Too Little.. Too Late...

Following contribution is from a fellow SP in response to an unsigned anonymous letter received recently. 

Published below without any edit or moderation. 

 (1) Teresa Ville is our home

Recently, some residents and owners in Teresa Ville received letters from an unknown person who did not sign off the letter. This person is trying a last ditch attempt to persuade owners of Teresa Ville to sign the current CSA (Collective Sale Agreement).

The writer seems to find a lot of faults with Teresa Ville. He wrote that Teresa Ville is not near the MRT station, not near a shopping mall, it is old, etc…

If the writer has so much complaints about Teresa Ville, it is better for him to move out of Teresa Ville.

(2) Hutton’s extra commission that’s unfair to all SPs

No matter what the writer wrote, he did not attempt to address the unfair contract that gives the agent, Hutton, extra commission at the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars above what was originally mutually agreed. This extra commission is at the expenses of all the owners of Teresa Ville. This matter is the cause of unhappiness among many SPs.

 It makes one wonder what kind of extra economic benefits that some of these people getting from the agent by pushing for other SPs to sign the CSA. They don’t seem to be interested to bargain for a better and fairer commission agreement with the agent that would benefit all the SPs.

 (3) The July-2018 cooling measures

On 5 July 2018, the Singapore government introduced a fresh round of property market cooling measures. One of the new rules is that real estate developers must pay an additional 5% non-remissible ABSD (Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty) if they buy residential land. This 5% ABSD will not be returned or remitted to the developer.

The writer pointed out that “it is difficult to find the developer” who is willing to pay more than $1.1 billion, especially now that the developer must pay an additional 5% tax on the price of the land. Which amount to $55 million.

 However, if the CSC were to agree to raise the reserve price to $1.2 billion earlier, before the introduction of the latest cooling measures, it would have a much better chance to obtain 80% of the owners to sign the CSA and the enbloc sale would have been launched.

Unfortunately, they listened to the advice of their property agent and squandered the opportunity to launch the enbloc sale earlier. It makes one wonder about the quality of the advice that they are receiving.

(4) Quality of property consultant

Maybe it is difficult for the current agent preferred by the CSC to get such developers with deep pockets to take them seriously. Afterall, such major developers usually give more respect and pay more attention to enbloc sale agents with better market reputation and capability.

 You simply have to see which are the reputable property agents which had successfully concluded most of major enbloc sales recently from 2017 to mid-2018.

 “A tree shall be known by the fruit it bears.”

-       Luke 6:44

 (5) It’s too late

Even if 80% of the Teresa Ville owners were to sign the CSA now, it does not mean that the enbloc sale can be concluded successfully at $1.1 billion or $1.2 billion. The latest cooling measures had already killed off the enbloc sale momentum.

 Since the introduction of the cooling measures on 5 July, more than 30 enbloc sales had launched and closed without getting any buyer. Many developers are no longer hungry for enbloc sale land.

 (6) Forcing the whole kampong to sell their homes

A collective sale or enbloc sale is a situation where some unit owners of a condominium (condo) hope to sell their condo units to earn supernormal profit that is above the normal resale values of their condo units. But this is only possible if everyone else must also sell their condo units “collectively”. In other words, not only must the first group sell their units, they must also get the “whole kampong” or village to sell their units as well. This would totally destroy the community that exists in the condo development.

But what happens to those who just want to live peacefully in their homes in Teresa Ville? Do they have the right not to be forced to sell their homes at the price determined by other people?

(7) Recommendations

 Let’s enjoy Teresa Ville, its greenery and wide, open ground, as our home. Build good friendly relationship with your neighbours. When the next enbloc sale fever comes again and the circumstances are right, we can always try again.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to ALL Teresa Ville Residents and SPs..