i am so annoyed with HDB now. this is like the FOURTH time they're asking me for the same documents, the same damned documents, when i have told them each time they send their stupid request that i DO NOT have the documents they are requesting for!!
it's really damn annoying!!
ok, chope.
let me give you some background to the situation, cos i don't believe i have spoken about this here yet. heh. well, we had wanted to keep this hush hush till everything is firm and concrete. well, our flat is pretty much built, firmed and concrete, so i suppose it's okay to talk about it now, heh!
yes! our flat!
noel and i have applied for our HDB flat last year in October actually. the $2000 option fee has been paid, documents have been signed, and our unit has been booked. yey!
but far from this being a happy and exciting journey, this is actually becoming a totally annoying and exasperating experience! for me, at least!
even from the beginning, this is proving to be a complete hurdle for us. firstly, the unit we have successfully applied for is in AMK. we had actually wanted a resale flat in AMK Ave 10 - very near Auntie D and Gramma Gerry! - and was looking forward to moving out to our own place in a matter of three months. i just wanted our own place as quick as possible.
but alas, when it came to our turn in january this year (our balloting number was 247, which was very promising as we were told by fellow house-buying-experienced friends), all the resale units were snapped up, so we were left with no other choices, but to opt for a new flat that will be completed in august 2012. TWO YEARS!!
the pro to this is that we will get a totally "clean" and new apartment, with no need to fear about previous owner issues, or having to deal with massive renovations. the only downside is having to wait for nearly two years till we can eventually move out. but oh well. we had a back-up plan, which is to perhaps rent a place, till we get the keys to our new place. (still searching by the way!)
okay, so the reason why we opted for a place in AMK is, because we were under the correct impression, that if we get a place within 2km radius of any of our folks, under the Married Child Priority Scheme, we'd get that "proximity grant" of about $30K. right? noel's folks stay in upp thomson, which is just at the junction of AMK Ave 1, and our new flat is along AMK Ave 1, facing Bishan Park 2. definitely within or at least just skirting the 2km radius.
so imagine our dismay, when during our first appointment in january, we learned that we are not entitled to any housing grants! not even the first timer grant! and why? because according to HDB (or at least, the staff that attended to us), the flat we are opting to purchase is from the Sale of Balance Flats Exercise, and is (quote) already considered cheap (unquote), therefore no grants will be extended to us.
like, hello???? $367 THOUSAND for a 4-room 87m2 pigeon hole of a flat is hardly CHEAP!! if we had known this fact before we submitted our application, we would have opted for a flat in Punggol or Sengkang!! screw the 2km proximity! i would have been happier, we would have a smaller hole in our pockets, and be a lot less stressful!!
but wait, it gets WORSE. because noel and i are both over 30years of age, instead of having to pay 5% downpayment, we are required to put up the full 10%! this is, like, nearly FORTY-THREE GRAND, after adding in the stamp and conveyancing fees. ok so, nevermind, we can't change our minds already, because that would mean forfeiting our application and our turn, so we paid the $2000 option fee, booked our flat, and went ahead with it.
so now we're in the process of sorting out our HLE - and it is getting more and more frustrating by the month. today we received another letter from HDB, asking yet again, for my Notice of Assessment for the Year 2008 and 2009.
sigh.
i have told them FOUR times already, i do not have my NOA for these two years. since i left Bar None in 07, i have been unemployed. i was pregnant, and just starting to build stubbornsnails. more importantly, i was NOT required to file. when i logged into myTaxPortal, a big fat statement that read "You are not required to file" was plastered on the home screen. i have even printed a screenshot of this to provide as proof!
i have written to them THREE times, told the HDB staff during our first appointment at least TWO times, that i was unemployed technically till June '09 cos that was when i registered my company. i have given them all possible necessary documents, declared all that is possible to declare, so i am getting quite annoyed that there is no form of ability to record it in their system, that i do not have my NOAs for the two damned years they keep requesting! argh!
all this is delaying the approval of our HLE application, and consequently the signing of our Agreement for Lease! hey, not that i can't wait to part with 43grand, but i just want to feel secure that we will get our place as estimated in 2012 (maybe in late 2011 if all goes well), and not have our option fee forfeited for whatever case.
it's just...i want noel and i to have our own place so badly, because drayden needs his own space and room to keep his toys, and i just think it's a nice and warm feeling to come home to a house that is truly our own, with just the three of us. everytime we drive by AMK 1, i get incredibly excited just staring at the heap of on-going construction!

