One post before the final one

The second bidding Round has been concluded successfully. Ideally we would have satisfied many more requests. However, too many factors have made it impossible to offer more units in the highly popular site of Heritage View. We will discuss these factors later in our final self-evaluation post where we will also add suggestions to future INSEADers. Your suggestions for improvements are also welcome at SingaporeRCI@googlegroups.com.

Some of the RCI offers are still available. You may see the list on this link. 2BD and 3BD flats are offered to every INSEAD student on a first-comes fist-served basis. As for our single 1BD flat, this is offered on a random basis to RCI members who are still looking for a 1BD flat. Please let us know if that includes you!

In this post we would also like to try facilitate your independent flat-hunt in four easy steps.

First, check the information on MBA Connect. Nicely structured and informative, it should serve as a reliable guide throughout the rental process. The following two links require login and open the most informative pages (link-1 and link-2).

Second, we have compiled a list of four agents (plus Homestead) that we consider worth approaching. Our sources have been a poll that we conducted on 23 recent INSEAD students and student posts on MBA Connect. The list is presented in alphabetical order:

• Alex Leow: adec72@hotmail.com. We have not contacted him. He was selected on the basis of cost performance and quality of service information from our poll.
• Caroline Wong: +6598391066. We have not contacted her. She was selected on the basis of cost performance and quality of service information from our poll.
• Homestead Properties: http://www.residencesbyhomestead.com. They are offering nicely decorated and all-inclusive, but pricey flats. According to their website they have only one unit available immediately.
• Julie Kong: +6591767453, juliekqueen@hotmail.com, or juliekong@kf.com.sg. She has been recommended by previous INSEAD students on MBA Connect.
• Rebacca Lee: +6598778318 or rebaccalee@orangetee.com. We are currently working with her. She was selected on the basis of cost performance and quality of service information from our poll. She proved to be the most efficient (yet not perfect) among all agents we contacted.

Please treat these recommendations with caution, as other agents that were rated highly performed very poorly for us. It may be that the available information has been too sparse to produce a meaningful classification or that many agents around the premises are unreliable. Perhaps a bit of both.

Third, we have reviewed the Model Tenancy Agreement that is available here at MBA Connect. Our reviewed version can be found here (page numbers are missing and Google docs is to thank for that). In general the agreement was pretty biased in favour of the landlord. We have gone through it and tried to modify/remove items to make it more favorable towards us, but there is only so much we can change.

Fourth, navigate through our previous posts, especially this and this, where we answer some frequently asked questions.

That’s it for the moment!

Best wishes from the Singapore RCI Team

A grand finale

Have you ever tried swimming against the stream? We neither, but it cannot be much different from what we have experienced through RCI. A rental market moving at the very last moment as rapidly as the one in Singapore is not the right place to attempt early, collective flat-hunting!

We have no option but to call this effort over. But before we do so, we are going to put together one last show, Round 2 for 3BD flats!

Credits have been recalculated for everyone. In brief, (a) those that did not take part in Round 1 get 200, (b) those that won no unit and had some equal bidding get 100 plus whatever was placed on equal bids, (c) the same goes for those that won a unit that was withdrawn afterwards by the agents, they get back 100 plus whatever was placed on equal bids, and (d) those that were disqualified in Round 1 or declined an offer get only 100 credits.

Captains will be sent e-mails including a unique bidding ID and their recalculated credits. The Round will be concluded at 19.00 Singy time on July 5, about 48 hours from the moment this post goes live. Shauli’s tutorial presentation (link) is still relevant but not 100% accurate, given that your starting credits may be more than 100 and that there will be no other bidding Round. Nonetheless, the instructions attached on the bidding form (link) have been updated and are accurate. We have also updated the ‘Rental offers’ with three fresh units (link). If you have any questions, please get back to us at SingaporeRCI@googlegroups.com.

