of commission to your agent until you can move in successfully to the unit. Hehe I won't consider 30K cov cheap for a tiong bahru >20 years old flat because tiong bahru units have super high valuation prices to begin with. My friend's 5-room at tiong bahru was sold at around 650K + 30K COV last month.

I read your post in the other thread. Will 1 room's space be enough to store all your furniture? There are warehouses in Singapore that offer storage space to domestic households for a monthly fee. Maybe you can check those out too.

Sigh... Case is a toothless tiger in Singapore. Without black & white, I doubt they can do anything for u. Somemore you must pay membership fee to Case. Based on the HDB housing rule, the house only belongs to the buyer after the 2nd appointment.