look & see visit advise

[Wigwam]

We, a family of 4 from Australia, are comming for a look & see visit before agreeing to an expat offer.

Your advise is keenly sought.

1/ can you advise by name condo's near the Tanglin school area given a plan to spend $5,000 / mth. 4 bedroom / good sized balcony and idealy facilities of a pool / tennis etc would be nice. Are rentals T&C's negotiable? what are some of the traps of which to be weary?

2/ what other lifestyle issues would you suggest we cover before to ensure the relocation plunge is without surprises? - expat clubs, setting up banking services, transportation alternatives ( Car, / no car), furniture (stuff) to bring and to leave at home?

4/ Given 3 days of R&R during our lightning visit your advise / suggestions on where to go for a short beachy " local experience type" stop over for a family would be great.

Cheers

Wigwam

[SS Oz]

1) Your company should arrange for a real estate broker to take you around to see some condos. Give them your price range, but you should negotiate.  Most condos have the facilities you are after, although not always with balconies.
2) I'm also from Oz, and chose to live on the east coast rather than Tanglin, Holland areas. I think the east coast has more appeal - close to east coast park which has "beaches", cycleways etc, plus the Tanjong Rhu riverside / Indoor Stadium area has recently been completed which makes another nice park/waterway area, with bars and restaurants and a weekend market.  Since Singapore is so small, it is generally 10 mins in a taxi to good shopping centres, grocery stores etc, regardless of where you live.  If you are wanting to be near the schools, bear in mind that the international schools do pick-ups from the condos, so you don't necessarily need to choose a place close to the schools. Condos come furnished or unfurnished. Generally I found that furnished costs an extra $1,000+ a month - landlords tend to be pretty good about installing new furniture, fridges, washing machines etc.
3) Setting up banking etc is all easy.  I have an account with a local bank, and easily remit money home to Oz.  
4) Bintan is a nice local getaway - see this site's travel board for advice and you can book the ferry over the internet
Hope this all helps.

[Fat Bob]

In your terms and conditions, make sure there's something about excessive building work, so you can get out of you contract if someone descides to build 15 blocks around your site. They are availble, there's one in mine but I don't have a copy with me so don't know the exact wording.

Banks: easy, andy one of the local ones: DBS, UOB, OUB all have loads of ATM's across the island. However, you can only withdraw money from your own banks ATM's, not from others (even when willing to pay a surcharge, they won't let you do it). They all send money over the world, they can do it for you quite cheaply (unless you're only sending over small amounts!)

The option for a car is very expensive. Cabs, buses and MRT's are excellent, and very cheap. Depends all upon the convenience  factor: are you kids old enough to catch a bus to school or get picked up by one; do you insist on driving striaght home after big grocery shopping, or will a 5 minutes wait for taxi be ok etc

Hope you enjoy the visit!

[wigwam]

SSOz, Fat Bob thanks for your comments

You have suggested negotiation of rentals tarrifs. Is the market for rental depressed / soft at present? Can I expect to find rentals quoted realistic of the current Singapore market conditions? I am told there is a lot of properties available at present. Is this correct I hear your comment about the east coast environment. Is transport access easy from there, and are the condos of a better, newer / larger in size for my budget of $5K. We are comming from a large inner city Melbourne home and garden environment.

Have you heard of a 12month rental  agreement which allows us to relocate and experience different areas of Singapore. will this affect the price.
Fat Bob we are willing to opt for the public transport system in the immediate short term, Good enough for the locals good emough for us type approach, is the east coast as suggested by SS Oz an easy commute to CBD office / Tanglin school etc.

Can you think of issues I should experience in my 3 day visit that comes to mind??

Cheers Wigwam

[BoardManager]

We can help - please email to manager@expatsingapore.com or call
+65-6226 6062.

Board Manager

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 26-05-2002).]

[a local]

suggestions to (4):
a)east coast parkway beach (rent a chalet)
b)sentosa island (many hotels and chalet accomodation)

[JD]

Wigwam,
The housing market is down right now so your housing agent should be bale to negotiate a good rent for whichever property you decide to rent. Rents are falling for sure.
One thing to bear in mind when choosing a place to live, check if the kitchen has an oven in it. Yes I know it sounds dumbe but most asian kitchens won't have an oven as the majority of asian cooking isn't roasted/baked. You will have a hob/burner unit but often no oven. You would be surprised at the number of folks I know who discover after they have signed the lease that there is no oven! Most landlords will be able to provide one but be sure to discuss where it is likely to be situated-generally they get stuck on top of the counter and not always in the most sensible spot!
Have a fun visit.

[KatyF]

Also re: kitchens - a lot don't have hot water (although I find boiling a kettle works pretty well).

[Buses]

Assuming your child/ren will use a school bus consider we live off sixth Avenue(Holland area) and my child is picked up 40 minutes before school starts and gets 35-40 minutes after school ends-a long day for little ones and we effectively live  a lot less than 10 minutes from school by car. Further away and add another 10 minutes or so!! The buses accomodate the senior kids schedules and this means the younger(primary) kids have to cope. In preschool there is an earlier bus because they finish at 3pm but still it is another 20- 30 minutes before they get home-it would all depend on where the kids are in the pickup and drop off line I suppose. Personally I would live within the vicinity of the school.

[SS Oz]

From east coast the public transport is quite accessible. There are various bus routes, some are closeby, others are say 7 mins walk to bus-stop.  MRT line is a short busride (or taxi) away, say 5 mins.  We work in CBD (Raffles Place) and originally were taking the BusPlus (private minibus service) each day for $4 each. But we soon worked out that for two of us (hubby and I work in same vicinity) it was a bit cheaper to catch a taxi there. You will soon work out that taxi is such a cheap and easy way to get around Singapore that public transport, despite being easy, cheap, good quality, is soon abandoned. Here is a good site for working out how to get around Singapore (from A to B)- go to the map option. http://www.singquest.com/

As for ovens (as mentioned above) ours has a conventional microwave, which basically does everything.

[AliB]

I would suggest if your children are going to Tanglin (which is in a slightly awkward spot)that you do try and live on the same side of town as the school. Notwithstanding the excellent school bus systems, there are always going to be the times when you have to make dashes to school and to get to Tanglin from the East Coast could be a bit inconvenient, particularly in rush hour (the AYE can get quite busy). I would suggest that the Holland Road/Mt. Sinai part of town may be more convenient than the East Coast. Also the further you live from the school the longer your children spend on the bus.

However as with all things, it is a matter of personal choice and preference. As you have a chance to come on a "look see" make the most of it. Our theory is you start with the school and draw a radius out from it and try and settle somewhere within what you consider a reasonable distance.

With kids I would say a car is a definite - I do know people who manage without but I don't know they do it!

You will be lucky to find a lease for less than 24 months. Make sure it has a "diplomatic" clause which allows you to get out should the job move you.

I suggest DBS bank for your banking needs as it seems to have the most branches/ATM's.

Clubs - completely up to you and your budget. We are a member of a club and we find it very useful.

For a quick get away try Bintan, although the monsoon is in full swing at the moment and the normally calm waters are a bit on the rough side, it is still very pleasant.

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 26-05-2002).]