House hunt - Advice appreciated

[Eyeo]

Pardon my ignorance. Just wondering aloud.

Flippers (are they so-called?) are factoring in stamp duties, bank penalties into their prices. Genuine home seekers like me have no choice but to pay for the so-called cooling measures.

So can i conclude that there is no bubble in the first place?

[moneyspinner]

I always think buying a freehold landed unit is the best bet in Singapore if you can afford it.

[Eyeo]

I always think buying a freehold landed unit is the best bet in Singapore if you can afford it.

I fully agree! Especially now when some newly renovated landed units cost almost as much as condos in the areas I am looking for ... (I had viewed 2 landed: a new terrace at Opera Estate priced at $1.9m, a 10 year-old at Lor Paya Lebar for $1.35m)

However, the ongoing upkeep and potential humongous build-up by surrounding neighbours made silly old me think twice. Hopefully it is not another of my wrong moves again.

[amk]

Learning from our mistake, we included River Valley area (where schools and rationality lead us) while looking around Meyer/Tg Rhu (where the heart is).

follow your heart

We viewed from Residences at Evelyn to Park Infinia

these are D11 not D9 no ?
In the R@E area u have this Newton Euro-Asia that's much cheaper than everybody else. well within 2M for ur 3 bedder

[Eyeo]

follow your heart

hahah but it is getting increasingly expensive to indulge the heart

[hopeful]

What are your constraints? eg 2million budget
What are your needs?
What are your nice to have but not essential?
What are your objectives? capital appreciation etc....

From there, fellow forummers probably can give you better answers.
Right now, you are not very specific and our answers also shooting in the dark.

[Rysk]

Hi rysk & proud owner

CDL properties are always so tempting. Saw a high floor unit on Propertyguru. Seems the units are quite "marble-ish"?

Will drive by to recce location first though. Some parts of Balestier are almost Geylang-wannabes. Don't wish to end up being a 孟母三迁

eyeo

I personally have viewed The Arte & found some gd points (of cos there's also some bad pts)
-Good quality & finishing
-Squarish layout maximise the build-in area & easy layout for furnitures
-Double glazed glass with heavy duty casing sliding door for balcony
-Bright interior
-Nice & airconditioned lobby at basement, 1st good impression for visitors
-Big landscape with full condo facilities
-Alternate exit drive to Thomson Rd in case Jln Datoh is jam
-Located beside D11 where Cube8 & 368Thomson is, & not at Whampoa side, so u won't feels that the area is Geylang-wannabes..

The nearest good school is CHIJ Toa Payoh (girl sch) within 1km, & SJIJ (boy sch) but is 1.2km away.

[Lovelle]

given that the coe is so expensive now, it's worth buying something near mrt.

[teddybear]

Newton Euro-Asia the estate looks quite shabby (landscaping & building not well managed?). Why not look at Novena Suites, The Hungtington, Thomson Euro-Asia, Soleil side? Just beside MRT and 3 shopping malls all within 2 mins distance. Your son can get 1 km priority P1 registration to get into SJI Junior (100% can get in, no need balloting) (Mah Boh Tan's school?).

follow your heart


these are D11 not D9 no ?
In the R@E area u have this Newton Euro-Asia that's much cheaper than everybody else. well within 2M for ur 3 bedder

[Eyeo]

What are your constraints? eg 2million budget
What are your needs?
What are your nice to have but not essential?
What are your objectives? capital appreciation etc....

From there, fellow forummers probably can give you better answers.
Right now, you are not very specific and our answers also shooting in the dark.

ok here goes...

Budget
- up to $2m max (dont want to empty our pockets and slave thereafter for a roof)

Needs
- layout of at least 2 sizeable bedrooms (son is growing, and pls remember our fren, the piano )
- location to minimise travel (hubs at Suntec, me at Upper East Coast, enrichments at United Sq)
- wholesome child-friendly neighbourhood
- underground car park
- minimal afternoon sun

Nice to have
- high floor with view (sigh~~)
- brand new (so that I dont have to wonder who have been poo poo-ing in the toilets b4)
- full facilities
- immediate move in so that we dont have to move twice (almost impossible now)
- near (boys/mixed) primary schools (no need elite or MBTan schools )
- near amenities
- sufficient carpark lots (we have 2 cars)

Objective
- good upside potential

Tall order huh?

Thanks so much for going through this with me.
Dont trust agents anymore (no offence intended), met too many out for their own gains.
Sad but true.

So lets brainstorm away

[devilplate]

ok here goes...

