Zyanya Review- City Fringe Freehold Condo At Geylang Food Haven And Near MRT Station With Incredulous Price Of S$1,700psf.

 

While I was on my way to lunch in the Geylang area, I walked past the Zyanya showflat located in a shophouse and thus decided to drop in for a quick visit. Zyanya is a freehold 34 units boutique condominium located in the eastern city fringe location of District 14. This is definitely one of the nearest free-hold condominium to Aljunied MRT station. You just need around 5 to 6 minutes to walk from Geylang Lorong 25A to the MRT station. Given the S$2,000plus psf new launch at Lentor Modern and AMO Residence at the Outside Central Region (OCR), Freehold Zyanya at 1,700psf at city fringe (Rest of Central Region- "RCR") appears to be a great steal. In addition, 99 years leasehold developments Sims Urban Oasis and the latest Penrose condominiums in the vicinity area are already asking for S$1,700psf to S$2,000psf. 

Front view

Zoom in front view-level 2 is the mechanised carpark

Side view

Backview

Besides the attractive price on offer for Zyanya, I am going to list down a few other highlights of staying in this well-known city fringe area:

1. Food Haven

Geylang is highly regarded to be one of Singapore's hot spots for famous hawker stalls and street food. One can always savour the famous Geylang fried prawn noodles and Geylang Frog porridges near the comfort of one's home. 

2. Excellent location well connected to other parts of Singapore 

5-10 minutes drive to Kallang Wave Mall, Suntec City, Bugis Junction and City Hall via Nicoll Highway. One can also get onto major expressway PIE or KPE within 5 minutes 

3. Units layout good but unfortunately some stacks facing West and will have afternoon sun

I will put up some of the better 4 bedder and 3 bedder layout below. For 1 bedder and 2 bedder will not be discussing here as the smaller bedder units have already been mostly snapped up by investors that I reckon are looking to rent them out.

4 Bedder + Study-1302sqft

The above is one of the best layout in Zyanya with spacious living room and even space set aside for a study area that can sit two people. Unfortunately, all the bedrooms are facing west and will get the afternoon sun which means that when you return back home from work, your bedroom will feel like a sauna. Since young I have a very low tolerance level for heat- the best I can accept is bedrooms with east facing which only gets the morning sun but this is my own personal preference. I do know of friends who like the sun a lot. 

4 Bedder-1195sqft

The 1195sqft D1 Type layout is my personal favorite as it is the only one with all bedroom facing the east (only morning sun issue). Its relatively smaller quantum for a 1195sqft means approximately S$2Mil for a 4 bedder configuration at a city fringe location.

3 Bedder+Study-1044sqft

Overall layout for the above 3 bedder + study is not efficient and appers to be odd shape to me. The dinning area is also tiny for a 3 bedder. Good thing for this layout is that there is a small area reserved as study area. Balconies are tiny. My thoughts are to pay a bit more to get the 4 bedder instead.

3 Bedder-893sqft

The compact 3 bedder layout for Zyanya is a bit strange. I thought that the junior master bedroom concept with space wasted for an attached bathroom wasted- it could have been better use for a larger kitchen area or even a small study area. Also, all bedrooms are west facing and will encounter the afternoon sun issue.

4. Limited facilities as only 34 units boutique

This is a small development hence of course, the facilities available are lesser than large scale development. But it does have a decent small lap pool of around 13m in length. There are a total of 28 carpark lots which should be more than enough given that there are 1 bedder and 2 bedders units whereby the owner bought for investment purpose as well as being near Aljunied MRT station, there is really not a need to own a car. But I guess the mechanised carparking system maybe an issue here especially if it breaks down  frequently after a few years of wear and tear- it will depend on how well it is being maintained. 

One should also take note that with only 34 units, managing the Management Corporation Strata Title ("MCST") and balancing the mgt funds book will not be as economical in scale relative to bigger developments with 300-500 units. For folks who purchased for own stay, he or she may even have to roll up their sleeve to join the Management Committee of the MCST to take on the laborious job of dealing with contractors, ensure maintenance is well taken care of as well as ensuring statutory compliance.

Zyanya lap pool at 3rd level.

