zirhk3355

Wow, seemed like everyone is around?? Let's go for THUM!! 3pm...ok?? Watch out for the SMS...

Yeah me too but sometimes at home want to use fax and also for long distance or lengthy conversation got to use fixed line mah... Actually starhub's digital voice would be good, fixed rate for local calls...but too bad I am using mio internet now...

Check the ceilings and corners for tell-tale signs of water leakage: 1. 'Bubbles' in the paintwork, 2. Paintwork peeling off, 3. Wavy brown stains that forms a circle, and/or 4. Dampness on the ceiling or some crystallised water droplets.

To be fair, we should not hold back payment from the ID/contractors if they had done a good job. This is to ensure a healthy relationship within the industry, so that everyone will be happy. If there are defects in their works, do give them the chance to rectify them by pointing them out. If unable to rectify or compromise, then talk about discounts as the last resort. This way, you would be seen as a gentleman because you had already given them a chance and they cannot complain that you are trying to cut their payments.

First, you did not lie - it IS a re-negotiation and you REALLY did not extend mah! And in any re-negotiation, it may or may not fall thru, so you are taking a risk here when you do not engage an agent in the negotiation. If you are afraid, use one of these methods: 1. If the 'option to renew' clause says "mutually agreed rates", then you can offer a sky-high rate (eg $10,000/mth). The tenant obviously won't agree and the agreement would be terminated. 2. Really go and re-negotiate and change some of the clauses; in templated tenancy agreements from the agency, there are bound to be some unfavourable clauses. Take them out or rephrase them. 3. Do it within three months of the tenancy's expiry (or as per stated in the tenancy agreement), write a letter to inform the agent about it. THEN re-negotiate another contract. As for the new tenancy agreement, if you search hard enough, you can get one off the internet lah. Some lawyers do provide free templated contracts online. Read them, if you are ok with the terms, then use it.

If that is the exact wordings from the contract, then its very simple to get around it...but dun say I say one... Read the words again: "In the event that hte Landlord should grant the Tenant an extension of the said term herein..." Hmmz...is it obvious now?? All you have to do is NOT to extend the contract! The following must be done: 1. If the tenant has an option to renew (usually 1 yr), then ask the tenant to respond (in black and white) that s/he chooses not to renew (for whatever personal reasons, etc). 2. Redraft another tenancy agreement and DO NOT use the previous one as template. You might want to get a lawyer to do this. 3. Sign it with the tenant and go for your IRAS e-stamping. Extension means no terms must be changed, ie an extension letter would be signed and ATTACHED to the existing tenancy agreement. Terminating the agreement and re-negotiating is NOT an extension. The agency is only entitled to their renewal commission if the existing agreement is renewed, OR they are assisting you guys to negotiate the new agreement. Sorry if I seemed like playing b*stard, but terminology is very important. Too bad for the agency that they did not phrase their clauses properly to protect themselves - its a dog-eat-dog world out there in business!

I think your ID meant more like not nice lor...

That's good news for you then! Do write in for a black and white just to be sure...sometimes you will get multiple answers from different people for the same question, if you just talk over the phone.

Maybe mine is reused number. In old estate is always like that, the exchange is full liao so got to wait for empty slots...

Eh?? Mine from Singtel also, which starts with 6479... as per the rest of tanglin halt...

Dun worry about being noob lah, everyone was there before. Nothing wrong with asking, only something wrong if dun ask! Raincole is right; sometimes buying properties is not a matter of investment or calculating 'worthiness' when selling later. Sometimes its emotional, as in really, Really, REALLY love the place so much, must stay at that area, parents/children staying nearby, etc. Otherwise, why got such transactions like you mentioned, 800K for a bishan flat? Or more recently, all the crazy sales of 700K and 800K+ at membina, toa payoh and queenstown, when the actual valuation of the areas are hovering around 300-400K only? Remember what does COV stands for? Its CASH OVER VALUATION, meaning you are paying ABOVE what all these professional valuers price the flat for. Why CASH? Because even HDB or the banks are not willing to loan you that amount and they are telling you, "Hello, you 'ji-kei-pou-zhong' and go pay cash yourself hor..." So what does that mean? It means that for those crazy sales transactions, it just CANNOT be a practical decision to pay like 300K+ or more COV, no matter how cash-rich you are; it must be an emotional decision, as per the abovementioned reasons. Its not a wrong or rash decision, mind you, but just that to this group of buyers, their emotional reasons to buy are as important as our practical reasons. So frankly, the answer to your question is indeed quite a holy one; ie only God will know lor. Dun fret too much about the future because nobody knows. Just calculate what you can afford and what you like, then buy already. After that, pray hard that some years later, a crazy buyer will come along, love your place so much and pay that 300K+ COV to you lor...hehe...

