Did I say I Love FRIENDS? Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Monday, June 29, 2009 at Monday, June 29, 2009, in Labels: Favourites

I love Friends sooooo much.

So much that I can watch them on Starworld in the morning before I go to work & in the evening after I come back from work. Sometimes, I watch them again when they re-run at 1am.

I can never get sick of them.

Are you as crazy as I am?

I love Friends.

I loooooooooove Friends!!!

Catch a series of their bloopers on youtube.com

The Great Depression Ahead?? Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , at Monday, June 29, 2009, in Labels: property, singapore landed

The weekend before I flew to Hong Kong, I was desperate and worried,

No, B is not having an affair.

Neither am I worried that I'll be pregnant :p

I was/am desperate because we can't seem to find a house THAT IS NOT SELLING AT 100k - 200k ABOVE BANK VALUATION.

I was/am worried because it seems THAT THE BOAT IS SAILING OFF SOON.

I hate this feeling.

I really hate it.

I wish times were more stable.

Like in 2005 when B & I got our first home.

Back then, we were desperate and worried too.

But it was a different type of stress.

We were desperate to find a home THAT WE LIKE.

We were worried THAT WE WOULD BE HOMELESS (B sold his flat then).


Now that I just returned from Hong Kong. I felt slightly relieved.

No I didn't meet any guru.

I guess having time away from all the house-hunting shit does make a difference.

I bought a book about the Great Depression Ahead by Harry Dent.

It's in Chinese so it'll take me quite a while to finish it.

Basically the writer predicts that 2009 will be a calm year and between 2010 and 2011, the economic crisis will get worse.

I'm not going to believe everything that he wrote.

I'll just read the book with a pinch of salt.

I do wish that his prediction is spot on although quite a number of readers on Amazon posted negative comments about his previous forecasts.

Buy the book if you manage to lay your hand on it.

Let me know what you think.

King of Pop is dead Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Friday, June 26, 2009 at Friday, June 26, 2009, in Labels: Shocking News

It came as a shocking news.

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson passed on suddenly at 2.26pm LA time today.



Click HERE for the report and view his photo gallery.



What do I think of the King's death?

I think his death came at the right time.

Couldn't be more timely.

People can quit giving him the dirty looks.

They can also quit guessing if his concerts will fail or not.

His death helped him retain his King of Pop's status.

I feel that it's better for him this way.



Anyway, did you know why he died?

The day Farrah Fawcett went to heaven.

The angels praised her for behaving well on earth and asked her to make a wish as a reward.

She wished that all the children on earth would be safe.

So the next day, Mr Michael Jackson died.

:p

Songs that make me emo... Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Sunday, June 21, 2009 at Sunday, June 21, 2009, in Labels: Emotions, Favourites

These songs made me feel very emo tonight...

I'm feeling the blues without B...

Kinda like the feeling though.

It's been a while.

MySpace Playlist at MixPod.com

Which property would you buy? Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Friday, June 19, 2009 at Friday, June 19, 2009, in Labels: property

This is not one of those rhetorical questions.


I found some properties within my budget but they're of various sizes and locations.

If you were me, which one would you go for, taking the future potential value etc into consideration.


Please click on the table to view. Sorry I don't know how to make it bigger.



Note: there's an error.
For the property at Braddell, "Nearer to town" is a pro.


All comments are greatly appreciated.

Cheerios!

Update:

I went for a viewing at the Tampines/Pasir Ris corner terrace.
I looooooove the house.

Today's verse

How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.

— Psalm 31:19 (NIV)

Oh My God!!!! Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Thursday, June 18, 2009 at Thursday, June 18, 2009, in

I just got to know an astonishing secret about a friend.

Truly an "oh my god" moment...

It is definitely the MOST SHOCKING SECRET of the decade.

Oh MY GOD!!!

I love love love LOOOOVE Jazz! Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Monday, June 15, 2009 at Monday, June 15, 2009, in Labels: Emotions, Favourites

I don't know why. Jazz calms me down.

Totally.

Do you feel the same?

I feel rather stressed these days.

Do you feel the same?

Be my jazz, won't you?

Optimism in property market won’t last Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Saturday, June 13, 2009 at Saturday, June 13, 2009, in Labels: property

Hmm...

Optimism in property market won’t last
Straits Times June 13, 2009

THE optimism in Singapore’s property market is unsustainable, given an impending over-supply of new flats, weak rental demand and the fact that the country remains in a recession.

That is the pessimistic view of two research houses, which concluded that the price recovery is highly fragile.

Citigroup said the market is not at the start of a cyclical upswing and that the spike in home prices cannot last. ‘We caution against over-optimism, because fundamentally the market is not ready for a sustained price recovery,’ analyst Wendy Koh wrote in a report on Thursday.

While there has been strong resale demand, the call for new homes is patchy and rental demand remains weak, Ms Koh said.

Resale prices of some projects have risen and some developers are reducing discounts for new projects but Nomura Singapore believes these seemingly positive factors are misleading.

It maintained that the demand for new homes was boosted by price discounting and the interest absorption scheme.

‘A rapid deterioration in rents amid higher supply and weaker demand has undermined yield expectations,’ it said.

Nomura also pointed to the damaging effect of rising unsold inventory and forced sales by defaulting or distressed buyers who bought on deferred payment.

These properties form a source of ‘hidden’ inventory that will place further pressure on asking prices.

Also, as competition among new launches increases, there will be further risks of price declines.

The Citigroup report said a short-term price spike is possible, even in the luxury segment, given strong liquidity and the widening gap between Singapore and Hong Kong property prices.

But it cited the same over-supply risk highlighted by Nomura in its June 10 report, pointing out that supply scheduled for completion will reach a five-year hig[h/b] of 10,300 units this year and exceed 10,000 units a year through to 2011.

