keltong

Wow, this is tough. But from what I understand (it may or may not be true), 2 times income is check. When applying HLE, and during 1st appt. I remember during 2nd appt they never check. So the timing is probably an important factor. Once you get key, even if you earn a million bucks you can still stay in HDB. If the couple is slightly above 8K, can try to appeal, but it depends on them whether they approve. They ask for last 3months income, so if you are comm base, not sure if anything can be done. Have to be careful with my words so as not to run foul of the law. Hahaha... Be creative and sometimes you can get what you want.

Hi Sad, I so sorry to hear about your problem. I have bought Ikea items for some time now without any problem. My returns have been smooth and recently my boss who bought a dining table with some slight defects also have a smooth time with the customer service officer. But I guess every situation is different. as for mouldy furniture from Ikea, I have no such problem before. My list of items from Ikea includes (but not limited to): 2 queen size bed single bed underside bed wardrobe various sizes chest of drawers multimedia racks 5 billy bookcase including corner units dining chairs work tables coffee tables tv console foldable table cd rack leather sofa non billy bookshelves wooden step stool wooden gate stools many other accessories I have not have any problem so far. And a lot of it I am still using after almost 10 years. Some are newer but have been more than 2 years. The billy bookcases for example I bought and use since 1998 and have moved 3 places, the original room, to another room after reno 2 years back, than to my mum's place while waiting for my new home, will be moving to my new place soon. My 1st wooden queen size bed frame from Ikea (bought in 1998 also) I have pass it to my mum after 8 years when her old bed (bought from downstairs furniture shop) collapse. And that bed is still working fine. My 2nd queen size bed frame is also in excellent condition and will be moved to my new place. But this may not help in your situation which may be unique, and every batch of products the quality may also varies. Just hope your problem get resolve soon.

Actually I was wondering why the double standard for new flats bought direct from HDB and flats bought from open market but with housing grant. This is something I cannot understand. If they are saying that flats bought direct from HDB are below market value so they are not worried you will 'overspent' your CPF to repay the housing loan, than those bought from open market with housing grant is also considered 'below market value' since they give you the money in CPF to offset the buying price, so you are not using as much of your CPF. Worst still, the grant is part of the withdrawal limit so you hit your withdrawal limit even faster. Sigh...but it will take a long time for any rules change.

Wow...looks like a good buy huh.

You got mail.

I see! I was always under the impression that even if you have rent out the flat and tenancy agreement signed, if they do illegal activities like illegal immigrants, etc...the owner will still be responsible, at least the newspaper seems to report it that way. Guess I need to read up more on it, not that I am renting out my flat though, haha...

Hmm...thanks for the info, coupled with the non availability of gas heater from citygas currently, I may just stick to instant heater since I don't have hot/cold pipes. The cost to do up the hot/cold pipes and the extra piping around the house...well...maybe not, unless I can find compelling reason to do so. Was toying with storage heater but again need to do up hot/cold pipe, change all mixer tap. Sigh...maybe i should just bath in cold water to save all the trouble.

I did direct bookings from the hotel website and the experience is good. My colleague booked on asiarooms.com and shared with me it was also a good experience.

Hmm...maybe I am consider more cheapo But I have been travelling budget airlines for the last few years. Apart for 1 bad experience with Air Asia, the rest of my fights with Tiger Airways have been pretty smooth. I have travelled on Tiger to Bangkok (many times), Phuket, Hanoi (twice) and even Perth. I enjoy the cheap cost! But the key is to plan ahead. If you want to travel in the next month or so, than it might be too late. Budget airlines culture is to plan at least 3-6months ahead, which is tough for some professions. And also, you have to decide fast when there is a promo or else it will be taken up. So far I believe I always paid less than 50% of what a full flight airlines would have cost me, some I save even more (much more). For a family of 4, this is significant savings that I can use for the trip itself, rather than on the flight. But it is true that you get what you pay. If you want the luxury of full flight airlines at budget airlines, you will NOT get it. You have to pay for food, inflight entertainment, seat selections. You will not have unlimited drinks on board, no newspaper, no blanket sometimes, smaller planes, only 3 toilets, less air stewardess. If these is what you want, stick to full flight. For me, I do not need these, if I need the selected items, I will pay for it. It is still much (much) cheaper. Some says the 'stupid' cup noodle cost a few dollars on the budget flight, as if the 'free' meal on the full flight is really free. I usually order my hot meals as soon as I board the flight because they are in demand. Just an example, a promo full flight to Perth including tax will cost me at least $700 (assuming tax at $320-350). I paid less than $350 including tax (at $280) and seat selections (and maybe even include those foods I purchase on board) on a budget airlines. So that is a HUGE savings. With the Perth flight, they added inflight entertainment at US$8 (or was it US$12?). If you think that is expensive, think again. If you are one of those who DON'T watch in flight entertainment, you are subsidizing the cost for someone else. At least now I got a choice. And I see people who bring their own portable DVD player, which I think is perfectly fine too. My next year end holiday (if any, on a budget, even if it is budger air) will most likely be on budget air again, most likely Tiger. Not because I am a loyalist, just so far have had good experiences with them. p/s: super cheap tix usually comes with lots of restrictions, so unless you can live with those restrictions, don't purchase them and complain later.

