How much did u spend on renovation for ur house?

[americanhippo]

Don't understand why you guys bother so much about trends and what others are doing. It's your house and your lifestyle. As long as you like can already even if a million and one people have the same design concept as you.

Of course! It all boils down to individual preferences.

But,,, this is a forum right?

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[runforyourlife]

That's why must choose timeless trends

For me minimalist forever timeless

I feel heavy industrial v depressing lol

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unless your house is a showroom, minimalist will only last 2 mths after staying in.

thereafter everything anyhow put liao lazy to clear

 

[americanhippo]

unless your house is a showroom, minimalist will only last 2 mths after staying in.

thereafter everything anyhow put liao lazy to clear

That's true hahahhaha it's a lot of discipline to maintain.

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[tinydot]

wait till you have kids of your own...minimalist becomes child-play center.

 

[runforyourlife]

wait till you have kids of your own...minimalist becomes child-play center.

lego on the floor, everywhere

 

[kbtsam]

Great choice on minimalist

That's why must choose timeless trends

For me minimalist forever timeless

I feel heavy industrial v depressing lol

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[19dino]

Delivery without assembly services is $35 up to 5 articles, $55 up to 10..

One thing anyone buying from Ikea should take note is a bedframe is not a single article..You have to see their description online and they will show how many boxes it comes in(A single box is considered 1 article)..

If happen to be buying alot of small items like pillow, pillow case, bedsheets, quilt cover etc etc..You can buy from the delivery counter a bag($5), whatever u can dump and squeeze into the bag would be considered 1 article(Of cos the bag should be able to tighten and cable tie up)..

The PTC counter told me per item.
Rules and conditions say per article.

They charge me $35 for 4items, 6 article.
Keeping my fingers crossed they don't come and take extra from me upon delivery on Saturday.

 

[Gixxerfied]

The PTC counter told me per item.
Rules and conditions say per article.

They charge me $35 for 4items, 6 article.
Keeping my fingers crossed they don't come and take extra from me upon delivery on Saturday.

My one straight is article..

My bedframe came in 4 articles, 2 mattress, 1 mattress pad and 2 slotted pad + 1 bag for all the small items..zhun zhun is 10 articles..

 

[derazor]

Bro your current stage of reno is where liao?

SSRR house now..............

 

[runforyourlife]

SSRR house now..............

okok enjoy the process!

 

[americanhippo]

anyway, want to share my story:

Not everyone perceives renovation and house hunting the same way.

For some, buying a house and renovation is merely a 5 year temporary measure. For some, it is a major project in life. Perhaps the most major one.

For me and my wife, we spent more than 1 year hunting for a place to buy. We BTO anyway many years ago before I graduated so that there is some 'hedge' in case we fail to buy the right place at the right price.

i still can remember the first time i met my house. It was a friday and I was just skiving at work and trawling through the portal when i saw this house at a rather good price. I call the agent and we viewed the unit at the very evening.

When i first went in, it was unbelievably horrid. No typical singaporean will think of that place as fitting of home stay. Sinkies usually buy into all those mass-market crap like simi condo, ec etc..

The place has a musky smell, many of the ceiling/walls have light cracks.. fungus, moss, insects crawling through those cracks. the unit is in a weird configuration (not on ground floor).. narrow (3m apart) but extremely long at 26m (6storey hdb high).. the place is full of foreign workers and you would vomit if you go into the kitchen - extremely dirty.