Knight Frank consultancy and research director Nicholas Mak is equally sceptical: [b]‘The stock market fuelled much of the recent exuberance in the property market. People tend to think the recovery of one market is the recovery of another.’

If there was a time lag of six to 12 months, the property price rise would have been more sustainable, he added.

The private housing market has seen unexpectedly strong new home sales, at a rate of over 1,000 units a month.

‘While this is good as it helps clear the backlog of over-supply, I am very concerned as rentals are still falling – by my estimate – at 3 per cent every month for some time now,’ said Chesterton Suntec International’s head of research and consultancy, Mr Colin Tan.

There is a clear disconnect if prices are improving while rents are falling, he said.

What is worrying is that most purchases now are made by investors, not owner-occupiers. These buyers will need to find tenants for their investment homes.

Around two-thirds of the completed supply coming through this year and next is in the central region, said Citigroup.

Couple this with the absence of a strong inflow of expatriates with large housing budgets, and rents in the upper-middle and luxury segments are likely to fall by another 20 to 30 per cent in the next two years. This would make a price spike unsustainable, said Citigroup.

It is more upbeat on the mass market sector as supply is limited, but rents there are also sliding, so any price rise is likely to be capped at 5 to 10 per cent.

The upside for the Housing Board resale market is limited as there is no wage rise in sight.

Nomura expects a shallow decline in mass market prices from now.

It tips the likelihood of a W-shaped recovery in asset prices, rather than the previously expected U-shaped recovery.

Source : Straits Times – 13 Jun 2009

Thank you, Taj Bengal Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Friday, June 12, 2009 at Friday, June 12, 2009, in Labels: Appreciation

Thank you sooooo much, Taj Bengal.

You've made my stay in Kolkata extraordinarily pleasant.

First, you upgraded me to a junior suite.

Sweet! I love the room.

Then you let me use your room on complimentary while I wait for my flight.

Even sweeter!

Thank you very much for everything!

This has gotta be my best India trip so far.

Thank You
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You

Taj Bengal - Kolkata - is the best!

Millionaire or not... Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , at Friday, June 12, 2009, in Labels: Emotions, property

Quote:

"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "How to become a millionaire now?!?":

if you continue to believe this Tiger crap and not understand why the market is behaving like it is now, how can you ever hope to profit from it?

besides, how can you derive rental return from your house you stay in, assuming you will be moving into your dream home.

market did not collapse in 1998 - it did that in 1997."


First of all, thank you so much for leaving me the first-ever comment in my blog (excluding those left in the cBox).

I'm truly honoured :)

No joke!



Anyway....

Correct me if I'm wrong, the property prices are hyped by the 'recovery' seen in the equity market, across Asia and probably the world; consumer confidence; more money flowing in the market & probably even low interest rates.

What I don't understand is how can the market be demanding for higher than prices asked in July / August 2008?

Mind you, that was almost the peak of the prices.

Don't be mistaken. I'm not referring to prime areas because I know that prices in these areas are still trying to resume their former glory.

I am referring to the prices of landed properties in less glorified outskirt areas such as D19 and D28.

Why?? Can you tell me why?

I'm frustrated because sellers are really asking for RIDICULOUS prices above bank valuation. Some as high as $300k above valuation.

Yeah I know property prices fell before 1998 but did you realise that prices in 1998 went down even further?

As much as I do not want to prescribe to this Tiger crap, I can't help but to wonder if it'd happen again.

But that doesn't mean that B & I will halt the search for our dream house now.

We will still do that.

Pertaining to your question about how are we going to derive rental income...I never said we'll be selling our flat after we bought our dream house.

In fact, the rental yield of this flat is much better than the rental yield of a private property, even those in the prime area.

Better still, I don't need to pay hundreds of dollars for the maintenance of facilities that I do not get to enjoy. Plus I don't have to pay for any loan interest because I didn't borrow a single cent to fund this place.




Sighs.

I can lament so much but I really can't do anything much.




I once had a friend who said I will be a millionaire one day based on my ziweidoushu reading.

I hope he didn't say it to comfort me.

Maybe he meant after I die. Bleah!

Okay okay, before one of you give me a blasting again...

I do not subscribe to the ziweidoushu crap.

But it made me feel good.

Heh.

How to become a millionaire now?!? Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Monday, June 8, 2009 at Monday, June 08, 2009, in Labels: Emotions, property

After I finished the post about my dream to be a millionaire, I became skeptical if we would ever get to be one.

(I included B in this dream although he was never the ambitious one in our relationship)

My original intent was to achieve our dream through real estate gains and rental returns but honestly I think we’re quite fxxxed!

Before I even realized it, everyone else is unknowingly pushing up property price with their kiasuism.

Sellers are asking for ridiculous price above bank valuation.

I seriously think that buyers should just relac one corner and let the property prices dip much lower before rushing into the market like mad dogs.

I really don’t understand what’s causing the mad rush.

Like Hello! We’re in a recession.

R-E-C-E-S-S-I-O-N!

I’m not sure if anyone still remembers how the property market dipped after every financial crisis aka recession.

Coincidentally, for a consecutive of 3 decades, the price dip always happens in the year of Tiger.

2010 is the year of Tiger.

Call me superstitious, I actually kinda believe it.

Someone actually highlighted this information using the property price index chart released by REDAS.

Click here to view it.

All is not lost, B & I are still searching for our dream (or not so dream) house/apartment.

God, please please please bless us.

Prada & Miu Miu Sale Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Saturday, June 6, 2009 at Saturday, June 06, 2009, in Labels: Sale

Sale now on in Singapore.

A little bird said she bought a leather Prada tot bag at 40% off - $900 only.

Hope you'll find some good buys there too.

Have a great weekend!