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I am starting this thread as a complement to the main thread on property news and prices. I hope some of these tips/suggestions gained from actual dealing on the ground would be helpful to homeowners/buyers. I will start off with the below burning question that I get all the time....why some units break record prices but some could not be sold for months and months. Selling your property for top dollar Firstly, let's define what is top dollar? In my terms, top dollar would means selling above market valuation. Often, it also means breaking the record price of similar units in the same estate/condo. Over time, I observed that these price record transactions had a similar trend. To get top dollar, contrary to most beliefs, it definitely has much more science to it than art. Top dollar deals seldom come from just listing and pray; it has a method to it. Unfortunately most sellers/agents never really took the method seriously and in most cases, never get top dollar for their units. As this is a post and not a blog, I will keep it short and concise. To sell for top dollar, you need to understand the below on the psychology of a buyer when they come for viewing: 1) Buyers use very little logic when viewing, they tend to follow their emotions more 2) Emotions arise not just from what they see, but also from the other senses such as smell, feel, touch and hear 3) Sellers always make mistake by assuming that the buyer can imagine an empty house. The buyers don't and they won't 4) The key then is to be able to reach down to the sub-conscious of a buyer by invoking their positive emotions during viewing. Houses that gets top dollar often make the buyer feel 'right" and they then use their emotion to justify their logic. Failure to consider the above is the key difference between getting no offers (or market valuation at best) and one with a top dollar offer. Understanding the above,here are my 10 tips for sellers based on my experience: 1) A cluttered house kills good emotions. Always un-clutter the house before viewing. Throw away junks and keep the house tidy. The owner is selling the house and will need to move soon...use that opportunity to start clearing the house. This issue is so prevalent in many units that the seller think that the buyer will imagine an empty house. Again they won't! 2) Fix all minor defects. Again, too many sellers thinking that the house gonna be sold, what is the point of fixing it up. You don't have to renovate the house, but you should fix up all visible defects. Even a new coat of paint on any old house does miracles in getting good offers 3) Clean the kitchen top and uncluttered it. A clean good looking kitchen makes a lot of difference in getting top dollar. If there is one place that make the difference in offers, it is the kitchen. The buyer's wife/gf/mother has a lot of emotions attached to the kitchen and in most cases, they are also the CFO to the purchase. Unclutter the kitchen top and make sure the stove and built-in oven looks clean. I even had a seller once storing his microwave away just to clear up space for his very limited kitchen top space. 4) Dining table. Another culprit which is always full of everything except dining stuff. Clear it, and put an attractive piece, a vase with flowers, etc at the center. Pull the buyer eyes to the center of the dining table and let him feel that they can eat comfortably at that table. 5) A well lit, unblock, entrance door. Clear away your shoes or anything untidy at the entrance. An unblock well lit entrance creates eagerness to explore more of your house. 6) Masterbed room is important and it must look like it is ready for relaxation and sleep. I have seen many master bedrooms that has clothes hang in it, or the seller cramped a study table into the master. If you confuse the buyer over the purpose of that room, chances of getting a good offer is as good as nil. 7) Always give exclusive to your trusted agent. I seldom see record selling deals that are from open listing. Open listing agents are prone to be "tested" by the buyer agent and their motivation to close will bring you a lower price. Furthermore exclusive agents are motivated to do every viewing for you hence has minimal viewing leakage. 8) Be flexible in your ability to open doors for viewing. Great offers can come from any viewing time and if you restrict your viewing time to evening or weekends only, you are restraining your ability to get good offers, Two of my record breaking sales came from afternoon weekday viewing. Hence, never, never have viewing leakage. 9) Check if your house has certain odors especially for those with pets. The houseowner is often immune to any smell, but the buyer will sense it at a distance. And if you have pets that could walk around the house, (or make noise, for.e.g barking) , please bring them out somewhere if you have viewings. Again, please don't assume that the buyer can imagine that your pet won't be there when they make the purchase. They won't. Remember, the sense of smell and hearing invoke powerful emotions so if you want to get top dollar, make sure those senses of the buyer are not affected. 10) I leave the last point to the advertising. Good advertising attracts viewers. Unfortunately I've seen many seller/agents use mediocre handphone photos to advertise. Some photos are so bad that a young Instagram-obsessed teen would probably take better. If you already took the effort to do fix up, unclutter the house, etc, the last thing you want is to have photos that does not depict your house accurately. Wide angle photos, imo, is the minimal requirement. Videos and virtual tour are great, but only if your house is of a certain size. Buyers will sub-consciously drawn to sellers/agents who take pride in advertising their house and first impression does count in this business. Don't neglect this which I somewhat keep seeing all the time. There are many more concepts that I can keep going (the use of colours for e.g) but the above is suffice for most sellers if they want their property to fetch good offers. Infact, I seldom see all 10 points click into place, but if they do, that property should get good offers. It is very often for me to hear that some units could not be sold for months, but when another agent took over, it get sold within one month at the same asking price. I don't believe it is all luck. It has to do with the method right from advertising to preparing the house for sale. I hope the above helps in giving some ideas in getting good offers for your property at your location. Your property is one of your biggest investment so it is worth the effort in putting the right "sciences" into it and get the top dollar offers.