From my understanding, this statement is not true. New flat direct from HDB with HDB concessionary loan - no limit on CPF withdrawal Resale flat with HDB concessionary loan - withdrawal limit is 100% of valuation - AHWL has no limit as long as you can set aside minimum sum Resale flat with bank loan (based on if you purchase in 2008) - withdrawal limit is 100% of valuation - AHWL + withdrawal limit is cap at 120% of valuation BUT you can use the additional 20% only if you have set aside minimum sum For minimum sum, as mentioned, it will eventually reach 120K (in 2003 money so must add inflation) but you can pledge up to 50% with your property but actual percentage varies. So, unless you have already set aside minimum sum, than you have no worries. But if you are using almost all your monthly CPF contribution to pay your monthly installment, which means you may not accumulate enough to meet minimum sum, you will definitely need to pay the last few years in cash if you take a loan. Even if you take 5 years loan you will have to pay a portion in cash. For those who have a large savings in the CPF and getting house soon, you may consider parking some of them in investment, if you do not want to take risk, then park in somewhere safe with guarantee returns (but will be low). This will prevent HDB from wiping out your CPF when you collect your keys. You can always reverse them back after they deduct your CPF or continue to put them in the investment. The reason is 2 folds, you can reach your minimum sum faster so don't have to worry about paying in cash (but still subject to certain T&Cs) and you can have a lump sum in your CPF for rainy day. *The above comments are my personal opinions and findings but please do not hold my word for it. Check it out at HDB and CPF website for better understanding. I was in this situation before so I did quite a bit of research* You can read here for more info. http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/CPF/Templates/SubP...HEHINT=Guest#Q1

Really? But I saw so many Mitsubishi installation I thought the spare parts will be easily available. At my new place, the one above me and the one below me all using Mitsubishi too. I am taking Toshiba for 2 reasons. 1 is cheaper (don't have to pay Jack Neo ) and 2 is the condenser is make in Japan (not sure if it means anything but feels good )

I haven't got a clue but the GRUNDTAL series has been serving me well previously and now at my mum's place and I really like them. Here is a post by "applefreak" about the content (or density? or something?) of the SS. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?s=...st&p=262779 I will be getting some for my new place too.

Sure...but it will take 4-6weeks. Which is ok for me since my renovation have not even started.

I believe it is within your rights to hold a set of keys as you are still responsible for the flat. If they do anything illegal in the flat, you will be held responsible.

Finally after so long I have been able to check out these bins. Have been busy with other stuff and this is one of those under 'want list' not 'need list'. Went to Thomson Plaza HomeFix as the shop there is very big. Found that they carry both Simplehuman and Barbantia. Like the Simplehuman's slow close. Saw bins of varies sizes and really like them, but will leave this to much later. Will stick to my cheap Ikea bin for the time being.

