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Richmond Park’s MC seeks powers to co-broke sale, rental of units; discount on monthly contributions for those who don’t opt out.

AN UNUSUAL proposal is being pitched at apartment owners at Richmond Park:

Its management corporation (MC) is seeking the power to co-broke the sale and rental of their units in return for half the commission from the transactions, which will go into the management fund.

Owners who let the MC play co-broker will get a 20 per cent discount off what they pay to the management fund for up to 12 months.

Those who want no part of this scheme will need to opt out, and pay 20 per cent more in their monthly contribution. However, it is not clear how this will apply to an owner who is selling his unit.

These are among the by-laws which the condo’s MC chairman, Dr David Tan, will propose at its seventh annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow.

Noting that about a third of Richmond Park’s apartment owners were living in Indonesia or Hong Kong and were either absentee landlords or absentee home owners, he said: ‘It is primarily in their interest that we have conceptualised this by-law.’

Its objective, said the 69-year-old retired eye surgeon, is to generate revenue for the maintenance fund so contributions to the fund can be kept low, since raising contribution rates always meets with resistance.

Not everyone is thrilled with the idea - the resident-owners, for instance.

A resident who has lived there for seven years said: ‘Why should I give up my sole right to sell or lease my unit? This narrows my choices of agents who are willing to help me market my apartment, since they get only half the commission.’

Located in the heart of Orchard Road, Richmond Park has 159 units, each paying between $330 and $660 in monthly maintenance fees, depending on unit size.

Industry experts say the by-law is unusual.

Knight Frank Estate Management - which manages the condo and 90 other estates - went as far as to say it was unheard of.

Lawyer S. K. Phang of Phang & Co, saying an MC had no right to be a broker, explained that such a function fell outside the roles and powers of an MC as defined by the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act.

He added that even if all attendees at tomorrow’s AGM are fine with the proposed by-law, it does not follow that it would pass muster with the Strata Titles Board.

Chesterton International’s head of research and consultancy, Mr Colin Tan, added: ‘People don’t realise that they can challenge certain by-laws. If they are unreasonable, they may not stand in the court of law.’

Real estate company PropNex’s chief executive, Mr Mohamad Ismail, said no one had so far proposed this to his agents, and that PropNex would ‘keep the option open at this juncture’.

Dr Tan is also proposing that security guards and staff be paid to show the units to prospective buyers and tenants.

He said: ‘We know our property better than anybody else. We know the market value and the rentals charged by all units.’

Mr Ismail, however, said real estate agents had a better idea of market changes and demand.

He, too, sees resident-owners losing out in the scheme, because the agent working with the condo management may not want to co-broke with other agents, which would further divide up the commission pie.

It might thus take longer to find buyers and tenants, and resident-owners may lose a month’s rental waiting for the deal to close.

Dr Tan, saying he expected resistance as he was ‘going into uncharted waters’, added: ‘I don’t see why this by-law will not be passed. It benefits everyone all round.’

Source : Straits Times - 26 Oct 2007

THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) has launched two more projects — Telok Blangah Towers in Bukit Merah town and Punggol Lodge in Punggol town — under the Build-To-Order System.

A total of 916 new premium and standard flats, comprising studio apartments, 3-room and 4-room flats, are on offer.

At Telok Blangah Towers, an integrated development with 400 premium flats, the 90 studio apartments include elder-friendly features such as grab bars and non-slip flooring.

The project is situated at the junction of Telok Blangah Street 31 and Telok Blangah Drive, near the Bukit Merah Town Centre and the planned MRT stations at Labrador Park and Telok Blangah.

Punggol Lodge, with 516 standard units, is in Punggol East along Punggol Road — near the Punggol MRT, schools and future town centre, as well as within walking distance of the Damai LRT station.

A 4-room premium flat at Telok Blangah Towers is expected to cost between $308,000 and $402,000, while a similar-sized 4-room standard flat will cost $190,000 to $234,000, minus optional components.

