(This post was first published on Renotalk.com – now duplicated its in entirety on this blog for posterity :D)

I’ve recently received the keys for my resale HDB flat and my renovations are about to start. So I’m sharing my experiences here in the hope that they can benefit others the way I have from the other T-blogs here on Renotalk!

First some words about HDB’s new Resale flat process…

Since the start of 2018, HDB ?has implemented a HDB Resale Portal which makes it easier for buyers (and I assume sellers) to make transactions for their resale flats. So has it been easy?

I must say that HDB has delivered on their promise. Comparing my experience to those of my friends (who bought their resale flats in previous years), mine took much less time and was so convenient! A valuation request (after submitting Option to Purchase online) was processed and responded to in just 3 working days. My resale application submission (again online) was processed and approved in just 10 working days. And 8 weeks later, I was signing papers and received my keys at HDB Hub! Yes you read that right – only one trip to HDB Hub is needed now.?

HDB staff (or at least the ones who worked on my application) are hardworking people. I was getting SMS notifications on Saturdays and even evenings to alert me to updates I needed to view or follow up on at the HDB Resale Portal. And my completion session at HDB Hub took barely any time at all. Kudos to HDB! 

What I’m looking for…

As a soloist, I need a nice place which does not involve too much maintenance. Logically, I would have gone for a flexi (2-room) flat then, and for a while I was tempted – especially after viewing the beautiful renovation pictures of 2-room flats on Renotalk. Smaller flat means less maintenance, so it’s perfect right? But as I looked around my current home, I realised that I would need some place more spacious. So 5-room and EAs are too big, but 2-room is too small. 3-room sounds just nice but 4-room offers more options and possibilities.

So a 4-room it is!

The floorplan…

This is a 104sqm 4-room flat with a rather peculiar layout. The shapes and sizes of the bedrooms, bathrooms and yard are fine. I also love the sheer size of the dining and living areas. There are about 4 meters worth of windows in the living/dining area, so it gets a lot of natural light (especially since I have unblocked views all around this flat).

Only a few characteristics of this place did cause me some hesitation at first though

1. The odd angle in the living area. Sure the sofa and TV could run parallel against one of the 2 walls, but then aligning the dining table the same way would result in a weird angle against the living room windows. 

2. The location of the store room makes the path in from the main door somewhat narrow

3. Kitchen has an odd angle and not a perfect rectangle, which limits the placement of cabinets etc. I can also imagine it being very difficult to move around if I were to line the kitchen walls with cabinets! 

4. The common bathroom has windows opening up into the yard. This means the kitchen can’t be “expanded” into the yard (by breaking the walls) because…we can’t have people peeking in right? 

Nonetheless, these are issues that can probably be addressed with some planning and $$$ (i.e. renovation). And so here’s the floorplan!