And just to make sure there are no mistakes, we repeat all links here:

• Tutorial presentation (semi-redundant)
• Bidding form
• Rental offers

Once allocation is over, we will get back to everyone with a tenancy agreement template and our insights about the Singapore rental market. We will try consolidate it with the advice available on MBA Connect. We will also make a review of our effort, and publish our conclusions and advice to future INSEADers arriving in Singy – DO IT, but in a different way!

Best wishes from the Singapore RCI Team

An alert, stats and FAQs

The Round 1 stats
2-BD flats
3 captains bid for 2-BD flats. Offer far outweighed demand, so everyone won their first choice.

3-BD flats
21 captains bid for 3-BD flats. Demand far outweighed popular offers, so only 6 won their top choice. 9 won a secondary choice and the remaining 6 won… nothing.

The alert!!!
The rental market in Singapore moves at a rather quick pace. This means that some of our published offers might be withdrawn, while we are kept busy allocating them. This actually happened in 3 cases of Round 1. Luckily this involved only 1 top choice, but everyone please be prepared for such a grim scenario.

And the FAQs
Round 2
It will start as soon as we collect any new offers (also from the popular choice of Heritage View), recalculate credits for people entering this Round, and prepare our spreadsheets. Just stay tuned!

1-BD flats
If you guys are waiting for a 1-BD flat, it so happens that we have only one offer. This we will publish in Round 2. We are trying to get some more, but it might happen that you will have to go on your own…

New units
As expected, Heritage View was a popular choice for bidders, but we didn’t have enough offers on hand. Now we are actively trying to scout up some more HV condos to make you folks happy and secure the HV Sunday mass, i.e. mass barbecue parties at the pits.
At the same time you might want to consider the options of The Rochester, which is just same distance from INSEAD and 5-7 mins walk to HV, and the renovated Dover apartments which also make a fine choice.

Credits
Regarding the recalculation of credits, we came across a few scenarios that we did not expect. For example, how many credits a team should get back if they were disqualified in Round 1 or if they decided to turn down a unit they won. We are discussing this internally and will make a decision prior to Round 2.

Master bedrooms in 2-BD and 3-BD flats
Most or all condos have 1 master BD (ensuite), and 1 or more usually single, smaller rooms. These smaller rooms are never ensuite, the 2nd bathroom is available from a common area like a corridor. Of course this might vary depending on the floorplan design.

Study here at your own risk

Amenity-, Box-, Utility-, Call-them-as-you-want- Rooms
Officially called maid’s room, signaled on our sheets as +1, they have an area of 1.2 x 2.0m and no windows (at least what Csaba saw while on the ground; see picture to right). You are better off using them as utility rooms, storing suitcases and other stuff there, rather than study- or bed- rooms.

Study-rooms
Some condos do have a separate study room, which is suitable for actual work. This is never signaled with the +1, but with the +S. You should confirm this with the agent, but size might permit to convert this into a smaller bedroom.

Early and general flat availability
Agents confirmed that flats are finding tenants usually within a month after an advertisement is published, and landlords most of the time cannot get back-to-back tenancy agreements. So do not be put off from the fact that a flat is immediately available.
Nonetheless, it might also happen that some landlord will not accept an offer due the timing issue, especially given that there are other potential tenants approaching them as a natural course of business. Probably that’s one of the reasons that MBA Connect advises us to take action 5 weeks before the courses start, i.e. late July.
Overall, we think that many of us will be able to strike a deal now, and not have to search within the last minute offers, decreasing a potential for bargaining, as agents have been disclosed the desired starting dates for each unit we look for.

Drawings and photos
Landlords do not have architectural drawings, and though we (Csaba) tried to push for it, agents are reluctant to make a quick sketch on paper and scan it. We will have to live with pictures, which are not readily available at the time of bidding, but should be collected and made available afterwards by agents to successful bidders.

Utilities
No utilities whatsoever are included in the rent. Rent only covers the money that goes to the pocket of the landlord.

RCI
We are carrying on and we are glad you are with us!