For all flats at Telok Blangah Towers, an $8,000 monthly household income ceiling applies. At Punggol Lodge, the usual ceiling of $3,000 for 3-room flats and $8,000 for 4-room flats applies.

An exhibition is now on at the Habitat Forum, HDB Hub. Interested applicants can also log on to www.hdb.gov.sg/esales. Applications close Nov 14.

Source : Today - 26 Oct 2007

Higher rents in the Central Business District (CBD) are forcing companies to re-configure their current space, or consider shifting part of their operations to other locations.

To meet demand, the government is releasing transitional office sites into the market.

But property watchers say demand remains strong and rents will continue to push upwards.

Property firm Savills can now fit another 10 staff into its Shaw House office at Orchard Road.

It did so simply by halving its reception area.

Like Savills, more companies are reconfiguring their offices to maximise use of space and keep costs down.

Ku Swee Yong, Director, International Marketing, Savills, says: “There is still a lot more scope to restructure office space usage in the CBD - Shenton Way, Robinsons Road, Raffles Place. Many of these so called lower value type of work that probably is not customer facing, for example backroom operations, IT, maybe even administrative, human resource, transaction processing work, could be moved out of the CBD office.”

The government is releasing transitional office sites to help meet demand.

Property watchers say there are sites near the CBD which could be opened up.

Last Friday, the government released a site the size of two football fields at Upper Aljunied.

Mr Ku says: “So if you drive around town, you will see a few more properties, you will see a few more land parcels, just vacant grass land which could be potentially very attractive - for example next to Central Mall, Havelock Road. These sites I think would be a lot more attractive to the MNCs and the financial services industries.”

Consultants say transitional office sites will have little impact on rents in the CBD as they merely absorb low rent-yielding tenants so they can make way for companies who are willing to pay the higher rents.

They might, however, slow down the rate of increase.

Office rents in the CBD have shot up by 60 to 70 percent in the last 12 months.

Donald Han, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield, says: “Singapore is being recognised as a hub to position your original business in Southeast Asia as well as the Asian region, so more and more companies are demanding more space and expanding their operations. We are generally looking at almost every company (seeking) a minimal of 20 to 30 percent expansion of space upon every lease expiry, so that adds on to the pressure in terms of demand. So we think that this year, we expect net demand to be 3 to 3.5 million square feet.”

Analysts say Singapore needs about 2 million square feet of office space a year for the next 4 years but supply is estimated at just about half of that.

Source : ChannelNewsAsia - 25 Oct 2007

HDB will launch two new electronic services for potential flat buyers.

These are the Home Locator, which was launched on Thursday, and the Short Message Service (SMS) Alerts, which begins in December.

Buyers can use the Home Locator to search for their desired flat by specifying the criteria - such as location, completion status, flat type and price range, among others. This search helps narrow the choice of homes.

Users will also be able to view the selling prices and access electronic brochures using the Home Locator.

From December, HDB will also send SMS and email alerts to inform subscribers of new flats under the Build-to-Order scheme, as well as Balloting Exercises.

To sign up for these services, members of the public can log on to www.hdb.gov.sg from November 2007 onwards.

Source : ChannelNewsAsia - 25 Oct 2007

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched on Thursday 916 flats in Telok Blangah Towers and Punggol Lodge under the Build-To-Order System.

The new Premium and Standard flats comprise Studio Apartments, as well as three- and four-room flats.

Prices range from about S$72,000 for a studio apartment, to S$402,000 for a four-room flat in Telok Blangah Towers; while in Punggol Lodge, the price range is between S$122,000 and S$234,000 for three- and four-room flats.

Telok Blangah Towers is located between Telok Blangah Street 31 and Telok Blangah Drive.

Residents can also look forward to the upcoming MRT stations at Labrador Park and Telok Blangah on the Circle Line.

Punggol Lodge is easily accessible via Punggol MRT Station and a bus interchange.

Interested applicants can visit an exhibition at the Habitat Forum in the HDB Hub.

Applications for these flats end on November 14.

Source : ChannelNewsAsia - 25 Oct 2007