FirstTimeOwner

Hi there! Welcome! My house just started renovation too! If that was my house, I would probably go with option C. Alternatively, I might put the TV next to the main door?

Haha, our initial quote was only 30k! When we told the IDs we met, we had the whole range of expressions. From the "Sure, no problem!" and then a sheepish smile at the 2nd appointment when the quote is twice that of our budget to outright dis-interest (didn't get back to us with the quote at all!). If I could say one thing, 80% of the IDs gave us quotes that were very similar to each other, maybe $5k difference only. It's only when we haggle that the price differentiation showed up more.

With our 'concept' and 'budget' we went ID hunting. The whole process took over a month, and although we met over 7 to 8 different IDs, I think we were only ever serious about 4. We gave all the IDs the same list of specifications (we thought that would help us assess them better on their pricing if the requirements were all the same) and challenged them to propose a layout for master bedroom (king size bed & wardrobe area). Here's our experience with them. ID 1 - ID 1 was a colleague of an ID that my wife's friend recommended. We went to that ID but she said she just gave birth and pass us on to another of her colleague. A fairly new and young ID, he was nevertheless very enthusiastic about our home. We shared with him our concept and he brought us around the showroom and showed us pictures of his portfolio. Of all the IDs his design was the most radical, which is not necessary a bad thing for some, but unfortunately my wife and I are quite conservative people, and was not quite sold on to his concept. His original quote was comparable to the rest, but when we told him we decided not to choose him, he dropped the price further by quite a significant margin (around 10%). ID 2 - We were recommended ID 2's firm by my colleague, we asked for a consultation and were assigned ID 2. ID 2 was really nice, between the 4 IDs was perhaps the most concerned with the final look of the house, not just the scope of work to be done. She took the trouble to show us pictures of furniture that we can put in and potential color scheme for the house. Her works were also featured in home decor magazines. We fell in love with her suggested design and layout. But she was also the most expensive of the lot. In an ideal world where we are extremely rich, choosing her would be a no-brainer. However, we are not extremely rich and she couldn't bring her price down much lower either, so with a heavy heart we had to let her go. ID 3 - We found ID 3 online via facebook and met up with her. She was another nice lady, and we spent quite a few hours with her explaining our concept and designed. Her design and layout seemed pretty standard, but her price was cheap (no GST) and we felt that we had a good relationship going. Her portfolio and workmanship seemed decent as well. She seemed to fit the bill well (i.e. a safe choice). To be honest, we were actually quite keen to engage her, had we not met ID 4... ID 4 - ID 4 was a complete last minute addition (we met him last of all the other IDs). He's the nephew of my mum's friend (complicated I know). Initially we were really skeptical of him; he's a freelance ID with no online presence or shop (he does his work from home) and we can't find any review of him. But he showed us pictures of his previous projects and we were blown away; they look stunning! What was even better was that his quote was easily 10k lower than ID 3 and 15k to 20k cheaper than the others. He did warned us that his 3D perspective is not up to the standards of other IDs. We asked him many times if he was an ID and he said yes, he'll do all the ID things like following us to buy furniture and all. Frankly, the price difference was enough to convince us to choose him. So keeping our fingers crossed, we got him to do the house for us! =S Wish us luck =P

Woo hoo! Congrats! We also bought a 5 room flat recently and are now undergoing renovation! How's the current condition of the house? =)

Hi All, Took me a while to figure out why I was unable to upload photos to the forum, my file size too big =S Here are some pictures of the unit we bought. Entrance with the bomb shelter. I hope to be able to conceal it but I think it's going to cost a bomb (hides inside shelter)! Living Room with Balcony Kitchen (rather small for an older flat) Service Yard Common Toilet & Master Bedroom Toilet Bedrooms (I'm sorry for the dark image, not a good photographer! Realized I didn't take much photos of the bedrooms, the owner wasn't staying in the house when we first viewed it, so the rooms were mostly empty.)

Hi Everyone, My wife and I have been reading the posts on this forum for a while now, and we have found it extremely helpful. Hence, we would like to start our own renovation blog to share our experience with this forum as well as ask the friendly folks here for advice / opinions when we need them =) Our renovation just started a week ago but we’ll be starting this blog from our house hunting experience. In short, we decided not to buy BTO before I proposed. After I proposed, we tried for 2 Sale of Balance flat exercises but were unable to secure a house (those remaining at our turn were to be completed only in mid-2015). We then decided to get a resale flat as neither my wife nor I wanted to stay at our parent’s place for long. Our criteria for the flat was pretty straightforward I think. We wanted a place that wasn’t too expensive, near amenities like food and shops, and of course accessible. We also didn’t want a flat that was too old (more than 20 years) and quickly settled on a place in Hougang. My agent arranged for a couple of house-viewing and we decided to offer a price for one unit on the day itself. The owner agreed and we were then one step closer to being home owners! Here is a floor plan of our unit. We’ll share our experience getting an ID in our next post =)

Hi Klimoo, Your house looks great! Can I trouble you to PM Mr K's contact? Thanks in advance =D