What U Need To Know Before Buying A House?

                                                                                    Courtesy of Sundaytimes

Buying a house is one of the biggest and most expensive purchases everyone will ever make in his/her lifetime, so it is important to do your homework beforehand.

Some key points that are summarised from the illustrated article:

1. Prepare in Advance

- You need to pay at least 1 percent of the purchase price in exchange for an option to purchase.
- Next, you will have 14 days to decide whether to proceed with the purchase. If you are ok, you will need to pay the remaining 9% (for completed property) or 4%(for under construction property)
- Following that, you will need to engage a mortgage specialist on financing and the whole process will take about 10 to 12 weeks.

So apply early.

2. Selection of loan tenure

Generally, the maximum loan tenure is 35 years, but it depends on the borrower's age.

3. Choose the right home loan package to your needs

Most banks offer 3 kinds of home loan packages, namely

a) Fixed Rate: Suitable for those who want to have a peace of mind as during this period, there will be no rate volatility. Note: Penalties will be imposed if you wish to have early settlement

b) Variable Rate: This is a package that pegged the rates against bank's reference or board rate.

c) Market-pegged

4. Get mortgage insurance for protection

This is to covers the home loan balance in the event that the borrower dies or is totally and permanently disabled. Although not compulsory, it is strongly recommended.

Note: Buying a HDB flat will require you to get a HPS (Home Protection Scheme), it is a MUST.

Read more in the article for more details.

Read more...

My Golden Egg

                                                                    Pic: courtesy of CPF

Have you thought about the following?

1. What is your retirement wish?
2. How much do you wish to have to enjoy your retirement?

If yes, please share your retirement thoughts with CPF and you could win a prize in our monthly lucky draws from July to December 2010, held in conjunction with CPF's 55th Anniversary!

There are 3 iPads and 50 vouchers worth $55 to be won in the lucky draws!

For more detail, please visit Make A Retirement Wish Here And Win Prizes

Read more...

Too Good To Be True

source: todayonline

Beware of non traditional investment that promises high return.

"At the end of the day, it's still the same advice: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Some investors have gone to the police after discovering that the wine investment company in which they had put their money has been closed since the middle of the month.

The investors are fretting over the fate of their investments as they have not been able to contact staff of Assets Wine Management (AWM) since around June 15. Some of the investors have put in hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is believed the company has over 1,000 clients and holds over $10 million in investments.

Police confirmed that reports have been lodged against the company. The Consumers Association of Singapore also said it had received feedback about AWM earlier this month.



The people running AWM are said to be the husband-and-wife team of Mr Keegen Lee Ghim Seng and Ms Kally Quee Chieh Shung. Tenants in the area said they had not seen Mr Lee or any of the company's employees for the last two to three weeks.

Ms Sandra Tan, who works in a neighbouring office, said AWM's office was staffed by seven or eight employees. Its three-storey office is plushly furnished and has a members-only lounge for clients, she said.

Another tenant, who declined to be named, said some of the wines AWM sells cost several hundred dollars a bottle. Mr Lee drives a BMW 5-series and the couple appeared to be "quite well-to-do", he added.

It is not uncommon for investors to sink in hundreds of thousands of dollars on vintage wine, which purportedly earn an average return of about 15 per cent over five years.

A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) showed that AWM, a $10,000 paid-up limited exempt private company incorporated in 2005, is still a "live" company. It lists a Madam Ng Choon Siang as the company director and Ms Quee as the secretary. Mr Lee is reportedly the regional sales director. Repeated attempts to reach Mr Lee and Ms Quee on their mobile phones were unsuccessful.

According to Acra records, Mdm Ng and Ms Quee share the same address in Tampines Street 45. The HDB flat seemed unoccupied yesterday afternoon.

Case executive director Seah Seng Choon said: "If we find the company carrying out unfair practices, we will not hesitate to take action against the company."

For these customers of Assets Wine Management (AWM) - many of whom were savvy investors looking to diversify their portfolio - such sales tactics should have set off alarm bells.

This is not the first time complaints have been levelled against a wine investment firm. In May last year, Universal Assets Group was also reported to the police for delaying investment payouts. It later folded.

MediaCorp spoke to five investors who had pumped in between $15,000 and $50,000 in the three months before Keegen went missing on June 6. He is believed to have fled the country with his wife Kally Quee Yen Ping, 32, taking with them hundreds of thousands of dollars belonging to clients.

What to look out for in this type of investment?

Associate Professor Fong Wai Mun, from the National University of Singapore's department of finance, advised investors to be more cautious when it comes to non-traditional investment products, such as wine.

Before investing, they should do background checks on the company and the proprietor. They should also consider the risk if they are not able to see the bottles of wines they are investing in.

He said: "Investors should always ask questions when someone promises exceptionally high returns over short periods".

Read more...