Deleted Use the marketplace or other channels

Was looking for a used car which has 2-3 years left. Seems like used cars with 2-3 years left have ridiculously high depreciation, some cases even higher than brand new cars or those that are 1-2 years old? This is especially so for the popular ones like altis and camry where you can get the brand new ones for lower depreciation, with warranty and 5 years free servicing. I can understand the loan restriction probably pushed the price of these used cars up, but are this pricing really what is happening if I walk into a used car dealership?

Dear All, I am personally not convince with the replies given by the Minister on the over budget of the recent YOG. Initial budget was 104 Million and actual expenditure was 387 Million. The Minister admited that there was a mistake and it is a bloody expensive mistake. Moreever nothing is mention about making up for the mistake. Another mistake with projection ...... like the COE. What is happening ? Cheers

Been wondering the actual cost of car ownership in Singapore Example Car1 buy $70k sell $36k Car2 buy $70k sell $53k ($36k from Car1 used as down payment) Car3 buy $66k sell $72k ($33k from Car2 used as down payment) Is it right to assume at end of day my actual cost of ownership is $45k for all 3 cars. Not taking interest, opex into the picture. Correct?

I traded in my car recently and here is the actual mileage clocked by the car under my ownership. If you come across this car in the used car market, expect no less than the mileage shown in the photo. Please share yours to build the database, I reckon it will help those who are in the market for used cars. Vehicle Details Vehicle No.: SKE6236R Vehicle Type: P10 - Passenger Motor Car Vehicle Attachment 1: No Attachment Vehicle Scheme: Normal Vehicle Make: HYUNDAI Vehicle Model: GETZ 5DR A Chassis No.: KMHBU51HR5U263193 Engine No.: G4EA4577149 Engine Capacity: 1341 cc Maximum Laden Weight: - Unladen Weight: - Year Of Manufacture: 2004 Original Registration Date: 02 Nov 2004 Lifespan Expiry Date: - COE Category: E - Open Category Quota Premium: $27,500.00 COE Expiry Date: 01 Nov 2014

Now Singapore can have this type of license plate number with dash and no S in front and 2 alphabet behind? Must bid?

any insider info for actual date of coming GE

To all Mitsubishi i owners and car critics, I have a friend who is considering to buy 2nd Hand car and finds this car cute for her. I'm trying to help her to get some facts on this car : a. Can it sit 5 adults ? How is the Head and Leg room ? b. What is the Fuel Comsumption like ? c. Since its MIVEC Turbocharged, does it perform like a 1.3L ?? d. Any other comments welcome. Thanks,

Been seeing wonderful claims on the FC of the Golf and Polo. Any new golf/polo owners can come in and shed some light on the actual FC they are getting?

normally when pumping at petrol station, you will just see the label at the pump and just fill up. so how do i know the RON98 that i am pumping is the actual RON 98 and not some lower grade fuel?

Anyone can confirm if 'Sneak Preview' is exactly the same as the actual opening show for any newly launch movie ? My daughter's friend claims there are some differences i.e additional snippets, longer duration, etc.

