My World, My Life, Myself

Benny arrange for me to applied online for the Property Valuation on the HDB website. This is required for selling my unit. After applying, Benny told me that the HDB appointed valuer will contact me within a week to arrange for viewing my unit to do valuation. Also, Benny told me that i should start to applied for Housing Loan Eligibility which is required when applying for Housing Loan from HDB.

I went to the website and see the required documents for the application. I print out the forms and start filling in the sections that i know. Then i informed my mum and dad to get the documents that i need. From the requirements that i read, i found that i need to get my dad to any HDB Branch Office to sign a Statutory Declaration to declare that he is not working anymore. So i arranged for a date to go with him to Bukit Merah HDB Branch Office to do the declaration. The next day, i went to my work place to print my payslip for the application. At nite, i got my mum’s working details, as well as her IR8A (she had thrown away her last payslip).

Few days later, i got the declaration for my dad and was ready to send out my application. i chose to use email to sent because i dun have a fax machine at home and it is troublesome using my workplace fax machine to fax all those forms and documents. Sending the form by postage mail will be late. So i scan all the documents into computer and email them out. Had to tried a few times sending the email, as some of my attachments are large and the email was kept bouncing back. After a few times shrinking the size of the documents, i managed to send the email out.

Benny also called me up to inform me that he has advertised my unit in the newspaper. He will arrange for those who wanted to view my unit to come on the same day. Meanwhile he had let the property agent of unit that i wanted to buy know that i am interested. He is also helping me with negotiating the price. Few days later, Benny called up and arranged with me on certain date for him to bring potential buyers to view the unit. Also he had tried to bring down the selling price of the other unit to $220K. But i would need to pay the other party’s agent fee of $10K. But this would still require HDB’s approval, as the unit that i am buying is a negative sales. (the owner would still owe the HDB money even after the sale)

The day for the potential buyers to view my unit. There was about a few groups who came to view in the afternoon. Benny arrange for them to come one after another and was explaining to them the layout, the neighbourhood,…etc. Some buyers seems interested while some just look around and didn’t ask much questions. As my house valuation was not being done yet, Benny told them that the selling price should be around $370K to $380K, but pending the valuation to be out.

Another few days later, the HDB appointed valuer called me to arrange a date for him to come to do the valuation. A date was fixed and when the valuer came, he took some photos and wrote down some points. He told me that i should receive the valuation report by mail in about a week time. At this time, Benny also came back to me and told me that HDB had rejected my offer of $220K for the unit i wanted to buy. It was below the 90% of the valuation of that unit. Benny told me that as the unit is a negative sale, if the unit was not able to be sold off or get low offer, HDB would buy back the unit from the owner at 90% of the valuation value. Because of this, Benny suggest to put the offer at $230K and pay the other party’s agent $5K only. I agree to it. And few days later, Benny told me that the HDB had accepted my offer of $230K. Next day, Benny came over my place to let me and my mum sign the forms for the purchase of the unit. All was in place, waiting for my HLE application and the valuation report for my unit.

Shifting House
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After i went home, i mentally review the 2 units that i had viewed. I kind of like the 2nd unit (which is opposite Republic Polytechnic). The reasons are the location is good as it is beside the main road. Exiting SLE from Woodlands Ave 2 travel straight till reaching Republic Polytechnic and the block is just at the corner. There is shelter walkway to Woodlands MRT, the views from the living room and the kitchen are not obstructed. The unit shape is squarish and easy to design and place furnitures, the bedrooms are also big, spacious and squarish. The carpark is on the same level as the lift lobby and there is a coffeeshop, as well as some groceries stores at the opposite block. Also the price of the unit is below my budget. While the other unit is larger, the price of that unit is above my budget and that is a expired valuation price, which could be increase in the next valuation. Also, the current owner has rented the unit to 2 families and according to one of the family, they had signed the contract for 1 year of rental and the date is not due yet. This may cause some problem and delays for me if i were to take that unit. The unit views is also not as splendid as the 2nd unit.