Parting thoughts

If one is looking to resell their units in the short-term to mid term, then one has to be careful whether one wants to buy into a boutique development with only 34 units as there will only be a few transactions available for benchmarking during future resales. But if one wants to stay in the area for a longer term and to get a freehold city fringe home at an attractive entry pricing, then Zyanya may just be the right one for you.

AMO Residence Over 98% Sold In A Day- Singapore Property Market Shining Bright In spite of Economic Downturn. Will You Pay S$6K To Service Your Mortgage in Outside Central Region?

 

AMO Residence located off Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 ended the weekend of 23 July 2022 with 98.1% of its 372 units all sold out. The average price of units sold is at incredulous S$2,100psf. What a crazy price for Ang Mo Kio. UOL Group and its partners are now laughing all the way to the bank. I can still remember back in 2010 when Centro Residences debuted at Ang Mo Kio Centre- it was going for  an eye popping S$1,200 psf by Far East Organization during launch and many people were saying that is so exorbitant and a record price of over the psychological  barrier of up to S$1,000 psf for sub-urban area. Well, 12 years later, prices for new launch condo at Ang Mo Kio now apparently hit S$2,100 psf. This is paying close to S$2Mil for a compact 958 sqft 3 bedder unit.

Using a loan of S$1.5Mil spread over 30 years for a young couple along and assuming a 2.5% interest rate, this will mean a monthly payment of S$5.9K which means each husband and wife need to cough up around S$3K individually each month to service their mortgage. Total interest paid over 30 years will add up to S$634K.

2.5% borrowing rate simulation

If interest rate continues to increase to say 3.0%, it will mean a monthly servicing of S$6.3K per month. Total interest rate paid over 30 years will be S$777K- I think it is time to buy more shares of DBS, UOB and OCBC listed on SGX which seems to be a better investment. 

3.0% borrowing rate simulation

Well, such pricing is not for the faint hearted folks. Down payment and stamp duties will mean half a million upfront in cash and CPF and not to mention in the current climate of rising bank borrowing rates, it certainly takes great courage to sign the option to purchase. According to property agents, the success of AMO Residence shows that "the market is hungry for attractively priced homes in good locations". Property prices is still a good hedge against inflation according to many people. I am not sure on that. However, I do hope that job losses are kept to a minimum in the upcoming economic downturn and everyone gets to keep their bread and butter. Else it will be extremely painful to support a S$6K per month mortgage. 

Property Investments Seminars Advertisements On YouTube Driving Me Nuts

 

Not exactly sure what is Marko (and/or something) property investment programme but I was quite disturbed to see frequent Youtube advertisment of it popping out telling me the story from this crying woman. Basically, a woman broke down into tears saying that thanks to Marko (and/or something), she finally managed to move out of her public HDB flat and got to stay in a private condominium as well as to escape the "rat race". Is living in a HDB flat so horrible for her that she broke down into tears just recapping it? Or was it tears of joy from earning lots of money from this property investment programme and now finally flushed with money to buy a private condominium? 

From the advertisement, there is another 22 years old man that says thanks to this programme, he managed to own 2 properties "at such a young age". I think it is better to be modest than to boost about owning multiple properties. I seriously do not think this young man can own 2 properties at such a young age (unless he is really born with a silver spoon in one's mouth). Simple common sense indicates that he must have borrowed tons of money from a bank to finance his properties. Whether the 22 years old man owns 2 properties or the bank is the de facto owners the properties is only a figure of speech. If the marco-economic conditions meltdown totally and banker came to seize his property for a forced auction at the worst possible time, this young man will be in financial ruin and working as a rat (as aforesaid mentioned by the crying woman) in the rat race for the rest of his life paying off millions in bank loans.

Who dare wins?

I reckon that this Marko (and/or something) investment programme is something similar to the well known iQuadrant teaching people to use leverage to purchase multiple industrial properties. The eventual realised return can go up to 30%-40% per annum if everything goes smoothly in finding undervalued industrial properties for rental out and letting tenants help you pay for the properties while awaiting capital appreciation. Well, high risk high return. Obviously, there are people who have made tons of money from employing such strategies taught by the gurus from these properties investment programmes

Parting Thoughts:

Who dare wins is what I believed in. However, I do disagree with the downplaying of leverage to such an extensive extent on industrial properties to portray them as manageable low risk. 

