mameha

Are there any condos that are known for having a lot of brits?

Hopefully east side, not too expensive ($2500 is my limit!)

Inselaffen

think that sort of money you will be limited to older condos such as Bayshore

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/singa...e-bayshore.htm

we looked at a couple of aprtments there. The facilities are excellent but it was a bit too far out of the centre for us. Also many of the apartments are in need of renovating.

in the end we went with Cote D'Azur but paid a bit more than your budget (for a 3 bed)

mameha

That place looks great! Location is also good as I will be working around Geylang.

ex reg

Why would you want to be in Singapore but in a complex with lots of Brits.

Inselaffen

only problem from there is transport.
there are also plenty of condos near Geylang but I don't think many have large european/brit expat communities.

I would guess our condo is maybe 5-10pct european.

Kooky.

The mind boggles

You could look at some of the older properties up East Coast Road, around Katong, Joo Chiat, Siglap, all the way up to Bedok.

We lived in deepest Geylang; we loved it. We weren't in a condo but there are a couple just west of Geylang Road (around Lorong 27 IIRC) and there is also the Waterina at the far north end of Guillemard Road. They were also building another one on Lor 26 or 28 when we left last year; I could see it from my study window in Lor 24A.

Not many Brits in any of them, I would wager, but why the heck would you want to live amongst Brits in Asia? We moved away from Holland Road because it was too blonde.

mameha

Yeh Im not exactly working for a huge company. Big in Japan, but the Sing office is fairly small. I heard its the red light area there but in the daytime I couldnt pick up any of that, though we drove along a road that had a lot of bars (closed in daytime).

Yes the Waterina looks nice. I'll look online at the condos you mention tommorow.

Itd be nice to be near some brits for the sake of the kids accent! Also, we won't be using international school so we want to max up exposure to real native speakers. We only have X amount of money, so rather than blow it all on int. school, we want to live in a nice condo with plenty of native speakers and spend the summers in UK every year.

Kooky.

Ah. With kids you might not want to live in deepest Geylang. The trade goes on 24/7, believe me. The Waterina is on the edge though.

ex reg

You could try Tanjong Rhu.
In this downturn there are probably a couple of condos there within your budget.

And there's a bus from there straight to Geylang ish.
No 158.
And the mall, just 5 mins walk across the river, has been upgraded and there's a good supermarket there and if you are lazy I think they've just built a road acroaa the river as well.

Inselaffen

Tanjong Rhu is a bit isolated though.
another possibilty is Villa Marina in Siglap. Nice low rise condos with a great pool. Lots of europeans with kids. you may get a 2 bed arnd your budget

Kooky.

Villa Marina. I had that one in mind when I mentioned those areas. Did it go en bloc? Not that I suppose it matters; Bayshore Park went en bloc eons ago.

ex reg

Isolated from what?

mameha

Thanks for the tip about Villa Marina.

What is en bloc?

mameha

Also, which are the best websites to look for condos? Ive found a few but they all seem quite poor compared to UK/US sites - rarely any photos/floorplans.

The best I have found is propertyguru.com.sg

Englishmum

You will find floorplans and photos of condos here:

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/ - when we were looking for a condo and I was still living in New Jersey the agent we were using via the company, referred me to this website. It helped when drawing up a shortlist.

You need to check if you will have to pay towards your agent's commission...I think you have to pay some or all of it on rentals of under $2.5k, (for higher amounts the landlord pays all of the realtors/agents fees) but this amount may very well have changed....but I do urge you to double-check!

Prices are thankfully coming down. Before any handover, do take lots of photos or video with the date, as some landlords will try to make their tenants pay for every tiny scratch or mark on the wall and try and retain some or all of your deposit at the end of the tenancy. Try and find out what the landlord defines as 'reasonable wear and tear'.

Sorry I can't help with condo ideas....I'm just off Holland Road and there are a few Brits in our condo. There tend to be expat 'enclaves' in the vicinity of the various international schools and the British ones, Tanglin Trust, Dover Court Prep and United World College (albeit more international these days) are not far from Holland Village towards the south-west of the island. (However, I'm definitely not blonde!)