Minerat

Aftermath of the Sale After the initial euphoria, the reality slowly sank in. We were torn, and starting to get cold feet even. It finally sank in that we might not be able to find our dream house after selling. It was at this time that I called up the agent, let's call him Agent S, to enquire about the Minaret Walk property. We were prepared then to meet the seller's asking price. Agent S said that the property was already SOLD! Oh oh, looks like it's back to the drawing board. We were quite disappointed, frankly. However, that night itself, Agent S called again and said that he has in fact spoken to another owner in Minaret Walk planning to sell his inter terrace. The owner has just decided that morning and he hasn't marketed the place yet. So we arranged for a viewing on 06 May 2012 afternoon. We were going to be the first to view the property. Well, the viewing blew us away! That has to be our dream house! It was everything and more that we could have asked for. When we viewed the previous property at Minaret Walk, we made a mental note of the changes we wanted done.....we realized this owner had done those exact same changes, eg lengthening the windows, closing up the balconeys etc. The house was bigger, view was better, renovation was better....We had to have this one. Hence right after viewing, we made the owner an offer. To be frank, it is still $100K short of his asking price. As we were the first to view his property, we expected for him to either hold on, or come back and bargain. Our fingers were tightly crossed! Agent S told us that the seller is eyeing a semi-D across the road. He had an inital offer of $Xmil rejected and has prepared a better offer of $Ymil to discuss with the seller. If he clinches that deal, the house is likely ours That night itself, close to midnight, Agent S called. He told me that he has inked the semi-D deal for the seller, and is on his way back to him to discuss about my offer. I was told to wait for his call (at close to midnight!!??!!). I waited and waited and waited....and finally at 2am, the most important call of my life came. THE DEAL IS DONE! He will scan and email me the OTP as it was too late already. I can't remember if I slept that night. Hahaha I've always believed everything happen for a reason and I can only be thankful for God's Grace that he made all these coincidences possible so that we can buy our dream house a day after we have sold ours! Till today, I have been surfing propertyguru everyday and I still cannot find a house that we will be remotely interested in, if this one had slipped us by.

Well, it's still some time before my renovation can start, as my handover is scheduled to complete 01 Aug 2012. In the meantime, let me share with all how I came to find myself in this situation. My wife and I were happily staying at this place. Other people called it "The Eden at Tampines", we simply called it home. It was a simple EC we bought in 2001 for ~$500K. Though the house was simply done up, it was full of warm, love and happy memories. We really love the place. The thought of selling the place didn't really cross our minds and we were contented to grow old in our Eden. Many a times, we would jokingly said that we will capitulate and sell for $900K. But we only joke about it. There were calls almost everyday from property agents asking if we want to sell, and we would always say no. As fate would have it, sometime in Mar 2012, we were in the same lift as a property agent engaged by my next door neighbour to sell their unit. They are migrating to Canada. Casually I asked the agent what price was my neighbour looking to sell. The answer shocked, or should I say seduced , me! They were asking for $1.03mil (their unit was sold for $1mil subsequently). Now that is alot of money, as I told my wife!! After some calculations and countless spreadsheets later, we'd finally decided to seriously sell and buy a landed terrace whereby everybody could stay together. Well, the decision was easy, but the selling was a roller-coaster ride. We started off really enthusiastically. We'd (well, my helper at least) studiously tidy the house everytime there's a viewing. But as time goes by, our enthusiasm waned..... While there were many viewings, there wasn't a single offer. While the selling was ongoing, we were of course also looking around for that dream house. My wife was always very sure she wanted a property in D16, specifically around the Bedok Ria to Minaret Walk area. Now, that's where the next problem was because we RARELY find any properties for sale in those areas. And I mean RARELY. At least not those in our price range It was close to end Apr 2012 where a chance occasion got us a viewing of a property at Minaret Walk. We love the place so much that we made the owner an offer, even before we have sold our house. Unfortunately the owner rejected our offer, which was IMO a very good offer at $1393psf. Owner wanted more (well who doesn't). Faced with this double disappointment, we stopped all viewings. We also told ourselves that if we still can't sell our house by end May, we'd abort this whole silly idea. I still remember the day very clearly. It was 05 May 2012. I was having my, well..not so usual, Saturday nap. I woke up to alot of missed calls and SMS from my agent asking my wife and my NRIC nos. I sensed something exciting! Sure enough, she has secured a buyer for my house at a price within my expectation. The most surprising thing was, that buyer viewed my house just the day before, and my house was actually the FIRST he has viewed. Yes, he has viewed a grand total of ONE house before he decided to commit himself. Wow! If you think that is miraculous, wait till you hear the rest.......to be continued

Congrats! That's usually the 2nd problem after you have finally sold your house, the fear that you cannot find your dream house. My wife was very reluctant to sell because of that. Good luck in your house hunting.