Personal Updates: Singaporean Venture Into Cambodia Property Investment Horror Story

 

I guess the horror story began back in 2014 when my wife came back home one evening and told me that she had purchased a USD220K 2 bedroom condominium unit jointly with her sister in Cambodia at a road show. The property agent (let's call her Ms M) was a close friend of both of them and has extolled the virtues of overseas property investment because the quantum involved is so much cheaper than getting an investment property in Singapore. Ms M is a successful property investor who currently owns 3 condominium units in Singapore and has accumulated a high net worth from buying and selling Singapore properties. She has also invested in this particular Cambodian project being jointly developed by Singapore based Oxley Holdings and their Cambodian partner.

My initial reactions

I was rather shocked as my wife did not consult or discuss with me on this big ticket item purchase. Her argument then was that she was using her own money. Basically, it works like that, the money she earned is her money but the money I earned is also her money and need to consult her on major item purchase together (unfortunately this is a 1 way street and how it works in my family.....haha).

In addition, Ms M had mentioned 5 "convincing" reasons to wifey for recommending the purchase:

1. Cambodia is an upcoming country in development;

2. The quantum involved to get a condonimum in Cambodia is lesser than a 5 room HDB flat;

3. Oxley Holdings is a well known developer listed in Singapore;

4. The are 3 years of guaranteed rental at 6% per annum by Oxley Holdings & partner;

5. Ms M herself had already purchased 1 unit of the new project in development.

1. Beginning of horror story- USD bank borrowings is around 8% at that time.

The financing rate quoted by the  Cambodian banks for bank borrowings is incredible. No one sane will dare to borrow from them. This seems to have caught my wifey and sister in law by surprise. When they called up to ask Ms M, she brushed this away as saying that she thought the purchase amount is not a large sum and she has all the way plan to finance it by paying in cash for the instalments and assume they will also do that hence it did not cross her mind.

No choice, wifey and sister in law coughed up the USD220K over in hard cash over the course of the work in progress till completion of the project.  

2. Property agent Ms M does not seemed to have reminded her clients/friends that there is withholding tax in Cambodia. 

The selling point seems to have been overemphasis on the 6% guarantee rental by the developer for 3 years. Netting of withholding tax on rental, the amount repatriated is a lot lesser. Also, future capital gains (if lucky and not a loss) made by non-residents is subjected to withholding tax of around 20%. 

3. USD rental return subject to much unfavorable forex conversion costs 

To opt for cash received in SGD back in Singapore leads to additional losses in forex markup. The local bank exchange rate is also another interesting weird point. I told my wife and sister in law to open up USD bank account and then use SingX (started by an ex-Citibank banker) for the conversion to reduce the forex conversion loss due to inferior rates.

4. Guaranteed rental scheme ending soon- Oxley Holdings will not renew it due to poor market conditions.

The rental guarantee scheme will come to an end as informed by developer upon its expiry as COVID has wiped out tourism and many expats and the Cambodia economy is in a virtual standstill. An alternative profit sharing scheme maybe rolled out pending indication of sufficient interest from other Singaporean owners to help pay for the monthly maintenance expenses. 

Also, who will help go to the Cambodian government agency to pay for property tax or other administrative matters? 

I guess the matter of exit plan and contingencies were not addressed during the purchase. "Buy first then see how later" will normally lead to eventual headaches.  

5. Lack of networking to find trustworthy property agents in Cambodian market

In the event that the developer "washed their hands off" the renewal of the rental management scheme, investors will need to either find their own tenants or sell off the property on behalf. The problem is the property agent market in Cambodia is not well established yet and there seems to be a lack of regulation. So how does one find a trustworthy agent? 

Language is also a major barrier for effective communication with the Cambodians agents.

As for selling off the property, I was told that even if one lowers the price significantly, there is currently not a lot of expat buyers due to the COVID situation in Cambodia.

Parting Thoughts

I think that property investment in a developing country is a real headache and will not recommend it...simply too much hassle and risk. For those who also have investment properties in Cambodia, maybe can help share your thoughts on the current predicament and possible solutions or networking referral of a good property agency in Cambodia. 