Best wishes by the SRCI SC ABCDE

Looking forward to Round 2

This is the end of the first bidding Round. Many thanks to all that took part to it and apologies to those that were unable to make it on time. A quick look at the stats reveals 21 bids for 3BD flats and 3 bids for 2BD flats. We were expecting a maximum of 30 bids in total, since 1BD and 4BD flats did not compete in his Round. We are currently reviewing the results and we will get back to everyone as soon as possible with the following information:

• whether you have won a unit, and what the booking procedure thereafter is;
• whether you may participate in the next Round, how many credits you will have then, and what your new unique ID will be;
• whether we have new offers added to the remaining ones;
• what the case is with 1BD flats, since none was available in the first bidding Round;
• what happens to your credits in case you were disqualified in Round 1.

Viewing access to the bidding sheets will be initially available only to the members of the SC. As soon as we review the results, bidders will also be granted viewing access to the sheets relevant to them.

Meanwhile, best wishes from the Singy RCI team…

The Real Thing is Here!

Just like you, we at the RCI SC were anxiously waiting for this post to arrive and can’t really believe it has finally come!

We have received some more as well as some less interesting offers from 2 agents, Sebastian Wong and Rebecca Lee. The total amount of units at our members disposal is 40. 4 above the cumulative demand and we will keep working to add more units as we roll. Yet, as most of us share an interest on 2/3BR apartments in the holy trinity (HV/DPV/ON), some harsh decisions will have to be made…

In order to let the teams decide their own destiny and allocate the apartments fairly and quickly, we have developed a bidding mechanism that requires your active participation and sportive spirit. Each team is asked to compile its list of desired apartments and split its resources between them. All you need to know about this process, as well as all relevant links can be found in the “BID” page under the “DO!” menu in the upper right corner of this blog (the “JOIN” page was removed).

Please, please DO NOT fill the bidding forms before carefully reading the tutorial presentation we put out to guide you through the process. Like in every serious competition, the rules of the game are strict  and any technical errors will disqualify the contending team.

Sebastian and Rebecca has generously agreed to reduce, if not waver their commission from us, please read the relevant column in the new Rental offers tab that was added to the BINGO! sheet to see the exact terms. Most rent prices stated can be negotiated with the agents/landlords after our internal bidding reducing 10-15% off the original tenancy fee.

We have a lot to digest and a lot to do. But as the market is dynamic and units availability changes daily, we don’t have a lot of time. So the deadline for the first round of bidding is 48 hours from now, meaning Monday, June 27th, 8:00am Singapore time!  

Good luck to us all and don’t hesitate to contact us with further questions! In order for everyone to see the answers, may we suggest that you use the comments feature under this post to ask for those clarifications.

Cheers,

The RCI SC

Time for a shrt post

Everyone participating in the RCI has made great patience so far, and we at the SC are grateful for it. Now we kindly ask you to wait for a final 24 hours.

We have a few offers in our hands, some good and others not, and hopefully can satisfy a fair few participants. We would like to review the offers internally first and also finalise the allocation mechanism. Then, in 24 hours (clock ticking), we go public!

So brace yourselves, we’ll be in touch soon.

The SRCI SC (if you do not know by now what the initials mean, you are out!)

Yet another looong post…

… so no beating around the bush. Let’s go straight to the point, starting with Csaba’s insights from his recent visit to Singapore. Here is what he has to say:

“The cruel truth is that near the INSEAD campus demand outstrips supply, what concerns decent accommodation. There are principally two options:

1. Walking to INSEAD: The holy trinity complexes are all within 15 minutes’ walk, and asking prices in S$ right now range from low 4000s to low 5000s. The condos in Heritage View and Dover are nothing special; amenities are those only in the common areas (pool, gym, tennis court, children’s pool, and playground). One North has usually decent furnishings, however it houses virtually merely 1 BR and 2 BR duplex units. The holy trinity will be complemented by a new development called The Rochester, expected to be handed over to owners in August 2011. Condos in The Rochester should be of the type and quality of One North, only targeting even more affluent tenants at asking prices of S$ 6000.
2. Bus INS(T)EAD: There are few (5-6) developments in a nearby area of town
   

   Condo full...

   called Clementi. This part of town is approximately 20 minutes by bus, without transfers. It also houses a mall and other shopping venues. Asking prices are somewhat more conservative, starting in the range of higher S$ 3000s to lower S$ 4000s. All developments are newer than Dover or Heritage View, with decent common area amenities. Those of us tight on budget should definitely consider these options.

