Jui Residences Review- Inspired by Heritage, Designed for Quality Living

Jui Residences is a freehold development that sits on the former National Aerated Water Company site. I used to study in a school at Geylang Bahru and as I walked to the bus stop home along Serangoon Road, it became a daily ritual to always do a stopover at National Aerated Plant and buy Kickapoo from a vending machine near its main gate. It dispensed Kickapoo cheaply at a mere 10 cents per cup and was very popular with a lot of school kids then. As a result, this development held very fond memories for me.  

Strangely, the show flat of Jui Residences is right next to Woodleigh Residences. I had applied for annual leave to visit Woodleigh Residences as I was rather fascinated by staying in an apartment that is right above a shopping mall just like Punggol Watertown Residences and Sengkang Compass Heights. I harbored hope that maybe there will be special star buys around in Woodleigh Residences given the current feeble state of our global economy. When my property agent who was showing me around told me that prices are around S$2,000++ psf,  I nearly fainted as I gasp for breath. Then the agent whispered into my ear: "Yes, I also think the prices here are crazy.....why don't I recommend you a freehold development near the area that is way cheaper than this?" So, my agent then brought me next door to the Jui Residences show flat.   

In December 2016, National Aerated Water Company sold the freehold industrial site for S$47Mil to Selangor Dredging Berhad ("SDB"). SDB paid an additional S$22.66Mil to the local authorities for intensification of usage to a residential site. The total land cost thus translates to an acquisition cost of S$785psf per plot ratio for the land area of 31,705sqft with permissible built up of 88,775sqft of gross floor area based on plot ratio of 2.8. Also, the National Aerated Water building will be partially conserved as stipulated by Urban Redevelopment Authority and integrated into the new development and kept fenceless along Serangoon Road and the river.

Location:

This is a city fringe located freehold property. Coupled with it being just next to Kallang River, residents gets to enjoy river view. Not many properties can boast being near to reservoir or waterbody and I considered it an unique gem that is away from the hustle and bustle of City life. Coming back home to this development thus allows one to enter into a mini resort ambience and at the same time enjoy the convenient location.  

Good size Infinity Lap Pool albeit small landsize.

Amenities and Facilities

There will be 117 units for one tower in this development. Carpark lot is 1 for 1 as well as an additional 5 parking lots for visitors. There will be adequate parking space from B1 to level 4 multistorey carpark. There will not be big fights over parking relative to other developments which has cut down to less than 1 for 1 ratio.

The infinity pool is the main highlight for this development. It looks very impressive and is decent sized considering the small landsize.

However, I was quite disappointed that there was no gymnasium at all. This is good in the sense that this will reduce the yearly maintenance cost. In addition, the developer will link up Jui Residences to the Kallang Park Connector hence probably they make do away with the need for treadmills since residents can just go jogging along the track. 

Units and Finishing

Overall, the layout of the apartments here is quite small. The master bedroom based on my standard are tiny. This seems to be the trending these days. If one wants to buy a 3 bedder unit, please avoid type C1, C2 and C3 which have long entrances that wasted the use of space efficiently. The best will be type C4 as illustrated in the picture above which represented the best 3 bedder layout. Type C4 is also the biggest unit in the entire development.

I do have a serious problem with the finishing given, that is, the tiles for the kitchen wall and bathrooms which I find too "Retro" and does not exude a modern contemporary feel. This maybe due to the integration with the conservation of the older industrial facade for National Aerated Water Company. But one can always choose to change the finishing during the renovation to fit one's desired theme. Rather, it is the location that cannot be altered at will.

Pricing

Pricing is around S$1,700psf and there is still some discount available from the developer. This is a freehold status development. For home buyers who wanted more value for money and do not mind buying 2nd handed projects, one can look for other older developments located closer to Boon Keng MRT direction and also Potong Pasir direction. 

Parting Thoughts

The "Jui" in the name of this project actually means "Water". This is a good city fringe located property that is beside the beautiful Kallang River. The integration with a part of Singapore history that is being earmarked for conservation further enhances the uniqueness of this freehold development.

High Park Residences Review and Updates- 11th August 2018

Wow...4 months since my last update on High Park Residences. Very good progress since April 18. Spoken to one of the onsite construction staff. Still a lot of work for the renovation of internal units with the fittings and finishing. Also, building of the swimming pool and the super long water landscaping features are currently still in progress. Other landscaping works have been added on and off around the development. The construction staff mentioned probably another 1 year to TOP. But from my own personal site assessment, I reckon it can achieve TOP by Q2 2019.

The beautiful High Park Residences is gradually taking shape and looks like it will become better than what the marketing brochure has illustrated. High Park Residences will no doubt be the new gem in Sengkang West. The entire site is also humongous! Took me quite sometime to walk around the boundary and have to stop halfway after climbing up the stairs at Thanggam LRT Station to catch my breath.

Parc Botannia Review and Updates- 11 August 2018

Foundation work had already been completed for Parc Botannia . Erection of different blocks by Tower Cranes in progress. Sing Holding and Wee Hur building at lightning pace. Blk 12 and Blk 10 construction progress seems a lot faster than Blk 18 and Blk 16. 