Have not tried Simmons before. Currently using Sealy monte carlo. 9 years already and still good as new. For my new house i am going for only Sealy

Sorry for sounding long winded. You signed the OTP of $1.175mil in front of the seller. Of course he is aware of that "offer". But is he aware that your offer was $1.2mil?

I don't think the management office of the condo has it. I called up the management office of my condo and they also referred me to BCA. Unless you are talking about the marketing brochures, which of course don't come with detailed dimensions.

Well, before you decide to pay him or otherwise, why don't you check with the seller if he knows that your offer is $1.2mil? For all you know, he may have informed the seller that your offer is only $1.175mil, thus pocketing the seller commission based on $1.175mil and your $25K. Secondly, you've mentioned a loan. I doubt you can get a bank loan for this purpose unless you are talking about those overdrafts or credit lines, which of course, comes with pretty steep interest rates.

But seriously I think what the agent is trying to do is wrong. For pte property, only seller pays the agent fees. Anyway, even if he wants you to pay him, it should be only upon completion. If you have enough CPF, you can apply to reimburse your stamp fee using CPF. Then hopefully use that to pay the agent.

Is it a pte property. Buyers are not supposed to pay agent fees for private properties. If indeed is the case, suggest you lodge a complaint with CEA or something.

Cool! I am waiting to collect the keys to my inter terrace in Aug. Now looking around for reno too.

Like to check if they know how to move pianos? Also for big furniture, will they unassemble and reassemble? Thanks

Can purchase from bca. Need to show proof of ownership or exercised otp.

Went to check out my terrace today with an ID and found horrors of horrors, the parquet flooring is soaking wet. I suspect there is water leaking in from the external wall. Anybody can recommend a good contractor who can help me trace the source of the leakage as well as to reapply the waterproofing for the external wall? Thanks.

I intend to use the existing aircon of the terrace I bought. According to the owner, aircon was last changed 4 years ago and they do looked new. However as the pipings are concealed, I am concerned about leakage. Is there any way I can check for leakage. Or can I engage gain city or somebody to check for me? Thanks for any advice.

6 months is a very long time. You better reconsider. If he gives you back a rundown unit you will have no recourse.

2.98%??? That's very high leh

Definitely EC. Years down the road, when you intend to sell, EC will be bencmarked against similar condos. Dbss can only be benchmarked against HDBs around the same area.

Understand how you felt. It is all about luck and meeting the right buyer. A house appeals to different ppl differently. We just sold my EC early May. Started off in Mar and was initially very enthusiastic. But slowly became more and more disappointed as there weren't any offers despite numerous viewings. Wife and I even agreed that we will abort the whole idea by end of May. Somehow, after we made that decision, the right offer came along! In fact, our house was the FIRST viewed by the buyer and he made an offer immediately, which was acceptable to us. I would also like to highlight that you need to be realistic about your asking price. That is probably a big factor in determining whether you sell your property fast. We started off wanting $1.1mil for our unit. That price will smash whatever record held for my condo. Needless to say, there wasn't any interest. Not even when we dropped the asking to $1.08 upon advice by my agent. Even then, interests only coming in when we dropped further to $1.05mil. We finally sold at $1.03mil, which is still a respectable price (my next door neighbour with the same unit type sold for $1mil). Lastly, must say my agent was very helpful. She always note down the feedback by the viewers and will advise me on how to prepare for the next viewing. Try to also schedule viewings during periods which emphasize the good points of your unit. Eg, I always schedule during late afternoons as my block is the only throughout the estate that doesn't get any direct sun. And from my unit, you can see the rest baking under the strong sunlight! I wish you all the best in your sale. Hopefully, the right buyer will come along soon.

My loan also from BOC. But must warn that they are very slow. Mine applied for 2 weeks already still not approved. Keep telling me mortgage department short-handed.

Bank of China 1st year: 3M SIBOR + 0.5 (~0.9%) 2nd year onwards: 3M SIBOR + 0.7 (~1.09%) Notice the onwards? I think it's a very good package.

Do they show you the 3D designs prior to the deposit or quotations?

What if the property I have bought already comes with tiles I don't intend to replace? Do I still need to do this?

Was at expo and spoke to an ID at length about our requirement. Then she asked for $3k deposit so that she can work on the 3D design for us. She wasn't even able to give me a quotation yet and she expects me to put down a 3k deposit? Is this the norm?

So are we supposed to do this before or after the renovation?