love nest at last!

*i m bursting with excitment as i type this!*

after countless futile balloting since second half of 2006, from whatever sector A to C. basically you name it, we tried it. out of the 7 applications, the only favourable queue no that would give us a house was the one at jurong west. however, after some discussion, we decided to give it up. main reason? the surroundings are all factories.

a second chance to own a flat this year was a resale unit near my parent's place. though 27 yrs in age, the house was well kept and maintained. besides, it could be traded off for a brand new unit under selective en bloc in 2010. yet again, we give it a miss because we did not want to cough up 25K of COV (cash over valuation) at that time. besides, it was only jan and i was quite determined to wait till apr/may.

and then came along city view at boon keng. we were scheduled for the second launch to select a unit. we found it overpriced for a hdb ~500K for a 4 rm. although its interior is furnished, it lacked facilities of a condo. most importantly, it can only be ready in 2011. so ta-ta.

can't stand us for being so choosy? i understand your impatience. young couple no money still want to 'hiam', right?

the last straw came when we once again failed at the balloting exercise for commonwealth. that totally shattered my idea of having a brand new home in a good location. i was so so so disappointed that when i saw the no. on the screen that i burst into tears. it was one of those rare disappointing scenes. since that option was closed, we had to look into other alternatives.

after a saturday long run, we were casually talking about la casa. smsed lawrance for some info which he returned a call, unexpectably, telling me all the details. bee called up jack to probe further. tanny took over after 5 min of conversation as jack proved to be quite incompetant (ha..) and unclear in the whole issue. she referred us promptly to the direct sale agent whom we made appointment with the very next morning.

3 hrs in la casa - we fell in love with it despite it being in the ulu's of s'pore. there was some problems with the loan part initially but was resolved after many many phonecalls. i would admit it being very expensive especially when we're buying at this period when there's a crunch in the property market.

upon reaching home, both of us were bombarded by remarks like "so expensive now, u all still go and buy?" or things along the line of woodlands being ulu.

it did shake both of us a little especially we were both in a state of shock yesterday. but today, i'm more clear minded. just like how people may go about paying a few times more for a mini cooper than buying a cherry qq or picanto for instance, the same logic applies here. key here lies in the priority of needs and personal preference.

we need a place to live in and a place called home after our wedding.

the following are compelling enough for us to make our decision:

1. Almost immediate occupancy - T.O.P in june

2. Paying less cash from our pocket - resale is not a friendly option as surveying around COV is ~40K + any possible cost of reno = ~ coughing up 60K for a second hand unit? vs. 5% booking fee + minimal reno

3. Furnishings are all done up and thus minimal reno

4. Additional perk - we enjoy the govt grant of 30k as first time buyer despite the fact it's cond

5. Within our financial means of owning it

6. We love the swimming pool

7. JB is stone throw away, so another activity corner

with this, it wraps up and closes the entire chapter on house searching.