Smoke Screen

I had a viewing for a Tiong Bahru Pre-War flat at 9pm tonight and the buyer was late for 20 minutes......because she could not find GUAN CHUAN STREET!!!!

Instead of apologising, she went on to complain about the bad road design and how old this estate is.

And before I even had the chance to bring her up to view the unit, she started to share with me her opinion about this place.

"Too small....no good, Face road junction....bad fengshui, Above a shop....very lousy".

I was thinking to myself, why can't you reserve your comments till after we have view the unit? (By the way, she has an agent representing her and the agent obviously did not screen his client properly)

And tonight's unit was probably the worst unit to show a Tiong Bahru newbie as the place is tenanted to 18 people.

As the main door was left opened, I pop my head in to inform the tenants that I am coming in.

To my horror, 4 men were standing there with nothing but their towels and one was even walking around with a SUPERMAN coloured underwear.

I pulled my head out, stopped the agent and buyer from going in, popped my head back in to ask SUPERMAN to cover up.

So we ended up viewing the flat with 5 men with towels covering their lower halves.

The viewing ended rather quickly and the objections came fast and furious.

"Only 1 toilet....no good, too longish....waste too much space, Very Old...needs a lot of renovation, Remaining lease too short......no value. No En-Bloc potential.......bad investment".....etc etc etc.

But despite all these objections, she pointed out some units that she would like to view and would definitely buy them if they do come onto the market.

I was puzzled. If these things irks her so much, why is she still keen? Maybe that is her way of throwing smoke screen to confuse the agents.

But I think she targeted the wrong people. If she really want to bring down the price, she has to meet up with the owners to demoralise them....not the agent.

I remain optimistic that Tiong Bahru is a great place to work, live and play and like wine, the older it gets, the more valuable it gets....something like some overused cliche OLD IS GOLD.

Sorry Auntie, you wasted your effort on the wrong person tonight.

But despite what you have commented about this place, deep down I know you like this place very much but is probably annoyed with the current price level.

But if you see things on the positive side, it is because prices has risen to this level that we are beginning to see more and more beautiful units being put up for sale.

Just a year ago when prices were so much lower, most owners were reluctant to sell their flats. But at today's prices, owners are tempted and hence there is a wider selection for the serious buyers.

So SERIOUS buyers out there, this is the best time to check out the unit that suits you most......but you must be mentally prepared for the price. Have Fun.