So out of the 5 guys we met, we had 2 Interior Designers (one I would say is a semi-ID type business) that we had decided were good and we were going to give our business to.
The first was one my wife preferred, they were also recommended by a colleague, so on our first meeting, we met them at 2 projects they had completed recently (one of which was my wife's colleague's house). Let's call them Sundram, based on the main designers similar name.That was really quite nicely done. They had done some hacking of walls and colouring based on Feng Shui and even hacked one of their bedrooms to make it into a walk-in closet. They were very professional, both in their work and sales. The 2nd project they showed us was an average one, with a smaller budget (maybe 20k) that was also quite decent, going with the industrial look that the owner wanted.
So on the day we met, after viewing 2 of their projects, we had a sit down meeting going through all the things that we wanted (they were the last we met, so by now we had our requirements more or less fixed as we were repeating them again and again and again, which is good so you know what you need to do). So they said normally they are not the lowest in pricing, but instead offer great quality and market rates for things like haulage, etc, which they claim it is important to pay as our other semi-ID was "under quoting" us for that. They also harped on using quality workers and Singapore based carpentry, which they said had a minimum costs but better quality (vs those who do it in JB).
The other semi-ID we met were who I will call Robin Hood, as they are the cheapest we found, for ID works and I found them on Carousell. They also brought us to 2 units they completed / almost completed, to view their work. I think one of their mistakes was that they brought us to 2 of their low budget projects. So if you are ID or anything, here is a tip, its ok to take up low budget projects, but don't use them as showcases for your works, it will make you look bad! So anyways my wife was not impressed, I was impressed by their low carpentry prices, even their Quartz started at $88 per foot run (you can use this as a reference to how low the market price is).
We then took a few days off to discuss about which horse to pick. My wife was in favour of Sundram, but I was more towards Robin Hood, believing that they just showed us low budget projects and could do better. So we arranged to meet both these guys one more time.
For Robin Hood, we met them at another of their projects, which they claimed was better than the first 2 they showed to us. We went, we saw and while it was better, it was also basic type level (mainly I guess as the client wanted that type of design). But my wife said no, no to their excel opening, Malaysian carpentry and average finishings.
We then met Sundram for another go, Sundram definately put in more effort into the sales, trying to contact me to answer any questions, etc. They also offered professional ID services, which Robin Hood did not, like 3D rendering (apparently it costs 20 average priced movie tickets to make), space planning, etc. They also ensured they would do the job well, which is to trust them, which we did, but only thing is that we did not trust their price. I think they overquoted us by $5k, so in the end we also decided not to go with them.
So after some quick thoughts, we decided instead to employ overselves as the contractors. It is not as difficult as you think, with minimum brain power, willingness to do leg work and some Internet research, you can save a couple of thousand, up to the $5-$10k we were intending to save. While saving money was an aim, we also were ready to use these savings in interior designer profits, to buy better products and anything extra of course we would keep in our pockets or to pay back DBS for our loan.
We also managed to take a look at our direct neighbour's unit, he was quite friendly, and of course keen to show off his $80k renovation done unit. Definitely his unit was very nicely done, although very specific to his and his wife's theme. Loads of black paint that needed loads of light to look presentable, full hacking of some walls and a creation of a TV room in one of the bedrooms (which is a bad idea in 5 years if your 2 children are 5 and 7 years old). But this guy spared no expense to redo his home.
The moral of this post is quite simple, being stupid is not free. Especially if you are not earning too much, if you are going to overpay $5k, thats 2 months salary gone? Could you be doing a better job cheaper if you were in charge? If you can, its better to roll up your sleeves and do so.
Another thing is the Hafary situation. I had never heard of them until I needed to do renovation. But once we started with the meetings, everyone was harping about Hafary to buy our tiles from them. See Hafary is not really the best or worst tile seller in Singapore, they are definitely the biggest, with a huge warehouse in Sungai Kadut another large warehouse in Changi near the prison, but their huge business also needs to earn a huge profit to keep going and their shareholders happy. They get their huge business by alot of marketing. I saw their name sponsoring tiles in a show-case room at Ikea Tampines. Any contractor that insists you go to Hafary (or any other competitor) is getting a commission for the tiles they sell to you. My guess is Hafary gives them a huge comission, as much as 20% to their top referral contractors. So if you had a 4-room flat with 760 sq ft and go for $4 per sq foot of tiles, your ID will get at least $300 in their pocket and maybe up to $600! So you are unlikely to get a good deal with Hafary, unless your ID shares / gives you their share, so just take note that when you see the retail price on tiles, they include the contractor comission.
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