You can take them out of the HDB but you cannot take the HDB out of them
You can take them out of the HDB but you cannot take the HDB out of them
Wonder how the by-laws are enforced in condo management... I'm sure there's one that prohibits residents from hanging clothes on the railings. Really cannot stand seeing colourful flags... Will check with the office if I have a chance.Originally Posted by Lucas
You should complain to management office. The more people complain, then they will "take some action". But then, I do not think the by-laws states anything about hanging of laundry in balcony. So, the management cannot really take drastic actions but could properly send out circulars to residents encouraging them not to give the condo a bad image.Originally Posted by karu
Question to those occupants facing the AYE, can you folks sleep in the night with those noise from the road?
Originally Posted by The One
Yes,i stay overnite in a relative place. There's nothing to complain of the AYE noise.
Pls experience yourself if u intend to buy. Compared to the new launches and the nearby, this is consider cheap in terms of psf for a FH.
What you pay is what you get. Prepare to pay premium price somewhere if u wan total quietness and exclusiveness..
PS: Me non-agent nor own any unit there.
As I am used to sleeping with aircon, with the windows shut, the noise can hardly be heard, due to the double-glazed glass used I suppose. The same applies for the hall as well.Originally Posted by The One
Out of curiosity, in march u are looking to buy a unit at Inifinti, or Botannia for 600psf.Originally Posted by The One
You still looking for a unit,which u missed at bottom in march. Wad ur offer PSF this time round.?
Anyone installed soundproof window in their apartments?
Why buy a condo and have to take so much measures and money to cut sound? No matter what type of windows you use there will still be low rumbling effect in the dead of night. Everyday I pass by the Inifiniti, I see one unit AYE facing put so many plants at balcony and shut all doors and curtains, looks so ridiculous and like living in nightmare.Originally Posted by The One
Even if there is soundproof window, the feeling is so miserable to have the windows shut all the time and suffer stuffy air, or aircon 24/7. There are so many nice condos around with good facing and beautiful natural breeze.
Cannot afford? then buy a nice high floor breezy HDB, staying in a condo should be a better experience than HDB or else why bother?
Last edited by xebay11; 07-10-09 at 14:36.
You wan a perfect place, pay for it.Originally Posted by The One
If cant afford, then compromise.
If unwilling compromise, then HDB.
Stay in HDB and have all the cash.
Relax lifestyle,but with no facilities.
You cant have best of both world.
Hi
i understand that we can't install window grille for this property. What do you do to the windows for rooms with kid/s?
The window grille is customised for the windows. i.e. you add bars to the window frames all the way up instead of the half way as supplied by the developer.Originally Posted by amidala
Hi Karu
i bought a 3 bedroom unit. 1 of the bedroom's window type is the 1 panel horizontal type, which i believe can be left open all the time since its small. The other guest room's windows is the 2 panel (left-right) type. So, can we install bars for both rooms?
U sure can add bars on the panels that can be opened. i.e. since the mid panel cannot be opened, no need bars. U can get the contractor details from the management office. He can advise u.Originally Posted by amidala
Respected Infinitians,
Late Happy New Year
We have looked at Botannia, Carabelle, Monterey Park and Infiniti for a while, and we like Infiniti the best. One best feature about it is the units are not facing each other, so you don't have to look at "a picture of hundred lives" and be element of the picture they are looking at.
As to AYE facing, we believe it is fine. We have previously lived in Mahattan, New York. The noise level is 10 times as high but apt are still so hard to get. As long as it is not by train lines, which roars over and shake the ground, it is fine.
We have a quick question:
Given the concentration of four big condos together, all of them need to get to the outside via narrow roads in the private houses. So what is the actual time needed in the morning for the shuttle bus to go from Infiniti to the Clementi MRT? I thought in rush hour, there would be so many cars trying to get out, and it will take 20-25 minutes door to door to MRT?
Thanks and appreciate your answers.
More like 10-15mins, the route that the shuttle bus takes is not that bad.
All the best in your house-hunting, future neighbour !!
thanks HT a lot for the answer. Pity no more units available for sale on the SE side as we actually like afternoon sun as it helps to make our rooms dry.Originally Posted by ht
Hi freefly, over here in Singapore the sun sets in the west and rises in the East so if you want some afternoon sun look for NW, SW or West orientation, but a word of caution, unlike NYC which can get very cold in the winters, Singapore is basically summer all year round, there is no real need for any further sun to keep rooms dry, so a SE, NE or East orientation is good enough for those who may like some sun, any kind of West orientation and you may get more heat then what you bargained for especially from months April to August as the rooms and living areas can get baking hot and the structures retain the heat way past the time the sun goes down.Originally Posted by freefly4587
BTW why not relook at units at Botannia? there are many units there facing North West and have good views of the the wide open area with trees, it meets your criteria of not looking into the montage of life and traffic noise is much more bearable then direct AYE facing Inifiniti.
Don't forget that when you come to resell your unit, Singaporeans, unlike ppl who live in colder climates are very averse to afternoon sun facing units.
