Black & Whites - no bids anymore...

[Oak]

Hi all, we will be moving to Singapore early next year and have been following the availability of Black and Whites as we have a large dog, 2 children and are used to having a large garden... i have noticed over the last 6 months that very few black and whites are receiving any bids at all... any ideas why this may be? What does the goverment "do" with houses that attract no bids (there are many). Any thoughts/ guidance would be much appreciated!

[sundaymorningstaple]

They don't 'do' anything with them. Most Singaporeans don't want to live in them and the expatriate population is dwindling do to the government's drived to reduce dependency on foreign talents. They will just sit there as the are mostly 60 years old or older (built in the 1930's before WWII). They are generally rented bare which means not even white goods are supplied. They are often out of the way and lack good mass transport links as well.

I lived in Black & Whites on Seletar Airbase from 1983 to mid-1999 when I bought a resale HDB flat.

[Oak]

Many thanks sundaymorningstaple. We are happy to spend money on the house if we can find one that works for us... but your points on age and unpopularity are well noted...

[Strong Eagle]

Having been invited to parties and dinners at several black and whites, I will say that if you find a good one, it's pretty hard to beat. Great yard, lots of space, and privacy.

As SMS pointed out, if you're going to live in one a car is just about mandatory, as all the ones I have visited tend to be at the end of long winding roads from the main drag.

[Oak]

Thanks strong eagle yes we will definitely have a car. We currently live at the end of a long winding road in England so this all sounds good ... our budget is SGD10-12k and really not clear given the lack of recent B&W actually being bid on whether this will get us a "good one" in Q1 next year... difficult market to work out!

[rajagainstthemachine]

Having been invited to parties and dinners at several black and whites, I will say that if you find a good one, it's pretty hard to beat. Great yard, lots of space, and privacy.

As SMS pointed out, if you're going to live in one a car is just about mandatory, as all the ones I have visited tend to be at the end of long winding roads from the main drag.

which is fine if you are a bit of recluse/hermit and want a lot of privacy... but these days nobody is getting those hefty expat packages to be able to afford them anymore.

[PNGMK]

1. If there are no bids that's a good sign if you want to bid; except the management agencies may be living in a world of unreality and have been knocking back what I would consider reasonable bids 2. Properties that are not taken up at auction are then rented out by the management agencies in a more normal manner.

[AmadoLek]

1. If there are no bids that's a good sign if you want to bid; except the management agencies may be living in a world of unreality and have been knocking back what I would consider reasonable bids 2. Properties that are not taken up at auction are then rented out by the management agencies in a more normal manner.

I'm always suspicious of properties with no bids. That situation calls for deeper investigation.

[Barnsley]

I'm always suspicious of properties with no bids. That situation calls for deeper investigation.

[PNGMK]

I'm always suspicious of properties with no bids. That situation calls for deeper investigation.

If this is a legitimate comment I agree with regards to the SPIO SLA website. Some of the properties I visited years ago it was made clear what the expected bid was and it was just too steep.

The current SPIO residential list is here.

http://www.sla.gov.sg/SPIO/SPIO/Public/ ... ashup.aspx

[sundaymorningstaple]

I see the unit next to my old terrace is available @ 18 Mornington and also two buildings down from our other unit behind No. 20 Mornington (1 Oxford) the end unit is also available. I like the end units as they have reasonably large compounds. I wonder what they are going for now. When I moved out in '99 at the end of the 97 financial meltdown, mine was being raised to 1200/mo and I told them to kiss my arse. Said if I've got to pay that much for rent I'd sooner live for free and buy a resale flat (and I did just that - it's paid off now and worth at least 50% more than I paid for it even now). Why did 1200 tip the scales? for 13 of the 15 years I stayed there I only paid $400/mo! It wasn't until UDMC give up the management of the reverted housing and Pidemco took over that they because money grubbing bandits. (Also known as Premas Int'l).

[PNGMK]

I see the unit next to my old terrace is available @ 18 Mornington and also two buildings down from our other unit behind No. 20 Mornington (1 Oxford) the end unit is also available. I like the end units as they have reasonably large compounds. I wonder what they are going for now. When I moved out in '99 at the end of the 97 financial meltdown, mine was being raised to 1200/mo and I told them to kiss my arse. Said if I've got to pay that much for rent I'd sooner live for free and buy a resale flat (and I did just that - it's paid off now and worth at least 50% more than I paid for it even now). Why did 1200 tip the scales? for 13 of the 15 years I stayed there I only paid $400/mo! It wasn't until UDMC give up the management of the reverted housing and Pidemco took over that they because money grubbing bandits. (Also known as Premas Int'l).

I rented an old UDMC apartment (flat) in the old PUB quarters near Labrador Park on Pasir Panjang Rd for a few years for $500 or similar in the late 90's. It was great. I miss it actually and those flats have been boarded up for years. UDMC was great - you'd ring up and they'd fax you the rental list and you'd just put in an offer by fax back.