Chance upon this topic and want to put in my 2 cents. Someone mentioned that as long as you are on HDB loan, you will not hit Withdrawal Limit (WL). This is is wrong. The only group of people who will not hit by the WL problem are those who purchase a flat DIRECT from HDB and use HDB concessionary loan. If you purchase a resale flat from open market (whether or not you take the HDB Housing Grant), and if you were to take HDB concessionary loan, you will be hit by WL. WL is the HDB valuation of the flat. So as long as you take loan, you will hit WL because from day 1 you take you loan you are paying interest, that interest will eventually become the cash portion you need to pay. Once your WL is hit, there is the Additional Housing Withdrawal Limit (AHWL). But it's quite tricky on how you can use this. If you are BELOW 55, you need to set aside the min. sum first (currently at $99,600 but will slowly go up to $120K [actual amt will be revised after adjusting inflation]) before you can use the amount above it to continue to repay the housing loan. Min. sum will be from your OA + SA (including invested amt). You can pledge up to 50% of your property as the min. sum (thus reducing the cash amt require in your OA+SA acct) but it's quite complicated for me to explain here. What if I cannot reach my min. sum? IMHO you got a few choices. 1. Pay with cash 2. Sell the house and buy another one, this will reset the WL (but remember it's very costly too as you need to reno, but stuff, etc...) 3. Sell the house and buy a flat direct from HDB to do away with WL (buy you need to qualify to buy a direct flat and subject to resale levy payable in CASH) The only good news is you are not subject to a percentage for the AHWL as compared to Bank Loan (will explain later) so as long as you meet the min. sum, you can continue to service the loan with CPF. For Bank Loan, it is much the same with buy a flat in open market and getting HDB Concessionary Loan, except your total withdrawal limit (including your AHWL) is cap at 120% of Valuation Limit (VL is the valuation of your house). So in the case of bank loan, even if you have min. sum, you can withdraw more than 120% of your VL from your CPF. The way to get over it is more or less the same as above but once you get bank loan, you will not be able to get HDB loan. Also, if you are using bank loan, you need to pay 5% of the purchase price in CASH, which is not a case for flats bought DIRECT from HDB. All these problem will only happen in the later part of your loan repayment, which many do not realise as they change house before they even hit the problem. If you are those who try to pay lump sum to shorten the loan period, you will face these problem earlier. So you are caught in a bad situation, redeem early and hit the CASH portion early but pay less interest, or repay slowly while accumulating your CPF to hit min. sum and face the problem later (or not at all if you have min. sum) but pay huge interest. If you got a direct flat from HDB with HDB concessionary loan, you can sit back and relax. But if you are not, you need to start to do your sums now. Why is this happening? Why can't I use my CPF to pay my housing loan? My only explanation is, CPF was intended for your retirement, using it to pay your housing loan is a privilege. So the 1st priority is saving for retirement before you can continue to pay your housing loan. But they wipe out my CPF when I first take up a my loan (apply only to HDB concessionary loan). Because usually these are younger couples with enough time to accumulate CPF monies again, if you are 55 years old they may not even grant you a loan!

I suspect the electrician does not do network cable but just help you to lay the cable only. He might not have the proper crimping tools. May you share what you prefer to lay the cable instead of going wireless?

Sorry, 55cm is the depth not length. Paisei never say clearly. A standard bowl I think is 50cm depth, so a little too tight fitting. Haha...silestone...sounds tempting too....hee...

Actually my budget was less than 1K initially, went to seahorse saw one not too bad, when ask for price the the salesperson tell me not producing anymore, only smaller sets and than look away. I pissed off and went off. Went to search for lots of half and full leather sofa sets over 2 weekends, the better half leather cost as much as the full leather I got. So pushed up budget to 1.5K (coz save on the hood, hob, oven due to Mayer warehouse sales) than finally narrow down to 2 sets. My wife really like the one at home2be so no choice got to adjust budget upwards again and try to save from other areas. But when he say must add GST somemore I immediately want to walk away. Than he say waived so got it. Like the sofa but now siong liao...overbudget liao.

Haha...I just called too, the customer officer told me they have run out of stocks, new stocks arriving next month but not sure if the FREE promo will still be on.

Hmm...silestone....maybe I should check this out...I am toying with integrated sink also because the sink area in my house can only put max 55cm cabinet (stupid HDB design) including doors. So normal sink might be a bit tight fit. I was wondering what can I do and you mentioning about integrated sink gives me an idea which I initially discard due to bad experience previously. I will check about the silestone thing. Thanks!

Now you make me wonder if I should go for integrated sink for my kitchen. I used to had it but it gets stain (coz the sink is white) but it looks good. Hmm...should I? Should I not? Hee...

Can share which model is your gas heater? Not sure if it is only one model from Citygas. Can check what is your gas heater model also? Just to compare compare. Main savings maybe come for free gas heater...

Err? What type of installation needed for sofa? I believe they will factory build it and deliver to me assembled, or at least in 2 piece only. Hopefully no other hidden cost since already signed.

I went down on the first day and grabbed the hood, hob, oven too. It's a great buy! Delivery in April? Thought max is 30days thereafter $40/month charge? Did they waive the extra charge for you or did you pay for it?