|
买菜记(1)之挑菜篇
posted : Monday, August 09, 2021
Multi part series. Felt a need to document this because memory isn’t good these days and there may be many finer details that will be forgotten a few years down the road, which won’t do me good when I go through the process again. So this is about the biggest purchase in one’s life. I had always joked that it’s not something to be taken lightly, it’s not like you go to a market and pick out veggies from a shelf. Hence it’s a bit of an irony when I ended up deciding in a matter of days (even if I had shopped for a while), and therefore the title. Broken into parts because there are some days where the thought process is longer, there are many things happening simultaneously and my posts are sometimes notoriously long and wordy. So here’s part 1! ******************* 13/5/21So, first house viewing experience. Just when I finally picked up the courage to send out messages to agents of units that look decent and tick off my (very long) list of requirements, heightened alert hits and I think very nearly derailed my plans, but by and large no issues because I was viewing alone and together with the agent, that makes up the two person house visiting quota per day. Not so great for the agent but too bad. Figured out that I won’t be too serious in this first one, because mainly it’s to build up experience. Going in I already knew this is not very likely a good choice unless I am surprised along the way. Still, as I was getting near the place the butterflies in my stomach were making their presence incredibly felt. It almost felt like heading to an execution lol. But overall I think the auntie agent was not that kind that will eat you up although I think I did enough homework to at least be familiar with basics. The unit was very well maintained, but quite a number of things that I will have to live with, for instance the small size of the common bedroom, odd layouts in master etc. But what really killed it off is two things - poor facilities (the gym is even more sad than my current one and I didn’t think that was possible) and very poor PT connection. 6 minute walk to the bus stop and it’s along a one way road that brings you away from city. So it’s off the table the moment I left the place, but of course the customary “I’ll let you know again”. Lined up another one this weekend, but I think I have a better idea of the experience already. 16/5/21 Second house viewing! This in an area which I have been kind of eyeing, somewhat. Backstory is that this area I am currently residing in is growing on me. Love that it is kind of serene and not crowded or dense. Sure there aren’t many big amenities nearby but I have never been one to shy away from a 15 minute bus ride to the nearest big mall to do my groceries or something. And it is still kind of near MRT which gets me to office on the same line. Only that it’s still somewhat expensive, but just one MRT station further west from my current area and still offers the same kind of serenity, and is very much more affordable than similar options in my current area. Felt like it’s some distance away from MRT but today’s trip there changed my perception of this - it’s a 5 minute bus ride to the MRT station on a good day (though slight concern is that there is only one service to the MRT). That said, I left the place with decent impressions. The unit itself is fairly well maintained, on a rather high floor, again ticks off quite a number of things from my list. Facilities are decent (there’s a grass tennis court!) and the gym looks good, the pool looks good. Agent is friendly enough. Price is good. There’s one big no though, and that’s the fact that this particular unit’s main door has negligible separation with the neighbour, and even if it’s a good neighbour it will be too close for comfort.  Selling point is how green this development is. The green wall is supposed to cool down the building. It does look pretty, though I am not sure if the effect will be felt. So it isn’t a complete waste of time again because learnt that this neighborhood isn’t as inaccessible. But we continue. Third house viewing, back to the same area as the previous one but another development, slightly newer one. Pictures are promising, agent sent a video beforehand maybe hoping you don’t come and view personally but honestly, who makes a purchase based on that? It’s more likely that after viewing video you eliminate the place. But in any case after viewing the video all the more I wanted to see the place in person because it’s rather to my taste. Again a well maintained unit. I almost don’t find any fault with it other than the exterior facade which paint seemed to be peeling off the barrier at the balcony and the wall itself. Facilities were quite similar to its neighbour, though I didn’t manage to peek into the gym. But big yes was when I went up to the rooftop. Wow. Not like I live on the rooftop but it’s good. I’m sold.  Can even see MBS on a good day Agent was a little distracted and wasn’t trying very hard I feel. Thinking that this is a development I can focus on to see if I can find other decent units, if not this could be it. 26/5/21 Midweek and arranged another viewing, on the day itself. Honestly was about to give up on it because the agent was so passive. Texted a reminder when I woke up and didn’t expect a reply but she texted back to apologize coz she overlooked my text and offered to meet today itself - could have played hard to get but I was free today also so why not. Back at the same development as the previous viewing. This unit was on the same block but a lot higher - 19 floors higher to be exact. I know the units will be sold off vacant, but this is the first one that when I entered, the messiness of it (the current owner had moved out and is kind of using it as a store) is off putting and the “feel” just wasn’t there. Though the view from the unit itself is…wow. Because it’s one of the units closest to the top and you know how I felt about the view from the top of this block. So leaving this place I knew this was likely a no. But I think it’s time to take a week of break from all these viewing, and resume again in June. Labels: 买菜 |