My mind is more or less make up to take the 2nd unit. So i discussed it with my mum and roughly told her about the shape of the unit and the locations. My mum suggest that i take another look during the afternoon so that i can see more details. I agreed, as i also wanted to see the unit again. So i called Benny and ask him to help me arrange to view the unit again in the afternoon so that i can also take some photos for my mum to see. Like the saying, a picture says a thousand words.

The next day, Benny called me and said that he was able to arrange for me to view the unit that afternoon. He came to pick me up that afternoon and we went to view the unit. I also brought along some papers and a measuring tape to take some quick measurements. Viewing the unit in the afternoon really brings out more rundown details of the unit. But it also show how spacious the unit was. With the measuring tape, i found out that the ceiling is lower than my previous house, and the kitchen is longer and wider the previous house also. Look at the unit, i start to come out with some designs that i could do with this unit as it would be a total make over. I had more or less decided to take this unit.

After leaving the area, i told Benny that i decided to take this unit and ask him to help me negotiate a better price for it. I wanted to lower the selling price as the unit is rundown and i would have to do a total renovation of the house and therefore, it would cost more. Also, i asked Benny to start the advertising for selling my previous house.

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After asking Benny to arrange for me to view the 2 units in Woodlands area that is for sale, Benny called me up the next day and told me that he was able to arrange to view the 2 units that nite. He came to pick me up that evening and went to the 1st unit in Marsiling. The block was on a slope above the open air parking lots. So after parking, we have to take a short flight of stairs to the lift lobby. The unit is on the 5th level and not on the lift landing. The lift stops at the 6th level. But lift upgrading works are in progress for the houses in that area. So in future, the unit will have lift outside its doorstep.

After coming out from the lift, we took the stairs down to 5th level. There was only 2 units facing each other on levels that has not lift. The unit is a 5 ‘S’ room unit with 131 sqm floor area, 18 years old unit. There was a short passage that leads to the living room. The living room was long rectangular in shape. It was like having 3 small living room. And there was a dining room also. The kitchen was squarish but not very big, but there was a service balcony also. The master bedroom was long rectangular shape also. The other 2 common rooms was slight smaller, but still bigger than my previous house. The 2 toilets are big. U could put a bath tub inside and still have some spaces. The floor tiles are still in good conditions.

From the living room, the opposite block is just a small carpark away. Therefore u would be able to see the opposite block. Same for the view from the kitchen. If i were to take this unit, i would just have to redo all the electrical wiring and repaint the walls. Kitchen cabinets was still good, but i may change them, as well as all the doors. The valuation price for this unit was $268K, but the valuation had expired just recently. This price is slightly above my budget. It would be an idea unit, except that the block is on a slope above the carpark. Woodlands MRT is about 10-12 mins walk away, but there is no shelter.

Went to view the next unit which is just nearby.  This block is just opposite the Republic Polytechnic. The open air carpark is on the same level as the lift lobby. The carpark was big. There was a coffeeshop at the opposite block behind. When we reach there, the unit’s agent was not there yet, so we look around the area and found that there is a POSB ATM machine at the end of the block. Lift upgrading has started for this block. There was a shelter walkway infront. When the unit’s agent arrived, we took the lift up to the 5th level. The unit is on the 6th level, therefore, need to climb the stairs up. But once the lift upgrading has complete, there will be lift to the 6th level liao. There is 4 units on each level which does not have lift service. The unit is a corner unit at 6th level. It is a 5 ‘I’ room unit with 121 sqm floor area. and is also 18 years old.

After entering, it was the balcony, with sliding glass doors separating it from the living room. The living room looks squarish and is big. Dinning area is just opposite the kitchen. The kitchen is long and wider. As the house is old design, the rubbish chute is inside the unit in the end of the kitchen. The master bedroom is big and squarish also. The other 2 common room is also squarish and big. The 2 toilets are slightly smaller than the previous unit and my previous house. At one glance, the unit itself is big and easy to design as it is squarish.