Budget
- up to $2m max (dont want to empty our pockets and slave thereafter for a roof)

Needs
- layout of at least 2 sizeable bedrooms (son is growing, and pls remember our fren, the piano )
- location to minimise travel (hubs at Suntec, me at Upper East Coast, enrichments at United Sq)
- wholesome child-friendly neighbourhood
- underground car park
- minimal afternoon sun

Nice to have
- high floor with view (sigh~~)
- brand new (so that I dont have to wonder who have been poo poo-ing in the toilets b4)
- full facilities
- immediate move in so that we dont have to move twice (almost impossible now)
- near (boys/mixed) primary schools (no need elite or MBTan schools )
- near amenities
- sufficient carpark lots (we have 2 cars)

Objective
- good upside potential

Tall order huh?

Thanks so much for going through this with me.
Dont trust agents anymore (no offence intended), met too many out for their own gains.
Sad but true.

So lets brainstorm away

u shd consider teddybear suggestion.....

[Eyeo]

I personally have viewed The Arte & found some gd points (of cos there's also some bad pts)
-Good quality & finishing
-Squarish layout maximise the build-in area & easy layout for furnitures
-Double glazed glass with heavy duty casing sliding door for balcony
-Bright interior
-Nice & airconditioned lobby at basement, 1st good impression for visitors
-Big landscape with full condo facilities
-Alternate exit drive to Thomson Rd in case Jln Datoh is jam
-Located beside D11 where Cube8 & 368Thomson is, & not at Whampoa side, so u won't feels that the area is Geylang-wannabes..

The nearest good school is CHIJ Toa Payoh (girl sch) within 1km, & SJIJ (boy sch) but is 1.2km away.

Thanks so much for the list.

After all these rave reviews, I must make some appts to go look see.
Sorry to ask for more but do you have any idea about noise level from the PIE? Which stack would you recommend for a 3 bedder?

Thanks again.

[Eyeo]

u shd consider teddybear suggestion.....

I concur

But any idea how not to get an old lemon?

At our viewing of Apen Heights:
Agent: "this unit is very well maintained..blah blah blah"
But I saw exposed water pipes in the bedroom toilets...

[sh]

Looking at your wishlist, it appears that you have ruled out landed properties.
But in case you’re still considering,
When you’re buying new landed, you’re buying maybe 40% house, 60% land
When you’re buying older landed, you’re buying more of the land, less house.
The difference is in appreciation. The house will depreciate, the land will appreciate.
Depends on what you’re after.
If you don’t mind the current state of the older house, put up with it first, when you save more money, you can always rebuild or renovate, to your likely. Can’t do that with a condo.
Landed is good for own stay in your case, lousy for rental returns.

[hopeful]

I concur

But any idea how not to get an old lemon?

At our viewing of Apen Heights:
Agent: "this unit is very well maintained..blah blah blah"
But I saw exposed water pipes in the bedroom toilets...

Dear Madam, go through your list of needs and wants. Scratch away that is really redundant etc. Add in more criteria if need be, until only a few choices are left.

After you have shortlisted 3-5 projects, then come back to the forum and ask forummers to give their opinions of the 3-5 projects.

Madam, you really need to develop problem-solving skills and critical thinking.

[moneyspinner]

Looking at your wishlist, it appears that you have ruled out landed properties.
But in case you’re still considering,
When you’re buying new landed, you’re buying maybe 40% house, 60% land
When you’re buying older landed, you’re buying more of the land, less house.
The difference is in appreciation. The house will depreciate, the land will appreciate.
Depends on what you’re after.
If you don’t mind the current state of the older house, put up with it first, when you save more money, you can always rebuild or renovate, to your likely. Can’t do that with a condo.
Landed is good for own stay in your case, lousy for rental returns.

With due respect, I tend to disagree with the fact that landed is lousy for rental returns. Currently, think you should be able to get returns of at least 1.5 pct p.a. nett in rental yield vs that of < 1 pct p.a. for FDs in banks. To top it all you may gain more in terms of capital appreciation. Not too bad overall.

[sh]

With due respect, I tend to disagree with the fact that landed is lousy for rental returns. Currently, think you should be able to get returns of at least 1.5 pct p.a. nett in rental yield vs that of < 1 pct p.a. for FDs in banks. To top it all you may gain more in terms of capital appreciation. Not too bad overall.

I'm comparing purely rental returns of landed to condo/apartments, not interest rates

Not disputing you on capital appreciation.

[Eyeo]

Dear Madam, go through your list of needs and wants. Scratch away that is really redundant etc. Add in more criteria if need be, until only a few choices are left.

After you have shortlisted 3-5 projects, then come back to the forum and ask forummers to give their opinions of the 3-5 projects.

Madam, you really need to develop problem-solving skills and critical thinking.

Hahahah sorry sorry, I started the thread with a Urbana versus The Seafront but I guess I was carried away with good suggestions from fellow forumers.

The wishlist of good old Aunty me must have been overwhelming huh, hahahah.

Ok, I will sieve through and hopefully my problem solving and critical thinking skills will be honed at the end of this search.

Cheers!

