Speaker 1: You're listening to AC N A podcast,
Speaker 2: getting the keys to your new home. It's a significant
Speaker 2: and exciting milestone, isn't it? It's the first step to
Speaker 2: building your dream home apart from shopping for it. Of course,
Speaker 2: now you start pinning visual inos on your virtual vision board.
Speaker 2: And before you know it, your wish list is inflating
Speaker 2: your budget and then you move on to the next
Speaker 2: task of finding a good contractor or interior designer.
Speaker 2: It's a process that's all too familiar to me. I've
Speaker 2: done that many times. I'm Andrea Heng. This is the
Speaker 2: Money talks podcast. I'm about to get you some real
Speaker 2: life solid advice on how you need to manage your
Speaker 2: renovation budget so that you don't have to go through
Speaker 2: what I went through.
Speaker 2: And that advice is going to come from my guest today,
Speaker 2: Daniel Lim. He's the co-founder of Canvas. It's an online
Speaker 2: renovation platform and that's where homeowners like you can search
Speaker 2: for reliable interior design firms here in Singapore. Welcome to
Speaker 2: the podcast, Daniel. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2: So first we want to talk about setting the budget, right.
Speaker 2: This starts to happen when we enter the new house,
Speaker 2: we really do a deep inspection of the house and
Speaker 2: then some of the floors get revealed, the real condition
Speaker 2: of the unit gets revealed, right? So how do I
Speaker 2: work with my budget? How much fat um should I
Speaker 2: give to this budget? Because the renovation costs do tend
Speaker 2: to add up when we start seeing all these other
Speaker 2: things inside the house that reveal themselves. Correct? Yeah. No,
Speaker 2: I think that's a very valid question. And I think,
Speaker 2: ah, your introduction, you mentioned that you start looking at
Speaker 2: info images and all that and that's the fun part. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then, yeah, and then you come on to the
Speaker 2: dollars and cents and then that's, you know, the part
Speaker 2: that obviously is tricky because most people have an idea
Speaker 2: in mind. You know, you want to spend 20 30,000, 40,000.
Speaker 2: But then when you inspect the house, you have a
Speaker 2: look and then some of those ideas that you have
Speaker 2: seen on those vision boards and you want to translate
Speaker 2: them into real life and then your contractor or designer
Speaker 2: tells you, hey, you know, I think you need a bit,
Speaker 2: a bit more in order to realize what you want
Speaker 2: and then your dream goes right? Or you say, ok,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna stretch a little bit and then get what
Speaker 2: I want. So. Right. So I think, I think, I
Speaker 2: think that's challenging and it's always a tussle with great design.
Speaker 2: Having everything that you want as well as keeping it
Speaker 2: practical functional within budget. Right? I would think the first
Speaker 2: step you can take is really
Speaker 2: doing research online. You can just search renovation calculator, Singapore,
Speaker 2: you might find a few, you can just input your,
Speaker 2: your size of your apartment or whether you are looking
Speaker 2: to do a full scale renovation with hacking and all
Speaker 2: the works or is it more just a smaller scale renovation?
Speaker 2: And with that after 57 minutes, you will get a
Speaker 2: quite a comprehensive list of, you know, line items of
Speaker 2: what you can budget for your innovation and give you
Speaker 2: at least an estimate in terms of what you can
Speaker 2: look at. And then after that, I would still say
Speaker 2: even with that budget always just cater for, for surprises
Speaker 2: in terms of delays or maybe even variations because you
Speaker 2: might think you want something and then down the line
Speaker 2: you realize. Oh, ok. Actually I want to add something
Speaker 2: else you want to change. I want to or different
Speaker 2: material that maybe better suits your lifestyle, right? So all
Speaker 2: those come into play
Speaker 2: um especially more so for first time renovators where you know,
Speaker 2: it's their first time. And then along the way in
Speaker 2: that process of the 3 to 4 months when they
Speaker 2: are designing and going through the renovation, they realize, ok,
Speaker 2: I want something a little different so that might add
Speaker 2: to the cost. So I always just give a ballpark
Speaker 2: of a 20 to 30% buffer. Ok. So if you
Speaker 2: know you had in mind like
Speaker 2: 3000, just make sure you have 6065 just to be
Speaker 2: very comfortable and safe so that you don't run into
Speaker 2: any issues. So I'm told that the Renault budget should
Speaker 2: be in proportion to the size or even the price
Speaker 2: of the house. This is something that I picked up
Speaker 2: on a panel that I hosted recently.
