SHE SAYS;
So a few friends have dropped by and given their two cents and one's being linked.
HELLO HAMZEUS!!!
My friend of 8-9years living in Georgia, Atlanta, boasting abt the basement that
he's turning into an independent apartment unit with an indoor pool! :p
Well, he's not really boasting but merely "updating family and friends" of his
1500sq feet Home Improvement project. 1500 sq feet is = 139 sq meters.
WOW!
And this is just the basement!!
UNFORTUNATELY,
Due to land constraint in Singapore, on average,
I guess Singaporean are living in a 92 sq meters apartments/flats.
With an internal floor area of 90 sq meters.
And in local terms, we call these as what HDB states on their website,
a "Typical 4-room Flat".
I said on average coz most of the Built-To-Order(BTO) flats that are
coming up, are built around that size-range.
They don't come cheap either, but compared to resale,
they're supposed to be "cheap".
Genius people in the government. 'Nuff said!
The most expensive one was launched last mth called
with Internal Floor Area Range (sqm) of 103 - 105sq meters
@ an "Indicative Price Range" of $555,000 - $664,000!!!!!!!
That's more than half a mill for a 99year lease FLAT!
CRAZY!!!
After reading reports about the OVERWHELMING response to the flats offered;
WHY continue with the BTO?
There's more PRs coming in and snapping up resale flats like nobody's business,
the locals on the other hand, have to go thru the process of BTO and then wait
another approximately 4-5years before their home is ready.
As a consolation to the problem 'HDB said there will be more BTO projects in 2010.
It is prepared to launch at least one BTO project every month
IF there is a sustained demand for new flats.'
In the end, it all boils down to $$$$.
Let's say, MY DEAR BF decides to PROPOSE to me TOMORROW, :D
1st we've got to think of whether we've got money for
a. The wedding.
The average malay wedding under the 'void deck', yes,
the empty space under the flat, can costs between SGD$10k - $30k.
b. The love nest.
Do we need a flat within 6 months?
Then resale flat is the way to go.
IF we can afford to wait 3-5 years?
Apply for a new flat.
New flats are generally priced cheaper than current resale flats(about $50k less).
And since they're cheaper, there is no grants offered. :(
(who doesnt want free money?)
Say we go the resale way, we need to put down a deposit of up to $1k,
then the remaining down-payment of not more than
$4k before the two weeks is up.
Then we'd need to have the HLE before we put a deposit if not
we'll be unable to secure loan within the 14 days
and we'll lose the deposit...bla bla bla...
That's just the deposit, next there's the 20% downpayment for the house....arrghh!!!
NOT to forget the COV(Cash over valuations) that can easily be 8-25k upfront...
bwaaaa aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!
MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!!!
No wonder Singaporeans are marrying at a later age.
Ok lar, Sayang, No Rush. :s
Let's queue for the BTO first, yes, before you even propose?....hmmmm???