picture by: jofo2005I hope this tips will be useful for you if you are planning to buy new condo (Condominium) in Singapore.
1. The most important tips of all time! Do not believe on the estimate date of TOP, always refer to the official TOP. I was promised that the TOP will be Q3 / Q4 on that year but end up I only get it at q2 the following year which is the official TOP. so don't believe about the TOP estimation, if you can get earlier that's a bonus for you. After the TOP, the key collection will be distributed by batches, you may get a week from TOP or even 2-3 months from the TOP depends on the allocation and how many unit. Sadly enough streetdirectory.com is more accurate predicting the TOP than the agent / developer (And yes you can use streetdirectory.com to find the Condo TOP)
2. Unit availability? In the showroom, normally the agent will show you the available unit that they intend to sell, to have more option look around normally they will have a board showing which unit has been sold and which one is not. to get the best unit refer to that one or if they don't have one ask your agent all the unit that is still available.
3. Awesome facilities? the more facilities that a condo has, the more you need to pay in the future for the monthly maintenance fee so take that for consideration.
4. Can we move in immediately once we collected the key? yes if you insisted but it's not recommended.
First of all once you get they key you need to check for defect, then book an appointment to do a joint inspection for the defects, next they need to fix the defects. so this is can stretch from a week - one month.
while generally you have some ready items such as air-con, fridge, wardrobe and kitchen but the lights are not included. If you are not planing to use LED lights, fixing the lights can be done in 1-2 days. If you are planning to get LED lights prepare to fork our some money to fix a false ceiling and installation. some Condo have false ceiling like in the bathroom / kitchen but not in the living, dining and bedrooms.
You also need to consider to paint your new house, normally they only give a basic plastering / paint so you may consider to paint it.
so the estimation time with a simple renovation and defect rectification about 1 - 2 months after key collection. if you really want to move in, before that at least get the water and electricity ready which can take 2-3 days.
5. Location? Make sure you visit the real location of the condo, the map given to you in the brochure is often time misleading.
Make sure that the driving time / transport is within what you expected, if possible to couple of round to get the feeling at morning and night, after all you are going to live in that place. You may also check the nearest shops / mall around that place.
6. Take picture of the show room. Especially the tiles, design, pattern, etc You'll need it in the future to compare it.
7. Property Tax is much higher than HDB, so keep that in mind. you can use this property tax calculator to get estimation.
All the best!
5. Location? Make sure you visit the real location of the condo, the map given to you in the brochure is often time misleading.
Make sure that the driving time / transport is within what you expected, if possible to couple of round to get the feeling at morning and night, after all you are going to live in that place. You may also check the nearest shops / mall around that place.
6. Take picture of the show room. Especially the tiles, design, pattern, etc You'll need it in the future to compare it.
7. Property Tax is much higher than HDB, so keep that in mind. you can use this property tax calculator to get estimation.
All the best!
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