House hunting, viewed condos (too many)
I must admit that I am slowly becoming constant-viewing-never-buying. When I first moved back to Singapore I wanted something to be really near my office, typical of a single office white collar person. Slowly after a year here, the greens and water of Singapore sunk in and I started looking for places with nice environment. Also, being new to Singapore again, I went looking all over.
These are the ones I viewed
Marina One - too close to business, feels like hotel not home. And developer still selling till now, I think.
The Beacon. At Tanjong Pagar. Not impressed by maintanence
The Clift. Same as The Beacon, boutique condo feels like hotel
One Shenton. Considered pretty green and chilled in downtown core. Quite atas.
Citylights - I quite like this place, very central, windy and still have an unobstructed view to the kallang river.
Treasure Trove, Riversound, River Isles, Flo Residences, Bayou, Parc Vera, Canberra Residences, Nautical, Eight Couryards. These were the condos I viewed when I was looking at somewhere further from the CBD but I have since pass on since it's too far. Some are actually quite nice.
RiverEdge, Sanctuary Green, Casuarina Cove, Water Place, Costa Rhu, Pebble Bay Pretty nice place, near the town yet separated by the river, or two I like Pebble Bay RiverEdge and Costa Rhu. Interested to view Camelot by the Water but I heard they don't have 2 or 3 bedder as unit size there is big. (update Nov 2021: not considering these developments as I finally understood why Singaporean says it is inconvenient)
Corals, Caribbean, Reflections Nice vibe for Caribbean I like it, the rest not so much....Reflections have some villa units similar to Caribbean. The "bad" part is that it's not in the east side, and the overall neighborhood vibe is not as chill as east, personal opinion. Corals' exterior is beautiful but interior is negative as it is crooked edge. (update Nov 2021: not considering Carribean anymore as I it is not new and inconvenient to walk from the condo to the nearest hawker center.) One downside of Carribean might be that it is a freehold land owned by Keppel but the sold it as 99 year lease, so in theory there is a danger they can let the lease run out without getting open tender.
Eight Riversuites Bendemeer area, a small boutique condo but the view can be nice especially the ones overlooking tan tock seng hospital.
8 Bassein Rd Quite a nice neirhbourhood, tall ceiling and nice balcony, but more of a boutique condo. Not considering
One Amber, Cote DAzur, Posshgroove East, Villa Marina, Seaview, Costa Del Sol Of them Seaview and Costa Del Sol is interesting. Poshgroove East has an odd design where the first floor is small and the second floor takes up alot of space (update Nov 2021:after six months I actually don't like Costa Del Sol as I think it is too big and crowded, I still like Seaview)
Meyerise Meyer Road area, expensive and in my opinion not worth the premium because it takes 3 mins to drive to Katong, with a much lower price. (update Nov 2021: another downside of Meyerise is access to ammenities is not great)
Dakota, Waterbank at Dakota - Always mix up these two but Dakota is the more atas one. I personally think that in the long run Waterbank management will deteriorate, judging from my one time visit, now its still nice but it's already showing abit. Hence Waterbank is less preferred as it's more cramped and less well maintained, will go for Dakota anytime between the two. (update Nov 2021:still like Dakota, can consider)
Waterina - Old condo at Geylang. It's really quite dated but tbh I am surprised by it's well managed and also quiet serene despite being in Geylang, the rest nearby Geylang/Paya Lebar/Katong I've seen are Suites@Guillemard (very boutique, looks really nice from propertyguru but actual is average only and the parking lot only ground floor makes it looks ugly, without green ), Butterworth View (clean but facing another condo, considered more as Paya Lebar area actually), Paradise Palm. Paradise Palm has really nice view but lousy management.
Things I can do better.
- renting at the place I am going to buy, since it's not complicated for me to move. Explore more of the green and coastal places.
- I will focus on central region (already damn big) and find pockets of condo that is green and nice.
- Also wondering if people view so much as I do, I suspect most do?
- (update November: I also told myself to not look at niche areas like cluster house, landed etc because the maintanence will be high and I am a simple person, so I will focus just on condo).
