Dream home

We've finally found our dream home!! Hooray!!!! (^o^)v

After 60 flat viewing over 4 months, we had almost given up on the search as the prices kept going north while condition of flats went south. I was getting tired and fed-up with the hunt and decided not to waste my weekday evenings after work to view flats, preferring to do so only on weekends when I could see the surroundings clearly and "feel the heat" of the afternoon sun.

There happened to be this unit advertised on Property Guru website with no photos of the flat, except the remarks "high floor, unblocked, greenery view". My bf decided to view it even though it's in the evening but I stayed at home. He fell in love with the unit immediately and arranged for a 2nd viewing on Saturday noon. I wasn't too keen when I saw the location of the flat on the map. It seems to be blocked by other flats and there's no LRT nearby. But I went anyway. And we sealed the deal within 2 hours on Sat!

I really like the unit. This was 1 unit that I didn't feel troubled about renovation, transport, amenities and privacy. It had the unblocked garden view we were looking for without the afternoon sun shining in yet the flat is bright. The place is quite well-maintained and their reno theme is similar to what we have in mind - Zen / simple. Besides the kitchen and toilet, we don't really need renovation in other parts of the flat. Even the lighting they have is what we have in mind. There's also a private entrance area, meaning we don't have to share a corridor with neighbours. In short, this is like the perfect fit, except for the hefy price tag.

It's almost $20k above our COV budget! Do we have the extra cash to spare? Should we let go of this and find one more within budget? Finally we felt we could use the renovation budget for the COV and offered a price. But the sellers were quite firm on their price. While we waited for their decision, another couple came to view the flat so we went downstairs to wait. A while later, the seller's agent came down to discuss with us before returning to the flat to persuade the sellers. Finally they lowered the price by $2k (better than nothing!) on condition we let them stay 6 weeks after HDB completion. We agreed and the deal was done :)

The 1st appointment was on 1st July and the transaction completed on 26 August. So we're now officially the owners of a 5-room flat in Punggol. And deep in debts! hehe ;p

Can't wait to start renovation and move in in November!

Another deal dropped

After the unpleasant deal with 203B, we went on to view another 16 units before finding the one we liked. Not 100% perfect but we could make do with it. It took the owner 3 days to get back to us as we couldn't offer what he wanted in mind. We were prepared to give it up when the agent started to say things like need to complete the transaction a little later etc. Hmm.. another case of extension?

On the day we were supposed to sign the option to purchase (OTP), the agent told us he would submit our application soonest possible but will take the last of the HDB appointment dates available. Meaning, although the appointment slots available is from 8 June - 19 July, he will fix the appointment for 19 July. In short, the owner wants an extension of almost 2 months but do not want to pay us for it. The usual practice is to lower the cash-over-valuation (COV) or pay rental to the buyer for the extension. However this owner was out to cheat us of it. Fed-up, we walked out of the deal.

I don't know why but before going to sign the OTP, I had a feeling that there will be problems with the deal. I wasn't happily planning on how to renovate the house. In fact I was mentally preparing myself to walk off from the deal if it's not a fair deal. Therefore when the agent came back to tell us the owner refused to lower COV for the extension, I immediately said "ok lor, too bad." And I stood up, signaling my dad & dear to leave the flat. I don't want to be bullied by the owners.

I was actually quite relieved we dropped it. The flat required too much renovation and we had to live with granite flooring that resembles the flooring of Dhoby Ghaut mrt. And my mum & sis were actually quite freaked out by the owner praying to ancestors at home. What if they didn't "invite" their ancestors to their new home properly? haha

After this we viewed another 15 units before finding one we like. But we've yet to offer. The valuation and COV is quite too high but the location is rather off, not worth the price tag. So we're just waiting. Prob after a month price will drop, or if some idiot's willing to pay so much for it now, gd for the owners lor. We'll continue with our hunt for the perfect home :)