3. All other alternative complexes are outside the comfortable commute circle, either above 40 minutes travel time and/or transferring between lines. Taxis are an alternative, and they are fairly available at affordable prices.”

There is more you need to know. While actively waiting, we have had the first offers from the agents and we will be receiving more until June 22^nd. We will need one or two days for sorting the offers and will publish the exact availability soon afterwards. We expect 80% to 100% initial coverage of current demand. However, as we will be adding new offers continuously, we expect that everyone will be satisfied eventually.

Allocation of 1 BD and 2 BD flats will be simple and will depend on availability. Allocation of 3 BD flats will be made in most cases through a credit bidding system. True to the INSEAD spirit, we have adapted to our needs the credit system used for courses. Details will be sent to everyone in ample time and then the buck will be passed to you (with our support!). So here are some other issues, picked by Csaba on his field trip and worth considering or discussing with your future flatmates:

• even though RCI tried to get the best prices, there is always room for bargaining the asking rent – our agents are on our sides, and will be assisting everyone accordingly;
• you should consider signing a 12 months tenancy agreement (even if your expected stay will be 4-6 months), as this considerably decreases the rent and with the subletting clause you should be able to change tenants, e.g. to incoming INSEAD students;
• so-called “fully furnished” condos have only a minimum furniture, none should expect the comfort of a real home.

We appreciate that despite its length (thanks for reading this far!) this e-mail leaves many questions unanswered. Feel free to reach us SingaporeRCI@googlegroups.com or hold your breath for another few days, until our next blog-post that will reveal many more details about flat allocation. Flat captains and alternative contacts will also receive our messages on e-mail, so that everyone is included!

 

Best wishes from all the members of the Singapore RCI Steering Committee

…and we are back!

Many of you have been wondering (righteously so!) how things are developing at the forefront of RCI. Time to break the silence. We have been active as always with our ongoing arguments (although there is still plenty of love), and getting to see the first glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel!

As Csaba described below, we produced a ranking of agents, based on former student feedback. Our sources varied from personal contacts and MBA Connect posts to a questionnaire that we distributed by e-mail. Then we got in touch with the best agents, a task that proved challenging and caused us some delay. Some agents would not reply to persistent e-mails or calls – one can only speculate as to why. Yet others have recognised that our initiative is a win-win situation, and their search on our behalf is bound to begin! For obvious reasons, we cannot reveal more info here, so please get directly in touch at SingaporeRCI@googlegroups.com with your questions.

As soon as we get the agents’ results we will proceed at once with the allocation of units. We have agreed internally on an allocation mechanism, but the exact details of it will depend on the agents’ results. We kindly request your patience until we get some flat lists in our hands.

And here comes the looming question: what happens if we get suboptimal or no results? Our course is starting in just three months (yipiii!!!) and, understandably so, everyone would like to sort accommodation as soon as possible. We share these concerns and, as we are working for the best, we are also preparing for all possible scenarios.

MBA Connect recommends to start flat-hunting 5 weeks before the course start. In the worst case scenario, having no flats to allocate by the 22nd of June, we will proceed with alternative plans. For example, we will share the fruits of our work, which in the worst case will vary from lists of recommended agents to contract templates and plenty of other material. Everyone will get to enter the property market 9 weeks before the course start and with intelligence that normally takes weeks to gather!