Speaker 2: But some home buyers see the home as you know,
Speaker 2: a long term investment. They're thinking, ok, it's a long
Speaker 2: term investment. I'm going to stay here till I retire.
Speaker 2: Why not just spend the extra cash on better quality fittings,
Speaker 2: et cetera? But the question becomes how much is too much, right?
Speaker 2: So you're saying 20 to 30% on top of the
Speaker 2: original budget you have in mind just to give some
Speaker 2: buffers what's above and beyond. That's considered too much though.
Speaker 2: I think it's really to each his own, right? Because
Speaker 2: I think some people really look at it as maybe
Speaker 2: a forever home. They want to stay there 1520 30
Speaker 2: years even.
Speaker 2: And they are willing to invest in making sure they
Speaker 2: get the best materials, the best finishing and all that.
Speaker 2: But of course, if you are very clear that it's
Speaker 2: for another purpose, maybe, you know, you're going to sell
Speaker 2: at the mop in five years, then would you really
Speaker 2: want to invest you know, 100 200,000 into that BT
Speaker 2: O and then sell it within five years. So I
Speaker 2: think you just got to weigh what your plans for
Speaker 2: the house are, is it going to be really long
Speaker 2: term stay or is it going to be 357 years
Speaker 2: and then you're gonna, you're gonna upgrade or you're going
Speaker 2: to change your home? So I think that's 11 factor
Speaker 2: to consider
Speaker 2: the second one that you, I think rightly pointed out
Speaker 2: is the size. I wouldn't go too much with the
Speaker 2: price of the house. So to give you an example,
Speaker 2: if you buy a new condo, it might be highly priced,
Speaker 2: but it really comes furnished with quite a bit of
Speaker 2: the carpentry and all that is in the toilet already in.
Speaker 2: So most people may not want to then invest in
Speaker 2: a full scale renovation, right. So they just make sure
Speaker 2: that they get good furnishing. Maybe they would add on
Speaker 2: more carpentry, for example, they need more storage, maybe they'll
Speaker 2: do the kitchen a little bit better, but they wouldn't
Speaker 2: tend to go full scale into a new condo. Yeah. So,
Speaker 2: whereas compared to a resale, maybe BT might cost less
Speaker 2: than a new condo, but
Speaker 2: it's all right. 20 years, 30 years, everything is falling apart.
Speaker 2: You want to invest, then you might spend even more
Speaker 2: into that. So I think it's more the newness of
Speaker 2: the property, your life stage. What you're planning to do
Speaker 2: with the home. And then last but not least just
Speaker 2: your own personal budget, right? Keeping in mind what you
Speaker 2: can afford and then doing the best within that
Speaker 2: budget that you have with that buffer that I mentioned
Speaker 2: budgeting for long term versus short term stay. I'm also
Speaker 2: thinking about the ones that are renovating to rent out
Speaker 2: the flat, right? So that's a small pocket of people
Speaker 2: who would do that. What would be a reasonable question
Speaker 2: to ask ourselves in terms of budget if we know
Speaker 2: that we're going to buy this unit where it's whether
Speaker 2: it's a condo or a an H DB flat to
Speaker 2: rent out later on,
Speaker 2: I think for that particular case, then it's an investment, right?
Speaker 2: So clearly, I think dollars and cents plays probably a
Speaker 2: bigger factor than maybe the design aesthetic of the place.
Speaker 2: So I think furnishing it appropriately make it nice with
Speaker 2: decent quality materials. Just keeping in mind that you would
Speaker 2: have to rent it out to get maybe a specific
Speaker 2: yield that you're looking for, right. So just to give
Speaker 2: you an example, maybe a BT O forum flat currently
Speaker 2: costs about 45 to 50,000 on average based on the
Speaker 2: data that we have on canvas. So,
Speaker 2: but those are for people that are staying in the place, right?
Speaker 2: Maybe looking at that budget and seeing if you can
Speaker 2: save on that scale it down a little bit. So
Speaker 2: that it makes your investment property more worthwhile. Yeah, that
Speaker 2: makes sense. That makes sense. So once we've decided on
Speaker 2: a budget, what's the first thing that we should be
Speaker 2: spending on? So for my mom, any new house, first
Speaker 2: thing to go, toilets?
