Is the maintenance fee for freehold condo is a liability if it is for own stay??

[teddybear]

How about pest control every week? No?
How about beating mosquitoes and chasing houseflies everyday?
How about the cockroaches crawling everywhere at night?

Bungalows-in-the-sky sure will not have all the above problem!

Very true.The trick is to spend about 10k every 8 to 10 years to do repainting and some minor touch-up. To me a big advantage of landed is from the time you lock-up your house and start up your car, it is less than 20 seconds!!! Its especially appreciated after you have done your weekly groceries and transfer your stuff from car to house. Very convenient.

[insigina]

How about pest control every week? No?
How about beating mosquitoes and chasing houseflies everyday?
How about the cockroaches crawling everywhere at night?

Bungalows-in-the-sky sure will not have all the above problem!

I have been staying in my present landed for 20 years. Never had pest problems before...unbelieveable but true.

[mkl22]

Wah, able to repair leaks on roof? You are not "normal" man!
How many people can repair their leaks on roof?
Repairing roof's leaks is one of the most expensive item and yet the most common in landed property!

No lah, because they want cheap so buy a very old unit thinking that they just touch up will do and so will be cheaper than living in condo or those where seller just do "cosmetic beautification" to look like new on the outside (but rotten in the inside).......

the design of the house was such that i could climb up to the roof from the balcony without any ladders. it was rather hard work patching the cement cracks for the tiled roof. had to do it in the day and boy was the roof hot.
used Dow Corning weatherproof silicone and a DAVCO sealant to patch. its been 3 years since i completed the roof and till now no leaks. For sure the leaks will come back in a few years because of continuous beating of the sun and rain. But to last or 3years isnt too bad compared with the previous lousy job by some roofer.

[hyenergix]

the design of the house was such that i could climb up to the roof from the balcony without any ladders. it was rather hard work patching the cement cracks for the tiled roof. had to do it in the day and boy was the roof hot.
used Dow Corning weatherproof silicone and a DAVCO sealant to patch. its been 3 years since i completed the roof and till now no leaks. For sure the leaks will come back in a few years because of continuous beating of the sun and rain. But to last or 3years isnt too bad compared with the previous lousy job by some roofer.

B careful of DIY roof repair. If e roof support gives way, u might b in heaven. Happened to many roof workers in Singapore.

[zzz1]

like i mentioned in a previous thread. my parents place(inter terrace) 21years from new. spent 10-15k at most till now on maintenance/minor improvements on the external. so to me landed is indeed cheaper than a condo.
There were minor leaks on the roof, but i repaired it DIY. cost me less than 200bucks in total and those roofing companies say must change roof etc etc and wanna ketok.
Neighbor also did major A&A 6years back also never affected anything. so those who say landed costs a lot to maintain are just sway to buy a lousy unit.

Deterioration with age never deceive , is matter of time u kana one unprepared. Unless u evey 21 years change new unit, else is matter of time with age the 'swayness' will come to visit u.

[Laguna]

B careful of DIY roof repair. If e roof support gives way, u might b in heaven. Happened to many roof workers in Singapore.

I had a friend was repairing the roof on DIY, and fall to his death. In his mid 40+. A very sad case

[kane]

One other thing to deal with is the dust from your neighbours undergoing major renovation.

[mkl22]

B careful of DIY roof repair. If e roof support gives way, u might b in heaven. Happened to many roof workers in Singapore.

yes you are right. was a little scary sometimes. too extra care, but you never know. oh well.. doubt i will be able or daring enough come a few years time. But the main reason i did it was because i got fed up of contractors coming to say they can do it. and in the end do a shoddy job and having them come back repeatedly or worst tell you its like that and need to change the roof. the level of work in Singapore sucks... everyone just wants to make a quick buck and siam. even if you pay more doesnt mean quality nowadays. really tough to find honest and dependable contractors.

[roly8]

One other thing to deal with is the dust from your neighbours undergoing major renovation.

make me want go with corner terrace..