A Game Of Thrones in Condominium Disputes And Filing of Case With The Singapore Strata Title Board

This is a follow-up posting from the last one on "Problems With Living In Singapore Condominiums- Not As Glamorous As One Think It Is". When communication breaks down between residents and the Management Committee of the MCST, all hell breaks loose, in particularly, with many egos being at stake, some estate issues will definitely escalate out of control. This is where a group of very pissed off resident group will get together to campaign to overthrow the incumbent Management Council team by mudslinging on social media and tit for tat went on between the 2 parties This is also whereby some residents will file a case with the Strata Title Board ("STB") to take on their own MCST.

1. Procedure of Filing to STB and whereby all residents gets punished from depletion of management funds in the legal dispute.

From my last posting, one typical problem will be whether 2nd and 3rd car can park for free issue in most condominiums  or whether the MCST can enforce stringent wheel clamping rules against fellow residents.

The proceedings at Strata Titles Boards consist of 4 main stages:

(1.1)  Application: The Applicant will file an application against the Respondent.

(1.2) Mediation: All parties (Applicant and Respondent) are required to attend mediation session(s) fixed by the Board. The matter may stop at mediation if parties resolve the dispute at that stage.

(1.3) Hearing: If the matter cannot be resolved at the mediation stage, the Board will give directions to the parties to prepare for a hearing and fix the hearing date.

(1.4) Post-hearing: The Board’s orders is binding on parties and may be enforced at the Singapore State Courts.

1.1 Cost of Application Stage- Money commences burning

An application fee of S$500 is required to submit the application along with the "prayers" being sought. Prayers here is not referring to the religious prayers but rather a specific request for judgment, relief and/or damages at the conclusion of a complaint or petition. The applicant/applicants will typically hire a lawyer at this stage to help prepare the filing and incur additional cost of between S$3K to S$5K.

At this point, the MCST is known as the respondent. The Management Council Members may also be named by the applicant/applicants individually as additional respondents along with the MCST. To get ready a respond, the MCST will typically incurr legal fees for crafting the respond. This can cost anywhere from S$3K to S$5K depending on the number of issues, its complexity and hours spent by the legal counsel.

 1.2  Mediation- Extra money burnt for legal counsel to attend Mediation session on behalf of Applicants/Respondent

The lawyers representing the applicants and the MCST at this stage will be very happy as they can bill around S$3K to attend the mediation session. 

So applicant wasted S$3K out of their own pocket if they hired legal counsel at this stage and the respondent will also waste S$3K. 

Normally, there will be at least 2 mediation sessions before all stakeholders either resolve the issues or decided that mediation is useless and to move on to full hearing. If there is another mediation session, another S$3K will be wasted at each side.

Therefore, at least S$6K will thus be burnt by applicants and respondent respectively at the mediation sessions.

1.3 to 1.4 Hearing and Post Hearing

There will be an STB hearing cost here as well as individual legal counsel cost. This stage typically cost around S$10K to S$20k for each respective party depending on the number of hours spent by the legal counsel on hearing preparation and submission.

One import thing to note here is that many people have the wrong notion that if they win the STB case, they can get back all legal consultation and mediation costs from the losing party. This is totally wrong concept. Only party to party cost and panel hearing cost can be recovered. To give an example, I have known of MCST who spent S$50K in legal fees overall to defend against the prayers sought by the applicants and won the case but in the end only got back S$10K in cost recovery. 

Summary

A typical STB case may thus cost up to S$20K to S$30K for applicants and respondent respectively depending on the number of prayers and the complexity of the issues. This is a lose lose situation as this means that S$40K to S$60K would have been wasted by both parties. The only winners out of this will be the legal counsels. Unfortunately, such incidents are not isolated. There are many people with different personalities and principles living in any estate. Residents should thus participate actively in the Annual General Meeting and ensure that they elect their council members wisely. 

Most importantly, more residents should step forward to take up the thankless job of being a management council member lest the council is left in the control of an extremist group of residents who can then make numerous house rules to turn the entire estate into an army camp or prison which will have negative repercussions such as the estate getting into multiple lawsuits with vendors at Small Claims Tribunal/State Courts or cases lodged by fellow residents at STB.

Problems with Living in Singapore Condominiums- Not as glamorous as one think it is

After buying a brand new condominium and waiting for the construction to reach Temporary Occupation Permit stage typically requires 3-4 years for an average 600 unit size development. Of course, many residents could not contain their excitement upon receiving their keys and moving in after renovating their dream home. But this is where the nightmare will start. 

