renovations

zhihau · Aug 8, 2008

some folks are truly fortunate to have exquisite interior designing, all nicely done up. what happens when their tastes changed over time, and decided that they want to do up their nest all over again or perhaps some things are never intended for change... :p

would you rather keep things as they are, or would you occasionally spruce things up in your home, perhaps your workplace, or even your life? :biggrin:

Bangster · Aug 8, 2008

First thing first, to answer your question I would say it all depends on how much money I have. If I'm shamelessly loaded, of course I'll do up my place. But the fact is, I'm not. So I'll just reno once, make sure it's up to my taste and liking, and live in the flat happily. There are more things to worry about than the design of my flat down the years.

For my workplace, I don't like it to be cluttered. As bare as possible is the motto of the day, everyday. The most decorative item(s) is/are foto frame(s).

For my everyday life, I love to do something different if possible, everyday. Be it whipping up a meal/feast and inviting frens over, setting up a mini fish tank, buying cute potted plants(I once got a baby venus flytrap from Takashimaya!! Damn it was cool!), learning a new guitar riff, reading a book, sssheesh there are so many things to do. Not everything requires constant input of money though.

I think if one's tastes can change so fast over the years, he might as well seek places he like to live in and rent them.

pia · Aug 8, 2008

zhihau said:
some folks are truly fortunate to have exquisite interior designing, all nicely done up. what happens when their tastes changed over time, and decided that they want to do up their nest all over again or perhaps some things are never intended for change... :p

would you rather keep things as they are, or would you occasionally spruce things up in your home, perhaps your workplace, or even your life?

When I got my HDB flat 5-6 years ago, was just starting my biz, cash was a low. So spent maybe $15k on reno and furnishings. Lived happily in the simple abode for about 3 years. Today, the flat is rented out and making me some money. And the reno and furnishings are still the same ones that had served me faithfully (in fact took some furniture out to my new home). As long as we are happy, I'd advise all to forgo the unnecessary excesses e.g. $100k+++ renovs. My humble opinion only :wink:

zhihau · Aug 8, 2008

Bangster said:
First thing first, to answer your question I would say it all depends on how much money I have. If I'm shamelessly loaded, of course I'll do up my place. But the fact is, I'm not. So I'll just reno once, make sure it's up to my taste and liking, and live in the flat happily. There are more things to worry about than the design of my flat down the years.

For my workplace, I don't like it to be cluttered. As bare as possible is the motto of the day, everyday. The most decorative item(s) is/are foto frame(s).

For my everyday life, I love to do something different if possible, everyday. Be it whipping up a meal/feast and inviting frens over, setting up a mini fish tank, buying cute potted plants(I once got a baby venus flytrap from Takashimaya!! Damn it was cool!), learning a new guitar riff, reading a book, sssheesh there are so many things to do. Not everything requires constant input of money though.

I think if one's tastes can change so fast over the years, he might as well seek places he like to live in and rent them.

bro,

do you see the HDB as your own lil' space you'll live till you pass on, or would you consider it as an asset or a liability? how much did you spend on your renovations?

you certainly have been living it up as much as you could in this lil' red dot, more importantly, you're able to keep your desktop bare!!! :eek:

my desktop is pretty clutter with all the work... piling and piling... machiam great wall of china...

cheers

zhihau · Aug 8, 2008

pia said:
When I got my HDB flat 5-6 years ago, was just starting my biz, cash was a low. So spent maybe $15k on reno and furnishings. Lived happily in the simple abode for about 3 years. Today, the flat is rented out and making me some money. And the reno and furnishings are still the same ones that had served me faithfully (in fact took some furniture out to my new home). As long as we are happy, I'd advise all to forgo the unnecessary excesses e.g. $100k+++ renovs. My humble opinion only

bro,

may i safely presume that you've bought your new home? free-hold? congratulations... :smile:

if you've rented out your former abode, does the rent you collect covers the installments you're repaying to HDB? how much loan was drawn? i hear you're making some money from the rentals... i'm confused :confused:

glad you've made some effort in reusing some of the furnitures you've once owned, are the rest still in the HDB? are those wooden furnitures? what material are they made of?

certainly a good advice on not spending too much on renovations... especially when you've been moving from one place to the other... so can i safely make a second presumption that you would classify your HDB as an asset?

cheers

pia · Aug 11, 2008

it's making some money, becasue rental is $1500 compared to $900 in installment repayments. The stuff I left behind are the built-in stuff e.g. wardrobes and kitchen cabinets..

zhihau · Aug 11, 2008

pia said:
it's making some money, becasue rental is $1500 compared to $900 in installment repayments. The stuff I left behind are the built-in stuff e.g. wardrobes and kitchen cabinets..

