mr funny
20-04-07, 04:53
Published April 20, 2007
WATER LIFE
Houseboats - the next 'property' craze?
By VINCENT WEE
THE desire to be part of the coveted waterfront lifestyle on Sentosa Cove is the inspiration behind entrepreneur Masood Mohajer setting up a custom houseboat provider called Bespoke Marine. 'I don't want to pay through the nose for one of those waterfront units,' says Mr Mohajer.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5552/bt607497019042007c40edbyj4.jpg
A view to die for: One of Bespoke Marine's houseboats. Prices are expected to be around $1m, including a full range of furniture and fixtures, and household amenities.
So one solution for him was to build a boat to live on at the marina on Sentosa Cove which would enable him to be part of the lifestyle at a fraction of the cost. His made-to-measure 64-foot boat will have three decks of living quarters with 2,250 sq ft of living space. Mr Mohajer's beautiful new wooden home-to-be (which he will move into when it arrives next January) will cost him $850,000, inclusive of luxury interior furnishings and fittings.
The idea to do this came from something which he knew well from his days working in Hong Kong. 'My passion has always been boats, and crafting them was my hobby when I lived in Hong Kong,' he says. Among the clients he built boats for then was the chairman of a top bank there.
It naturally followed that in the process of building a boat for himself, he saw a market for these so-called liveaboards. 'By just talking to people and telling them what I'm doing with my houseboat plans, it seems like there are actually people thinking like there might be an alternative way of living and I thought if I could make a business out of it, why not do it?'
Mr Mohajer cites the example of the mid-1990s housing situation in Hong Kong when rentals started to go up and many expats were putting their housing allowances into liveaboards. He sees the same situation emerging in Singapore and thus has confidence that more people may be convinced to move into houseboats.
Bespoke Marine, which has a stand at Boat Asia, expects the main market to be Singapore and region-based expatriates initially but notes there has been more interest from younger Singaporeans seeking an alternative lifestyle. The boats are built at Hong Kong's only remaining builder of customised houseboats, Sun Hing Shing, which has been building them since the 1960s and has built over 400 boats so far.
The boats are so highly customised that they can do just two wooden boats a year at their yard in Hong Kong while a sister yard in China can make about 10 of the easier-to-make fibreglass boats annually. Prices are expected to average around $1 million and will include a full range of furniture and fixtures as well as household amenities like a fridge and washing machine.
WATER LIFE
Houseboats - the next 'property' craze?
By VINCENT WEE
THE desire to be part of the coveted waterfront lifestyle on Sentosa Cove is the inspiration behind entrepreneur Masood Mohajer setting up a custom houseboat provider called Bespoke Marine. 'I don't want to pay through the nose for one of those waterfront units,' says Mr Mohajer.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5552/bt607497019042007c40edbyj4.jpg
A view to die for: One of Bespoke Marine's houseboats. Prices are expected to be around $1m, including a full range of furniture and fixtures, and household amenities.
So one solution for him was to build a boat to live on at the marina on Sentosa Cove which would enable him to be part of the lifestyle at a fraction of the cost. His made-to-measure 64-foot boat will have three decks of living quarters with 2,250 sq ft of living space. Mr Mohajer's beautiful new wooden home-to-be (which he will move into when it arrives next January) will cost him $850,000, inclusive of luxury interior furnishings and fittings.
The idea to do this came from something which he knew well from his days working in Hong Kong. 'My passion has always been boats, and crafting them was my hobby when I lived in Hong Kong,' he says. Among the clients he built boats for then was the chairman of a top bank there.
It naturally followed that in the process of building a boat for himself, he saw a market for these so-called liveaboards. 'By just talking to people and telling them what I'm doing with my houseboat plans, it seems like there are actually people thinking like there might be an alternative way of living and I thought if I could make a business out of it, why not do it?'
Mr Mohajer cites the example of the mid-1990s housing situation in Hong Kong when rentals started to go up and many expats were putting their housing allowances into liveaboards. He sees the same situation emerging in Singapore and thus has confidence that more people may be convinced to move into houseboats.
Bespoke Marine, which has a stand at Boat Asia, expects the main market to be Singapore and region-based expatriates initially but notes there has been more interest from younger Singaporeans seeking an alternative lifestyle. The boats are built at Hong Kong's only remaining builder of customised houseboats, Sun Hing Shing, which has been building them since the 1960s and has built over 400 boats so far.
The boats are so highly customised that they can do just two wooden boats a year at their yard in Hong Kong while a sister yard in China can make about 10 of the easier-to-make fibreglass boats annually. Prices are expected to average around $1 million and will include a full range of furniture and fixtures as well as household amenities like a fridge and washing machine.