1. Dealing with hardcore smoker neighbours staying above or below your unit smoking every 2 hours at Balcony

Many condo residents were sold by their property agent the idea of Alfresco dinning by utilising the balcony space. Hence they have planned for dinning tables to be shifted to the balcony area in order to free up inner space and a bigger allowance for the living room.  Alfresco is a style of dining that is casual and often offer a party-like ambience and looks cool. 

However, some condo residents are in for a rude shock when they discover that at dinner time, they often have to breathe in cancer causing harmful second hand smoke coming from their neighbours staying directly at the unit above them or under them. The effect of the second hand smoke is so bad that any units within a radius of 2 floors (approximately 6m) from that chain smoker unit will have second hand smoke drifting into their balcony.

Hence it is a fallacy to believe that upgrading from HDB to a EC or private condominium will mean the end of the 2nd hand smoke issue. This second hand smoke issue will never go away unless one purchases a landed property. 

2. Lack of good talents who wants to volunteer to join the Management Committee after the end of the 1st year
During the 1st year, the developer will run the condo along with the appointed Management Agent. However, by the end of the 1st AGM, the MCST is supposed to elect its own Management Committee ("MC") members. Most of the good residents will not want to volunteer. In Army National Service terms, these are extra duties which snaps up valuable time especially for residents who are still working.  There is also no remuneration for being in the MC to look after the estate. One will also have to deal with countless unreasonable complaints and fellow residents demanding to be served by the MC in all their requests. Hence most residents do not want to take up such thankless job. 

Those who joined will have a few types, namely, (i) truly altruism folks (this group is a rare breed), (ii) power crazy folks, (iii) resident associated with the People's Association or government grassroot and (iv) residents who need to get their children into the primary school of their choice- type (iv) is actually a subset of (iii) as the objective is to form the "Neighbourhood Committee" to promote grassroot outreach into the condo.

3. Carparking Woes

This is the most frequent issue in all condominiums. If there are insufficient carpark lots, this will create a problem. If there are ample carpark lots, this will also still be a problem and headache. The insufficient carpark lot scenario think everyone understands why it is a problem. SO let me elaborate on why a condo with ample carpark lots will also be a big problem. 

In most condominium, carparking house rule will stipulate that every owner will be entitled to 1 carpark lot. Then there will be units without cars and units with multiple car ownership. Those with multiple cars will assert that since there are ample lots, they can park unlimited cars in the condo to save on thousand of dollars of annual season parking. The other non-car owner group will be unhappy and demanded that this is unfair as maintenance such as carparking surface epoxy paintings and carpark barriers maintenance is unfairly borne by them hence they will demand second car parking charges. Once the root of all evil (money) surfaced, then World War 3 will begin in the Condo estate. Hence if during the 1st AGM, the carparking and registration rule is not converted into by-law, some of the owners with multiple cars will start to "play around with the Ënglish" in order to argue the best case scenario for themselves.

There are other issues for carparking rules that I will probably go into more details in my future posts.

Parting thoughts:

A smart and wise resident should propose a motion to convert all the existing house-rules into by-law in order for the MC to have legal powers to enforce them. This is the critical step at the 1st AGM which a lot of newbies do not know. House rules set by developers are just rules that looks fun but in the eyes of the Building Maintenance and Strata Act ("BMSMA"), they cannot be enforced without being blessed by the General Body of residents to convert into by-law.

Woodleigh Residences Offering Up Till S$250K Worth Of Discount- Property Prices Finally Going Down?

I received a promotional email yesterday (5th August 2020) on upcoming weekend sales discount of up till S$250K for a unit at Woodleigh Residences.  Is property price finally softening? This COVID-19 recession sure is different from the 2008 Global financial Crisis for properties. I recalled that properties price crash by 30% to 40% then. But the Singapore property market appears resilient during this COVID-19 period with only slight decline in prices so far. This is incredible. No wonder Germaine Chow of iQuadrant keeps saying in her advertisements that property prices do not fluctuate as wildly as the stock market (Anyway, I am having an overdoes of Germaine Chow-she keeps popping up on my YouTube videos-would appreciate if anyone can provide technical tips on how can I disable her advertisements). 

S$250K VVIP discount is a lot. Anyone thinking of getting a unit at Woodleight Residences? Or more discounts coming? Well, this appears to be good news for consumers but bad news for SPH shareholders.