But to me and my wife. We really fell in love at the very moment. Emphatically love at first sight. The moment while we were wandering through the many partitions of the house (partitioned to accommodate even more foreign workers). All the dirt, rubbish, smell and imperfects didnt matter to us. We know this place will have huge potential (not in terms of financial gains but how it would look).

i brought my mum (who is a carpenter) to see the house to gauge how much renovation would cost and she told me it would be a HUGE BOMB given the derelict state of things.

my wife and i couldnt sleep for a few nights. we kept researching the house and the area. it is one strata unit in a URA freehold conserved shophouse in a URA conserved neighborhood. 3 freaking MRTs in its vicinity and 5-10mins drive to city. 3.3M tall ceiling. comes with a free cement spiral staircase. what's not to like?

we spoke to the neighbors and the current tenant told us (who operates housing for foreign workers)... the owner is in dire financial states.. she is desperately trying to raise money to fight a few lawsuits and is keen to migrate overseas asap.. the selling price is now almost 40% lower than her peak asking price in 2011..

on saturday, the agent msg me, 'confirm or not? if not, he has many other viewings coming'.

on sunday, i look at my wife. we are so full of doubts. all our years of scrimping and working hard and tightening our purses is all to buy our dream house. we took out my cheque and just paid the OTP straight away. no need to wait anymore.. my first time buying a house.. and its just like that, OTP paid in seconds...

the next headache would be.. what about our BTO? would we be penalized? would our purchase be stopped because we have a BTO incoming? so many doubts and problems! and we bought the house without preparing for all these!


Purchase Journey


the purchase journey was difficult. i still remember going to the law firm multiple times. the lawyer kept quizzing whether was i related to the seller? how could she have sold me the house at such a good price?

when she was convinced i wasnt and she made me sign a declaration form that we are not related. she kept asking me if i am sure i would like to proceed. because the seller was in legal troubles and at risk of bankruptcy. i bit the bullet and asked her to carry on. throughout the process i was so stressed. my lawyer told me this estate has issues, first thing, it has parts infringing on state land. which is not an issue usually but can lead to problems in the future. second thing, not sure if the seller would play punk or something.


and not just the lawyer, the banker too. the banker also ask me to sign a form confirming the seller and i are not related. in addition, the banker had to re-evaluate the house multiple times because they didnt know the condition was so bad. and they later realize the place has been used to rent out to multiple foreign workers. and later realize the place is conserved.. all these matter to them... i only apply loan AFTER i paid the OTP!

we finally went down to HDB, had to travel and call between HDB and CPF multiple times because i need to cancel, forfeit and refund stamp duty.. its more complicated because it is not just a simple refund process but because i am using my CPF to buy another house on top of canceling my BTO.. as u know, 1 BTO MOP 5 years...

and the GREATEST FEAR OF ALL WAS: what if i cancel my HDB BTO and then this house cannot buy or gets repossessed or stuck in some legal quagmire! We have no house to stay again


IDEA journey

we spent the new few months with sleepless nights.. so eager and happy to decorate our place. we visited so many IDs and all the ideas they are pushing are generic condo ideas which do not fit the house we bought..

we decided to do our own legwork. we went to malacca to look at the shophouses there. we went to grocers in geylang and ask them for permission to visit their place.. we noticed the use of tradition air vents.

we went malaysia to discuss/compare timber windows, timber doors. we went to so many places to speak to people.. we check out retro window grills.. we went around our neighborhood to speak to neighbors..

we trawled through tumblr and kept sketching our many iterations of how the house would look like..

our design ideas kept changing but more or less about fixed now..

and thankfully, my mother has a huge network of subcontractors..

for me, renovation and house buying is certainly one of the major highlights of my life. i do not think twice about spending excessively on it because this is where i would probably die in.


Renovation Journey

still on-going, except for one A-hole AMDK neighbor, everything else shun shun so far.


Wall CRACKS

i had to keep bugging my masonry guy to remember to hack away the cracks, apply 2 layers of anti-rust to the steel beams and re-plaster the cracks properly


Floor Level

the whole house is not even but slanted.. in the walk way.. one end is 50 cm lower than the other end.. u cannot see it but if u put those special equipment u will notice... it's because house is old and has SUNK into the ground... hence not only i have to re-cement screed the whole place.. the furniture in the future will have some gap if i choose full height..