Speaker 2: Ok. Second is kitchen and then it goes on and
Speaker 2: on in order of priority. But in terms of financial sense,
Speaker 2: what should be the first thing that we should work on?
Speaker 2: So I guess before even realizing your dreams of your
Speaker 2: dream home or your dream property, maybe the first question
Speaker 2: you have to answer is do you go the contractor
Speaker 2: route or do you go to the interior designer route? Exactly. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So which one do you go for? Right.
Speaker 2: Generally, if you prefer not to have the project manage
Speaker 2: the whole renovation, and you also want to have someone
Speaker 2: who has experience, to advise you on that renovation process
Speaker 2: and also to give you some maybe design input on
Speaker 2: what can or cannot be done. That group of people
Speaker 2: would go with the inter designer route, right? And then
Speaker 2: for those that are willing to project, manage their own renovation,
Speaker 2: they are willing to source some materials and all that
Speaker 2: and they just need someone to just get the work done,
Speaker 2: you know, you can go to the contractor route. So again,
Speaker 2: that already would tell a difference in cost between the
Speaker 2: two options. So I think that's one.
Speaker 2: And then if we drill down a bit further into
Speaker 2: what makes sense. Then again, I think it really depends
Speaker 2: on personal preference. So I'll give you an example. I
Speaker 2: generally do not cook as much kitchens to me may
Speaker 2: not be the number one priority in terms of where
Speaker 2: I want to spend my budget. Yeah, for me, I
Speaker 2: think it was a lot on
Speaker 2: carpentry because I didn't like to have things strewn around
Speaker 2: the house. So I think, I guess like neatness and
Speaker 2: all that was a bit more important to me. So
Speaker 2: I built a lot of carpentry which would until higher
Speaker 2: costs as compared to maybe loose furnishing and you know,
Speaker 2: if you buy a cupboard, for example. Yeah. So I
Speaker 2: think that was what I decided to spend on whereas
Speaker 2: your mom might say, ok, toilets, kitchen. Yeah,
Speaker 2: although I would say that that is generally what people work. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean toilets, understandable, you know why? But yeah, I
Speaker 2: think you brought up a really good point, understanding your priorities,
Speaker 2: how you're going to use the house because you are
Speaker 2: living in it. You're not just sitting there, it's how
Speaker 2: you're using it. Right. How much of a renovation budget
Speaker 2: should actually include your loose items, the furniture, the appliances,
Speaker 2: because I've always been confused about this.
Speaker 2: When you say renovation budget in my mind, it's just
Speaker 2: the renovation. You're right. Right. Exactly. So should it include
Speaker 2: the furniture, the appliances and all that? Right. So I
Speaker 2: think that the numbers or figures I gave earlier was
Speaker 2: just for the pure renovation, the work, the work, the construction,
Speaker 2: your ma your hacking out that it does not include
Speaker 2: the loose finishing all your appliances. That's right. Correct.
Speaker 2: I think that's also what you would get from contractors
Speaker 2: or interior designers, you work with whatever that they could,
Speaker 2: would always not include appliances and loose furnishing. So it's
Speaker 2: important to then set aside another budget for that typically
Speaker 2: about 30% of your renovation budget. So assuming you go
Speaker 2: with like about 60,000, right? So maybe 30% will be
Speaker 2: 20,000 additional for the appliances in terms of furnishing and all.
Speaker 2: And let me tell you the bigger the house,
Speaker 2: the more stuff you need, the more stuff you think
Speaker 2: you need, the more you think you need more you need,
Speaker 2: then you actually need, I I didn't really need two
Speaker 2: of those just because I have two toilets. You talked
Speaker 2: a little bit earlier about surprise expenses making space for that.
Speaker 2: You're in the midst of renovating your own home now. Congratulations,
Speaker 2: by the way. Thank you so much. So what were
Speaker 2: some of the surprise expenses that you personally are encountering
Speaker 2: right now?
Speaker 2: I think sometimes people underestimate the need for electrical points.
Speaker 2: So you realize. Oh, ok. And then you realize, oh
Speaker 2: I need more. So I think that's one cause that
Speaker 2: caught me a little bit. Ok, I need more electrical points.
