Reflections at Keppel Bay has received its TOP (Temporary Occupation Permit) since a week ago, and some owners have already gotten the keys for their apartment. Our team had the chance to visit one of the first few units that has already received the keys.

First Outlook

Great iconic project. World class facilities with a unique sculptured architecture. Very good finishing touch to the apartments, bravo Keppel Land!

The only problem that we spotted was the car park design as there are many sharp turns and it should be quite tight for any expensive or big cars to move around; and that’s the probable only complain about the project that you can find.

We should see many movements of Tenants from Caribbean who wants a new environment, and also some possible sales even during this quiet season after the implementation of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty.

Related posts:

1. Reflections at Keppel Bay – A Visual Art, Helm of Architecture

Ministry of National Development has released a heavy cooling measure to curb residential property investments or speculations, with updates as follow:-

The Government announced today an Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD)to be imposed on certain categories of residential property purchases. The ABSD will be imposed over and above the current Buyer’s Stamp Duty, and will apply to the purchase price or market value of the property (whichever is higher) for the following purchases:

a) Foreigners and non-individuals[1] (corporate entities) buying any residential property will pay an ABSD of 10%;

b) Permanent Residents (PRs) owning one[2] and buying the second and subsequent residential property will pay an ABSD of 3%; and

c) Singapore Citizens (Singaporeans) owning two2 and buying the third and subsequent residential property will pay an ABSD of 3%.

The ABSD will take effect on 8 Dec 2011[3]. Remission of ABSD will be given for options granted on or before 7 Dec 2011 and exercised within 3 weeks (i.e. on or before 28 Dec 2011) or the option validity period, whichever is the earlier.

Official Source: MND Website

In Summary

All foreigners buying 1st residential property in Singapore will have to pay 13% Buyer’s Stamp Duty instead of the previous 3% (Additional 10%)

All Permanent Residents 1st residential property will still remain 3% and the 2nd one will be 6% Buyer’s Stamp Duty (Additional 3%)

All Singaporeans 1st and 2nd residential properties will remain at 3% and the subsequent ones to be at 6% Buyer’s Stamp Duty (Additional 3%)

Outlook

This will dampen residential market strongly as foreign buying interest has always been very strong. That said, other property segments such as commercial and industrial should not be affected.

No related posts.

View of Reflections at Keppel Bay from Sentosa Cove

Drive along the East Coast Expressway (ECP) and there is no way that you can miss these few blocks of buildings which are seemingly dancing and turning along Keppel Marina. You would imagine how would it look inside, and what kind of views will it get from the inside.

Enter Reflections at Keppel Bay, a world-class iconic development probably unrivaled in architecture outlook at Keppel Bay is set to be ready by early next year (2012) as the highest height on the development is achieved.

A project by Daniel Libeskind, the man responsible behind the new Master plan of World Trade Center, New York, Jewish Museum in Berlin and many more astounding architectural statements.

View of Reflections at Keppel Bay from Keppel Golf Course

Project Details of Reflections at Keppel Bay

Type: Condominium with 6 high-rise Towers and 11 Villa Blocks
Number of Units: 1129
Tenure: 99-year Leasehold
Foreigners Eligible: Yes
Temporary Occupation Period (TOP): 1st Quarter of 2012
Land Size: 904,092sf/ 84,000sqm
Developer: Keppel Land
Architect: Daniel Libeskind

What’s so unique about Reflections at Keppel Bay?

The architecture. It’s a Keppel Land’s signature masterpiece, and it is already a very global iconic project. With a good size land of 84,000 sq meters and an extensive shoreline of 750 meters, it spans itself as the epitome of premier waterfront living in Singapore.

Why should you invest in Reflections at Keppel Bay?

Location strengths,  you are near the city yet just right next to Sentosa, Resort World Sentosa, Harbourfront and Vivocity, Singapore’s largest entertainment and recreation hub. Just 5 minutes of driving into Central Business District.