Air Con

the house is LONG and narrow.. how to hook up wires and air con pipes? i do not want false ceilings, it will ruin the high ceiling.. the front facade cannot hang aircon as it is conserved estate.. but my living is fright at the front and the place to hang aircon is at the centre.. almost 13m apart!! a lot of planning and multiple visits from my aircon guy to discuss/plan is needed. im very thankful to him. give me special price and still so hardworking.. he is my mum's client last time.


Electrical Appliances

i bought most electrical appliances from those expo fairs. be the first to chiong down and quickly pay for display units.. save $

i also bought from harvey norman.. i go lazada/paris silk compare prices and then lowball HN to price match.. can be done as long as u buy a few items from them..




etc etc... update more when time comes..

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[19dino]

Off topic.

How to deal with bad neighbouring individual? How can help?

This man in his 40s appears to have no work.
Live with his family, parents age 60+.
Got siblings.
Entered lift with him while otw to work. He was ok.
After walking to a traffic light 5mins away, he start shouting abusive language and ask me for fight. First time happening.

If happen again, which agency I go to?
Police cannot right? unless he hits me.
Wife and I both work in the day then home after 7pm. Can't be we do something make him unhappy right?

 

[Tuakong]

Off topic.

How to deal with bad neighbouring individual? How can help?

This man in his 40s appears to have no work.
Live with his family, parents age 60+.
Got siblings.
Entered lift with him while otw to work. He was ok.
After walking to a traffic light 5mins away, he start shouting abusive language and ask me for fight. First time happening.

If happen again, which agency I go to?
Police cannot right? unless he hits me.
Wife and I both work in the day then home after 7pm. Can't be we do something make him unhappy right?

Can talk to his parents to understand his behaviour towards u?

 

[19dino]

anyway, want to share my story:

Not everyone perceives renovation and house hunting the same way.

For some, buying a house and renovation is merely a 5 year temporary measure. For some, it is a major project in life. Perhaps the most major one.

For me and my wife, we spent more than 1 year hunting for a place to buy. We BTO anyway many years ago before I graduated so that there is some 'hedge' in case we fail to buy the right place at the right price.

i still can remember the first time i met my house. It was a friday and I was just skiving at work and trawling through the portal when i saw this house at a rather good price. I call the agent and we viewed the unit at the very evening.

When i first went in, it was unbelievably horrid. No typical singaporean will think of that place as fitting of home stay. Sinkies usually buy into all those mass-market crap like simi condo, ec etc..

The place has a musky smell, many of the ceiling/walls have light cracks.. the house is in a weird configuration.. narrow (3m apart) but extremely long at 26m (6storey hdb high).. the place is full of foreign workers and you would vomit if you go into the kitchen - extremely dirty.

But to me and my wife. We really fell in love at the very moment. The moment while we were wandering through the many partitions of the house. All the dirt, rubbish, smell and imperfects didnt matter to us. We know this place will have huge potential (not in terms of financial gains but how it would look).

i brought my mum (who is a carpenter) to see the house to gauge how much renovation would cost and she told me it would be a HUGE BOMB given the derelict state of things.

my wife and i couldnt sleep for a few nights. we kept researching the house and the area. it is one strata unit in a URA freehold conserved shophouse in a URA conserved neighborhood. 3 freaking MRTs in its vicinity and 5-10mins drive to city. what's not to like?

we spoke to the neighbors and the current tenant (who operates housing for foreign workers)... the owner is in dire financial states.. she is desperately trying to raise money to fight a few lawsuits and is keen to migrate overseas asap.. the selling price is now almost 40% lower than her peak asking price in 2011..

on saturday, the agent msg me, 'confirm or not? if not, he has many other viewings coming'.

on sunday, i look at my wife. we are so full of doubts. all our years of scrimping and working hard and tightening our purses is all to buy our dream house. we took out my cheque and just paid the OTP straight away. no need to wait anymore.. my first time buying a house.. and its just like that, OTP paid in seconds...


