The one-bedroom unit near Clarke Quay was a good bargain. But it took months to close the deal. Every time I had a request, offer or counter-offer, it took ages for the property agent to get back to me. His excuses included (but not limited to) owner in different time zone, cannot get hold of owner, owner not replying e-mail, too expensive to use IDD, etc. For … [Read more...]
Story of my third property (part I)
Hi, I'm back with sharing my property buying stories. Right after the completion of my 2nd purchase, I resumed my flat viewing routine. Again my criteria of purchase were: 1) Good location and layout; 2) Minimum 5% net rental return; and 3) At least 15% below last transacted price. I remember it was Christmas in 2003. The property market was very quiet. Bad … [Read more...]
Story of my second property – a bank sale (part II)
I followed up with viewings of similar one-bedders in the same condo. A low-floor unit was selling at $390,000 while another high-floor unit was asking for $420,000. I called a few banks to ask for the valuation. Since it was a high floor unit, the value was around $450,000. The last transactions of similar units on high floor units were between $420,000 to $520,000. … [Read more...]
Story of my second property – a bank sale (part I)
I wrote about "The story of buying my first property (part I, II & III)" in January. Sorry it takes so long before I post the story of my second purchase. With the positive rental return from my 1st property, very soon I had enough savings to buy my second one. In between I kept looking for good buys, again with the following criteria: 1) Good location and layout; … [Read more...]
En bloc the Singapore way (part III)
With property buyers standing on the sideline, here comes more activities on en bloc. Some deals are closed. Some owners want to try their luck. More are doing their research on the en bloc topic. 1) Selling your home en bloc Ask yourself the following questions: Do you plan to upgrade or downgrade after the en bloc? Can you afford a similar or better unit in the same … [Read more...]