====November update====
Nouvel 18, 3 Orchard by the park. Both are really nice and atas place. Nouvel 18 upside is it's quite and hidden in/near Orchard while 3 Orchard by the park is near the upcoming MRT. I am not considering both as I do not want to like in a tourist-packed location. (Nov update:should take a look again at Nouvel 18, if I am considering Orchard)
Kaleido - my first cluster house viewing in my preferred location D15. This view actually made me to not consider cluster house as the houses are so near to each other with a pool in the middle that there is little privacy. Also since I am a PR it's out of the question to get a landed.
Ola - I've always passed by this development and intrigued, but after viewing I must say the noise from the main road permeates into Ola. For someone that likes serene this is not good.
Wallich Residences. Another atas place. I am impressed by the serene and calmness even though it is in the center of town, maybe because I was there over the weekend need to check weekday. The downside is that there is no big balcony.
Silversea. The noise from main road can be heard I don't like but the building itself has nice finishing.
Parkplace residence (havent seen). Haven't seen pass by before but it feels like living in the office so not considering especially if people work in PLQ then it feels like work and home same place.
Euhabitat (havent seen). Haven't seen actually looks quite nice but it's abit out of my district to check out for now.
Amery, The Sound, Mayfair. Boutique condos in D15. All three have many expats staying and pretty nice, best finishing is Mayfair and best view is Amery (front the entrance, esp) but Amery's management is bad. The Sound's public spaces is nice but the pool is not designed for proper lap swim.
Meier Suites - the unit I saw has a very nice view. Given that it's free hold it's also quite good.
Amber Skyve - out as the space utility is bad. Too noisy and the maintenance not great.
Beaufort @ Nassim - quite a nice neigihbourhood, quite but take one turn already in Orchard. That particular unit's asking is quite high though.
Hilltops - It's the tallest development at Cairnhill. Very Bali like and nice swimming pool feel but the top floors are all facing other developments.
Tanglin Park - old unit but very frasers hill like, as if it's a cottage house, and feels very comfy, almost all foreigners in the development., maintenance can be better but not that bad per say.
I must admit that I am slowly becoming constant-viewing-never-buying. When I first moved back to Singapore I wanted something to be really near my office, typical of a single office white collar person. Slowly after a year here, the greens and water of Singapore sunk in and I started looking for places with nice environment. Also, being new to Singapore again, I went looking all over.
These are the ones I viewed
Marina One - too close to business, feels like hotel not home. And developer still selling till now, I think.
The Beacon. At Tanjong Pagar. Not impressed by maintanence
The Clift. Same as The Beacon, boutique condo feels like hotel
One Shenton. Considered pretty green and chilled in downtown core. Quite atas.
Citylights - I quite like this place, very central, windy and still have an unobstructed view to the kallang river.
Treasure Trove, Riversound, River Isles, Flo Residences, Bayou, Parc Vera, Canberra Residences, Nautical, Eight Couryards. These were the condos I viewed when I was looking at somewhere further from the CBD but I have since pass on since it's too far. Some are actually quite nice.
RiverEdge, Sanctuary Green, Casuarina Cove, Water Place, Costa Rhu, Pebble Bay Pretty nice place, near the town yet separated by the river, or two I like Pebble Bay RiverEdge and Costa Rhu. Interested to view Camelot by the Water but I heard they don't have 2 or 3 bedder as unit size there is big. (update Nov 2021: not considering these developments as I finally understood why Singaporean says it is inconvenient)
Corals, Caribbean, Reflections Nice vibe for Caribbean I like it, the rest not so much....Reflections have some villa units similar to Caribbean. The "bad" part is that it's not in the east side, and the overall neighborhood vibe is not as chill as east, personal opinion. Corals' exterior is beautiful but interior is negative as it is crooked edge. (update Nov 2021: not considering Carribean anymore as I it is not new and inconvenient to walk from the condo to the nearest hawker center.) One downside of Carribean might be that it is a freehold land owned by Keppel but the sold it as 99 year lease, so in theory there is a danger they can let the lease run out without getting open tender.
Eight Riversuites Bendemeer area, a small boutique condo but the view can be nice especially the ones overlooking tan tock seng hospital.