Signature Collection, it’s coming from one of Singapore’s largest multi-national conglomerate Keppel Corporation and its property arm Keppel Land. Keppel Land is one of Asia’s premier property companies.

Massive project, with over a 1,000 units, you can ensure yourself of a very healthy transaction market in sub-sale and resale segments. Caribbean at Keppel Bay which is just next door has always been a magnet for expatriates because of the locality and lifestyle it provides. Reflections at Keppel Bay is no lacking of such qualities and in fact, tower units would command a higher premium for stunning views that they could possibly command over the horizon.

Premier Waterfront Luxury Living, the finishing and layouts have been very well thought and laid after despite the curve and twisting structures of the buildings. This would be the epitome of Singapore’s waterfront living set to send the globe talking in 2012 when it is ready.

Related posts:

1. First Look at Reflections at Keppel Bay

There are many reasons the joining and dropping rate for joining the Real Estate family as a full-time professional Realtor is high.

Correct me if I am wrong team leaders, but the true and the hard facts of helping every team mates to the best of your extent does not always help and sometimes it might even backfire on you.

Before any individuals who decided to join the industry, these are thoughts which should be useful to form some opinions of our industry before you plough your money and time into joining us (yes, before you even take your RES course please),

Joining a Good Group Does Not Guarantee Your Success

Your group has the brand. It is known in the industry to be successful, to have the know-how, and most importantly, they close sales effectively.

Having such benefits is a great advantage as a new Realtor (or even a Realtor who has been hopping around in order to get such support) as he/ she could take advantage of such branding as a big group of brothers and sisters are behind him/her supporting. The air is great, you have the right and positive environment to start.

But when you are in the big RAH RAH group with the correct people to learn from and think with such a backing, you could be successful without doing anything on your end, you are prepared to fail, which brings me to the next point,

Sitting and Waiting for Things To Happen

This is the worse that could ever happen. A mentor along my way has mentioned this very visually why technically, the titles given by agencies were misleading. You are already a business person when you start to join the trade. You are not under anyone’s payroll. Nobody is your boss.

Seriously, you’re on your own.

If you think your team leaders are suppose to give you valuable leads or hand snooze you along the way till your success, don’t be fooled. You as a proactive business person, should be looking for sources proactively. If you think you lack the knowledge to achieve something, make sure you go pick up the skills. Ask! Read! Look around! Ask your other team mates! Ask all the right people to find the right answers!

The right team leaders will advice and ask you to do the right things in which that does not exhaust your finances along the way to success. If they haven’t been, it is your responsibility to ask and seek their help; and if you have tried and not gotten the knowledge and the know-how skills, then its your mentor’s fault. Which brings me again to the very next crucial reason why most Realtors fail

Bad Financial Planning

Some Realtors started out with no savings, some do. Some have a vehicle to use and some don’t have the luxury of it.

The whole idea would be to plan everything right before you start properly. Any cash in hand is your life-line to the business. Mentors would guide you along the way to do financial planning with you and advice you accordingly which category suits you more often because of your advantage over others. They might even partner you with someone else in the team to split the financial risks.

There’s a reason why some Realtors prefer serving buyers, or owners; tenants or landlords.

Sitting and waiting at home for instructions from your “manager” or “director”, think advertising all the overly priced listings on a 4 to 5 line advertorial on SPH Classifieds and you could be laughing your way to the bank, be absolutely grim about it because nothing is going to happen.

Advertising is costly. Be proactive. Or sink with a bigger hole because of the time and money commitment that you have already put in and you eventually will fall out.

Not Committed to Your Craft

You are going to be a Marketeer. You are going to be a Lead Generator. You are going to be a Negotiator, and finally, you are going to be a Closer.

These are the 4 main processes of a Realtor, but to be truly effective, you have so many things to learn and execute. All the processes are so important that you need time and dedication to each. No hard and fast rules.

You see good Realtors doing door knocking and cold calling to generate selling leads. Online marketing and offline marketing to sell properties, negotiating on prices, expectations to lead to closings. Even things that sound simple; effective communication skills.