Refinancing for Investment Property/Residential Property- 3 things to watch out for to avoid PLAY OUT by the bankers.

The servicing of the housing loan is one of the major expenditure items for most Singapore households. A properly executed refinancing can free up much needed cash-flow for savings or investments.

1. It is not enough to just keep in mind the date of the lock in period of your housing loan. The required notification period is also of paramount importance if not more essential.

One will need to read the terms and conditions of your loan contract clearly in particularly for the portion on the notice period required. Generally, it is one month notice for partial repayment and 3 months notice period for full repayment via cash repayment or refinancing from other bank. 

This is similar to an employment contract. You cannot just happily decide to resign suddenly and disappear the next day from work. Your employment contract contained a clause that states clearly your notification period to Employer before your last day of work and failing which you will need to pay compensation in the form of cash in lieu of short notice. 

1(i) What if one forgets to give notice? 

This will mean that generally, you will have to pay the standard higher interest rates compared to the special rates under lock in period. This can lead to a huge jump in interest expenses until the end of the notice period. This can range from a hundred dollars to couple of hundred dollars  per month depending on the quantum of your housing loan. DO NOT give the bank an excuse to earn that extra from you. 

Also, once saddled with the threat of higher interest, one may panic and just decided to quickly re-contract another 2 to 3 years package with the same bank without looking into the market for better packages from other banks to get the best deal.

Always set an alarm on your mobile phone or write a post slip note and stick it on your refrigerator door or home notice board 4 mths before the loan is due. Be very "KIASU" over it. We are talking about the biggest household expenditure where most of us spent decades servicing it and the savings from a well executed refinancing can save thousands of dollars in 2 years. Do not expect your banker to care about saving as much money as possible on behalf of you. Their interest is not aligned with us. 

The refinancing procedures with the new bank should ideally take place 3.5 mths to 4 mths before the last date of the locked in period. This is to give adequate lead time for yourself to study and compare various housing loan packages available and also for your new banker to get the whole bunch of documents from you and then process internally for the letter of offer. After the letter is signed off, only then will the other bank's solicitor write in on behalf to your current banker to serve notice and to commence the administrative settlement of inter-bank debt. For those who are unfortunately stuck in the paper work and could not complete this on time, please serve notice personally to the bank via a formal written notice.   

1(ii) Some housing specialist at bank branches mentioned refinancing does not need to serve notice at all as it is a different case. Only partial repayment or full repayment in cash need to serve notice. Is this statement true? What if the officer at the branch refuse to accept serving of your notice?

If the terms and conditions clearly state so, then this must be adhered to. No way out of it. If the officer does not accept, please write down in black and white and emailed them back. Yes. the officers at the bank do screw up as some of them may be new joiners and not familiar with the internal procedures. I experienced it a few times myself with such bank officers. This brings me to my next important point on documentating everything formally, which will be extremely useful during times of disputes or screw up by the banks.

2. Ensure you document down the exact communication with the Bank's Housing Specialist. This is even more so if many conversations took place over the phone. Write an email to document what had been discussed in order to protect your own rights or as evidence in the event of future dispute.

I will share one nasty experience here with one of the banks with regard to my personal housing loan taken out a few years back.

It started with me looking out to refinance my investment property and I wrote in to the Housing Specialist of the bank asking for the latest fixed rate interest loan package available as I was worried over rising interest rates (I got a phobia on this as I paid before over 4% interest expenses on my first investment property and the monthly servicing of interest expense was just crazy). 

The bank officer replied and listed down the packages. I looked at them and wrote back in black and white to say that I want a "fixed" interest rate package. The officer then recommend the package to me and then send the revised loan contract with a new 2 years locked in period for my signing off. 

Strange thing is that after 10 months, I noticed that my monthly installment payment are not similar and is in fact creeping upwards. I was devastated and realised that I have been mis-sold on my loan package. I quickly called up the bank and explained the situation. However, the reply I got back from the bank was chilling. If I had disagreed on the package on offer, why did I sign off on it without reading through in detail? As far as the bank is concerned, the contract is legally binding. Now, the contract has many clauses which are just too technical for me to understand and I have mainly relied on the email instruction to convey on what I wanted over for the loan package. Never would I imagine such a screw up by the bank officer to occur which led to the predicament I found myself into. The bank officer kept insisting the package was fixed rate. Later I found out that his definition of "fixed" for him is referring to a stable benchmark rate that based on historical trend, should not increase much overtime.

Given the unjust incident, I went back to my email account and dug out the email correspondences and wrote in to complain the unfair handling of my case. All the while, I was praying that I have not deleted them. Luckily for me, I managed to retrieve the emails albeit spending a few hours on it. The bank then re-looked into it and then mentioned that "out of goodwill" (since I can produce the supporting correspondences), they will let me re-finance to the prevalent fixed interest rate package which was at an all time high of 2.38% compared to the initial point in time 10 mths back, without penalties. However, they required me to re-lock in another 2 years from the point of the new package on offer. I had no choice but to accede to their condition as I was at their mercy. I simply did not have the financial resources to mount a lawsuit over this case of mis-selling by the bank which had plenty of financial muscle to bulldoze over me. 