Looking from the living room, u would see the Republic Polytechnic across the road. But as the empty area infront of the polytechnic big, and it didn’t really obstruct much views. From the kitchen, the opposite blocks are further away as there is a large carpark in between. The living room is facing a south west direction. The whole unit is rundown. The floor tiles are dirty and green in color, the kitchen cabinets are falling apart. The doors are also cracking and the iron metal gate is also rusting. The windows and the grilles are also rundown. If i were to take this unit, i would need to re-do the whole unit including the floor tiles. The renovation cost would be much higher than the previous unit. The valuation of this unit is $245K, which is just slightly below my budget.

After viewing the unit, Benny and I went downstairs and took a look at the surrounding. The shelter walkway infront links all the way to Woodlands MRT thru bridges. It is around 10mins walk away. There are bus stops nearby. It seems like a good place, except for the rundown status of the unit. I told Benny that i will go home and think about it, and meanwhile, ask him to continue to have a look out for any other units available.

Shifting House
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I am migrating the information and journals about my house shifting from my previous blog to my new blog. I want those informations and journals to be preserved. I wouldn’t be putting the exact text here but will be combining them to reflect the past. And i will continue where i stopped the other time. As for the photos, i will be uploading to my new photo blog (which i am working on right now) and then insert them into the journal.

For start, my previous house was in Kim Tian Road. A nice place. Convenience and easy access to the town and other areas. So why do i want to move? Well, for start, i am paying for the house by myself although the house is bought with my parents. (My father is the main applicant, my mum and me is the co-applicant) The monthly instalment itself is oredi $800+ per month. Not forgetting the utilities bills, telephone bills… etc. At that time, i was still in the RSAF, so my pay was still able to pay for the bills, but my contributions to my CPF ordinary account was only about $400+. Therefore, every month, my CPF ordinary account drop by $400 after the deduction of the housing instalment. Lucky for me, i built up my CPF ordinary account before i got the house. But it is running low.

Considering that i will going ORD in Dec 2007, and i might not be able to get a job that is giving me the same pay as my time in RSAF. I had to consider that my next job’s pay will be lower and therefore, i may not be able to sustain the monthly instalment of the house. So in July 2006, i started to consider shifting to lower my monthly instalment. Then in Feb 2007, after my younger brother’s wedding, i started even more detailed planning. At that time, my younger brother told me that he had apply for a new house in Jurong West area and had got it. Giving time for him to get the keys and renovation, likely that he will be shifting in around June 2007. Therefore i started to put my house shifting to action.

At that time, i had a liver biopsy done and was on 3 days MC. So i called my poly friend, Benny, who is also a housing agent and met him up for discussion. Giving him the details of my case, as well as my budget and timeline that i prefer, he was able to help me work out some plans that i should take, as well as some locations. Initially, i had Sengkang or Punggol area (near North East Line MRT) in mind. But after discussing with Benny, i found that the budget that i had, will get me areas in Sengkang or Punggol which is further away from the NEL MRT. So if wanted to go to take MRT, there will be a need to take the feeder bus or LRT to it. My mum work around Raffles MRT. So if she were to go to work in the morning, she would need to take the LRT or feeder bus to the NEL MRT, then take the MRT to either Dohby Ghaut or Outram Park Station and change to either North South Line MRT or East West Line MRT to Raffles MRT. This would incur more time and the walking between the Lines are troublesome.

Then Benny suggest that i try Woodlands area. Cause the area are cheaper and maybe i would be able to get a house near the MRT and still within my budget. As Benny’s main area of expertise was in Woodlands area, he checked his database and found that there are 2 units in the area which is around my budget. One of them is at Marsiling area, which is near to one my RSAF colleague’s house. According to him, it is about 10mins plus walk to Woodlands MRT. Another unit is at Woodlands St 81. It is opposite Republic Polytechnic and about 10mins walk to Woodlands MRT. Both house are about 18yrs old, but both house is around my budget. So i ask Benny to arrange for me to view the 2 units when possible.

Shifting House
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