Responsibility of even much simpler things like picking up your phone calls and responding to miss calls if any, is a core set of our business.

Reality is harsh. All are skills which has to be honed overtime. There’s no overnight success, only a prolong journey of learning (even for the most experienced ones) and practicing of your craft. If you haven’t been discipline and proactive to find out what you are suppose to do and to keep practicing till you get your skills right, do not blame anyone if you lack that perseverance before you see results.

There’s No One Standard Route to Success

Some people might take longer to see the results, some people could see immediate results depending on the route that you choose. There’s no one path that will lead you to success. Everyone has their difference instances.

Realtors have so many form of path to choose from, it might be even scary to think of. Sales or rental? Residential? Commercial? Light Industrial?

You could follow the right things in which your mentor and the rest of the successful team mate does and just replicate the right mentality, and the right methods they share with you. But nobody tells you you should follow from A-Z, you could start from C, back to A and come back to Z again.

Having said that, I have never regretted joining the industry 5 years ago right after my regular army life to a good company and now a great team. The perks is unparalleled as the sky would be your limit, rags to riches opportunity levels in this field.

Your time is ultimately yours; Clients happy testimonies and rewarding experiences, great selfless team players in the team assisting one another. Apart from making a living, its also all about the experience…

I’m blessed. And I hope you will be if you could take my two cents with you when you join any able leader to guide you. Shalom.

No related posts.

Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong announced during the National Day Rally that the income ceiling, which was untouched for 17 years to be raised from the maximum $8,000 to $10,000 and for ECs from $10,000 to $12,000.

From Channel News Asia,

SINGAPORE: The government will raise the qualifying income ceilings of households for HDB’s Build-To-Order (BTO) flats and Executive Condos (EC), said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday evening.

The qualifying income ceilings of households for BTO flats will be increased from the current S$8,000 to S$10,000, and for ECs from the current S$10,000 to S$12,000.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made the announcements in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday evening.

He said HDB will also build another 25,000 BTO flats next year to meet demand and keep prices of new flats stable and affordable.

The government will also be adding 7,000 rental units over the next two years and postponing demolition of some SERS blocks to be used as temporary rental units.

Mr Lee said the moves will ease the waiting time for needy Singaporeans who require rental flats.

The prime minister also made the commitment to keep housing available and affordable for Singaporeans.

What it means for fellow Singaporeans

Young couples who worry about their combined income ceiling will now be able to apply for their BTO (Built to Order) flats, they cater especially to a special group as mentioned by PM Lee, who are earning just below the HDB income ceiling as ‘most worried’. There are more of such couples as incomes have gone up and people are also marrying later, he said. Hence, HDB will be raising this ceiling.

You would probably see more demand for ECs and BTOs in the next recent months, and new condominium launches for the mass market more cooled off in terms of transactions.

No related posts.

CEA has issued guidelines on the new clauses from 1st of August when the new conveyancing rules start.

With effect from 1 August 2011, new measures to safeguard conveyancing as provided in the Conveyancing (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (Act 17 of 2011) shall come into force.

2. The new measures provide that in general conveyancing money will have to be held by the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) or if held by lawyers, conveyancing money will have to be held in a new type of bank account, called a Conveyancing Account.

3. Withdrawal or pay-out of money from Conveyancing Accounts will generally require two-party authorization. Further details of the new measures may be seen at www.conveyancing.sg.

4. By virtue of the new measures, in transactions where vendors would like deposits to be held on a stakeholder basis, Options to Purchase or Sale & Purchase Agreements would need to provide for the deposits to be paid to the SAL or Conveyancing Accounts of lawyers. In such transactions, estate agents or salespersons are required to inform their clients of the new measures and provide their clients with a copy of the enclosed pamphlet (which may be downloaded from www.conveyancing.sg)

5. The Practice Guidelines on Options to Purchase and Sale & Purchase Agreements (click here to download the guidelines) set out the clauses that estate agents or salespersons may use in their forms of Options to Purchase or Sale & Purchase Agreements to comply with the new measures.