soon-to-be ours! *fingers crossed!*
hopefully, noel and i will be proud house-owners come 2012! =)
it's really damn annoying!!
ok, chope.
let me give you some background to the situation, cos i don't believe i have spoken about this here yet. heh. well, we had wanted to keep this hush hush till everything is firm and concrete. well, our flat is pretty much built, firmed and concrete, so i suppose it's okay to talk about it now, heh!
yes! our flat!
noel and i have applied for our HDB flat last year in October actually. the $2000 option fee has been paid, documents have been signed, and our unit has been booked. yey!
but far from this being a happy and exciting journey, this is actually becoming a totally annoying and exasperating experience! for me, at least!
even from the beginning, this is proving to be a complete hurdle for us. firstly, the unit we have successfully applied for is in AMK. we had actually wanted a resale flat in AMK Ave 10 - very near Auntie D and Gramma Gerry! - and was looking forward to moving out to our own place in a matter of three months. i just wanted our own place as quick as possible.
but alas, when it came to our turn in january this year (our balloting number was 247, which was very promising as we were told by fellow house-buying-experienced friends), all the resale units were snapped up, so we were left with no other choices, but to opt for a new flat that will be completed in august 2012. TWO YEARS!!
the pro to this is that we will get a totally "clean" and new apartment, with no need to fear about previous owner issues, or having to deal with massive renovations. the only downside is having to wait for nearly two years till we can eventually move out. but oh well. we had a back-up plan, which is to perhaps rent a place, till we get the keys to our new place. (still searching by the way!)
okay, so the reason why we opted for a place in AMK is, because we were under the correct impression, that if we get a place within 2km radius of any of our folks, under the Married Child Priority Scheme, we'd get that "proximity grant" of about $30K. right? noel's folks stay in upp thomson, which is just at the junction of AMK Ave 1, and our new flat is along AMK Ave 1, facing Bishan Park 2. definitely within or at least just skirting the 2km radius.
so imagine our dismay, when during our first appointment in january, we learned that we are not entitled to any housing grants! not even the first timer grant! and why? because according to HDB (or at least, the staff that attended to us), the flat we are opting to purchase is from the Sale of Balance Flats Exercise, and is (quote) already considered cheap (unquote), therefore no grants will be extended to us.
like, hello???? $367 THOUSAND for a 4-room 87m2 pigeon hole of a flat is hardly CHEAP!! if we had known this fact before we submitted our application, we would have opted for a flat in Punggol or Sengkang!! screw the 2km proximity! i would have been happier, we would have a smaller hole in our pockets, and be a lot less stressful!!
but wait, it gets WORSE. because noel and i are both over 30years of age, instead of having to pay 5% downpayment, we are required to put up the full 10%! this is, like, nearly FORTY-THREE GRAND, after adding in the stamp and conveyancing fees. ok so, nevermind, we can't change our minds already, because that would mean forfeiting our application and our turn, so we paid the $2000 option fee, booked our flat, and went ahead with it.
so now we're in the process of sorting out our HLE - and it is getting more and more frustrating by the month. today we received another letter from HDB, asking yet again, for my Notice of Assessment for the Year 2008 and 2009.
sigh.
i have told them FOUR times already, i do not have my NOA for these two years. since i left Bar None in 07, i have been unemployed. i was pregnant, and just starting to build stubbornsnails. more importantly, i was NOT required to file. when i logged into myTaxPortal, a big fat statement that read "You are not required to file" was plastered on the home screen. i have even printed a screenshot of this to provide as proof!
i have written to them THREE times, told the HDB staff during our first appointment at least TWO times, that i was unemployed technically till June '09 cos that was when i registered my company. i have given them all possible necessary documents, declared all that is possible to declare, so i am getting quite annoyed that there is no form of ability to record it in their system, that i do not have my NOAs for the two damned years they keep requesting! argh!
all this is delaying the approval of our HLE application, and consequently the signing of our Agreement for Lease! hey, not that i can't wait to part with 43grand, but i just want to feel secure that we will get our place as estimated in 2012 (maybe in late 2011 if all goes well), and not have our option fee forfeited for whatever case.
it's just...i want noel and i to have our own place so badly, because drayden needs his own space and room to keep his toys, and i just think it's a nice and warm feeling to come home to a house that is truly our own, with just the three of us. everytime we drive by AMK 1, i get incredibly excited just staring at the heap of on-going construction!

soon-to-be ours! *fingers crossed!*
hopefully, noel and i will be proud house-owners come 2012! =)


























































































