Sep 1, 2007

Rebuttal


A flyer in the post today that needs a reply.
Dear Author,

URA WEBSITE for proof of minority position here

Private residential property transactions with caveats lodged (in the last 12 months)


check out condos in our area:
THE TROPICA, LOYANG VALLEY, AZALEA PARK CONDO, CARISSA PARK CONDO, DAHLIA PARK CONDO, BALLOTA PARK CONDO, AVILA GARDENS, CHANGI GARDEN, MODENA, TROPICAL SPRING, SIMEI GREEN CONDO, MELVILLE PARK, SUNHAVEN, CHANGI RISE CONDO, TAMPINES COURT

Please! Enough of the property agent's stuff and nonsense about how old and cheap our estate is!
Just go to the URA website above and check for yourselves the price movement of condos in this area. The list is huge. Your $420,000 figure is plucked from the air! The last individual unit sold in this estate was in Oct 06, before the exponential rise in property prices, and even then it was sold for $520K (figure taken from website).
Don’t forget; we didn’t sell our units INDIVIDUALLY but collectively with our enormous common area included – what is the price of our common area??. Was it given away for free? What happened to the 66% premium promised by the PA? Projected sale price of new development - $745 per sq foot (revealed at EOGM by property agent). Gross realization - $1.9 billion. 

Property vaues have moved less than 10% in the past year? According to the URA website, Loyang valley moved ~70%, Melville Park: ~45%, Changi Rise Condo:~40% ...it goes on and on..

Lease decreasing? Loyang Valley (99yrs) is older and is leading the pack with a 70% price increase in the last year. Potential buyers are obviously not put off by the looming 30 yr mark.

Upgrading: Buy a soon-to -be upgraded HDB and expect to receive a bill for $30,000.
Every estate requires upkeep: show me one that has everlasting lifts and eternal paintwork. You have a leak? Call a plumber. This is maintenance and it is a fact of life. Upgrading is optional, a decision taken by SPs at an AGM. These scare tactics might have worked on some people at the beginning, but believe me, the minority remaining have and never will be persuaded by such weak and futile arguments.

Value: only a monetary value is put on our homes (and a very low one at that without a valuation). Windy, spacious, solid, loved, irreplaceable. Do you expect to live forever? Do you think more money is the key to happiness? If being neighbourly is so important to you, why are you selling your neighbours’ homes without their approval? What harm have we ever done to you? As for accusing the minority of being un-neighborly; well, just who is pushing who here? We have a right to defend our homes at the STB. Personally, I have experienced no hostility from neighbours, and I feel no animosity towards those who signed. Majority owners are most certainly not fools, they know they have been led down the proverbial garden path.

Let the others do the work? Who asked them to appoint themselves? What work did they do? It is normal practice when selling a home to 1) do a valuation 2) keep an eye on the market and raise the price accordingly and 3) sell in a reasonable length of time. Was this done? The guardians of 560 units did a very poor job and did not inform us of the various bids and offers. As a majority lady at the EOGM so eloquently put it: 

I put my trust and faith in the SC, only to find that my faith was blind and my trust misplaced”..

7 comments:

  1. From the flyer:-

    >>The MAJORITY are not fools. We know the value of our properties.<<

    Well, the non-fools obviously see the property value and nothing else. Yet like many unknowing people, they have signed away their rights to their homes.

    To the blog owner - I strongly suggest you keep this flyer as evidence of harassment and threat at the STB hearing. Since the flyer author called himself "we" and "majority", it can be safely argued that the letter is from the majority who is out to threaten, harass the minority. Especially point 5 which is clearly a threat.

    I hate it when people write such flyers and believe themselves above everyone else. If such a letter was received in a company or school, it is straight grounds for termination of contract followed by lawsuit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I understand that the SC is appointing a Property Firm to conduct a formal valuation of Tampines Court.

    If the results of the formal valuation leads to the reserve price of $389,719,233.00, then it will be difficult for Minority Group to flight the case.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is a STB requirement that an application to the Board include a Valuation not less than 3 months old. That this is the only formal Valuation every done is now common knowledge.
    Let's wait for the results before speculating on the outcome.

    ReplyDelete
  4. After rereading the flyer once more, I find it does border on threatening. But as to the rest of the content, well there's nothing new there; the same unsound reasoning behind so many people signing, the same unsupported facts, the same illogical arguments. These are the common points and scare tactics put forward by all property agents in most enbloc sales, it's their common mantra.
    Water off a duck's back to me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A formal valuation is tricky at best. In the history of enbloc sales, I don't think there's ever been a single case of a valuation which is drastically different from the reserve price. Doesn't anyone find it odd? After all, would the independent surveyor jeopardize the sale by offering a valuation which is very different? I believe marketing agents have their 'firm favourite' independent surveyors who will give a favourable valuation. It'd make more sense for the owners to choose at least 2 surveyors so that they can compare if there are differences.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi all,

    I am Pablo Tan and I'm producing an episode for the new Get Real series. My focus is on the effects of en bloc sale and other property related matters, and how, for better or worse, they might be shaping lives and relationships. Objective is not to sensationalize but to create greater public awareness via the mass media.

    You may email me at pablotan@mediacorp.com.sg.

    As real estate issues are pretty much on everyone's mind right now, would greatly appreciate your prompt response.

    Best regards,
    Pablo Tan
    Producer
    Channel News Asia

    ReplyDelete
  7. the sale price put forward by your sc is the price the developer is going to pay. then comes the valuation that is a requirement that must be included in the application to stb. would the surveyor or valuer want to contradict what the developer and sc already agreed on?? just blame it on the system.

    ReplyDelete