Think dis will be useful for ppl buying used car, trading in etc to refer to. Pls indicate any actual transacted body value u hv come across. Must be actual not hearsay or some ballpark figure quoted by dealers. Format shld be YOM , model , $ that the body sold for, scrapped or trade in to dealer / AD / sold to end user (can be selling $ less current LTA paper value.

Anybody can recommend me a good & experience photographer man whom is needed on my younger bro's wedding actual day? I need a photographer man whom can take wedding photos from the morning until the night of the wedding day on 26th Dec 2009 (Sat). My barget is abt $500 for a full day. Thks!!!

Been trying to figure out the actual no of our very own kind of countryman..that are realy born in singapore... heard there are 1 million china people in singapore..seriously feeling that way as everytime when am in supermarket..seem like am being surrounded by china people...PM said make plan for 5.5 million in this island..so what is the real no of our our kind of people exist in this island now?

Taxi Fare Hike is here. Guess we all want to be mentally prepared as to how much more we will actually spend (for those who take cabs sometimes) So lets share the price difference before and after with details, i'll start first (please note this only applies to cab fares with the increase - i know companies like smrt have not increased their fares yet. Orchard to Commonwealth Old Price : $7.50 - $8.50 New Price today : $13.70 i think if i am not driving either take public transport or don ' t go out liao

bros..any idea what are the road closure for NDP Previews and actual day? today might be going down to MS for dinner..so contemplating whether to drive or not.. drive scared no place to park..

Found this after surfin ard looking for info on the CTR and deciding which one is a better buy for my nex car http://www.honda.co.jp/CIVICTYPE-R/prototype/jbtestdrives/ here it is Jensen Button driving it in Japan NOTE: this is a prototype nia, real one shld be aga-ration about the same loh http://www.redh.co.uk/ and the UK Civic Type R similarly driven by Jensen as well in one of the vids Enjoy the sites and shows~!!!

Yo all, http://auto.idnes.cz/spionazni-fotky-nove-...0_ak_aktual_fdv Click the link and seehttp://auto.idnes.cz/spionazni-fotky-nove-...0_ak_aktual_fdv

1) Sedan front 2) Sedan rear 3) Liftback front 4) Liftback rear 5) Estate front 6) Estate rear 7) Interior 8) Instrument cluster (Nice!)

Hi all, I am selling off my car and getting a new japanese car. I have seen what the PI advertise but were told by my friend that price is almost impossible to get, such as ard $55k for a Honda Airwave. Can any kind bros/sis here give me an indicative price range of the car you bought. Also, will it be better to trade in your car or find a buyer outside yourself. I am looking for a Japanese car strictly not more than 60K. No need to post the pros and cons of any car because I can read them in other threads liao, heehee. I was quoted honda jazz auto $57900. Thanks in advance.

Yo guys any one can give me d idea of fix location of sugei kadut?? need to look for parts lei... thanks.

Everyone please take note if you are considering to fix HO. DON'T!! I had a bad experience w HO. Upon receiving my car (pre-fixed w HO thru BMotors) I noticed a couple of air bubbles & peeling at the edges. Just fix & peeling, imagine after 2 yrs the film would look like sxxt! Anyway inform Infra via BM when doing 1k servicing. They did not replace but cut off the peeling edge! The best part the tried to CON me saying that they replaced the film. They must think customers like me are BLIND & RETARDED ! Told off the supervisor & they immediately replaced it. Problem now is after 1.5 mths, I noticed another peeling at the edge. And I found out when browsing their warranty that altho' stated 10 yrs, but in the sticker fine print, it over rule the 10 yrs warranty by stating that they reserve the right to refuse replacement file after 30 days! Or they can charge a norminal fee for replacement. sxxt ! spending $900 for shitty workmanship & now getting screw by them with fake warranty! Arrghhh, should have stick w V-Kool or Cool Lite. Or even X brand as long as workmanship is good. So please do tempt fate just avoid Huper Optik unless u enjoy being SCREWED!! [bigcry]

Went to Shell to pump petrol today n saw the detailer from black magic. Wanted to buy but on second thoughts didnt know the actual use of it.Written on the back of the bottle claims that it can remove water marks..true??Can any bro enlighten pls??