Personal appeal by a fellow SP - 'Not to allow trivial matters to cloud reasoning...'

To fellow owners who may be considering to sell their homes En-Bloc just because they feel Teresa Ville property has grown “Old” leading to few problems in their apartments.

Dear Fellow Teresa Ville Owner,

Greetings. As we all are anxious about the process and the outcome of proposed En-Bloc sales of our apartments; lets reflect on few key points which some of us may be considering in our decision making process

1.       Concern: Property is getting old:

Our view:     Teresa Ville TOP was in December 1986. That makes its age about 30 years. It is structurally strong with spacious and practical layout apartments, freehold and at a great location. There are ample examples in and around Singapore (you may Google), which indicate that the condominium building can have a life of 50 years at least assuming appropriate maintenance (If we go by the London standard, we can still live in an apartment built in the 19th Century J).

As an illustration, Condominium Act of the Philippines states that a condominium may be sold (En-Bloc) if the project has been in existence in excess of Fifty years…..). In Singapore over 31000 HDB flats were 40 years old in 2014 (reference: Figures given by then National Development Minister in Parliament) and still going strong. Let’s broaden our thinking. Just because Singapore has seen rapid development in last few decades, we should not term our 30 year old building as ‘sick or ailing’, but continue to value its spaciousness, location and freehold status. It either can continue to host our loving home for many more years or should command a high value (In our estimate at least SGD 1.25 Billion so that to cover the total cost of moving to a comparable replacement by individual apartment owners).

2.                 2.  Concern: My apartment has leakage, dampness in walls, termites, leaking pipes etc..

Our View:     Every building or apartment may develop some defects with aging, which must be promptly addressed. If it’s a common area, MC shall use maintenance or sinking fund to rectify the same. If the issue pertains to exterior of the building, again advice of Managing Agent should be taken. However, if the issue is within our apartment, we should take care of it in the best possible way, instead of putting the blame on the age of building and clouding our judgement if we should sell the apartment instead. Cost of the repairs of trivial issues in our apartment is likely to be much lower than overall cost of disruption of purchasing and moving to a newer apartment, which is likely to be smaller, in a compromised location, leasehold land and with no guarantee that such trivial problems may not develop there.  Moreover many a new apartments have more glass than concrete which seems more fragile. (Teresa Ville is a solid concrete structure, which can withstand many more years with right maintenance).  

Hence my friends, lets take a balanced view. Old is not always bad. More often older properties provide much greater conveniences in terms of spaciousness, privacy, nice layouts and location. Moreover, Teresa Ville is just 30 years old (it’s not even ‘OLD’ from wider perspective). Its structurally strong and is a rare Freehold property. Let’s not abandon it or lessen its value just because of trivial issues within or outside our apartments, which we can (and should) handle collectively or individually.

Thank you for your attention.