Finally, one good thing that the gahmen has done recently is dishing out harsher punishments on loan sharks and errant borrowers.

And this is good news especially for people like us who are left with no choice but to hunt for flats in the resale market.

Recently, in our house hunt, TSO and I came across 2 units whose owners are asking for just a mere 20k COV instead of the usual 30k-35k range. And we thought that we could have struck a good deal until the agents pulled us aside and warned us that these are actually Ah Long Chu!!!

WTF!!! On closer inspection, we noticed tell tale signs such as the grills had a thicker than usual coat of paint and spy cameras fitted near the entrance. Although one of the flats belonged to a Malay and we could possibly ask for below valuation prices, we felt that it's not worth taking the risk.

I mean in theory, the loan sharks should leave us alone, since the ones who borrowed from them are Ah Mats and we are Cheenas but you can never be too sure right?

Luckily, we came across a nice 9th level corner unit over the weekend and we paid what we thought was a decent and fair price for it.

Although we would have to re-reno the whole place, but considering the big area (122 sq m compared to the usual 190 plus sq m 5rm flats) and its ideal location (in between Rivervale Mall and Rivervale Plaza and its close to my parents), 27k COV seems reasonable enough.

Problem of cuz is we would have to secure a housing loan soon and most probably, we would have to take a reno loan as well. But oh well, we'll be having our own place in about 6-8mths' time!

In the meantime, however, our past time would be pouring over home decor magazines for ideas on how to do up the flat.