Husky

Does anyone know what is the estimated cost to renovate bathroom for condominium, assuming I am going to homogeneous tiles instead of marble. Some ideas or recommendation will be great. Thanks.

just bought a new place recently, planning to build a kitchen countertop and some storage cabinet. For those who have used Ah Wei, may I know if he will also be responsible for the designing and layout of the cabinet as well?

I am thinking of building a kitchen countertop for my apartment. Due to the compact nature of the apartment, i would need it to double up as a dining table as well. Does anyone has any experience with this? If there any company in Singapore that is specialized in this?

Does anyone know where is a good place to buy bedside and table lamp?

Had a terrible experience this company. Not worth it.

Looking for ID to help with space planning and design. Carpentry and reno work will be done by my own contractor. willing to work with experience freelance ID Any recommendation?

Quiting smoking is only for capable people with strong will power. If you cant quit, that means you are weak.

Anyone going?

This is getting one of those long teak dining table. Has anyone have any experience with their furniture in terms of durability? http://www.mallshopper.sg/offer/3783/

One of the law firm which is commonly use or recommended by banks is www.ylp.com.sg. I have use them several time and their rate are very reasonable. The firm belongs to George Yeo's wife so dont have to worry they will run off with your money.. Only problem is it is located at MAS building, which can be a little inconvenient if you dont know where to park.

I think you are showing off way more than what I have asked for. I am just merely asking IF you have $1.6m, how would you invest in property. not asking how much you have in you CPF, what is your monthly installment and saving etc. Somehow I just have the feeling that you are taking all the opportunities you can find to "show off" whatever you have. Yes, your head is indeed very small, but please dont like to talk until its double or triple big. e.g property 1 2 3 4, and even throwing in the COV and Stamp Fee to inflat your property value?? Cash is indeed king , however keep too much cash in this inflationary economy is not a great idea either. Btw, I am still waiting for your explaination on how your investment portfolio (a 800+sqft with only 20% downpayment) is better that the one I proposed IF you have $1.6m

1) This is not a thread about who has and who doesnt, its a thread about what are the possible property investment options with $1.6m 2) The best residential rental yield you can find in Singapore is probably HDB, then follow by suburban leasehold property which are about 6 to 10 years old. If you want to know what $800,000 can get you in Singapore, do a search on Propertyguru with max $900K price and min 1000 sqft 3) Nobody is interested to know what he does with his money, we are only interested to discuss about what TS could do with $1.6m. 4) I dont see there is any need to talk about all that fee and cost, because those are standard expenses and cost which applies to all property purchase. However if you wish to assume that TS ONLY has $1.6m and nothing more, then take 55% loan instead of 50%. Thats not going to make a good investment become bad or bad investment become better

1) Based on the what you said above, your loan to property value gearing ratio for your combined property is 58%, which is about 8% higher than what I have proposed. Can tell us why is your investment better? Eg. Total Property value : $518,000 + $1,003,000 = $1,521,000 Outstanding loan : $84,000 + $802,400 = $886,400 (No banks will value your COV or stamp fee) Comparing to the portfolio I suggest, I would actually think that you are in worst state because a) Your 2nd property is a mickey mouse unit, which make it almost impossible for a 5rm HDB household like yourself to utilize, if assuming the rental returns fall below your mortgage repayment or you cant find tenant. b) TOP date of your property is still about 3 years away, which mean from now till then, you will not be able to generate any rental return from your property. Which also mean, you are having negative cash flow position. c) Your HDB is already 32years, give it another 10 years or so, your property is likely to suffer a huge drop in its value due to its age. 2) Not sure why you even bother to talk about your CPF OA saving of 72 x $333 = $23,976 because that is irrelevant to the real world. a) Even if your CPF OA can afford to pay 72 months of $333 installment, or your cash can support 65months of your 2nd property. can you and your family survive without salary for 65 or 72months? no food?, no bills?, no other financial committment? no maintenance fee? no tax? no medical bills? no cars? no insurance? etc etc b) Your stock portfolio of $180,000 might sound alot if you dont have any financial obligation in your 2nd property. Once your property TOP, you will easily be spending half of it for reno. I pesume you will have to liquidate your stock position by then? that is if the stock and property market dont crash by then or else you might have to take a double whammy. 3) Without even asking about TS fianancial position etc. why are you assuming that you are better off then him/she or everyone else? ie. you have more CPF is your OA, you have more cash saving etc..typical singapore kiasu or sour grape mentally?? You might want to relook into the size of your umberalla, as they might not be as big as what you think. Also if you dont haev any knowledge about financial background of TS, please dont simply make up silly assumption just to make your investment portfolio look good and "save"

1) You are assuming that TS is young or the only breadwinner in the entire household. Ever ask how a youngster could have $1.6m for property investment? 2) 24 months of sitting around and doing nothing? Why not make it to 48 months of the since it will make your arguement more credible? 3) On one hand your preach about being financial bruden etc, while at the same time, you are fliipping property with ONLY 20% downpayment on million dollar apartment. If you talk the talk, better walk the walk. btw, if you want to talk abot your property portfolio, just talk abot those you currently holding, not point talking about those you flipped or sold. e.g 1 2 3 4 or whatever. Its ok to have a small head, not point trying to make it look big by wearing a big hat.

