shoeboxmickeymousehouse

2012 jun 20 http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1166264/with_a_little_adjustments_a_shoebox_apartment_can_look_beautiful.html A homeowner in Singapore has wowed many with how she renovated her shoebox flat. From previously looking dark and cramp, the flat has now been transformed to look brighter and more spacious. STOMPer Shoesize14 was amazed when he came across these pictures of how modern this shoebox flat looked after renovations. Said the STOMPer: "Magnificent. "I think it was a pretty neat trick of her to use mirrors to give the illusion of a brighter space area. "Despite sharing her flat with her mom, the flat does not look cramp at all. "In fact, her utility room can even double up as a guest room, which means there might be 3 people in the flat at times! "I guess it does help that the homeowner does seem quite neat, and hence regularly packs her home area to make it less messy. Images 1 to 29 show the shoebox apartment....

2012 Jun 15 Stop shoebox apartment bashing From Leona Lo 04:45 AM Jun 14, 2012 TODAYonline I thank Mr Conrad Raj for speaking up, in his commentary "Not too small for comfort" (June 7), for small apartment dwellers like me, my husband and our two cats. We are renting a 43-sq-m house and will move to a similar-sized private apartment in 2014. We love our cosy dwelling, which we can easily spring-clean without having to rely on domestic help. The space constraint curbs indulgence in unnecessary household goods. Amid the outburst by the CEO of a prominent property developer and the hostility to small apartments by some analysts, I ask this question: "How is it any of your business if you are not paying for my mortgage?" Small apartment dwellers can live comfortably, too. Please respect this.

2012 jun 15 Smaller units have a role to play I agree with Mr Conrad Raj’s commentary “Not too small for comfort” (June 7) and would add that shoebox apartments play an important role in the real estate landscape here. Single professionals like me who graduated recently from university face difficulty starting a life of our own because of the high real estate prices. Renting is not a good alternative because high housing prices translate to high rentals. Sinking money into this means further postponing home ownership. It does not help that the Housing and Development Board bars singles below the age of 35 from purchasing public flats. Despite the high per-square-foot prices, shoebox apartments are thus the only affordable option for young graduates with only a few years of savings who wish to also graduate from the family home. While there are fears that speculators are cornering the shoebox apartment market and artificially driving up prices, cutting supply is not the an...

2012 jun 14 AS SOMEONE who has lived in shoebox apartments of sizes varying from 33 sq m to 50 sq m, I refute the recent strong statements by a chief executive of a leading property developer ('Shoebox flats 'almost inhuman' '; May 25). For a bachelor in his mid-30s like myself, who values privacy and seeks an independent life both socially and financially, investing in a shoebox apartment is a pragmatic way of starting off on this journey. It has been six years since I bought my first shoebox unit, of which I still have fond memories. I recall vividly the thoughts going through my mind rationalising the purchase then: - It was located just 10 minutes from the city by car, nestled among well-kept bungalows. - There were fewer than 30 units in the quaint 'conservation status' development. - My neighbours were a diverse mix of Singaporeans and expatriates from Australia, Japan and the United States. - It was really affordable. Friends were quite impre...

2012 jun 11 http://business.asiaone.com/Business/My+Money/Property/Story/A1Story20120611-351967.html CapitaLand has shoebox homes at Bedok Residences By Felda Chay CapitaLand Group, whose CEO recently called shoebox homes "almost inhuman", has residential projects with units that fall within this category. At Bedok Residences, 37 of the development's 583 apartments are below 50 sq m (538 sq ft). The smallest unit is 48 sq m, or about 517 sq ft. Another 11 units border along the size of a shoebox apartment at 50 sq m. Over at d'Leedon at Farrer Road, 226 of its 1,715 units are between 50 and 60 sq m, slightly bigger than what is usually considered a shoebox home. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) defines a small apartment as being below 50 sq m. There are, however, slight variations to benchmarks used on what constitutes a small home here. For instance, the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) classifies small apartments as those up to 506 sq ft (4...

2012 jun 11 http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/not-too-small-for-comfort-conrad-raj/ JUNE 10 — CapitaLand Holdings chief executive Liew Mun Leong is not one to shy from controversy. In fact he appears to love being drawn into one. Sometimes he is right and once in a while he gets it wrong. So it is no surprise that he recently roused the ire of shoebox apartment developers and buyers with his remarks on what he thought of such residences. And although I admire Mr Liew for his frankness and his views, I think he got it wrong on this one. He told wire services agency Bloomberg that such units were “almost inhuman”. Well, they may not be the kind of residences that CapitaLand, Southeast Asia’s largest developer, builds but at between 37 sq m and 46 sq m they can hardly be thought of as hellholes. “I am dead against shoebox developments. The Government should intervene. Singapore’s land is very precious and you are wasting your scarce resources by building shoebox apar...

2012 jun 8 http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-management-news/2012/6/33281/nothing-inhuman-about-shoebox-homes-oxley-boss By Romesh Navaratnarajah: Oxley Holdings Chief Ching Chiat Kwong has defended shoebox apartments, following a comment by CapitaLand’s CEO Liew Mun Leong that such units are ‘almost inhuman’. “Tell me what is more inhuman? Giving a young person an opportunity to buy an affordable first apartment in a good location, or making people cough up S$1,700 psf for a 99-year leasehold residential unit in the suburbs or HDB townships?” The developer has been actively building shoebox projects throughout Singapore. However, recent debates on shoebox units have sparked a lot of controversy. Liew said: “I am dead against shoebox developments,” adding that the government should restrict growing demand for these housing types. “Singapore's land is very precious and you are wasting your scarce resources (by building shoebox apartments).” “It's almost inhuman, it...

2012 jun 4 Property Investment Tips Part IV: 10 Tips for Selling If you are selling your unit, it pays to pay (pay to pay??) attention to some pointers: 1. Agent or not If you have the time and patience, by all means DIY. You will also need access to Option To Purchase, Offer to Purchase, Inventory List etc forms. Try to stick to standard formats, you can ask your lawyer for it. Do not act smart and come up with your own, as they may not readily hold in court should any mediation be required in future. Selling your own property actually is logical - who knows it better than yourself? Unique selling points, amenities, the shortest route to MRT, best times to use facilities, best food nearby, atm, gas station, etc, you will know better than any agent who is not also staying there. As to where to advertise it, you can either do an ad in Saturdays national paper classifieds, post in online classifieds websites, ask a question in property sites, make a post on social networking sit...

2012 jun 4 UPDATE (4 June 5:53pm CIMB has denied that it has stopped granting loans for shoebox units) According to PropertyGuru, at least one bank in Singapore is declining all loan applications for properties under 500 square feet in size, which are termed shoebox units in Singapore. The property market sentiment is generally poor now and banks are keeping a tight rein on financing. This also comes on the back of poor stock market sentiment which is in part caused by the Greece crisis and slowdown of the China and US economy. Apparently, an unnamed employee of CIMB said that they are no longer offering financing for shoe box units, even for high credit rating clients. The reasons given are extremely high prices per square foot as compared to more reasonably sized units. Another reason given is that the buyers of these units tend to be investors rather than owner occupiers, which means that default rates will probably be higher if there is an economic downturn. I wonder if other ...