I Think We Found The Right One

Last Sunday was like any other day. I did my daily ritual of checking the property board webpage. I wasn't expecting to find anything, it's become more of a habit than a serious hunt. There are only 3 blocks we are interested in, which summed up to a meager 300 units. I'm realistic on the chance to find anything new.

"Hey, hmmm what's this ... it looks like a new listing. But wait its on page 5 ... new ones are typically in the first few pages. Oh looks like an unknown agency, must not have put in extra fees to get his advertisement in the front pages like the others. Never mind, pretty sure I've not seen these photos before." "It's listed at 650k negotiable. Ok, a little over budget but no harm taking a look." 

I immediately rang up our agent and ask her to organise a viewing. Although I was excited to see a new listing I was reserved as we had already missed a few units on sale. A little while later our agent asked if we were free in the evening for the viewing and we immediately said yes. Its a new listing so we were keen to get a first look at it. What attracted us even more was that it is of a South-West orientation which is exactly 2 floors above the 8th floor unit we were prepared to offer to buy just awhile earlier.

When we met our agent in the evening we found that we are actually the very first viewer and the seller has not even signed the agent agreement letter. At the back of my mind I was lamenting that this is going to be another drawn out process.  

The place wasn't too bad, but it still needed an overhaul. We were hoping they had kept the original compressed marble flooring but sadly its now ceramic tiles on the common areas and laminates in the bedroom. We are gonna have to change the tiles which adds a big sum to the renovation. As for the rest of the place, its pretty much needing work like another of the other units in the area. These are 36 year old flats so not much can be expected in terms of their condition.

Once we were done and at the void deck, our agent ask if we would like to offer. I had been giving it some thought earlier in the day once we found the orientation of this unit. I made an educated guess that the 8th floor had sold for about 620k and the 12th floor for 640k. That would make 630k a reasonable price to offer and thats what I did. I had been ready to offer 630k anyways for the 8th floor unit just a few weeks ago and offering the same for a unit 2 floors up felt like a quick bargain. Plus its the top of my price range for any unit, if we don't get this I was prepared to call it quits. So with the non-negotiable offer made, we went off for dinner.

Now what happen next was an amazing chain of events.

We were at Changi for dinner an hour after the viewing when our agent suddenly gave us a call. She wanted to collect a 1k cheque for the OTP "to show that we are making a genuine offer". But since we were not home she cut a cheque instead on our behalf. I found it odd that she was in such a hurry but I supposed it didn't hurt to get the offer through officially.

It was close to midnight when I received another message from our agent with good news. Gosh ... did we really get the unit?? We agreed to meet up the next day to run through the paperwork. I could barely sleep that night thinking that we had clinched what is likely one of the fastest sale in the area.

The next day when I checked the property board webpage again, the listing for the unit was already taken down.  Many kudos to the seller agent for having the upmost integrity to stop any other buyer enquiries since they have accepted our offer. It's rare to see such decency in our era.

When our agent came on Monday night to go through the documents she shared that there was another buyer who came after us and they had wanted a 2nd viewing on Monday. So she had stayed with the buyer agent till close to midnight the day before to seal the deal and prevent that 2nd viewing from happening. I have to give her props for getting it done, its truly money well spent on her commission for this to happen. I had feared that the buyer may be peddling our offer to other potential buyers to obtain a higher price. I'm sure our agent had a big part in making sure that didn't happen.

Because there is a 7 days cooling off period, the OTP isn't effective till 6th of March. It was a nervous 7 days wait as I was afraid some rich buyer would come in with a better offer and cut us from the deal. Thankfully it didn't happen and today we officially start the purchasing process. As the buyer wants a 2 month extension and adding another 2 months for renovation, it'll be December before we can move in. But thats ok, what's important is that we've gotten our hands on a home in our dream location. Here's the start to our next amazing life journey.