Speaker 2: Carpentry was one as well. Yeah, so the more carpentry
Speaker 2: I said ok, I need storage here. I need storage here.
Speaker 2: So I think those are those would be the kind
Speaker 2: of built
Speaker 2: or renovation, surprise cost that might come in or yeah,
Speaker 2: just adding a new feature.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for me, that was doorknobs because I think it
Speaker 2: was just me and my fantasy and doorknobs were a
Speaker 2: big thing. Like I think those little features that you
Speaker 2: want aesthetic features you wanted to get, but it does
Speaker 2: complete the look of the house, you know, small touches,
Speaker 2: sometimes you overlook them and I guess outside the renovation
Speaker 2: and of course, we don't hope it happens, but it
Speaker 2: does happen delays, right? So if there's a delay, then
Speaker 2: hopefully you already have your existing dwelling, but you're not renting.
Speaker 2: But if you are renting or you have already maybe
Speaker 2: sold your house and you were expecting the renovation to
Speaker 2: finish next month and you're going to move in next
Speaker 2: month and then there's a one month delay, then what happens? Right.
Speaker 2: And then scramble and all my favorite words again, buffer,
Speaker 2: I think you need to buffer. Yeah, you need to
Speaker 2: buffer that, that don't cut it too close because it
Speaker 2: causes a lot of unnecessary stress and it's buffer, not
Speaker 2: just on the renovation timeline, it's not just the cost,
Speaker 2: it's also your rental on the previous place or mortgage.
Speaker 2: It's also
Speaker 2: so your storage facility, if you use that's another month
Speaker 2: of delay, another month of fees, right. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: think these are really great surprise expenses that we need
Speaker 2: to consider. So now we want to talk about sticking
Speaker 2: with the budget. Some of us may want to head
Speaker 2: over to the bank for a renovation loan. What are
Speaker 2: the three most important aspects of our renovation loan that
Speaker 2: we have to pay attention to? So for the renovation
Speaker 2: loan is of course, it must be based on the invoice, right?
Speaker 2: So I think once you have an invoice from either
Speaker 2: contractor
Speaker 2: or interior designer, then you are able to apply for
Speaker 2: renovation loan. But a renovation loan is typically kept at
Speaker 2: a certain amount. And when you say invoice, we can
Speaker 2: also use the quotation from the contractor as well, right?
Speaker 2: Either one that actually shows a broad figure, so to speak,
Speaker 2: I've also heard of people doing renovation in phases and
Speaker 2: a lot of the times it is with the primary
Speaker 2: objective of saving on costs.
Speaker 2: So for example, this year, I'll do the kitchen and
Speaker 2: the toilets and then next year I'll maybe focus on
Speaker 2: hacking a wall. Is that necessarily a strategic financial move
Speaker 2: to renovate the house in phases like that? Or do
Speaker 2: you end up spending more ultimately financially? I think it
Speaker 2: makes sense just because in a way you're just cutting
Speaker 2: up
Speaker 2: the renovation costs into according to correct. So I think
Speaker 2: that's from that point of view, I think it's ok.
Speaker 2: I guess you just have to weigh the cons of
Speaker 2: having to stay there, especially if you're not moving. I
Speaker 2: assume they will not move out because you want to say. So,
Speaker 2: I think the inconvenience that could come from the renovations
Speaker 2: happening while you're there, especially maybe if you have young kids,
Speaker 2: for example, then it might be a bit more tricky
Speaker 2: in that sense. So I guess financially it might make
Speaker 2: sense to do that.
Speaker 2: Although
Speaker 2: when I look at it from the contractors and new
Speaker 2: designers point of view
Speaker 2: for them to allocate resources multiple times as compared to
Speaker 2: doing a full project, I guess their preference is quite clear,
Speaker 2: they rather do the entire project one shot and everything.
Speaker 2: But if you want to just cut it up like that,
Speaker 2: I'm not sure. But I think there might be a
Speaker 2: case where cost individually might add up to be more
Speaker 2: than if you were to compete. Everything bearing man. Also,
Speaker 2: I guess cost tends to go up. And after COVID,
Speaker 2: we saw a huge increase, but, you know, generally goes
Speaker 2: up as with everything. So there's inflation
Speaker 2: and you will see that most quotations given by these
Speaker 2: contracting firms will only be valid for maybe six months.