$1500 per month for rentals... $600 on profits, collecting the rents over 2 years and you've recovered the renovation costs... a tidy sum :wink:

pia · Aug 11, 2008

zhihau said:
$1500 per month for rentals... $600 on profits, collecting the rents over 2 years and you've recovered the renovation costs... a tidy sum

Well, I've always considered a HDB flat as a "trapped" asset, so might as well make some money out of it. It gets better if you can pay off the loan early and dispense with the interests (itself is almost the price of your flat if you pay off in 25 years!). So all that rental is pure profit after another 5 years. Remember, your rental is liquid cash.. flat appreciation is still trapped in your CPF.

SneeringTree · Aug 11, 2008

zhihau said:
some folks are truly fortunate to have exquisite interior designing, all nicely done up. what happens when their tastes changed over time, and decided that they want to do up their nest all over again or perhaps some things are never intended for change... :p

would you rather keep things as they are, or would you occasionally spruce things up in your home, perhaps your workplace, or even your life?

I never do anything that's very difficult to undo. So I would never spend too much money on renovations. Just like no matter how nice I think a particular tattoo will look good on me, I'll never get it cos I know couple years down the road, I will think it's the ugliest thing ever.

Kenshinng · Aug 11, 2008

I would like to have a spartan looking house so that stuff don't look too cluttered

z_z · Aug 11, 2008

I like to keep things simple, the less furniture and knick knacks, the better. I also like to move my stuff around once in a while to spruce things up, save on renovation. I am a cheapskatehaha.

AdChiosk · Aug 11, 2008

zhihau said:
would you rather keep things as they are, or would you occasionally spruce things up in your home, perhaps your workplace, or even your life?

Singaporean seriously in need to build up a DIY culture. The problem now is that there is a lack of central facilitator or information that we can source and do up our own renovation. For example, if I only had the need to change the bathroom door, I can just take the measurement, walk into a DIY shop, select the type, prefabricate it and take it back. In this way we can do a lot of small and simple changes to our home rather then have to decide a major task up front.

Having said that, we still can find what we need with some legs work but I always have to put up with doubters that want to recommend a contractor to do just a simple job!:(

pia · Aug 11, 2008

AdChiosk said:
Singaporean seriously in need to build up a DIY culture. The problem now is that there is a lack of central facilitator or information that we can source and do up our own renovation. For example, if I only had the need to change the bathroom door, I can just take the measurement, walk into a DIY shop, select the type, prefabricate it and take it back. In this way we can do a lot of small and simple changes to our home rather then have to decide a major task up front.

Having said that, we still can find what we need with some legs work but I always have to put up with doubters that want to recommend a contractor to do just a simple job!:(

Quite true about most of us being DIY-averse.. maybe to do with the way we've been educated.. the higher the education, the less you should fiddle with bolts and nuts..

I've gotten away with this "uncertainty". Why call a plumber when you can fix the leak yourself? Experience shows that most of the time, because it's your property, you do a better job than these guys, and for a fraction of the cost. Same for simple electrical fittings, roof leaks, wall crack repairs, choked plumbing etc... provided I'm in town to do it. :rolleyes:

jw5 · Aug 11, 2008

bro zhihau
Is it worth it to buy a leasehold apartment?
Or should we always push towards freehold?

pia · Aug 11, 2008

jw5 said:
bro zhihau
Is it worth it to buy a leasehold apartment?
Or should we always push towards freehold?

Hi JW,

Hijack your qn from Bro Zhihau.. sure it's ALWAYS a no-brainer to have freehold. The simple arithmetic; a $1m (incl interest) 99 yr lease costs you about $10k a year (1m divided by 99). A $1m freehold costs you nothing! (1m divided by infinity)

The question is, can you afford it? Too many are trapped into loan commitments to have that freehold dream when they can't afford it. Freehold in S'pore is not cheap... chances are even if you are middle class, there will only be one freehold you own in your life, and you'll still be living in it, not making money from it. Maybe you can consider overseas..

tonychat · Aug 11, 2008

Bangster said:
First thing first, to answer your question I would say it all depends on how much money I have. If I'm shamelessly loaded, of course I'll do up my place. But the fact is, I'm not. So I'll just reno once, make sure it's up to my taste and liking, and live in the flat happily. There are more things to worry about than the design of my flat down the years.

dun be ashamed if you are loaded, be proud.

pia · Aug 11, 2008

tonychat said:
dun be ashamed if you are loaded, be proud.

Yep, be proud, not arrogant. You deserve the fruits of your labour.

jw5 · Aug 11, 2008

bro pia
But what if I have nobody to leave the apartment to when I die and only buy the apartment for own stay. Is there a difference between buying leasehold and freehold?

madmansg · Aug 11, 2008

I cover my walls with plasma tvs so can change scenary everyday.

pia · Aug 11, 2008

jw5 said:
bro pia
But what if I have nobody to leave the apartment to when I die and only buy the apartment for own stay. Is there a difference between buying leasehold and freehold?

I hope you don't.. but, anyway, if you really do, please consider liquidating and using the funds for yourself long before that e.g. retirement. Unless you're philanthropic enough to leave to charity.

Whether leasehold or freehold in this scenario is stll very much depending on what you can afford and what you expect out of this "investment"

Just my 2 cents worth..

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