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cleong

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Posts posted by cleong

  3. Posted

    Thanks Cleong. ☺

    tt's great to hear.

    Do u have a blog here s well?

    I'm a new EM home-owner. Any tips and/or advice for me on EM living pls?

    I've got 2 very mischievous kids (5+ & 1+) n an elderly living wid me.

    Comments from all r welcome.

    Based on your family unit, I suggest you allocate your elderly the study/room downstairs (next to the front door). That is assuming that it hasn't been hacked away. Have a toilet at the kitchen so that its not necessary to use the staircase. Make sure the staircase has handrails for the kids, maybe a gate at the bottom or top could be used if you don't feel that they can be trusted to use the staircase safely...

  5. Posted

    Hi potatoes, there is a unit (or two) in the HUDC EMs across the road that do have the roller shutter installed, but they require a centre track because as you rightly point out the balcony is 5m wide and I suppose its too wide for a single rolller shutter panel. In your case you might need to dismantle your existing wrought iron grilles though?

  6. Posted

    Hi Andrina, is ur EM in HG? Congrats in joining the ranks of EM owners......

    Btw, Cleong and I are staying in the same block. Our block is about 26 yrs old and electrical power not upgraded. I am using system 4 for my 3 bedrooms and study room in 1st level. I had wanted to add in another compressor to aircon my living room but must get approval coz of this contraint. However, I will attempt to seek approval for a 2nd compressor at a later stage :)

    I a/c-ed my 3 rooms upstairs and my living room with a larger blower. In this hot season it gets used quite a bit. Other times the balcony doors and windows are thrown open for ventilation. Top floor units bear the full brunt of the sun. Did you notice the tap water these few days is hot enough to bathe in?

    I have observed several units around the neighbourhood with two compressors though...

  8. Posted

    Also, as we are accidental EM owners, can pls share what is the difference between Gen 1, 2 and 3?

    Thanks!! :)

    There are variants within each category but they are largely:

    Gen 1 : Rectangular balcony accessible only by the living room

    Gen 2 : Square balcony with access from living room and kitchen

    Gen 3 : Similar to Gen 2 but smaller (approx 14x sq m vs. 15x sq m)

    An then there are the penthouse types (Strathmore, Potong Pasir, Bishan), the triangular type, and certain Gen 2 even have a small MBR balcony, and so on. But most of us have pretty standard layouts.

  11. Posted

    Hi guys, i'm gonna upgrade to an EM soon and i have a couple of questions in mind. Being old flats, do EMs have any problems of hollow floor, thus resulting in noise transcending from the upper household? Does any EM owners here encounter noise problem from above? i'm gonna spend a huge sum of money upgrading and it's prolly the most impt decision i've made till date, and i just wanna make sure the decision is a wise one =)

    I live on the top floor. Block was completed in 1987.

    My MBR roof has leaked twice.

    My side wall in the MBR leaked once.

    Each time, town council came around to patch it up. I'm a bit iffy about the roof's condition given that the MBR roof leak is at one corner of my built-in wardrobe.

    Some parts of my plastered walls are showing cracks along existing join , perhaps the building structure itself has some slight movement.

    I've accidentally annoyed my downstairs neighbour by knocking stuff on the living room floor late at night, so I suppose the noise does get through. Offhand, I suppose the old flats have thicker partition walls than the new generation pre-fab flats though.

  12. Posted

    To be fair I do not think the point is that bizkid76's renovation was "better" than the TS's, but that the design has lost its way.

    But its not very useful to point it out after its been done and the TS has moved in.

    Its kinda like your colleague badmouthing the new car you just bought, saying its got gearbox problems.

    Or someone commenting that the new handbag you bought, "cheh, made in China only!"

    Then again, its all just words and semantics. So long as the owner himself/herself likes it, who is anyone else to judge?

    My own unit was tidied up for photos and now looks cluttered because we actually live in it (and not just have it as a showflat) but heck, we're comfortable. That's what counts.

  14. Posted

    I've commented before that the way the valuations are being done are chasing flat prices (not just EMs) in an upward spiral. High prices induce owners to want to sell, instead of putting their flats on the market when they NEED to sell. The agents are happy since they're taking a percentage of commission. But at the end of the day you got to judge for yourself if it is affordable or reasonable to pay heaps of CASH for a given flat.

    I've visited one EM on Lor. Chuan that was asking 50k COV and it was inhabited by a bunch of PRC students renting, plus its in original condition. Naturally, I didn't buy it but I'm sure someone did! I subsequently paid a more realistic COV for something in slightly better condition. But as people will invariably do a top to bottom renovation on something this old, cutting the COV you pay is more important than seeing what you get.

    Hi spilt84

    I confirmed sold my unit some time last August. Meantime was looking around for a resale HDB unit. My friends told me to wait as they are certain the price will come down.

    Actually initaly, was looking at 4, 5 room and later consider EA units. My sons later changed my mind to EM as they wanted some thing different.

    Whenever there is an EM available that efforts to view was made. They are asking from min 50K to 150K range in COV in Serangoon, Lor. Ah soo and Hougang EM units.

    Did not heed the advise of my friends to wait for the price to drop that we secure a EM which was about 5mins to Hougang MRT and Hougang Mall.

