One thing after another, that is what the title stands for. As I mentioned in my previous postings, this year started with a bit of a bang, when I bought my new property, closely followed by another which has since been cancelled.
With the ending of January and the start of February, Chinese New Year is just round the corner. So many things happening, sometimes I wonder whether I am coming or I am going.
My friend from church is still badgering me to buy her property, trying to sweeten up the deal. She is returning the deposit to me but making so many mistakes with my name on the cheque. I have to take a firm stand against the sale, because this could lead to a lot of misunderstanding and stress.
My son has been working on my new maisonette. He showed me his ideas and drawings knocking down walls and fixtures. He is having a field day, acting like a son of a 'millionaire father'! Ha! Ha! Very funny! He is also very busy with his work and being away so often.
As my estate will be going into oblivion by end of the year, I produced a DVD slide show of 215 pictures with audio background for the owners and residents of the estate. I made 200 copies of the DVD and put them up for sale at only $5.00 each. The sale has been good and I had very good response from everyone who bought. Posters with samples of my photographs were put up in every block, advertising the DVD's. I was told that some people felt nostalgic when they saw the DVD and some shed tears at the thought of leaving all these behind.
One morning, I was walking home from church when a passing car suddenly stopped, and the lady driver poked her head out excitedly calling to me to tell me that the DVD was fantastic! Certainly made my day. So far I have received money for 100 DVD and the rest are selling well, handled by the office and some volunteers. Very timely as I gave part of the money to my wife for Chinese New Year.
Next week is Ash Wednesday and Chinese New Year. Ash Wednesday this year happens to fall on eve of Chinese New Year, so the fasting and abstinence will be on Tuesday instead. I have to arrange my Communion Ministers to impose the ashes at the 7 am Mass. I am putting up three of the new women Communion Ministers so that they can experience the rites because next year, I will not be in charge anymore. On the first day of Chinese New Year, we have to give out Mandarin oranges to the congregation. So I arranged for my Communion Ministers to dress in red instead of the usual staid white. It will look and feel so much nicer.
Thought for the day: 'Thank God for your well being, and all that you have, instead of being miserable, and blaming others for your misery.'
Till then....
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
A set back.
After the rather euphoric last posting of buying two properties within two weeks, I now end up with only one.
Working on my investment property, i.e. for rental, I suddenly realised that time is against me. Although it has been said, that my funds will be available by 12 March, the reality is that it may be delayed. Calling the lawyers, I was told that out of 618 owners, 41 have yet to sign the documents transferring the title deeds over to the developer. The reasons are various ranging from bankruptcy to divorce. The lawyers were not able to commit to a definitive date. The danger I will face, is that, I may not be able to pay for the property if there is a delay beyond March.
This troubled me over the weekend, so much so that by Sunday, I decided not to pursue the purchase. Carefully writing my email refusing the purchase, I sent it out by Sunday evening, to all concerned.
This Monday morning, I met up with my lady friend in church, who offered me the property for sale, on her son's behalf. When I told her that I will not be purchasing the property, she promptly fainted in front of me! We were in a quiet corner of the church and there was no one around. At first when she told me that she was filling faint, I thought she was joking with me. Suddenly she keeled over and collapsed. I caught her in time and placed her on the floor bumping her head in the process.
Squatting by her side, I told her to relax and to rest for a while. A man walked by and asking what had happened, I told him that the lady had fainted. He wanted to call an ambulance but I told him that there was no need to. He then walked into the church. I was very worried that I could be accused of molesting the lady. I kept talking to her and she responded.
After several minutes, she told me that she was alright and was ready to get up. Putting my two arms under her armpits, I hauled her up and guided her to a seat. She asked me what had happened, and I told her she had fainted. She told me she had a blackout. And so I explained to her the rationale behind why I had to turn down her offer. She was quite adamant in me buying over her son's property, and I was adamant in not doing so. She finally told me that she would refund the deposit I made to her. I was very concerned for her well being, when she left for her car. What a dramatic morning! Why is she so insistant in my buying over her son's property?
