BTO Journey - Part 2

Neglected my Blog again...My bad...

On 2nd February, we were notified via email to invite us to sign the Agreement for Lease for the

booked flat on 22 February. I have noted that this invitation is only given once EHG letter is given out. I can only say me and Mr Ng got quite a pretty good sum :x 

The process is really quick, I think within 15 mins we were out of there after meeting the officer. We have to log in via our Singpass to click some stuff, guided by the officer. The HDB officer will also ask you if we wanted to pay the deposit with the option fee SGD$2000 we paid during our first appointment. But we decided to take back the cash, and it was refunded back into my account within 4 weeks. 

Well...I guess that's all for now till our flat is ready...Tampines GreenOpal is estimated to be ready around 2nd quarter 2025. In the meantime, me and Mr Ng got to work hard to save as much money as possible! 💪

BTO Journey - Part 1

It took a few days of waiting for our appointment dates since my last post on 26th September on our BTO Journey. I received a SMS and an email from HDB on 29th September morning to inform us of the appointment for selection date. Our appointment date is on the 13th October at 8.45am! So early!

And being a not morning person, I kind of feel abit sian max plus I have to apply leave for it 😿.

Just follow the instructions listed in the email, print the documents listed in the Annex 1. 

In our invitation package we are listed under Married Child Priority Scheme. However, I could not find the page whereby the parents have to sign. I search high and low and even getting my friends to proof read the letter incase I miss out on it.

Thankfully I posted this question on the Green Opal telegram chat and a kind soul (Joyce thank you so much!) helped me by telling me which page to find it....but guess what! I have a missing page! So she told me maybe my case was similar to another couple, ours is under a public queue instead of MCPS queue and advised me to call HDB hotline to clarify, which I did. The HDB officer also very chill, they told me just follow what is indicated in the letter, and everyone's is different. Wow 😒.

As I didn't have a printer at home, I have to go to a printing shop to have them printed. 

$4.75 invested.

Time flies, and it's 13th October. Being kiasu, me and Mr Ng woke up super early so as to not be late for our appointment. And we arrive at about 7+am? And we had to deposit the money as HDB only accept Nets payment. 😑

We had a quick breakfast at the foodcourt before heading for our appointment. 

The HDB are really strict on the timings, you can only enter 30 mins before your appointment timing. There was already a group forming up outside but they could not enter yet. 

The reality slowly sinking into me, I am now very aware how much this is going to cost me.

Anyway since we have 30 minutes, we went to look at the 3D model of the plot and the Optional Component Scheme (OCS) samples. But long before that, me and Mr Ng already agreed to to opt-in as we are poor af and not going to do much renovations, a ready to moved in conditions would be sufficient. We only have to worry about the furniture and appliances. 

 

Fun fact: The stack that we selected was actually not our first choice. We consulted the opinion's of our friend who knows Fengshui. After hearing her advised we decided to go ahead with that stack as that stack was actually part of my 2nd choice. 

Anyway being a visual person, I could not see the directions of where the house is facing. Thus I have resorted to use a diagram of the compass to "see".

Quick tip: Do use the BTO buddy app to monitor the selection process. 

Soon our number was called, and we headed to meet the officer to process our selection. Right after we sat down, she goes "Mr Ng you have an outstanding grant yea?". And I'm like defug? Who did he BTO with?! Turns out the HDB officer mix up with another queue number ._. Almost strangled Mr Ng right there and then. The officer procced to explain the finance, the loans blabla and after many pages to sign (I didn't sign any papers that I printed, was afraid that I sign wrongly) she took out the Nets machines and we were SGD$2000 poorer that day!

We went to have a few good meals after that, since we are feeling "Rich" that day as for the next 5 years we have to scrimp and save as much as possible. Living frugally. 

Total damage so far: $20 + $4.45 + $2000 = $2024.45

BTO Journey - Prelude

It all started when scrolling through social media and I came across the sales launch on Tengah plot. So me and Mr Ng started conversing and gotten mildly excited on the topic as the plot was going to be a new town and major development was going to happen. Reasons for paying such attention was, my house is just facing across it!

I believe it was a spur of a moment and we thought to ourselves why not we try putting down $10 and ballot for a flat in Tengah. That was in May 2019. We didn't do it in the end after much discussions with family and friends. Yes, we did put on our thinking cap after all and not get rash with our decisions. 

Another few months past, we saw new sales launch on November 2019. As Mr Ng was staying in Tampines, Tampines Green Spring caught his attention as the plot is in a very idea position surrounded by malls, transports and amenities all within reach. 

A part of me was hesitant as I have lived in the west side of Singapore all my life! However after looking at the conveniences that I could get here I was convinced and we place a $10 to ballot here. 

On 12 November 2019, I balloted for the first time in my life! Achievement unlock! So we waited, like school kids waiting anxiously for the report card. Only that we are just waiting for our balloting queue results. I would like to point out that we ballot under the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) to increase our chances. Everyday I would check HDB's website to look at how many people have balloted and my heart sank further and further as each day goes by. The last I saw was that there is 14 couples to 1 unit in Green Spring! 

On 4 December, the BTO Telegram chat group that I have followed (yes, I kiasu) started to have people announcing that they have received their results. Quickly I went to check my email...

Guess internally I was already half expecting this result to happen. As remember I said the last I saw was 14 to 1 unit?...

We saw that on May 2020 there is going to be sales launch in Tampines again, we so decided to wait and try again. But who would have expected that COVID-19 would wreck havoc and changes everything that we know of. The government announce that May's BTO exercise will be postpone to August 2020 due to circuit breaker measures implemented. 

I guess that was a blessing in disguise as that would mean that there is a merge of 2 sales exercise which means that the pool of balloters will be diluted! *Rubs hands in glee* After all if you were to research, August's BTO exercise is very exciting at Woodlands, Darkota, and Pasir Ris.

We stick to our original plans and looked only at Tampines. There is 3 plots available for selections, Green Crest, Green Glade and Green Opal. 

Waited patiently for August to come, and the moment I received notification from HDB that the BTO exercise is open. Immediately started looking at the website and placed my $10 bet again!

After some agonizing wait, checking and chatting up with people in the Telegram group. They said results is out! I told myself, at least let me get a number even if it means getting a number beyond the available flats allocated. 

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I GOT A QUEUE NUMBER! AND IT'S 5X!

Immediately I called Mr Ng to inform him of the good news! I'm really beyond shock and excited...I message my ex classmate to inform her as I knew she also balloted for Tampines. I guess high chance we might be neighbors as we are both eyeing on the same particular plot. 

Now, we are just waiting for HDB to update us our appointment for selection and place a $2k booking fee on the unit we wanted. Current damage invested. $20. 

This is the pricing of Green Spring...lucky we dodge a bullet and did not get a unit here. So expensive! 

A friend of ours have gotten a unit here. His 4 room flat cost $400k+!!!

Well, have checked based on the level and units that we wanted. The unit we are eyeing is going to be $370k+...Hopefully we get what wanted. Understand that queue number 3x has been called for appointment somewhere in 6 October 2020...I guess we are not far behind. Now just playing the waiting game again.