Purchase Journey


the purchase journey was difficult. i still remember going to the law firm multiple times. the lawyer kept quizzing whether was i related to the seller? how could she have sold me the house at such a good price?

when she was convinced i wasnt. she kept asking me if i am sure i would like to proceed. because the seller was in legal troubles and at risk of bankruptcy. i bit the bullet and asked her to carry on. throughout the process i was so stressed. my neighbor told me this estate has issues, first thing, it has parts infringing on state land. which is not an issue usually but can lead to problems in the future. second thing, not sure if the seller would play punk or something.


and not just the lawyer, the banker too. the banker had to re-evaluate the house multiple times because they didnt know the condition was so bad. and they later realize the place has been used to rent out to multiple foreign workers. and later realize the place is conserved.. all these matter to them... i only apply loan AFTER i paid the OTP!


IDEA journey

we spent the new few months with sleepless nights.. so eager and happy to decorate our place. we visited so many IDs and all the ideas they are pushing are generic condo ideas which do not fit the house we bought..

we decided to do our own legwork. we went to malacca to look at the shophouses there. we went to grocers in geylang and ask them for permission to visit their place.. we noticed the use of tradition air vents.

we went malaysia to discuss/compare timber windows, timber doors. we went to so many places to speak to people.. we check out retro window grills.. we went around our neighborhood to speak to neighbors..

we trawled through tumblr and kept sketching our many iterations of how the house would look like..

our design ideas kept changing but more or less about fixed now..

and thankfully, my mother has a huge network of subcontractors..

for me, renovation and house buying is certainly one of the major highlights of my life. i do not think twice about spending excessively on it because this is where i would probably die in.


Renovation Journey

still on-going, except for one A-hole AMDK neighbor, everything else shun shun so far.

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Why the sudden out pour of your thoughts Hippo?
Love at first sight happens... =)

 

[19dino]

Can talk to his parents to understand his behaviour towards u?

Live in peasant home expecting all sorts of problem.
The mom is elderly, 60+, talk to me and wife in the hawker where she working as cleaner... says son nv contribute so she needs to work.

How they behave in the home I don't know. I may talk to his dad if it happens a 2nd time or occurs again.

Is there any council or agency in Singapore that can help? Not a police matter, not a dispute yet, not a disagreement. But things possibly can get worse right?

 

[americanhippo]

Why the sudden out pour of your thoughts Hippo?
Love at first sight happens... =)

like a T-blog, except it is on HWZ haha

 

[gchen86]

like a T-blog, except it is on HWZ haha

Thanks for sharing hippo. Everything you bought except your Posche is justifiable Unless you wanna say its 40% cheaper as well
Your appetite too huge liao bro, uncle here advise you slow down abit.

 

[americanhippo]

Off topic.

How to deal with bad neighbouring individual? How can help?

This man in his 40s appears to have no work.
Live with his family, parents age 60+.
Got siblings.
Entered lift with him while otw to work. He was ok.
After walking to a traffic light 5mins away, he start shouting abusive language and ask me for fight. First time happening.

If happen again, which agency I go to?
Police cannot right? unless he hits me.
Wife and I both work in the day then home after 7pm. Can't be we do something make him unhappy right?

Sounds horrifying. Why Bo dai Bo ji like that? Is it got some mental problem?

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[americanhippo]

Thanks for sharing hippo. Everything you bought except your Posche is justifiable Unless you wanna say its 40% cheaper as well
Your appetite too huge liao bro, uncle here advise you slow down abit.

thanks for ur kind advice..

to be honest, i was looking for an old merc (need a vintage car to match a vintage home right ) but then an offer for an old porsche comes up..

it really really is a very very good price esp when u take into the fact that u renew coe and split depreciation across the extra years..

but yes, now my bank account shrinking until like a pea.. this is my last purchase liao till many years to come

probably will have to be like Park, dont buy sofa/projector/dining table for a while... save and buy in pieces.

 

[runforyourlife]

americanhippo ish rich pocoyo