Now I am only concern with one property, the one I am going to live in. Since the completion of the sale will be in May, I hope that the funds will be available by then. I have been told that the lawyers are striving to complete the sale by 10 March, the target date. I hope they will succeed. After that, I will be able to consider a second property to rent out.
Till then....
Working on my investment property, i.e. for rental, I suddenly realised that time is against me. Although it has been said, that my funds will be available by 12 March, the reality is that it may be delayed. Calling the lawyers, I was told that out of 618 owners, 41 have yet to sign the documents transferring the title deeds over to the developer. The reasons are various ranging from bankruptcy to divorce. The lawyers were not able to commit to a definitive date. The danger I will face, is that, I may not be able to pay for the property if there is a delay beyond March.
This troubled me over the weekend, so much so that by Sunday, I decided not to pursue the purchase. Carefully writing my email refusing the purchase, I sent it out by Sunday evening, to all concerned.
This Monday morning, I met up with my lady friend in church, who offered me the property for sale, on her son's behalf. When I told her that I will not be purchasing the property, she promptly fainted in front of me! We were in a quiet corner of the church and there was no one around. At first when she told me that she was filling faint, I thought she was joking with me. Suddenly she keeled over and collapsed. I caught her in time and placed her on the floor bumping her head in the process.
Squatting by her side, I told her to relax and to rest for a while. A man walked by and asking what had happened, I told him that the lady had fainted. He wanted to call an ambulance but I told him that there was no need to. He then walked into the church. I was very worried that I could be accused of molesting the lady. I kept talking to her and she responded.
After several minutes, she told me that she was alright and was ready to get up. Putting my two arms under her armpits, I hauled her up and guided her to a seat. She asked me what had happened, and I told her she had fainted. She told me she had a blackout. And so I explained to her the rationale behind why I had to turn down her offer. She was quite adamant in me buying over her son's property, and I was adamant in not doing so. She finally told me that she would refund the deposit I made to her. I was very concerned for her well being, when she left for her car. What a dramatic morning! Why is she so insistant in my buying over her son's property?
Now I am only concern with one property, the one I am going to live in. Since the completion of the sale will be in May, I hope that the funds will be available by then. I have been told that the lawyers are striving to complete the sale by 10 March, the target date. I hope they will succeed. After that, I will be able to consider a second property to rent out.
Till then....
Monday, January 14, 2008
Welcome 2008
Welcome 2008! It has certainly been a very good start to the new year. Half the month of January has already gone as I write this first post for the year. So many things have happened, I have been busy and my mind is still boggling at the turn of events.
New Year's Eve was a big family gathering at Jason and Karen's place. Good food and happy family members with noisy kids and hungry dogs. It was very convivial. It was also a kind of farewell to the place, as Jason and Karen will be moving out in a couple of months time.
As mentioned in my last post, I had acquired my new property. It was surprisingly fast and just two days ago, I had exercised the option to buy from the seller. The irony of it all, was that, the seller had tried to badger the agent into increasing the price, because he was harassed by his family that he had sold too low. The agent of course, told him that it was impossible as the agreed price was legally binding. He eventually apologised for his error. They are actually a very nice elderly couple. When we were there last Saturday, we all sat around with the agents, and chatted away like old friends. I invited them to visit us after they move out. Buying this property has removed one burden off my shoulders, since my hunt for a replacement home.
Last Monday, 7 January, I attended the 7 am Mass as usual. After Mass, an old friend pulled me to a corner and offered me her son's apartment in a condo. The condo is in the Bukit Timah area not far from my present place. It was certainly food for thought, and by Friday, we were taken to view the place. It is a pleasant two bedroom apartment, currently tenanted by a gay couple. Ha! Ha! Anyway, the place is pleasant with condo facilities, and appeals to the expatriates, which should command good rental. The current tenancy will end by August, and after some cleaning and minor renovations, it will be ready for a new tenancy.
I am familiar with the condo, because my daughter had at some time ago, rented a studio apartment there. We went there for swimming with the kids and it was nice.
This morning (14 Jan), I had a meeting with my friend at 6.30 am in church. After some enthusiatic deliberation with the family, I decided to buy the apartment, as an investment.
