Going DIY

Well... for simple things lah. If you consider doing up the house with things from DIY shops going DIY, that is. :P I didn't know that it can be so exciting & fulfilling to patch up the faults (minor things that is). We had to put our heads together & think of ways to hide the cracks in the wall, the "extra" purple border on the ceiling & the white patch left over when we changed the air con 1 yr + ago.

Jeff replaced the door knob on the master bedroom door for just $9.90 - we got link points for it even! We got a tin of paint for the white areas where the old air con used to be but there's a very obvious difference in colour. So that's where my jigsaw puzzles come in. I have quite a few that I didn't hang up on the wall. I'll get some 3M hooks & hang my jigsaws over the areas. As for the "border" on the ceiling, I covered it using those fancy sticker roll. Voila! It looks so good I think I'll do it for our new house too. 2 of us going up & down the shaky ladder is no joke ok? All these work just to raise our valuation for this flat. Hmm... hope it pays off.

We have yet to confirm the 3 rm flat sale becoz the owner still can't get a flat. Our YT flat is still not confirmed sold yet. We finally came to an agreement for the sale of the flat but the buyers are not willing to pay $1k option fee to lock us in. They're worried becoz our valuation report is not out & that they'll be unable to afford the flat should the valuation be $240k & above. But based on the average, it should be around $230k. On top of this valuation, they still have to pay us the cash above. They're afraid that they'll have to forfeit the flat & the $1k should the valuation is above $240k. They actually offered us $100 to lock us in. My agent friend immediately said no. Becoz we are losing 14 days of viewing & potential higher sale price for a mere $100.

So this is how it works. Upon viewing a flat, you pay $1k option fee to lock the seller in. As a buyer, you'll be given 14 days to decide if you want the flat still. As a seller, you can't allow other people to view your flat in this 14 days. If the buyers decide not to buy the flat, they forfeit the $1k. If they decide to take the flat, they have to pay $4k for option to purchase aka deposit to make it up to $5k. Upon receiving the $4k option to purchase, we'll submit the transaction to HDB for processing. In about a mth's time, we'll be asked to go for the 1st appointment. The buyer will have to pay up the rest of the cash above valuation agreed upon on that day. Say if it's $20k, they have to pay us the balance of $15k. So it's the same for us as buyers.

Will this signify our final struggle with money? I hope that in 1 or 2 yr's time I'll have extra money to go for piano lessons. I don't need to go very far. Perhaps a grade 5 or so?