[blackfire]

Based on your criteria list, I would say The Seaview will meet most if not all of them. With your budget you can get a 3 bedders with rather sizable area. Facilities are great for families, very convenient with nearby amenities and with ample carpark lots. I'm not sure whether the carparks problem has been resolve, but definitely the problem is just some misunderstandings which can be resolve easily since there is no shortage of carparks there in the first place. Anyway if you are prepared to pay for your second car then there is no problem for you. The only issue now is that there are many ongoing new construction near the vicinity, eg The shore, silverseas and maybe paramount hotel, which will last for the next few years. Developments along meyer road is good if seaview is important to you and you don't mind paying a higher price (which translate to a smaller area with your budget) for the address and for a brand new project. Amenities there are also rather limited comparatively.

[hopeful]

Based on your criteria list, I would say The Seaview will meet most if not all of them. ..................
seaview is important to you and you don't mind paying a higher price (which translate to a smaller area with your budget) for the address and for a brand new project. Amenities there are also rather limited comparatively.

Not only Seaview. Based on the madam's criteria,all condo developments that are new, TOP and never occupied before, and have 2BR fit her requirement With the exception of Orchard Rd new condos, and that's because they exceed her budget of $2million.

[mantrix]

Not only Seaview. Based on the madam's criteria,all condo developments that are new, TOP and never occupied before, and have 2BR fit her requirement With the exception of Orchard Rd new condos, and that's because they exceed her budget of $2million.

why not the Aston? Still around 1300psf, freehold and 5min to Great World. A 2 bedder PH there going for less than 2M

[Eyeo]

Looking at your wishlist, it appears that you have ruled out landed properties.
But in case you’re still considering,
When you’re buying new landed, you’re buying maybe 40% house, 60% land
When you’re buying older landed, you’re buying more of the land, less house.
The difference is in appreciation. The house will depreciate, the land will appreciate.
Depends on what you’re after.
If you don’t mind the current state of the older house, put up with it first, when you save more money, you can always rebuild or renovate, to your likely. Can’t do that with a condo.
Landed is good for own stay in your case, lousy for rental returns.

Yup you are correct, landed properties are good for own stay (esp with kids) and has good capital returns. But I have to rule out landed properties. Doubt we can manage the time and effort in maintaining one.

[Eyeo]

I must thank everybody for taking the time to post in this thread.

I now see alternatives beyond The Seafront and Urbana that I have narrowed down to when I started this thread. Kudos especially to you who has so generously offered to show your place to me.

Thanks!

[nobrainer32007]

I say, go for Urbana but enter at the right price. You won't regret.

Anyway i intend to add this property to my smallish portfolio. Will revisit this thread in future to see if i am really right, again.

I must thank everybody for taking the time to post in this thread.

I now see alternatives beyond The Seafront and Urbana that I have narrowed down to r I started this thread. Kudos especially to you who has so generously offered to show your place to me.

Thanks!

[Rysk]

Thanks so much for the list.

After all these rave reviews, I must make some appts to go look see.
Sorry to ask for more but do you have any idea about noise level from the PIE? Which stack would you recommend for a 3 bedder?

Thanks again.

Premium stack should be stack 2, 1625sf, 3-bdr, Type B1
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/housi...MSON.htm#_self

http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

But for this stack, try to buy above the sky garden which is on the 24th floor in order to clear the immediate view block by future upcoming project about 16th storey
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/new-h...ei8ht-raja-583

Since it is back facing PIE, noise level is very low or none from PIE.
You can use one of the common bedroom as your piano room, and at the same time have some privacy rather than disturbing the whole unit if you place the piano in the living area

Alternative
1873sf, 4-bdr, Type C1 (all 4-bdr c/w Pte Lift)
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

But if you strike toto this weekend, maybe you consider this 4-bdr PH
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

[HP65]

I must thank everybody for taking the time to post in this thread.

I now see alternatives beyond The Seafront and Urbana that I have narrowed down to when I started this thread. Kudos especially to you who has so generously offered to show your place to me.

Thanks!

Hi Eyeo,

I'm not sure how important proximity to school (for either registration or convenience) is to you. I suggest you try to determine the school of choice 1st and then look at which place is suitable for you.

Is there any reason why do you choose Urbana in the 1st place as its rather different from the place you seem to be familiar with (East Coast) or due to Coasta Rhu vs Aston's price development experience?

A few years back I went through similar deliberations and finally decided proximity to schools is my most important criteria as I want to send my 2 boys to either Nanyang Pri or Henry Park. And since I find it more interesting to volunteer in a community than a school, I joined the NC (Private Residences version of RC) and also bought a landed place at Ming Teck Park. At 1 time, I was considering RV area as its within Tanjong Pagar GRC and you probably know there are many good schools (boys and girls) within that GRC, if you serve in the NC).