Wow! Buying two properties within one month! That is why my mind still boggles. Never in my wildest dream, would I do that. But I just did that.
On the 5th January, I turned in to the lawyers, my Title Deeds and signed over my property in preparations for the completion of the collective sale, scheduled for 10th March. So officially, I am now a 'squatter', since I now do not own my present property. Payment is expected to be 12th March, barring any problems, and I am allowed to stay rent free until 10th September. So I am going to be busy with the lawyers, the renovation works, and the much dreaded house move.
Since I started to write this post, it is now 15 January, and I have, this morning given a cheque as option to buy the private condo. It is now up to the lawyers to do up the paperwork and the seller to put their house in order.
Since last year, I was approached to produce a DVD slideshow in memory of the estate, to be sold to all the owners. I have worked on it and have compiled 215 pictures with background music. I showed the master copy to the people and had very good response. Last Thursday, I sent my master copy for duplicating to 200 pieces. On Friday, I received a call that the copies are ready for collection. What speed! Anyway I collected them on Monday and had them delivered by evening. Some people have told me that seeing the beautiful pictures, made them sad to leave. As the saying goes, "parting is such sweet sorrow".
Chinese New Year is just around the corner. That is another story.
Till then....
New Year's Eve was a big family gathering at Jason and Karen's place. Good food and happy family members with noisy kids and hungry dogs. It was very convivial. It was also a kind of farewell to the place, as Jason and Karen will be moving out in a couple of months time.
As mentioned in my last post, I had acquired my new property. It was surprisingly fast and just two days ago, I had exercised the option to buy from the seller. The irony of it all, was that, the seller had tried to badger the agent into increasing the price, because he was harassed by his family that he had sold too low. The agent of course, told him that it was impossible as the agreed price was legally binding. He eventually apologised for his error. They are actually a very nice elderly couple. When we were there last Saturday, we all sat around with the agents, and chatted away like old friends. I invited them to visit us after they move out. Buying this property has removed one burden off my shoulders, since my hunt for a replacement home.
Last Monday, 7 January, I attended the 7 am Mass as usual. After Mass, an old friend pulled me to a corner and offered me her son's apartment in a condo. The condo is in the Bukit Timah area not far from my present place. It was certainly food for thought, and by Friday, we were taken to view the place. It is a pleasant two bedroom apartment, currently tenanted by a gay couple. Ha! Ha! Anyway, the place is pleasant with condo facilities, and appeals to the expatriates, which should command good rental. The current tenancy will end by August, and after some cleaning and minor renovations, it will be ready for a new tenancy.
I am familiar with the condo, because my daughter had at some time ago, rented a studio apartment there. We went there for swimming with the kids and it was nice.
This morning (14 Jan), I had a meeting with my friend at 6.30 am in church. After some enthusiatic deliberation with the family, I decided to buy the apartment, as an investment.
Wow! Buying two properties within one month! That is why my mind still boggles. Never in my wildest dream, would I do that. But I just did that.
On the 5th January, I turned in to the lawyers, my Title Deeds and signed over my property in preparations for the completion of the collective sale, scheduled for 10th March. So officially, I am now a 'squatter', since I now do not own my present property. Payment is expected to be 12th March, barring any problems, and I am allowed to stay rent free until 10th September. So I am going to be busy with the lawyers, the renovation works, and the much dreaded house move.
Since I started to write this post, it is now 15 January, and I have, this morning given a cheque as option to buy the private condo. It is now up to the lawyers to do up the paperwork and the seller to put their house in order.
Since last year, I was approached to produce a DVD slideshow in memory of the estate, to be sold to all the owners. I have worked on it and have compiled 215 pictures with background music. I showed the master copy to the people and had very good response. Last Thursday, I sent my master copy for duplicating to 200 pieces. On Friday, I received a call that the copies are ready for collection. What speed! Anyway I collected them on Monday and had them delivered by evening. Some people have told me that seeing the beautiful pictures, made them sad to leave. As the saying goes, "parting is such sweet sorrow".
Chinese New Year is just around the corner. That is another story.
Till then....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)