Finally, we would like to welcome the admits from Round 3! Congratulations guys and gals! Please ask us to join the accommodation spreadsheets. The MEMBERS spreadsheet will allow you to look for potential flatmates, depending on budget, lifestyle, etc. See it by clicking here or register on it by clicking here. You can see the UNITS spreadsheet by clicking here. You may not register a unit at this point, but you can join one of those that are not full yet – find them in white background and get in touch with their flat-captains.

We will be in touch soon.

Best wishes by the Singapore RCI Steering Committee

Throwing The Bait

If ya’folks have wondered what happened since the closing of the unit registration process, you’re more than welcome to read on. We were not sleeping, nor did we go on holidays (we hope you did…)

Here is short info pack you can digest, based on the latest available RCI compiled information:

• We’ve sent out appr. 330 emails to existing ’11J and ‘11D MBAs asking them to fill a poll on their agents and landlords with an assumed response rate of 14% (assuming 2 MBAs live in one unit on average)
• The majority of the 23 units are at the “holy trininty” condos (credit for the term goes to Shauli!), but a bit more than 1/3 are not in the immediate vicinity of the INSEAD campus

• Almost 2/3 of MBAs paid between S$ 3100 and S$ 4500 monthly, 50% rented a 100 – 120 sq.m condo, and 60% of contracts had a duration of 10 – 12 months
• Based on the poll inputs you can expect to pay S$ 37 per sq.m – or S$ 3.51 per sq.ft if you like – for an average 12-month rental, and to pay a premium of S$ 85-90 for every month of making the contract duration shorter
• If statistics tells us the truth, 13 out of 23 contracts were overpaid assuming there was no significant difference in the quality of the properties (of course we know there is difference, but the existence of Singapore Real Estate Sharks is confirmed                                                                                                from multiple sources)                                                                                    
• We have selected 9 agents during the prescreening,                       and are now waiting for their proposals

So the good news is that now we have the FORCE , and when agents will shortly send us their first offers we’ll do everything to squeeze them for the benefit of RCI members. We’ll shortly get back to you on the interim results of Singapore Rent Control Initiative vs. Singapore Real Estate Sharks game

Keep checking back, Csaba

Handing in the keys

How does our balance sheet look after almost three weeks of RCI activity? On the side of equity one can find many hours of work by the members of the SC and a few (hopefully not many) hours of commitment by the rest of the RCI members. Then the side of assets is occupied by a fancy blog, a few colorful forms, and the spreadsheet entries of more than a hundred classmates and over 30 units (thumbs up for Le Bateau Ivre and other cool unit IDs!). Yet what has mattered the most is the opportunity that was given to all of us to get to know each other better.

At this point Shauli and I are ready to declare our mission of attracting your attention as mission accomplished! Hereafter, the spreadsheets will remain accessible to you, our 12J classmates, and you can keep on making new entries or contacting us with your requests, either at SingaporeRCI@googlegroups.com (it works now!) or at our personal e-mail addresses. Students arriving after the deadline of the 5th of May (such as Round 3 admits) can join the spreadsheets and search for flatmates the same way that we did so far. However, we cannot guarantee participation to the RCI for any member or unit that have (been) registered after the deadline.

We are also ready to embark on a brief match-making project for those members that did not get the chance to join a unit. Our suggestions will be provisional and will start right after the deadline of the 5th of May. Nonetheless, if you are still looking for a flat, please be checking the notes sections of the Members Directory (link) and Our Bingo Card! (link). A few of the requested units are not fully booked and are welcoming more tenants!

As Shauli and I are ready to withdraw from the forefront of RCI, we wish to hand in the keys of responsibility to our peers that are in charge of the next tasks. Csaba maintains the lead, while Chirag and Samay are on top of gathering agent info and preparing the contractual agreements. We plan getting in touch with the first agents early next week!

Keep tuned to the blog for further updates!

Your humble servants, Shauli and Christos
 

PS. New link added, courtesy of Pranav Kapur. It can help you split the rent if this ever becomes a mind-boggling issue.