So the appointments begins

We arranged to meet in total one contractor, one semi-ID (offered incomplete ID services, so a semi-ID) and 2 IDs. Also went to Darwin interior, but the guy handling us put us on a very low priority, so when he followed up with us one month, it was already passed the selection period, I guess they dont really care unless you are throwing money at them.

At the start of the jounrey, we were sincere in meeting our vendors, we were not there to waste their time or ours for that matter. We were thinking that in the end, we would hire one of these guys, a contractor more likely than an ID through as we heard that would be cheaper.

So when we met the first contractor, we ourselves were not fully sure what we wanted, we did go through all the basic things, like tiling, wardrobe, kitchen and few other stuff. He was ok, gave us tips on how we could save money, by not doing certain works and instead living with what HDB had given to us.

He also gave useful tips:

1. Get HBD to do cement screed with tile finish if you want to lay tiles, by right they don't do this, but if you do fill up the HDB Screed Appeal Form and put tile finish, they should be able to. After all, its just a "rough" finish and they use less cement than a vinyl or screed finish, so it means more cash in their pocket
2. Don't throw away any freebies. Our SOBF came with doors, and although they waste alot of space for toilets, he said to keep them and once spoil after a few years, then throw away and replace with what you want
3. Keep things where they are meant to be, eg in kitchen, where fridge and water points are, just follow. The more choices you have, the more you have to spend as well

So it was quite a good meeting with him and I did initially think we would go with him, but of course as we moved on we met with others. In the end he quoted us around $25k all in, including electrical which most IDs like to leave out, which was ok. He was also comprehensive in stating out all the works he was going to do.

Post Key Collection

So we move forward, collected the key, went to see the bare unit (the original owners that dropped out opted for doors, so we had that), but no tiles, which was good, as HDB tiles are normally boring and generally designed to meet all needs.

So everyone came along, we are relatively modern, so our first visit did not involve any fruits, and we just went in to look see and congratulate ourselves. Baby was with us too, for her it must have been really boring with loads of grey and white to see and nothing else.

As with most other BTOs, the few areas completely done include the bomb shelter, kitchen, service yard and 2 toilets, which had sinks, shower heads, etc included.

So at this point we just had one contact for a contractor, whom we started our renovation purchasing actions with. This is basically to meet up with the contractor or interior designer and run through what you want and then try to get them to quote you so you can compare.

Before this we had decided to stick to a low budget (in relative terms) of $20k for our works. While the budget was low, we were not going to go for cheap cheap cheap also, instead we were going to concentrate our funds on the few basic works required and a few of our prefered finishings.

In short terms, our required job scope was (just giving you the final summary after changing here and there):

1. Tiling all untiled areas including common area, living room and 3 bed rooms
2. Carpentry work in Master Bed room for a 6 foot wardrobe
3. Kitchen Top and Bottom cabinets with Quartz top
4. Kitchen cabinets to have a 5cm base
5. A tall unit in kitchen that is 2 feet in length
6. Glass screen in Master Toilet to cover shower area
7. Overlay of tiles in shower area (appx 15 feet actual area) and build a 5 cm kerb
8. Basic Electrical Works including lights installation, ceiling fan, etc
9. Basic plumbing work including kitchen tap and sink and water heater installation
10. A 3+1 Air conditioning system for all 3 bedrooms running at 9000 BTU each unit

Optional Work:

1. A vanity cabinet in Master Toilet
2. A mirror with behind storage in master toilet
3. L-Box cove lights in Masterbed Room
4. L-Box running on longer wall in living area for Cove light
5. Extended utilities box into a shoe rack

So basically this was the list, we kind of created it after meeting the first contractor as we went to different areas to measure and talk about what work we needed to do.

The other thing I did was to apply for a cement screed with my HDB branch office, as mentioned by the contractor. He did say that you need to tell them to do a rough finish and in the form I submitted, I indicated tile finish on common areas and vinyl finish in bedrooms, which we later changed to 100% tiling for durability and long-lasting life of the tiles.

The HDB selection game

So let me start of with a quick intro. I am starting this blog at the beginning of doing actual renovation work from my Housing Development Board (HDB) sale of balance flat (a variation of the BTO) for a 4-room flat in a city-fringe mature estate. So it was my wife and my aim to do ALL renovation works (excluding furniture) under $20k, and with our small budget, we are also not going to settle on some rubbish or minimal work. Definitely some areas we will completely not touch or do the bare minimum, namely 2 common rooms, service yard and bomb shelter, but for those that we are doing work, we are looking for something that looks nice.

So before going further, let me recap what has happened so far. We applied for a sale of balance flat in the 2016 exercise. It was a long drawn out exercise, which was more fun that a trip to the casino, and in which we needed the help of our MP. In the end we got an above average queue number, and as the days got closer to us picking, the number of choice units dwindled everyday. Our selection was a midday selection, so on the day itself, there was only one unit left that we were willing to buy, and a lot of other rubbish ones, that we were going to pass. We did wait anxiously for the first 2 applicants to pick that day and to our relieve, we got to pick our choice unit. We were lucky to have got it, and considering we were a few minutes late for the appointment, we were lucky they still let us pick.

So we secured our Sale of Balance Flat, and then there was a longer than average delay before we picked up our keys, which was ok, as it allowed us to pile up some cash to pay off the initial 20%. The other good thing is that we secured a good mortgage rate, before Trump took office and before the rise of the interest rate. My only advise on getting a loan is to go for the cheapest (it seems like common sense, but somehow the average consumer will end up paying the average rate (this is true in all economical transactions).

At the time of writing this, interest rate cheapest is around 1.3%, we got first year at 1% and after that at 1.3%. Thats $1700 saved in first year. Just a quick advise for the budget conscious buyer (I am assuming you are if you are keen to find out more on how to do the cheapest renovation possible), do NOT take the HDB loan, unless things have changed alot and bank rates are marginally cheaper, on par or more expensive. Their loan is 2.4%, my first year is 1%, assuming my averaged loan amount per month to be $425000, I am saving $5950 by not using HDB loan, thats a huge amount, enough for a reasonable holiday in New Zealand. And if you count how many years of savings, the savings really pile up to a huge amount, literally ten of thousands, in interest alone. Having said that do note you will have to pay additional legal fees for a lawyer (I paid $1800 for your reference when being quoted, and some other costs, which is still off-set by your long-term savings. Another tip is to use these aggregate mortgage websites to compare loan rates, but do actual leg work yourself, as we did so. If the banks are paying off these middlemen, than it is fine to use their services.