3 parties and one very hot house!

3 house warming parties over the past weekend. 3 separate groups of friends and family. 3 outstanding meals and game sessions. Yes, my house has been very adequately warmed!

Cheers to everyone who was part of it.

Now, time to get a massage...

Wood borers

I have some wood borers in my house... I have no clue what to do except to do some extermination and get rid of the infested portion. 

It requires some minor construction work... I hope everything can be settled quickly!

whole body aching...

...didn't realize that moving is such a tiring experience... and this was with full force help from my family... imagine if it were only myself!

The process started actually on Monday. We did some house cleaning and cleansing, and put up all the curtains. Meanwhile I went to get the Buddha rupa from Sukhi Hotu, and brought it to Maha Vihara for blessing ceremony. After lunch, Uncle Yap came over with the fridge and washing machine, and also Astro installation. With everything over, we went for a quick dinner in Asia Cafe. Then, we went back to pack up the remaining stuff and dismantle the bed for transportation.

Early the next morning, we had the fire crossing ceremony, and then I proceeded to setup the altar for the Buddha image. After that happened, we patiently waited for the lorries to arrive. Soon, IKEA delivery arrived, carrying the wardrobe, TV rack, work table and bookcase system to my upstairs library and master bedroom. While the assembly service was going on, the delivery lorry arrived with all our stuff, and unloading began. All this was happening while we were enjoying sumptious desert cooked over the charcoal stove. Soon after, the water filter guy arrived and installed the outdoor water filter - by the way, the water is still murky!!! X-( 

Anyway, Roland came after that and installed the house number plate, and then we went through some defects list (e.g. the clogged drain). After a pizza lunch, we proceeded upstairs to put together all the IKEA furniture (book cases, TV rack, work table). That took up the entire afternoon, and we waited patiently for the furniture lorries to arrive. Around 7pm, the first lorry arrived, unloading the dining table, sofa set, altar and coffee table. Around 9pm, the second lorry arrived carrying the downstairs TV cabinet, console table and shoe rack. All ended around 9.30pm, and we went for Lok Lok supper.

Special thanks to all my family members who helped me pack stuff into boxes and cars and lorries, move stuff up and down and up and down and in and out, cook and clean and clean and cook... couldn't have done it without all of you!

There's still many boxes which are still packed up, and the house is in a mess, that I'll need to do some cleaning again. But, thankfully tomorrow's a holiday, so hopefully can do more stuff.

Oh ya, the bulat-bulat bedroom curtain rod came off the wall :( have to fill up the holes and re-drill... who can do ar??? Also, the doorbell suddenly did not work after the house number plate was drilled up. Sigh... the defects list just never ends right? :P

It's coming along quite nicely...

Summary of works completed:
- Tiling
- Lighting
- Grills and gates
- Upstairs flooring
- Windows
- Bathrooms

Works yet to be completed:
- Kitchen
- Painting
- Curtains

Stuff yet to be done:
- Furnitures

Beli lampu pun beribu-ribu...

Seriously, who would've thought that lighting an entire house will cost thousands?!

Some things to consider...

When building a modern kitchen, it's common to ask ourselves what we want to install for our cooking area. Typically, nowadays we want a combination of cooker hood, gas hob and built in oven. The problem is, I have zero knowledge on these things! So how to choose the correct product?

Saya sudah dapat kunci!

!!!!!!!!!!

Why?

Why I still have not got my keys? :(

Shit happens to me...

Apparently the bank valuers have valued the house much lower compared to the purchase price, so now there's a problem that I cannot get the margin of financing that I wanted. That means having to cough up more downpayment in order to achieve the level of financing offered by the bank.

The other option is to forgo the deposit and search for a lower-priced property, but that means no more PH and LP for the property hunting, as the property price there is really inflated.

Another option is of course to renegotiate the purchase price with the vendor, but of course I believe the vendor will not budge, especially after the booking was confirmed...

Sigh... of all shit to happen!!!!

Justification

Agent S told me that if I had waited, I could get the house for less than the asking price by a margin of around 5%.

Agent K on the other hand, having had so much experience in LP selling houses for the past few months, also had a point in saying that the unit is going going going and could be gone before anyone could say cheese.

I believe that if you see something you like, you should grab it and not worry too much about the price differential. As long as the buyer is willing to pay the price that the seller puts up, we have a deal.

So... yesterday I did feel a bit uncomfortable. But today, I think I've overcome the discomfort. I have no regrets. Put in another 20K for fittings, and then slowly build up the furnitures... it will still be below 450K in total.

Moreover, planning to take up the flexible mortgage loan so I can pay it off faster!

Sigh...

Suddenly I feel so weird because the other agent called me up and sort of told me that I could've gotten a better price if I'd only waited for a bit. Now I feel as if I've been shortchanged... and it's making me feel so uncomfortable. I don't think I'll be able to sleep well tonight.

Feng Shui questions

How to overcome the following problems?

1) There's a drain in front of the house with smaller gutters directly pointing towards your main gate

2) Main road in front of the house is higher than the ground on which the house is sited

PH vs SJ...

Update 21/2/08 5.24pm:

Found a calculation somewhere that allows me to estimate all the hidden costs apart from down payment. Example:

Inputs:
Property Price = 450,000
Down Payment = 50,000
Loan Amount = 400,000

Outputs:
Stamp Duty Govt = 1%*100,000 + 2%*350,000 = 8,000
Stamp Duty Loan = 0.5%*400,000 = 2,000
Legal Fees = 1%*150,000 + 0.7%*300,000 = 3,600
Valuation Fees = 1/4%*100,000 + 1/5%*350,000 = 950
MRTA = 5%*400,000 = 20,000

Total Hidden Costs = 34,550 !!!!!

I'm screwed...

Original:

I am now changing my footing. Planning to look into Putra Heights after all. Subang Jaya... well as much as I love this neighbourhood, I can't seem to find the right house. So, planning to look at Laman Putra houses. Won't be cheap. Close to or exceeding 400K for a basic house. But the pros are that the fittings, tiles and piping/electrical wiring are all new and quite good quality lar. So, for a real basic house, all we need to do is just install grilles and kitchen cabinets. Maybe a skyroof to cover up the courtyard from above. So that's additional 10-15K of reno. Total should be below 450K. I hope we don't have to take 400K loan coz the MRTA will kill us! But nowadays with good mortgage rates (BLR - 2% for the whole tenure), the installments should be more manageable.

So... keeping hopes in check, gonna go viewing this weekend!

The house...

The house in Kemuning Utama is so nice! The owner already done up some basic stuff: lightings, extend back kitchen, back door grille, kitchen counter tops. The price? Similar to basic units. Some more the design is so practical and spacious! 2300 sq ft of living space. Not to mention the goodies: air con and water heater points, auto gates standard from developer, gated and guarded for only RM30 per month, Johnson Suisse bathroom fittings... what more could one ask for?

Sigh... if only the house was located in Subang Jaya!

:(