8 Bassein Rd Quite a nice neirhbourhood, tall ceiling and nice balcony, but more of a boutique condo. Not considering
One Amber, Cote DAzur, Posshgroove East, Villa Marina, Seaview, Costa Del Sol Of them Seaview and Costa Del Sol is interesting. Poshgroove East has an odd design where the first floor is small and the second floor takes up alot of space (update Nov 2021:after six months I actually don't like Costa Del Sol as I think it is too big and crowded, I still like Seaview)
Meyerise Meyer Road area, expensive and in my opinion not worth the premium because it takes 3 mins to drive to Katong, with a much lower price. (update Nov 2021: another downside of Meyerise is access to ammenities is not great)
Dakota, Waterbank at Dakota - Always mix up these two but Dakota is the more atas one. I personally think that in the long run Waterbank management will deteriorate, judging from my one time visit, now its still nice but it's already showing abit. Hence Waterbank is less preferred as it's more cramped and less well maintained, will go for Dakota anytime between the two. (update Nov 2021:still like Dakota, can consider)
Waterina - Old condo at Geylang. It's really quite dated but tbh I am surprised by it's well managed and also quiet serene despite being in Geylang, the rest nearby Geylang/Paya Lebar/Katong I've seen are Suites@Guillemard (very boutique, looks really nice from propertyguru but actual is average only and the parking lot only ground floor makes it looks ugly, without green ), Butterworth View (clean but facing another condo, considered more as Paya Lebar area actually), Paradise Palm. Paradise Palm has really nice view but lousy management.
Things I can do better.
- renting at the place I am going to buy, since it's not complicated for me to move. Explore more of the green and coastal places.
- I will focus on central region (already damn big) and find pockets of condo that is green and nice.
- Also wondering if people view so much as I do, I suspect most do?
- (update November: I also told myself to not look at niche areas like cluster house, landed etc because the maintanence will be high and I am a simple person, so I will focus just on condo).
====November update====
Nouvel 18, 3 Orchard by the park. Both are really nice and atas place. Nouvel 18 upside is it's quite and hidden in/near Orchard while 3 Orchard by the park is near the upcoming MRT. I am not considering both as I do not want to like in a tourist-packed location. (Nov update:should take a look again at Nouvel 18, if I am considering Orchard)
Kaleido - my first cluster house viewing in my preferred location D15. This view actually made me to not consider cluster house as the houses are so near to each other with a pool in the middle that there is little privacy. Also since I am a PR it's out of the question to get a landed.
Ola - I've always passed by this development and intrigued, but after viewing I must say the noise from the main road permeates into Ola. For someone that likes serene this is not good.
Wallich Residences. Another atas place. I am impressed by the serene and calmness even though it is in the center of town, maybe because I was there over the weekend need to check weekday. The downside is that there is no big balcony.
Silversea. The noise from main road can be heard I don't like but the building itself has nice finishing.
Parkplace residence (havent seen). Haven't seen pass by before but it feels like living in the office so not considering especially if people work in PLQ then it feels like work and home same place.
Euhabitat (havent seen). Haven't seen actually looks quite nice but it's abit out of my district to check out for now.
Amery, The Sound, Mayfair. Boutique condos in D15. All three have many expats staying and pretty nice, best finishing is Mayfair and best view is Amery (front the entrance, esp) but Amery's management is bad. The Sound's public spaces is nice but the pool is not designed for proper lap swim.
Meier Suites - the unit I saw has a very nice view. Given that it's free hold it's also quite good.
Amber Skyve - out as the space utility is bad. Too noisy and the maintenance not great.
Beaufort @ Nassim - quite a nice neigihbourhood, quite but take one turn already in Orchard. That particular unit's asking is quite high though.
Hilltops - It's the tallest development at Cairnhill. Very Bali like and nice swimming pool feel but the top floors are all facing other developments.
Tanglin Park - old unit but very frasers hill like, as if it's a cottage house, and feels very comfy, almost all foreigners in the development., maintenance can be better but not that bad per say.
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Also, it was a place I liked that could be bought at a reasonable price buffer, with >2.5% yield (CPF).
