Buying a Singapore home...
Our lease expired in January 2003 and we have decided to buy a place rather than continuing to throw money down the drain... I wonder if buying a place in Singapore is much different than buying anywhere else? Watch this space as it unfolds...
Sat 28 September 2002 - Went to a property seminar and learned that it is a pretty good time to buy here as the prices are just starting to creep up again after being quite low since the economic slump. Have talked to our bank and they are helping us find a good real estate agent to work with.
Wed 09 October 2002 - Had the agent over to the house to talk about what we are looking for in terms of a place. Walked him around our current dwelling and pointed out the things we like and don't like to give him and idea of what we are interested in seeing. He said he would arrange a viewing for this coming weekend.
Sat 28 September 2002 - Went to a property seminar and learned that it is a pretty good time to buy here as the prices are just starting to creep up again after being quite low since the economic slump. Have talked to our bank and they are helping us find a good real estate agent to work with.
Wed 09 October 2002 - Had the agent over to the house to talk about what we are looking for in terms of a place. Walked him around our current dwelling and pointed out the things we like and don't like to give him and idea of what we are interested in seeing. He said he would arrange a viewing for this coming weekend.
Sun 13 October 2002 - Our first day of house viewing was disappointing to say the least. The agent picked us up and took us to one place. It was occupied (complete with a couple still in bed as we wandered around...), dirty and old. The only redeeming thing about it was the fact that it was close to the MRT. The agent assured us he would have more and better places to look at next weekend.
Wed 16 October 2002 - Our Agent called to say he had to go to Australia to attend his brothers wedding so he can not show us around this weekend as promised (you would have thought he would have mentioned a wedding the previous week). I was quite annoyed and after some prodding he said he would have another agent put together some places for viewing over the weekend. For those of you in the USA it is no easy thing here to view property because only the owner and/or their designated agent have the key and they don't have open house as a rule. So you have to make appointments and keep your fingers crossed that the owner/agent will be on time as they have the only key. Oh, and they are almost never on time!
Sat 19 October 2002 - The substitute agent was quite good. Pleasant personality, listened to what we where looking for and arranged a couple of good places to look at. We are feeling a bit better about the selection... Of course the places we want are in the big dollar range but all I want to spend is in the mid dollar... Gerri couldn't go looking today as she had a class to attend. The agent and I went into a unit at Morningside. Great unit that I think I want Gerri to come back and see it. They are asking big bucks but am told it is negotiable... The other places were not bad but not exactly what we are looking for.
Sat 02 November 2002 - No house hunting last week as I was on a business trip. I had asked the agent to arrange us getting back into Morningside so Gerri can take a look but he advised that it sold for real dollars.
Sat 02 November 2002 - No house hunting last week as I was on a business trip. I had asked the agent to arrange us getting back into Morningside so Gerri can take a look but he advised that it sold for real dollars.
Today only got to see one place. Great little place but was on the 4th story with no elevator... Wouldn't be that bad climbing the stairs on the way in/out each day but carrying groceries or God forbid, something much heavier, would be a real work out. Also no storage area and the kitchen was the size of the matchbox. Only asking S$1 million... it is a steal!
We had dinner with a former work associate of mine and his wife is a real estate agent. I whined to her how much trouble we were having and asked if she knew anyone who might be good to work with. She said she usually only does rental property but she would see would she could find that might be suitable for us.
Sun 03 November 2002 - Went with our new agent friend in the morning to see a few places. They were much more in line with what we were looking for. She listened to us!
Then in the afternoon our old agent took us to see two more places. Locations were great but units were very old and in need of major renovation. One was so dirty that Gerri couldn't wait to get home to wash her feet (yes, you take your shoes off before going into people's homes here).
Sun 10 November 2002 - The week before I had told the new agent how much I liked Morningside and low and behold there was another unit on the market. We went and had a look at it in the morning. We also looked at another unit right here in Cairnhill, the same building we currently occupy, but it was in the big buck range again. The second Morningside unit was on the market at a little more reasonable price. Just for kicks I told the agent to make an offer 20% off for the Morningside unit and 25% off for the Cairnhill unit. It never hurts to make an offer and see what happens
We had dinner with a former work associate of mine and his wife is a real estate agent. I whined to her how much trouble we were having and asked if she knew anyone who might be good to work with. She said she usually only does rental property but she would see would she could find that might be suitable for us.
Sun 03 November 2002 - Went with our new agent friend in the morning to see a few places. They were much more in line with what we were looking for. She listened to us!
Then in the afternoon our old agent took us to see two more places. Locations were great but units were very old and in need of major renovation. One was so dirty that Gerri couldn't wait to get home to wash her feet (yes, you take your shoes off before going into people's homes here).
