3 Bedroom Condo in 3000 sg$?

[rs2000]

Hi All

I will be moving to Singapore shortly and currently in process of deciding where to live.

My requirements are like this.

- condo with pool, gym, playgorund for kids
- on direct mrt line from raffles (so green or red line seem good?)
- or direct bus to raflles area
- door to door travel time- 35-50 mins (from my apartment to raflles lets say UOb plaza -MRT travel time ~30 mins)
- if on mrt line, I prefer it to be closer to the station
- age of building, if well maintained , not more than 13 years old

Please can you let me know if this is possible? I have shortlisted
Chinese garden, lakeside, Yishun, khatib areas
please let me know of the condo names or other places where you think it will be possible to get it in 3000 sg$?
I can push it to 3500 too but would really like to get it in 3000 sg$ if possible.

thanks a lot!

[rs2000]

any help pls?

[Girl_Next_Door]

Did you do any search at all?

Anyone can recommend you a condo but it all boils down to the supply of it at the point you are looking for it. If there is no unit available within a particular condo, you would have to keep finding. It is also pointless for anyone on the forum to commit/comment that you can find a 3 bedroom in Condo X, simply because they managed to get that deal.

You will notice that there are a lot of unethical property agents around so you have to be fairly savvy to ensure that you are not deceived by the agents.

You can do a search in property websites, to have a feel on which area will cost around this budget, and short list a few areas. When you are physically in Singapore and ready to view an unit, then call the agent to view the units that meet your criteria. In Singapore, things move fairly fast so you don't have to plan many months in advance to find a place for rent. There are ample of options so if your preferred one is not available, simply move on to the next one.

[rs2000]

Thanks,

I wanted to get a sense of which areas I shall look at (given my contrainst above) and also wanted to hear from people who live in similar apartments and within similar budget.

i have spent a lot of time on the websites but then wanted some first hand information
I have shortlisted areas like chinese garden, lakeside, (~3500), yishun (3000-3200), khatib. Any other areas that would fit in the budget and constraints pls?

thanks!

[Girl_Next_Door]

If you are looking at generic area, consider these:
- Boon Lay (near Lakeside & Chinese Garden)
- Bukit Batok
- Hougang (North East Line)
- Bayshore @ East Coast . In fact, East Coast have quite a few and if you look hard enough, you might find something within your budget. There is a direct express bus that goes to Raffles from East Coast/Siglap area as well.

[beppi]

I wanted to get a sense of which areas I shall look at (given my contrainst above)

There is an island on the Southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula. It is called Singapore. You are well advised to limit the scope of your serach to this island, otherwise your commute would be longer.

[Seasoul]

Hey rs2000 - wow harsh welcoming here.. Haven't been on this forum in a while but damn looks like you asked the wrong question

I've been living in SG for 3 years, and am myself in the process of finding a new condo withing the same budget.

A few comments:

- travel time: if you're ok for up to 50min travel time, you can definitely widen your search to other areas and even afford a transfer from a bus or an MRT line to another. I suppose what will take most of the time if the travel from your condo to the bus/MRT station and from the bus/MRT station to your work place. So if these two are close to bus/MRT stations, don;t worry about the travel time it won;t be difficult to match your criteria.
Many condos are a bit far from MRT stations though, so that's something you want to use to shortlist them.

My advice is don;t limit yourself to the direct lines, as you can very easily transfer from a line to another without sweating it (the purple line and green line, the purple line and red line, the green and red line - these combos call for a very easy and almost seamless transfer)

- location: look up condos in Bishan/Ang Mo Kio area. Its on the red line and pretty fast to get to Raffles. You might have to go a bit above $3k but it would be worth it in terms of travel time. You might also wanna look at the east or west side: it's on the green line, direct to Raffles and you can go as far as Clementi (west) or Kembangang (east) without worrying about the travel time.

- Other things to consider: proximity of shopping center: you'll probably need at least some kind of supermarket (Fairprice, Cold Storage, Shop N Save etc..) close by. If your condo is near an MRT station then there will be places to get your groceries from close by. If not, make sure you scope the surroundings. Unless you have someone at home who can do all the grocery shopping by car or bus or whatever..

Another important advice has been mentioned here: get yourself here and view the condos by yourself. Some are old (15 years old) and still in excellent condition, some are very new but cut off from everything else. And some flats have the worst layout ever. And for your price range you can find very different levels of quality, so I'm afraid the best way to get a better idea of what's out there is to book yourself a few days of "viewings" , it will help you a lot assess the location and the type of condo you want.

Oh last piece of advice: don't listen to agents who will tell you you can't find 3 bedrooms at $3k in those locations. Just stick to your budget and be firm on what quality you want. Don't make concessions you're not happy with, and don't rush signing.

Also, always bargain the rent price. Not usual overseas, but in Singapore, it's always worth the shot to ask for a $100-200 reduction. Especially if:
- the condo is rented for 2 years
- the condo is not furnished or just partially furnished or has old furniture


I hope this helps

[rs2000]

thanks a lot. I will have to say this is the first really helpful reply I have got here.

Many Thanks!

[curiousgeorge]

I would add, don't be afraid to view a few places a few $$$ above your budget...some landlords will negotiate. I made an offer recently which was declined, and the agent phone three days later to say the LL will take it. I told her I already found another place $200 cheaper and he would have to match that...within 2 hours he did

They will all tell you the market is picking up. If they do, tell them you are happy to look elsewhere, but stand firm.

It also help if you are flexible...for instance, I was happy to take the dreadful light fittings and change myself, and fix a dodgy door handle. Landlords like this hassle-free tenant approach. It helps in negotiations.

[RugbyLad]

You can specify your limit for money, number of bedrooms and go to the map mode. So you'll see which condos have 3bedrooms with selected price range. As it was recommended check 200-300 over your limit, all apartments which I checked last month were negotiable at least for 150-200.

After that you can check travel times on gothere.sg. Very helpful website and they have iPhone app too. They shows connection times and fares for different types of transport. So you'll be able to check what regions are ok for you. I'd say on west coast Clementi would be a limit for 50 mins trip (door-to-door).

Regarding West Coast (it was my area for search) - there are not many condos near MRT, especially new ones. You can check condos close to AYE, they have quite good bus connection with city center.

[Seasoul]

thanks a lot. I will have to say this is the first really helpful reply I have got here.

Many Thanks!

you're welcome

I would add, don't be afraid to view a few places a few $$$ above your budget...some landlords will negotiate. I made an offer recently which was declined, and the agent phone three days later to say the LL will take it. I told her I already found another place $200 cheaper and he would have to match that...within 2 hours he did

They will all tell you the market is picking up. If they do, tell them you are happy to look elsewhere, but stand firm.

It also help if you are flexible...for instance, I was happy to take the dreadful light fittings and change myself, and fix a dodgy door handle. Landlords like this hassle-free tenant approach. It helps in negotiations.

Excellent advise. I've been now viewing condos for a few days (have to take a break, can't take agents bullsh.. anymore..) and indeed this advice is spot on. They will always tell you they have other offers, other tenants etc etc.. If you miss one, don;t worry, you'll find 10 more (seriously).
So if budget and location are firm criteria for you, stick to them. And if you find a great condo you like but the apartment is too expensive and you can't have the landlord lower the price, just wait a few days.. sometimes in the same condo apartments will free up as tenants leases end around the same time.

Oh, and another thing, the new circle line MRT: it's the yellow line. Some stations are already open, some are planned for 2011. it's not clear when exactly, we only get rough estimates, but if you plan on leasing 2 years, then you might want to consider a condo near the circle line too, so even if the MRT station is not yet open, it might be worth it.