Huh you are talking about new flats now? That's totally different from resale market leh. But anyway, we cannot say that "inflation the main cause n in general is e selling price from HDB gonna stay regardless if any resale transaction above or below valuation". From the buyers' pt of view also, if everyone around the new flat is selling at $300K, would they buy a new flat at $400K? And sadly, the vice versa is also true: It seemed that new flats' prices will increase also if the resale market is doing well, although it was supposed to be made affordable for first-time buyers. Case in point, my own flat at tanglin halt. First ballot, the price was $200K+ to at most $300K for 4-rm, then 2nd ballot the price are all above $300K! This is within a short period of a few months only...

Not sure about the specifics though - shouldn't you had APPLIED to withdraw your CPF before the 1st appt? Anyway usually I do see people having a valid valuation report during 1st appt; that's why in alot of cases the seller does not have the valuation report and apply for it only after OTP is signed.

What do you mean bottom price? There is no bottom price; even today, there are people selling at below valuation too. So if you are saying is it safe to buy at 400k and hope that it would not drop below 400k, then the answer is no. Ok I think I used the wrong word 'hero'. It does not take a heroic act to sell the flat at below valuation, and its happening even now at property boom. When comes to selling, there are so many factors, obvious ones are bankruptcy, downgrading, divorce, etc that cause them to sell below valuation.

You mean the report must be valid at which point of your transaction is it? Valuation report is used for various purposes, see here: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/__48257038002F0DC7.n...2B000C80C7?Open It just need to be valid at the date of that whatever purpose you are using it for. Eg if you need the valuation report for bank loan, then you need to have a valid valuation report at the point of bank loan application.

Ok I must qualify first this is a humble opinion, not professional ah...hehe... From what I know, the valuer also considers the competitive market analysis, which is the transacted prices of similiar properties in the surroundings. That is also to say, if everything else remain constant (ie the reno, the amenities, exterior facade, etc), then what will affect the value of your flat is how much other people are selling theirs. In other words, there got to be a few 'heroes' to sell at lower prices first then the valuation of your dream flat will come down.

I think your intention is good, but perhaps abit wrongly placed here...? I duno... While it is useful if the media could highlight the plight of the foreign workers and wake up the idea of the employers, they should not leverage a particular case and shine a torchlight into it. Statistics should be gathered, safety policies should be torn apart for investigation, govt policies as well, etc - do a report on the industry as a whole, but not to highlight a particular case because that would be too micro and personal. Imagine what would happen if the media publishes this case; the employer would scramble to protect its reputation, MOM would have to give a statement on its investigation, and the dead worker's every move would be reviewed and scrutinised. Thinking further, what happens, if its found to be the fault of the worker? How would the family feel, when their loved one is dead but people are digging up his actions, trying to see if he had done anything wrong? And what will happen to the other workers if the company become fearful of repercussions and start to micro-manage them? They would be unhappy too. And the worst case scenerio: When a company goes down, the workers go down together as well, especially the blue-collared ones. It does not do the workers any good to wack the company, because the losses incurred by the company will come trickling down to them, affecting their salaries and careers eventually. Indeed, the media is a powerful tool to use, but its a double-edged sword; use it in the wrong way and you will cut yourself too.

Check out stainless steel shops (Bendemeer, Geylang, etc) for those who supplies to commercial outfits; you could find a bargain there.

Been in the police force during my NS; there are deaths and accidents occurring everyday. If the media were to report everything, then your straits times or today would be hundreds of pages. Definitely not a case of discrimination...

You can go to any hardware shops and ask for the lock for letterboxes; they should know what is it. Ask them to teach you how to change...

Erm for the pricing, I duno about you but I would re-negotiate with the sellers that since its their error, could they agree to a new price of $15K + new valuation? Of course if the valuation goes up, then seller will benefit, but you safeguard yourself from paying more COV in case the valuation goes down. So its a win-win situation...

I am not too sure about suing the seller, but I am quite sure you can have a case against the agent/s for negligence. Its their duty to perform due diligence on the seller/buyer to make sure they are eligible to sell/buy.

No, if you confirm going to do homo tiles, you cannot do screeding. If the area meant to be tiled has cement screeding, your ID will have to knock them out in order to put the tiles, and you will probably be charged for that.

Cement screeding is not required for homo tiles.

Oops, sorry my fault about that "political" misunderstanding. But agreed that talking about RCs and volunteering for our estate is still a relevant topic here. This is my neighbourhood folder, so its okay not to be talking about reno, electricals and furniture, but let's try to steer away from politics. BTW just did my mod's scanning duty earlier, can't seem to find the posts that forummers complain about our Tanglin's page - would you kindly direct me? Might want to explain to them lor, dowan anyone to be unhappy... Lastly, really like your enthusiasm in raising issues for our estate; would you be keen to join TYM and me in exploring if we can volunteer our services for Tanglin Halt? There is no higher satisfaction than to act personally on matters that are dear to ourselves...