Hence the importance of the email documentation in terms of black and white. Of course, the other main take away from this is that besides the formal email correspondences to be filed, one must not take things for granted during signing off on the loan agreement and to press for details on any part that one does not understand or do not have adequate comfort.

3. Re-financing to lower interest rates may not be always worth it. There are upfront legal fees (S$2K to S$3K) and valuation fees (around S$500).  Also be THICK-SKINNED and asked for freebies.

For example, if the new desired loan package chosen is 2 years and lowered interest expenses by only S$100 per month, this will allow you to save a mere S$2.4K over 2 years relative to the best offered loan package from your current bank, then the total additional cost of S$2.5K for legal fees and valuation fees plus the time spent to go through all the hassle will simply not be worth it. 

Also, be thick skinned...ask for shopping vouchers, legal fee rebate, or free home fire insurance. You never know how much extra you can squeeze out of the banks or their sales agent. Banks are making lots of money out of the interest expenses that you are servicing. Any such "freebies" will be peanuts to them.

Summarising, I seems to be always unlucky in terms of having unpleasant and strange encounters financially with banks and also insurance companies (Pls see "My Struggle with Insurance Policies" post here). I can only say that growing older does make one wiser. Also, thanks to the Invest Bloggers Community, the online readings have certainly shorten the steep learning curve in terms of my personal financial management.

Twin Vew @ West Coast 85% sold within single weekend of launch- S$1,399psf

Another impressive record for the residential units sales in the red hot property market. Earlier this month, 85% of the units in Twin Vew (520 units) were sold off within 1 weekend at an average price of S$1,399psf. 

Despite the hefty price tag, buyers rushed in to grab units as the adjacent plot had been acquired by City Development Limited ("CDL") for a significant premium. CDL's bid for the West Coast plot of land of S$800 psf ppr was actually 35% higher than the S$592 psf ppr paid for by CSC Land Group for its Twin Vew project.

This translates to forecasted breakeven of S$1,400psf - S$1,500psf for the CDL new launch in 2019 next year. Since this is CDL, selling price would be expected to be S$1,500psf. Hence for current prospective buyers of Twin vew, one of the key selling points by the property agents is that S$1,399psf is relatively cheaper than the upcoming CDL launch. 

The other key selling points would be the new educational institution site reserved by the Masterplan for the plot of land directly next to it as well as the close proximity to the upcoming High Speed Railway Terminus Station at Jurong East.

Personally, I like the Sungei Pandan Reservoir and park view around the area. This is a good home with good amenities nearby. Twin Vew is also very specially designed by the developer such that the 2nd level units started off 7 metres off the ground floor with high lobbies built enabling 100% landscaping. Beautiful project developed by CSC Land Group for their maiden residential development project in Singapore.

Fengshui Mythology and Properties

Do you believe in Feng Shui? Many property owners purchased their home via hiring of geomancers. Some of the principles of Fengshui are actually based on common sense. Others border along the line of absurdity.

Mythology 1: Living next to above ground MRT or LRT is a strict "No No" under Fengshui.
Even though it is super noisy, values of properties next to MRT actually commands a huge premium. For example, Lakefront Residences and La Feista (LRT track running along side). One can't always have the cake and eat it all the time. Obviously, most Singaporeans and PRs placed a huge premium over public transport convenience.

Mythology 2: Poison arrows from corner of buildings pointing in one's direction is bad.
Wow, this means most blocks of public and private housing are not livable.

Mythology 3: Unit layout must be squarish to enjoy good Fengshui. Odd shape floorplan is very bad.
 Look at Clover by the Park in Bishan, the floorplan has odd shape (round) corners instead of the typical squarish/rectangular shape. So this is considered very bad? But owners who had purchased at 750 psf at launch before its TOP in 2012 would now be sitting on at least 50% capital appreciation. Huat Ar! Also, the layout that resembles clover is simply beautiful. 

Rivercove Residences review- One and only EC launch expected in 2018

Rivercove Residences by Hoi Hup is the ONE and only EC launch in 2018. This project is a hot one with expected 100% sell out upon its launch on 14 April 2018. Indicated PSF is attractively priced at S$900++ which is absolutely value for money relative to the private condo Parc Botannia in the vicinity where its average selling price is more than S$1200psf. 

The huge crowd at the showflat site for viewing over the last 2 weekends have been incredible. Traffic jam up at the road along Sengkang West Avenue leading into the showflat carpark. 

It is worthwhile to mention that City Development had recently won another EC site at Sumang Walk in Punggol area at a record wining bid of S$583 per square foot plot ratio which translates to an expected selling price of S$1,000psf and above in the future. In contrast, Hoi Hup got the Rivercove site at only S$355 psf ppr. 

Will Hoi Hup repeat its amazing feat of selling out 100% of all units in Hundred Palms EC @ Hougang in less than 7 hours? With the sky high selling price of future EC and Rivercove being the one and only EC launch in 2018, this EC project will be selling like McDonald Hotcakes!