Stage 4 - Found the new place

Right after our apartment was sold, we resumed our new apartment hunting which was put on hold as we see no point of continuing then with the current apartment not sold.

Our criteria remained the same as it was then, which is contained in my earlier blog.

After about a week of viewing (wife did most of it while I was at work), we decided on an apartment which we fell in love with the moment we stepped in. After the viewing, it did not take us long to decide that this is the apartment for us.

Ironically, the apartment do not meet two of our major criteria. The layout is not one of those we actually wanted and the location of the apartment within the block have always been considered a deal breaker. It just so happened that we were unaware of those information until we reach the door step. I guess we can count that as a blessing as we would have skipped the viewing totally should we have known beforehand.

The reason why we decided on this apartment is because the interior design matched our taste (which is more towards minimalist) and the owners maintained the apartment very well. Although certain things did not fulfill our criteria (apart from the two mentioned above), we were able to overlook them when we consider the apartment as a whole.

Another reason why we choose this apartment is because there is practically nothing much that needs to be done, unlike all the other apartments we have been to. 

Below are list all the things that steer us towards the apartment.

- there is no need to repaint and we like the colour scheme.

- the common bathroom opens towards the walkway and a glass divider for the bath area is already built up.
- bathroom tiles and sanitary appliances all looked new.

- hot/cold double piping already done up for bathrooms.

- a built-in long bath in the main bedroom. I actually prefer a free standing bathtub but I can settle for this.

- a walk in wardrobe in the main bedroom (which the wife hopes to have and now she got it)

- the kitchen cabinet are new and matched our taste.

- fans in all rooms

- laminate flooring in all rooms

- store room knocked down and replaced with full height storage cabinets instead.

All the above also means that we save a lot on renovation cost as compared to all the other apartments we viewed which requires a major overhaul which can cost 30-40k easily.

There are a few things which we wished were there like the balcony, which the owner has already leveled up. The partition between the service yard and kitchen have also been removed (which we will reinstate). Of course we still need to do some minor repairs and renovation works.

I guess what many people have said is true. When you buy a new house, it is all about the technicality. When you buy a resale, it is all about how you feel for it.