Monday, May 19, 2008

House Hunting...Not a Walk in the Park

We have been thinking of purchasing a house for the last 1 year. And believe me finding one, I mean finding a house that speaks to you is not easy. I am looking for a neighbourhood, where the aunty next door says hello to you, or the makcik next door smiles at you everytime she sees you, or the uncle opposite you watch over your house when you are out of town, or neighbours chat with each other across the fences. I despise new neighbourhoods with its yuppy tenants and the kiasuness and you never see your neighbours except when they leave their houses in the morning, or if they accidentally draw their curtains and you have a peep inside. I want an old fashioned neighbouthood with old fashioned values, and I am not sure if I am asking for too much; though my colleague Louis is certain I am. So today we went driving to Paramount Garden, and we have been there a couple of times, but can never see any houses for sale, and today we saw one and spoke to the owner. The location is superb and at the back of the house there is a huge public park where your kids can skate, and run around and really go wild. The inside of the house was really dilapidated and the owner was asking for 330k! I called a friend who lives there and she said the asking price is way too high and not to go anything more then 280k. So we were a little disappointed but thought of waiting a day or two and then speak to the owner again and make an offer. Then we went for a walk at the Park and really loved it, so we sat down at a quiet spot to say a prayer. Then we decided to drive around. We saw a range rover parked at an end lot of Paramount Park and we walked in to check, as the house seems to be going through some repairs. We spoke to a Mr Oh who seemed highly enthusiastic and when asked said the house going for 350k. The difference is this house although its a single storey has 6 rooms...Yes 6 rooms. He has extended the attic and made 3 rooms upstairs, we only viewed 1 as the other 2 were locked. The story is the house was rented out and has been abused by the previous owners, and now he is doing it up before deciding to sell or to rent it. There are 4 rooms downstairs, and the living room is a reasonable size, has a dining, has a kitchen with an island. And I was generally having a good feel about the house and I feel kind of good about the neighbourhood, and although the house may not be exactly what I will like it to look like but we can move into it with minimal work (anyway that's what I think and pray that there wont be any surprises). So the next step will be to pray further about this, and then contact Mr Oh tomorrow and tell him that we want to buy the place and let the process takes its course. And God willing may it all work out well! Ciao.

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