[chiaberry]

yes you are right. was a little scary sometimes. too extra care, but you never know. oh well.. doubt i will be able or daring enough come a few years time. But the main reason i did it was because i got fed up of contractors coming to say they can do it. and in the end do a shoddy job and having them come back repeatedly or worst tell you its like that and need to change the roof. the level of work in Singapore sucks... everyone just wants to make a quick buck and siam. even if you pay more doesnt mean quality nowadays. really tough to find honest and dependable contractors.

Totally agree. The standard of workmanship these days is not the same as before. Our parents may have had no major problems with their houses built 30+ years ago. But nowadays it is not uncommon to come across friends/relatives whose new or rebuilt/renovated landed property developed problems after only a few years. Unless you are knowledgeable and willing to go regularly to supervise the reconstruction or building of your own landed, there's no telling what is lurking beneath the gleaming new tiles or beautifully painted walls. Having said that, the same applies for condos too (new or old).

[fclim]

Totally agree. The standard of workmanship these days is not the same as before. Our parents may have had no major problems with their houses built 30+ years ago. But nowadays it is not uncommon to come across friends/relatives whose new or rebuilt/renovated landed property developed problems after only a few years. Unless you are knowledgeable and willing to go regularly to supervise the reconstruction or building of your own landed, there's no telling what is lurking beneath the gleaming new tiles or beautifully painted walls. Having said that, the same applies for condos too (new or old).

Of course. What can we expect? Singaporeans dun wan these jobs. Mostly unskilled foreign labour. The worst of our students get chanelled to Normal (Technical) stream and end up in ITE. Normal (Academic) cmi to O levels also end up in ITE. Polys get the worst of the O level students for engineering.

MRT is starting to break down. Flood problems aren't resolved. I won't be surprised if other systems like power, traffic lights, plumbing, sewage etc break down too. You need good engineers and technicians to maintain these essential systems. Sending our least academically inclined students to technical courses and relying on cheap unskilled foreign manpower won't help.

[price]

Of course. What can we expect? Singaporeans dun wan these jobs. Mostly unskilled foreign labour. The worst of our students get chanelled to Normal (Technical) stream and end up in ITE. Normal (Academic) cmi to O levels also end up in ITE. Polys get the worst of the O level students for engineering.

MRT is starting to break down. Flood problems aren't resolved. I won't be surprised if other systems like power, traffic lights, plumbing, sewage etc break down too. You need good engineers and technicians to maintain these essential systems. Sending our least academically inclined students to technical courses won't help.

I agree that the streaming system is flawed. Look at how aussies take pride in their jobs as plumbers, contractors etc. They get paid well, live well. I got a friend who does floor laying there and drives a BMW to work. Got married pretty young and live in a big landed house. We can't afford that but at least we shouldnt discriminate such jobs.

[fclim]

I agree that the streaming system is flawed. Look at how aussies take pride in their jobs as plumbers, contractors etc. They get paid well, live well. I got a friend who does floor laying there and drives a BMW to work. Got married pretty young and live in a big landed house. We can't afford that but at least we shouldnt discriminate such jobs.

The Aussie government has very strict quotas on foreign labour. That's why plumbers and technical people earn good pay. But productivity and skills are high in Aust. to command such pay. In China, there was a recent report that a plumber earned more than the engineering graduate, who shunned such jobs and prefer lower paying aircon office sales jobs.

The S'pore government just relaxed foreign worker quotas on tentage workers. They took the easy way out. Sigh! Wages for manual work will continue to be depressed. Productivity will continue to be low.

[mkl22]

Totally agree. The standard of workmanship these days is not the same as before. Our parents may have had no major problems with their houses built 30+ years ago. But nowadays it is not uncommon to come across friends/relatives whose new or rebuilt/renovated landed property developed problems after only a few years. Unless you are knowledgeable and willing to go regularly to supervise the reconstruction or building of your own landed, there's no telling what is lurking beneath the gleaming new tiles or beautifully painted walls. Having said that, the same applies for condos too (new or old).

new HDB's also shoddy construction. what to do. it affects all products nowadays. cars, PCs etc etc. but for the home it is irritating, you have to take leave for the contractor to come to fix and then they also 'fly you aeroplane' and do not appear. in the end some amount of DIY skills is good. i have had done my fair share of DIY for cars and houses. Of course made a few mistakes and paid "tuition fees" to learn it the hard way. but in the end there is a satisfaction of a job done right and well.