Happenings
It has been a month since the last entry, and so many things have taken place, in preparation for our wedding and future. We have confirmed our Big Day to be in Dec 08. We have scouted around and visited several hotels for the banquet dinner package. We are considered rather late in our search for hotels as many hotel ballrooms have been booked by other couples. Yet, God has been good. He reserved for us Pan Pac hotel which Dan loves and has always dreamed of holding for his wedding dinner there. We were very comfortable with the coordinator as well. It helped that the online forums had good reviews of both the hotel and the coordinator. The perks seemed to be most comprehensive among the various hotels we visited.
After confirming the hotel, we started looking at our future housing options. We have submitted a total of 3 applications for various HDB balloting exercise. We were rejected for 2 of them (Boon Keng Design & Build, and flats in mature estate) and successful in 1 application (Build-to-order 4-room flat at Punggol). We’ve been praying together for God’s provision and leading regarding our future dwelling, and so it seemed that God has closed 2 doors and opened 1. However, as days passed, I became more unsure of the Punggol flat, mainly because the project will only be completed in end 2012, a good 4 years after our wedding! That is a little too long a wait! We discussed this several times and agreed to try searching for available resale flats. Alas, property prices are so high now, most flat owners are asking for at least 30-50k above valuation, and these are probably the older flats and a distance from MRT stations. Since we are able to stay with either set of parents immediately after wedding, we were in no hurry to find a place to stay. Hence, we are ready to forgo the Punggol flat selection and take our time to scout for a re-sale flat that we liked. We can continue to take part in HDB’s balloting exercise if more ready flats are offered in the future.
This had been our stand until 2 Sats ago on 8 March, Dan received a call from the agents for the Boon Keng Design & Build project. We have been shortlisted in the second round for selection of flat! We were told that we were unsuccessful about a month ago, and it was a disappointment as we had liked the convenient location. We prayed and thanked God for His closed door, and put this option aside. Little did we realize that God would open the door for us again. We were so excited at this news and went about doing our homework, calculating our finances, recording the sale prices of each unit, reccee-ing the surrounding, going up to top floors of nearby flats to check out the views etc. It was truly a fun and rewarding experience. Before our selection date, I experienced the anxiety pangs as we checked the units left from time to time. Top floor units with sea view were quickly snapped up. On our selection day, we managed to get our first choice unit at the 19th floor. Whew! Thank God for His provision! We trust that we can enjoy unblocked sea view from that level. Although we will be saddled with huge 30 year loan, we trust that it is a good investment and we can get to enjoy the prime location for many years. The construction has started, and it is expected to be completed in mid 2011, if not earlier. :)
Right after we signed the documents, Dan received a call from the developer of a private condominium asking if we are interested to get a unit at its condo. There is now a 20% discount of the sale price. Since we have already committed to this, we just convinced ourselves that the condo option is not as good. Although we will get the unit immediately, we will have to pay at least $100+k more for the unit, have higher interest rates for bank loan, cough up cash to furnish the house now, endure the inconvenient location without MRT, possibly have a harder time selling off the unit in future… Yup, so we are still pleased with our purchase at Boon Keng. Another testament of God’s provision.
After confirming the hotel, we started looking at our future housing options. We have submitted a total of 3 applications for various HDB balloting exercise. We were rejected for 2 of them (Boon Keng Design & Build, and flats in mature estate) and successful in 1 application (Build-to-order 4-room flat at Punggol). We’ve been praying together for God’s provision and leading regarding our future dwelling, and so it seemed that God has closed 2 doors and opened 1. However, as days passed, I became more unsure of the Punggol flat, mainly because the project will only be completed in end 2012, a good 4 years after our wedding! That is a little too long a wait! We discussed this several times and agreed to try searching for available resale flats. Alas, property prices are so high now, most flat owners are asking for at least 30-50k above valuation, and these are probably the older flats and a distance from MRT stations. Since we are able to stay with either set of parents immediately after wedding, we were in no hurry to find a place to stay. Hence, we are ready to forgo the Punggol flat selection and take our time to scout for a re-sale flat that we liked. We can continue to take part in HDB’s balloting exercise if more ready flats are offered in the future.
This had been our stand until 2 Sats ago on 8 March, Dan received a call from the agents for the Boon Keng Design & Build project. We have been shortlisted in the second round for selection of flat! We were told that we were unsuccessful about a month ago, and it was a disappointment as we had liked the convenient location. We prayed and thanked God for His closed door, and put this option aside. Little did we realize that God would open the door for us again. We were so excited at this news and went about doing our homework, calculating our finances, recording the sale prices of each unit, reccee-ing the surrounding, going up to top floors of nearby flats to check out the views etc. It was truly a fun and rewarding experience. Before our selection date, I experienced the anxiety pangs as we checked the units left from time to time. Top floor units with sea view were quickly snapped up. On our selection day, we managed to get our first choice unit at the 19th floor. Whew! Thank God for His provision! We trust that we can enjoy unblocked sea view from that level. Although we will be saddled with huge 30 year loan, we trust that it is a good investment and we can get to enjoy the prime location for many years. The construction has started, and it is expected to be completed in mid 2011, if not earlier. :)
Right after we signed the documents, Dan received a call from the developer of a private condominium asking if we are interested to get a unit at its condo. There is now a 20% discount of the sale price. Since we have already committed to this, we just convinced ourselves that the condo option is not as good. Although we will get the unit immediately, we will have to pay at least $100+k more for the unit, have higher interest rates for bank loan, cough up cash to furnish the house now, endure the inconvenient location without MRT, possibly have a harder time selling off the unit in future… Yup, so we are still pleased with our purchase at Boon Keng. Another testament of God’s provision.
posted by Handiworks @ 8:16 AM
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