Yesterday, Mr. Liew Mun Leong, CapitaLand’s chief executive, urged the Singapore Government to intervene the building of shoebox apartments, on the reasons that these developers are wasting Singapore’s limited land and homes less than 50 sq m are 'almost inhuman'. "It's almost inhuman. It's not good for the welfare of the family to feel that constrained." The article says … [Read more...]
No trust, no business
One evening past 9 o'clock, I got a call from my home number. The caller read out my husband's full name. "Hey, it’s for you." "Who’s that?" "No idea, probably an agent asking you to sell the house." We get such calls at least once a week. Hubby sat still, with a 'you fix it, don't bother me' look on his face. I didn't press the 'hold' button so the caller … [Read more...]
Story of my third property (part II)
The one-bedroom unit near Clarke Quay was a good bargain. But it took months to close the deal. Every time I had a request, offer or counter-offer, it took ages for the property agent to get back to me. His excuses included (but not limited to) owner in different time zone, cannot get hold of owner, owner not replying e-mail, too expensive to use IDD, etc. For … [Read more...]
Story of my third property (part I)
Hi, I'm back with sharing my property buying stories. Right after the completion of my 2nd purchase, I resumed my flat viewing routine. Again my criteria of purchase were: 1) Good location and layout; 2) Minimum 5% net rental return; and 3) At least 15% below last transacted price. I remember it was Christmas in 2003. The property market was very quiet. Bad … [Read more...]
Story of my second property – a bank sale (part II)
I followed up with viewings of similar one-bedders in the same condo. A low-floor unit was selling at $390,000 while another high-floor unit was asking for $420,000. I called a few banks to ask for the valuation. Since it was a high floor unit, the value was around $450,000. The last transactions of similar units on high floor units were between $420,000 to $520,000. … [Read more...]