Sun 10 November 2002 - The week before I had told the new agent how much I liked Morningside and low and behold there was another unit on the market. We went and had a look at it in the morning. We also looked at another unit right here in Cairnhill, the same building we currently occupy, but it was in the big buck range again. The second Morningside unit was on the market at a little more reasonable price. Just for kicks I told the agent to make an offer 20% off for the Morningside unit and 25% off for the Cairnhill unit. It never hurts to make an offer and see what happens
Mon 11 November 2002 - The owner of the Morningside came back a halfway. Cairnhill said they are not willing to go below 5%. I countered Morningside and told the agent to forget about Cairnhill. A couple more back and forth and we settled. It was getting serious now as we had to write our first check... 1% of the price to get things moving. This is really going to happen... I start getting a little nervous.
Wed 13 November 2002 - Time to meet with our lawyer to get the paper work going and have him do the title searches. My agent advises that another bank is offering a better loan rate and better terms so we are off to meet with the bank. Qualification is pretty quick here. Basically we are approved in a few hours...
Wed 13 November 2002 - Time to meet with our lawyer to get the paper work going and have him do the title searches. My agent advises that another bank is offering a better loan rate and better terms so we are off to meet with the bank. Qualification is pretty quick here. Basically we are approved in a few hours...
Wed 20 November 2002 - The lawyer advises that everything is in order with the search. Offer has been accepted and we have to pony up another 9% of the total price on 29 November. We will take possession on 18 February 2003. We got confirmation that we can use funds from our Singapore retirement account to pay the 10% of the 20% down required and use part of the our monthly contributions to make house payments. It will basically make our house payments come to about 2/3's of what our current rent payment comes to... this is a really good thing!
Fri 29 November 2002 - Pay another 9% we are committed now!
Fri 29 November 2002 - Pay another 9% we are committed now!
Sat 30 November 2002 - Met with an interior designer to start discussing some renovation. Kitchen and master bedroom bathroom are the major items to be redone. Painting, some new lighting and few other touches were also discussed. On the way home we stop at the local appliance store to take a look at refrigerators, washers, dryers etc. suddenly we are going to have to start buying this stuff rather than just letting the landlord take care of it...
Sun 01 December 2002 - We spend the day with a million other people out at the Merchandise Mart which has 4 floors of home decorating ideas. Now we want new doors throughout, also redo the other 3 bathrooms and new wood floor in the master bedroom... It is starting to get a bit more expensive now... Afraid to get the designer's estimate...
Sat 15 February 2003 - Well I didn't do a good job of keeping a log of events for 2 1/2 months... Long story short after dealing with a mind boggling amount of paperwork, lots of lawyers and several government departments we will be handed the keys to your new home on 17 February. Renovation starts immediately and with luck we will move in the last week of March. Closets are being cleaned, garage sales happening and movers are giving estimates... Here we go again, by my count this will be the 11th move Gerri and I have done in our 27 years together...
Sun 09 March 2003
Renovation started the last week of February and is in full swing. Trying to take pictures along the way so we can monitor the change...
Sun 16 March 2003 - Renovation continues with expected completion and move in on 31 March... Keep your fingers crossed...
Sun 30 March 2003 - Our contractor was true to his word and was doing finishing touches on 30 March... The moving process began... It did not go as smoothly as hoped as the moving company just did not plan for enough men or time... We kicked the movers out at midnight on the 31st even though half the boxes were still packed...
Renovation started the last week of February and is in full swing. Trying to take pictures along the way so we can monitor the change...
Sun 16 March 2003 - Renovation continues with expected completion and move in on 31 March... Keep your fingers crossed...
Sun 30 March 2003 - Our contractor was true to his word and was doing finishing touches on 30 March... The moving process began... It did not go as smoothly as hoped as the moving company just did not plan for enough men or time... We kicked the movers out at midnight on the 31st even though half the boxes were still packed...
Sun 20 April 2003 - The day after the movers dumped everything in the house Joe took off for two weeks on the road to attended conferences in Orlando, Florida and Bali, Indonesia. The spent the weekend unpacking boxes and shifting furniture....
Sat 26 April 2003 - The contractor came back to help hang pictures... The place is starting to take shape and feel like home!
Sat 26 April 2003 - The contractor came back to help hang pictures... The place is starting to take shape and feel like home!
Sat 03 May 2003 - A table and chairs for the balcony and same for the kitchen make it a bit more "homey" ... A few plants here and there fills in the empty space (as if filling space is a problem in the Hickman home!). Our new place is officially home!