6. The guidelines also require express provision to be made for the approval of the Controller of Residential Property (Land Dealings (Approval) Unit) to be obtained where the purchase of residential property by foreigners is restricted by the Residential Property Act. This provision is to notify parties of the need for such approval which is specified in the Residential Property Act.

No related posts.

This law is finally been enacted.

As mentioned in August 2009, the Government was considering making it compulsory for conveyancing lawyers to have their stakeholder’s funds held by conveyancing accounts in banks.

Under the new measures, lawyers will no longer be allowed to receive and hold conveyancing money in their clients’ accounts. Instead, the money must be held in a conveyancing account in banks appointed by the Ministry of Law. Withdrawal or pay-out of such money will require two-party authorisation.

Violation of the rule will result in a fine of up to S$50,000, imprisonment of up to three months, or both.

Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has also set up a new electronic Payment Instruction (ePI) service to provide a better and more secure environment for lawyers to initiate pay-out instructions and counter-sign digitally, as well as for the appointed banks and SLA to securely process and retrieve instructions.

Such will prevent cases like these from happening. This would boost confidence to our locals as well as our foreign investors of our conveyancing process of procuring a property in Singapore.

No related posts.

Tulip Garden seems reasonable in their lowered asking price of $600M with $1,118psf ppr in Farrer for a freehold site. Will they be able to succeed this round?

No related posts.

View Larger Map

Press release from HDB with regards to the privatisation of Eunosville,

The Eunosville HUDC Estate has been converted into a strata-titled property under the Land Titles (Strata) Act, with effect from 1 June 2011.

The Marine Parade Town Council will therefore cease its responsibility in the management and maintenance of the common properties of the estate with effect from 1 Jun 2011. The Management Corporation Strata Plan No. 3642 is also constituted on the same day to manage and maintain the common property of the estate.

Eunosville estate comprises 330 units of flats at Blocks 822, 824, 826, 828, 830, 832, 834, 836, 838 and 840 Sims Avenue. With the privatisation, the individual owners in the estate now own their respective strata units, as well as the common property such as the car parks and open landscaped areas, as tenants-in-common.

Privatisation of HUDC estates was announced in 1995 as part of the Government’s effort to meet the rising aspirations of Singaporeans to own private housing. It also enables the lessees to have better control over the management of their estate. Privatisation will proceed if lessees of at least 75% of the flats support it.

News of privatisation for Eunosville has been ongoing for a couple of years with some residents citing difficulty in coughing out $30,000 privatisation fees previously.

I suppose its one of the best time for them to get into the position since the big developers are low on their land banks. Another en bloc move underway?

No related posts.

Newly sworn in Minister for National Development Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, former Health Minister who has replaced Mr. Mah Bow Tan has pledged in his final outgoing blog post as a Health Minister to make housing and HDB Singaporeans popular icon again.

I am only driven by one thought: housing is one of the greatest achievements of Singapore, and our pride. It is very sad to see it being hammered left, right and centre in the lead up to and during GE.

I am determined to make housing and HDB Singaporeans’ popular icon again.

Please help me, my friends.

It is going to be interesting to see what kind of policies will Mr. Khaw introduce since HDB forms up 80% of heartlander’s stay. It’s quite safe to say that any new changes that is going to be introduced into the system will be tough to adjust the current prices. Mr. Mah Bow Tan has tried increasing the supplies of flats, introduced harsher seller’s stamp duty rates during his course, but the median Cash Over Valuation (COV) hasn’t seem to revise downwards too much.

Of course supplies that has been introduced will take time on the system on the price action since they’re just in the pipes which hasn’t been built yet. Any changes done now will fiscally alter the prices once the supplies are in the market.

Also, should the policies be too drastic, foreign investors would probably slow or halt their investment portfolio in Singapore. If Mr. Khaw could just tilt his policies more to adjust the public housing woes for the mid-tier families instead of affecting the free market on private housing, it would be perfect.

No related posts.