    The valuation was 570K and COV was 60K. The OTP was in Sep 2011. Did a renovation which cost me approx 55k without include of furnishing.

    Sometime this May 2012, there is a unit in my same block but of 4 levels higher now was valued $610K and COV asking is 65K.

    I felt astonished to why the valued 610K after noted that almost everything in that EM are in original condition as compared to mine which the previous owner did more as compare to this market unit.

    My friend whom was an agent explained that the valuation is based on an average of the past 6 months transaction. There was past 4 units transacted 650k, 610k, 630k and 628K which he was right that the latest valuation was approx 610k.

    Though it may seems the COV asking is low but as a whole the pricing now and before had gone up.

    EM owners which many have been coax and educate by agents infoing them reasons due to HDB no longer built these types and moreover the newer units are much smaller in floor area.

    I faced these reasons during my lookout for EM units.

    For your question if is possible to get a EM unit at 30k cov, which I would not comment that is possible or not to find an EM owner asking as most probably you shall have to pay extensive Reno cost or not of a convience location......

    All owners had been tuned by agents in asking higher COV given the prime location or MRT or shopping mall or eateries or markets .......

    Good luck in your EM search.....

    Regards

    ExMen

  15. Posted

    Can I check I is still possible to get am em at yishun at cov below 30k now.. Feeling kinda desperate as I'm looking high and low for one but those in a market for awhile the price also don't seem to come down..all agents was telling me is an impossible task at yishun :(

    Drop handwritten leaflets door to door asking for direct deals (no agents) then you might have a chance. Otherwise the agents take a cut and both seller and buyer lose.

  16. Posted

    The price may be too high, you could have reached that holding point (peak) of the market that people aren't willing to offer. A good price unit can be snapped up on the same day it is advertised. Just something to think about.

    For your next unit, look past the exterior, if you are in Renotalk chances are you are going to do a 100% renovation anyway. Look at the other attributes such as the basic structure (eg. leaking roofs and such) rather than the trimmings.

  18. Posted

    Interesting variation of layout on the typical 2nd Generation EM. The primary differences appear to be the curved lower floor balcony parapet, but of more value is probably the attached private balcony that the MBR enjoys.

    If you don't want your MBR bed to be placed in such a way that your feet aren't pointed at a door, then there's only one way to place it though, as there are three doors in that one bedroom!

  20. Posted · Edited by cleong

    Thanks for the pics bro. You would make a tidy pile if you sell your unit now ya? I prefer your reno. :D

    But prices still seem to be going strong. An EA in my neighborhood on a relatively high floor just sold for $900k recently. Think is a record for my neighborhood but then the floor area is fairly big at 157 sqm.

    I know what you mean, and thanks ;) but it has after all been lived in for a number of years, which does add to the clutter and dilutes the original design intent of the 100k reno! Plus, design trends have moved on... I just hope that I have made my design timeless enough, but clutter is starting to creep into the house despite my best efforts at throwing stuff out. I mean, you do have to keep receipts and warranty cards don't you???

    In any case, we don't plan to realize the paper profits, as we still have another 3 years of Minimum Occupancy Period to see through, and we don't see ourselves upgrading to a smaller and more expensive condominium unit (the next logical upgrade, although I deem it a downgrade in terms of interior quality of living). A landed property is out of our reach too, so it looks like this is a keeper for us. Better to save up for our retirement nest egg.

  23. Posted

    I think whether the prices continue to go up depends on where the psychological barrier is for buyers. If you did a HLE with HDB you will notice that you are cleared to buy quite an expensive HDB flat - but not enough people look downstream enough to the point of their retirement to see if they have enough of a nest egg to retire on, or has it all been sunk into the flat? Remember that you have to keep a substantial amount in Minimum Sum.

    One component of valuations, even HDB ones, are last done prices for the area/block/type of flat. They chase each other in an upward spiral because the last done price becomes the baseline valuation, and then the COV is tacked on. It is the practically the rule now that there will be COV paid, so that transaction becomes the new baseline for the next sale coming along.

    Even if valuations of flats do not collapse, what it is doing is eating into your consumable income. To me it doesn't matter as much what my flat is worth but what utility value I can derive from it. And if I spent all my money on my flat, I would have no money left for retirement. If I wanted to retire comfortably I would have to sell my comfortable flat to get money, and then my living environment wouldn't be comfortable anymore!

    I love my EM unit but I wouldn't pay 700k for it...

  24. Posted

    U bought your EM at Serangoon in 2011, top floor less than 500k? Super good deal!

    I rememebered Serangoon EM were selling at 500-550k 3yrs ago, near Rosyth.

    As for bubble, do u think it will impact HDB houses? hmmm I never see HDB valuation drop even during financial crisis

    No, the transaction was completed in July 2010. My previous owner had bought the place in 1996 at 570k (I think) close to the height of property prices then, and we all know what happened in 1997......

  25. Posted

    Great blog! giving me some rough idea on deco.. drooling! wow..can't wait to go for 1st apt. Tks Pal

    Hi, just noticed your signature. Unless you're doing very light renovation or none at all, or you do renovation before 2nd appointment, otherwise 23rd July to 9th August is too short a timespan to get much renovation done.

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