Monday, May 25, 2009
Viewing of house
Sometime in mid-Jan..Luv showed me a website >> Property Guru and it got me excited and decided to take a look and test the market..Anw view house also no need to pay $$ so might as well..LOL..So I called to arrange an appointment on a Saturday [17th Jan 2009] with the agent..The day before..we walked past Blk 122 and saw advertisement on sales of house at that block and so we called the agent as well..So on 17th itself..we viewed the first house..which was the one we saw from the website..It was Blk 121..It was a disastrous place..Own by Malays and there were paint stains outside the house..No reason for us to even consider the place.. [Never buy house with paint stains..obviously the house is haunted by loan sharks!!]
Met the 2nd agent and viewed the house at Blk 122..1st he brought us to 9th floor and then to 6th floor..6th floor was owned by Indians..And on the spot..we somehow decided to take the one on the 9th floor..It was on the high floor..Highest is 11th floor..The unit is near corner which is quieter..We will not need to pay so much cash over value [COV] as AMK areas can fetch as much as $10-$20k..The place was quite well-maintain and minimal renovation is required..Also the house is just opposite to my grandma's place where I can conveniently bring Xiao Nat over when I go to work on weekdays..Most importantly we like the place..Love at first sight..Din expect a see-see-look-look case will turn out to straight-purchase..LOL
Before Reno
Met the owner on the next day [18th Jan 2009] and discussed on the COV..In the end..managed to settle it at $3k cash..Signed the Option to Purchase form and paid $1k..Agent applied Housing Loan for us and we received the approval on 24th Jan 2009 and our 1st appointment is set on the 25th Feb 2009..Paid the remaining $2k when we received the approval letter..
Thou we just viewed 3 houses..we concluded that it is always best to buy a house that was previously own by people of the same race..Hmm..am I hinting something? No la!
HDB Paper work
Something to share on the housing grant provided by Government..We din know about this till we actually went thru them..Being 1st timer and buying resales flat..HDB will give us $30,000 grant..Our unit is not near our parents..Otherwise we can get another $10k which totals to be $40k..We also applied for the Additional grant and we got $25k..Actually we were only eligible for $20k but somehow we played cheat and managed to get extra $5k of grant..And we were lucky to be eligible for the enhanced scheme which was implemented on 6th Feb 2009..All these grants is used to offset from the purchase value of the house and stamp duty..Our house valuation is $263k and after deducting $30k and $25k grant and adding stamp duty..we loan from HDB about $200k..
Had our 1st appointment on 3rd Mar 2009..Accessed our income..was told of the HDB loan amount and the monthly installment we need to pay..Paid Coveat fee and insurance and was told to wait for Completion appointment [estimated to be mid-April]
So meanwhile..in the month of Mar..we started to source for contractors and their quotations..Bee Tin intros hers..Holly intros hers..Andy intros his..Bryan's daddy intros his..Peishan intros hers..We met 1 by 1 on weekend [In sequence of who intro whose]..And finally..we settled on William [intro by Bryan's daddy]..William is from >> Classic Ideas..Good service and reasonable price..
Initially plans was to do a minor renovation as the whole house seemed to be in good condition..After meeting all the contractors..all advised to revamp the whole place and we also feel that since it is our 1st home and most likely we will stay there for long..we decided to spend more to make our home a nicer one..In the end..the reno cost was 4x our budget..LOL..
Received the Completion appointment letter and it was scheduled on the 2nd April 2009..It took them less than 1 month..how fast! Collected the keys on 2nd Apr
Renovation work
Renovation started on 13th April 2009 and demolition work was done 1st..
Tilers came on 17th and all the tiles were done by 22nd..
From 22nd to 30 April..plastering of the wall to make it smoother was done..rewiring for whole house was done..water piping was done..Toilet stuff like toilet bowl..taps..heater were installed..Gas piping was done..Air con piping was done..
A note on air con piping..Our contractor is advised us that the piping of the air con should do separately with the installation of air con..As painting is still not done..if they had installed the air con..when we removed the air con in the future..there is a dinstinct difference shade of paint from the position of the aircon and the wall..And normally the air con seller will charge another fee for coming down another trip..But ours was waived..
Painting was done on 6th May and completed on 8th May..All lightings..kitchen cabinet and bedroom wardrobe were installed on 8th May..From 11th May to 13th May..misc stuff was done..We shifted in on 15th..During the 1 week..we checked on the house and see if anything needed to be touch up..touching up was done and officially our reno for the house is completed on 22nd May!
Purchase of home stuff
On 4th Apr 2009..William drove us to select our tiles from >> Sin Lek and our toiletries from >> Hua Chong
Bought a leather sofa from Seahorse [Our Queen-sized mattress was bought from there too!] on 18th..Prior to that..we went to Morris Lifestyle as recommended in a forum >> Morris Lifestyle
To our disappointment..the furnitures there were not as nice as we expected and the saleman was quite hardcore seller..Sianz..Left and went to Causeway point to shop and we saw a sofa we like alot and very very cheap..A leather L-Shape sofa going at 55% off and further 35% if we purchase any pillow..Happily we paid $815.20 for the sofa and pillow..Btw the sales person name Sharon is very friendly and helpful lady..She taught us how to check the quality of the sofa to ensure that the sofa is in tip-top condition..A excellent service we would said! Highly recommended!
Our sofa!
Bought TV..Stove..Wall fans..Air Cons from Everjoint located @ Block 159 #01-534 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 Contact No: 6458 9569..[Also purchased the washing machine from Everjoint] The boss Richard and staff Wen Bing are both very helpful and nice..
Bought our lightings from >> China Hill ..Very good service and reasonable price..The uncle kept helping us to ask for discount from the lady boss..He still asked Luv to go outside hire cab and he will help us to load the lightings up the cab..Meanwhile..he gave me a chair to sit as I was carrying Xiao Nat..How nice rite?
A note on buying things for the house..My experience to share is TRY not to buy anything prior to the start of renovation..I must admit that I was abit gan jiong..We bought air con and some lightings too early and we regretted buying the air con..In the end..we decided to forfeit the deposit for air con after reading from this forum >> Best Tech ..Rather spent $150 than to let them destroy anything from the new house..So after learning from this experience..I wana share this : Dun buy things too early and best is research more on the internet for comments from others.. 2 site to recommend >> Reno Talk and Singapore Bride
Add on is if can no need pay so much as deposit..pay as less as you can..Lucky thing is that we only paid $150..thou is still is $$..It is only 10% of the cost..Beside is always good to keep cash with you as long as possible mahz..
Ok..enuf of talking..let us present to you our love nest!
Kitchen
Common Toilet
Living Room
Common Bedroom [Will revamp to Xiao Nat's room in few years' time]
Master Bedroom's toilet
Last but not least..our bedroom
It was a long process..tiring but we are happy that now we have a place we call home =)
Memories posted @ 10:05