I think xebay11 comments above are quite valid.Originally Posted by xebay11
Think you have a good point there. Maybe we never lived in West facing unit in Singapore. We have been in an East-North facing unit for a year. Problem is we get some sunshine in the morning but the sun here quickly moves up to the top at noon, then the room is not covered rest of the day. the bathroom attached to master room is never dry, and towels go bad quickly every two months so have to change frequently. same with bathing towers. Not to mention the other bath which is located inside building that has no sunshines....so we kind of thinking abt west facing unit plus some thick curtain. However, don't know it will be the other extremem to be baking hot.Originally Posted by xebay11
As to Botannia, we like it very much and thought it has really top of class finish with its open kitchen design and a long bar table seperating the living room and kitchen. this feels more like high end western condos. Maybe western cooking was never that oily and greesy, so open kitchen always gives you a great feel. The way those big windows open are also plus.
Only thing is price. if you compare how much psf went up since Jun, you would see the biggest is Botannia, followed by Carabelle and then Infiniti. If you trace further back on these forums what psf are paid for these places back in 07-08, you can see current psf has already approaching or cross over 07Q4 historical highs, while the actually economy is still in bad shape. The singapore economy is closely tied to US donimant western economy. the employment number kept blooding in Q4 09. If US recovery is sluggish, or there is a double dip if its corporate loans sector blows up following the sumprime sector, then there will be another financial crisis.
As of yesterday, polls on institutional investors shows that 55% believes it will be a bear year for stock, vs 45% believes it is bull year.
As to West Coast Singapore property price, we believe it is driven by both investment money and follow up demand from some real buyers who missed out the mid-09 lows. If you look at price appreciation in prime area, the growth is minimal and outlook is quite cautious. so where do those investment money go? stocks are risky given its 100% recovery driven by liquidity and holding cash is facing significant inflation risks. So they go into the mass condo market -- heard about investor bought 4-5 condos in Botannia.
The question is more if real buy to live in buyers will be enticed into the game worrying price will go up higher. For all these real live-in buyers to swamp in, they will be locked up in a high price. When US interest rate is not zero but back to normal 4-5%, the Singapore mortgage will up as well, same with their monthly payments - the fixed loan here is only 3 years. Employment as a lagging factor will not pick up that quickly, so some people will be caught when interest moves up and their salary is stable.
I agree there are many future prospects for West Coast, however, these prospects did not change over the last 6months, over which time, psf for Botannia increased from 700 to 900 or 950 now. It is all because the hundred tree, but the problem with real estate price is the most recently sold property set up the price for the whole region, but if you look at overall supply/demand - nothing supports such as drastic price moves.
Supply are ample given four/five huge recent developments - botannia, carabelle, infiniti, monterey park, hundred tree etc. these big supplies will be significant overhang for rent/price to go up in the future.
Demand side are fragile, given the instability of jobs, and many financial employees not getting a big cash bonus this year like those in Hong Kong supported by China.
Just our two cents. but we are buy to live in buyers. so we just have to take the price or rent a place, which is not a bad idea as well than accepting capital loss plus paying bank loan mortgages.
Question - any real estate property tax to pay in Singapore?
yes. property tax is 4% of annual value for owner occupied units.Originally Posted by freefly4587
you can refer to IRAS for more info.
http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=2106
Thanks for the quick answer and IRAS link. Seems property tax is higher than US, which we pay 3% now in New Jersey, which has notoriously high state tax.Originally Posted by triston
I believe the 3% figure you referred to is the tax rate for the valuation of your home, not the tax rate for annual value. Thus, the property tax rate in NJ is far higher than in Singapore. A million-dollar home in NJ would get you a property tax bill of 30,000 per year. In contrast, a million dollar home in Singapore would get you a tax bill of about 1-2,000 for owners-occupiers and 2,500-5000 for landlords.Originally Posted by freefly4587
Singapore is not perfect, but it is far better in tax burdens for those who practice propertism.
yes .. prop tax here in US can run into 30-50k a year depending on locationOriginally Posted by stalingrad
BUT a 15000 sqft landed GCB in spore costs 15-20 mio SGD = 9-13 mio USD ish ..
while a 1 acre = 44000 sqft landed house in NJ with pool and tennis court costs 1 mio USD = 1.4 mio SGD ...
buy expensive ( in spore ) = low tax
buy cheap ( in US ) = high tax ..
but to pay 40k usd a yr for 20 yrs = 800k usd = 1.2 mio SGD max ...
all in ... Still cheaper in US ..
cheaper to own real estate in the US, that is true. but that guy is talking about tax rates. He was comparing an orange with an apple.
PO is talking about the ultimate cost of owning property in SG compared with USA over a period of 20 years.Originally Posted by stalingrad
I was referring to this guy, below, who was comparing oranges with apples. the tax base for the US is valuation, for us it is annual rental potential, or annual value. So when he compared our rates with theirs, he was comparing chimpanzees with hippos.
I understand what PO said. but i was just trying to correct the guy that compared oranges with apples.Originally Posted by freefly4587
Does it really matter what rate he is comparing with? He is just comparing out-of-pocket expenses of SG vs US, which I believe is his concern of owning property in SG, not how it is derived or what it is called.Originally Posted by stalingrad
Last edited by xebay11; 13-01-10 at 12:42.
Why compare New Jersey with Singapore?
Why not compare Kansas with Singapore?
The contrast is so much bigger. We can have more things to say and more postings to post.
Freefly did the comparison because he owns a property in NJ and would like to own one in SG? Duh.Originally Posted by Reporter