In you opinion, is taking 50% loan on property consider as highly leverage?

To be a property investor, you need to own at least 2 properties. One for own stay and other for investment purpose. If you are suggesting that TS dump the entire 1.6m into a fully paid property (which cost about $5 to 6k of rental return) then TS will always remain as a home owner, not property investor. It is a no brainer that the interest rate will eventually goes up because it is near bottom, however the more difficult question is to know how long is the interest rate is going to be down before it move up? If its going to be low for the next 2 years, are you going to continue seat by the fence doing nothing except talking abot interst will go up? Does that make you a smart investor? I honest doubt so. I am not sure what is your meaning of true property investors. As far as I know, those who make most money in property and in the corporate world are those who know how to leverage.

1) Do you know what is TS risk appetities? Comparing to other investment, do you have reason to believe that investing in property (especially in Singapore) is considered high risk? 2) So what is your yardstick of how much one should borrow. Is portfolio 1 of taking 50% mortgage loan and 2 investment properties with rental income consider over stretched? How many of your friends and family member can actually afford to pay 50% down payment for property? 3) you might want to convert all your assets into gold and bury them in a 10m deep hole because in the worst case, Singapore economy will collapse S$ will have no value and we will become part Malaysia. OK, enough of doomsday theory here. So lets assume you have $1.6m cash now. how would you invest this money?

you have just explained the difference between american subprime mortgage crisis and property bubble cycle. The end result might be the same (as in there will be price correction), but the magnitute (e.g.. foreclosure, lender goes bellyup) and speed rate of recovery is very different. There is no subprime in Singapore, just property bubble.

1. Dont understand that you talking about 2. CPI applies to both portfolio 1 and 2 and I think over time, portfolio 1 will fare better in hedging against inflation. *3 - The reason why I am looking at $800,000 apartment instead of a $1.6m for rental is mainly because rental demand for low cost private apartment are more recession proof as compared to highend deveopment. e.g. in places like Jurong. Do you have reason to believe that Singapore rental market will come to a complete halt if we are in recession? *4 - If the owner cant even afford to pay $1 to 2K of cash/CPF for mortgage, then I think he or she should not even think abot living in 1.6m property regardless if it is fully paid or mortgage. btw under portfolio 1, the owner is actually living for "FREE" *5 - I am using 1.5% for first 3 years and 2% for 4 to 10th years as calculation., not a flat rate for 10 years. What interest rate would you recommend? You might want to give some example of how a worst case situation will affect both the portfolio over 10 years. If everybody is as pesstimistic about Singapore real estate and worry about taking mortgage, then I am sure most will be renting instead of buying. Then again, if you did choose to rent 10 years ago and avoided 1 or 2 property bubble along the way. will you be better off as an investor?

dont confuse subprime mortgage with property bubble, they are very different,

Here is what I will do with $1.6m. (PORTFOLIO 1) 1) $600,000 as 50% downpayment for a $1.2m apartment for own stay 2) $400,000 to buy $800,000 apartment for rental 3) $400,000 to buy $800,000 apartment for rental Total property porfolio = $2.8m Total loan for 3 property = $1.4m Total mortgage per month = approx $4.8k per month (over 30 years) Total rental income = approx $5.0K month Net cash flow = +$200 per month vs. (PORTFOLIO 2) 1) $1.6m property fully paid Total property portfolio = $1.6m Total loan for property =$0 Total mortgage =$0 Total income =$0 Assuming if average property prices in Singapore grew by 5% per year, at the end of 10th year, portfolio 1 will be worth $4.2m; net gain of $1.6m [4.2-1.6m-1.0m outstanding loan], while portfolio 2 will be worth $2.4m;net gain of $0.8m. Its always good to be prudent with your investment, however just make sure you dont become penny smart and pound foolish.

Has anyone been to the sony sale yet? any discount for LED? http://www.mallshopper.sg/offer/3661/

Being in debt is actually not all bad because with the curren super low mortgage rate of 0.8 to 1.5% (1st 2 years), the banks are infact paying you to use their money (ie after factoring inflation of 4%) If I were you, I will use 1.6m to buy 2 or even 3 apartments by taking up maximum 70% loan. The rental you could collect from your investment properties could easily pay for all your montgage. By doing so, you are almost living for free, and at the same time hedge yourself against inflation.

\ One of the main reason why landed prices are not moving up as quickly is because it is very hard to find tenant (unless its GCB) and the rental yield is very lousy. One can only hope for captial appreciation if you buy landed (and thats only if you can buy a freehold/999LH one). For 1.6m, you can probablyget an old inter-terrace which might require another 100-200K to rebuilt. Personally I would stay away from old leasehold landed,

If you like Prada, this might interest you.