If proximity to schools is not an issue either due to OBA or religious affliliations, then I agree with many of the other forummers suggestion above on how to find a ppty.

Happy hunting!

[Eyeo]

Premium stack should be stack 2, 1625sf, 3-bdr, Type B1
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/housi...MSON.htm#_self

http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

But for this stack, try to buy above the sky garden which is on the 24th floor in order to clear the immediate view block by future upcoming project about 16th storey
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/new-h...ei8ht-raja-583

Since it is back facing PIE, noise level is very low or none from PIE.
You can use one of the common bedroom as your piano room, and at the same time have some privacy rather than disturbing the whole unit if you place the piano in the living area

Alternative
1873sf, 4-bdr, Type C1 (all 4-bdr c/w Pte Lift)
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

But if you strike toto this weekend, maybe you consider this 4-bdr PH
http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listi...e-arte-thomson

Really appreciate your taking time out to gather all the valuable information. Thanks so much!

[Eyeo]

Hi Eyeo,

I'm not sure how important proximity to school (for either registration or convenience) is to you. I suggest you try to determine the school of choice 1st and then look at which place is suitable for you.

Is there any reason why do you choose Urbana in the 1st place as its rather different from the place you seem to be familiar with (East Coast) or due to Coasta Rhu vs Aston's price development experience?

A few years back I went through similar deliberations and finally decided proximity to schools is my most important criteria as I want to send my 2 boys to either Nanyang Pri or Henry Park. And since I find it more interesting to volunteer in a community than a school, I joined the NC (Private Residences version of RC) and also bought a landed place at Ming Teck Park. At 1 time, I was considering RV area as its within Tanjong Pagar GRC and you probably know there are many good schools (boys and girls) within that GRC, if you serve in the NC).

If proximity to schools is not an issue either due to OBA or religious affliliations, then I agree with many of the other forummers suggestion above on how to find a ppty.

Happy hunting!

I am very touched by your post. It takes a parent to understand what another parent is going through.

Proximity to choice school is definitely important. However with the influx of rich foreigners and with admission criteria changing all the time, we have put it as a good to have. I came from a ne

[Eyeo]

Hi Eyeo,

I'm not sure how important proximity to school (for either registration or convenience) is to you. I suggest you try to determine the school of choice 1st and then look at which place is suitable for you.

Is there any reason why do you choose Urbana in the 1st place as its rather different from the place you seem to be familiar with (East Coast) or due to Coasta Rhu vs Aston's price development experience?

A few years back I went through similar deliberations and finally decided proximity to schools is my most important criteria as I want to send my 2 boys to either Nanyang Pri or Henry Park. And since I find it more interesting to volunteer in a community than a school, I joined the NC (Private Residences version of RC) and also bought a landed place at Ming Teck Park. At 1 time, I was considering RV area as its within Tanjong Pagar GRC and you probably know there are many good schools (boys and girls) within that GRC, if you serve in the NC).

If proximity to schools is not an issue either due to OBA or religious affliliations, then I agree with many of the other forummers suggestion above on how to find a ppty.

Happy hunting!

I am very touched by your post. It takes a parent to understand what another parent is going through.

Proximity to choice school is definitely important. However with the influx of rich foreigners and with admission criteria changing all the time, we have put it as a good to have. I came from a neighborhood school and turned out ok. So I guess he should be fine . If I fail to get him into a 'good' primary school, I hope my son works his way to a choice secondary school himself.

[HP65]

I am very touched by your post. It takes a parent to understand what another parent is going through.

Proximity to choice school is definitely important. However with the influx of rich foreigners and with admission criteria changing all the time, we have put it as a good to have. I came from a neighborhood school and turned out ok. So I guess he should be fine . If I fail to get him into a 'good' primary school, I hope my son works his way to a choice secondary school himself.

Aiyo, no worries and you're welcome. We are here to share info. I was from a christian boys school but managed to squeeze into a top secondary boy school, earning the tag of traitor among my close friends. The reason for a good school is not only because of the education but also the OBA. It is also because of the influx of FTs that I feel the importance of networking. From my own experience, I benefited a lot from my OBA, and its all above-board.

If just based on good teachers, education, imo, some of the neighbourhood schools are very good, if not better than some of the established schools. Eg, Endeavor Pri vs Fairfield. This is because the principals are usually young and ambitious as they are eager to climb up the career ladder. You will hear of surprisingly good results from such schools, which i have to add, is also partly due to FTs and PRs who did not manage to get into the more popular primary schools.

But with good primary schools, besides good education, the network is going to come in handly i'm sure in the years to come. Call me kiasu, but I think its just trying to give my best to my kids. And I believe the education of `school of hard knocks' can come from we parents making sure that our kids know we are not their safety nets and inculcating the right discipline right from the start.

Happy New Year!