Speaker 2: So that same cost will not be the same two
Speaker 2: years later. So if you do a toilet today, you
Speaker 2: think it's, it's gonna be 5000 Tuesday, they could be 6005, right?
Speaker 2: So then again, yeah, you might not be saving in
Speaker 2: absolute dollar terms, but I guess you are cutting it
Speaker 2: up into more bite size amounts. Yeah, I think it's
Speaker 2: about manageability in that sense. So some people advise that
Speaker 2: you should take on a renovation loan. If you already
Speaker 2: have a more heavy mortgage to pay,
Speaker 2: you can always sell the house if you can't service
Speaker 2: your mortgage. But then what happens if you can't pay
Speaker 2: up the rental loan? That's a bit different, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Do you see the situation happening frequently? We only have
Speaker 2: our data on canvas to go by but we generally
Speaker 2: do not see much people opting for renovation loans. Actually, not,
Speaker 2: not that high percentage. We have a little check box
Speaker 2: on our form that says, do you require renovation loan?
Speaker 2: I think less than 20 or 15% check. Yes. So
Speaker 2: the rest just go through with. No. And I think
Speaker 2: it's just because I guess in the home ownership journey,
Speaker 2: most people know that. Ok, if I buy a BT
Speaker 2: which are majority of our homeowners, I need X dollars
Speaker 2: to save for my renovation. And I think they have
Speaker 2: that maybe planned out. All right. So now let's talk
Speaker 2: about the renovation itself. Ok,
Speaker 2: I'm sure you as much as I have heard of
Speaker 2: many nightmare stories and experiences involving contractors, sometimes more bad
Speaker 2: than good. Then there are the solo operators versus the
Speaker 2: ID agencies, the bigger companies, right? The boutique agencies and
Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff. The boutique firms where there's
Speaker 2: not really a contract but a quotation. I've not really
Speaker 2: seen a contract. So, if do you think, then
Speaker 2: we should be asking for one, a contract as opposed
Speaker 2: to just the quotation? So, yeah, I think you should know.
Speaker 2: I said, I guess the interior design contracting industry in
Speaker 2: general in Singapore is quite loosely regulated. So I think
Speaker 2: consumers just have to be very aware, they really have
Speaker 2: to do their own research. And I think that's why
Speaker 2: there are multiple platforms available in Singapore to try to
Speaker 2: help guide them in that decision. Um You know, showcasing
Speaker 2: maybe more trusted firms making sure that, you know, we
Speaker 2: have done the due diligence as a platform and then
Speaker 2: offering it to the consumer.
Speaker 2: But yes, the due diligence or the owners is still
Speaker 2: on the consumer to make that decision finally at the
Speaker 2: end of the day. And I would say that, yeah,
Speaker 2: way between a very small firm that has maybe not
Speaker 2: much track record 12 months, they just incorporated and then
Speaker 2: they are out here doing this business because again, there's
Speaker 2: no regulations, there's no certification needed to be a designer
Speaker 2: or contractor.
Speaker 2: So that is something that they are we all going
Speaker 2: for more maybe established firm that has been in operation
Speaker 2: for 1520 years. And then maybe there's a bit more
Speaker 2: of a trust factor that oversight and I think maybe
Speaker 2: you might think, OK, at least they have been in
Speaker 2: operations for X number of years. And then I think
Speaker 2: your question about the quotation having or do you need
Speaker 2: a separate contract? I think most quotations I've seen from
Speaker 2: interior designers. At least
Speaker 2: they would have a quite a comprehensive list of T
Speaker 2: and CS. So I don't think they need a separate
Speaker 2: contract because I think it's quite comprehensive and that bind,
Speaker 2: that is binding, that is binding because I think it's
Speaker 2: signed both parties and then I think the terms and
Speaker 2: conditions would be quite comprehensive. So I think in those situations,
Speaker 2: it would probably be ok if it's just a single
Speaker 2: piece of paper and there's no TNC and it's just
Speaker 2: lump sum payments where, you know, carpentry 50,000, that's like
Speaker 2: sending me back, correct. So I think that's important to
Speaker 2: look at
Speaker 2: and the other very important thing with regards to terms
Speaker 2: and conditions would be the payment terms. I think that's
Speaker 2: what sometimes people do not look at. Ok. Budget is great.
Speaker 2: It is within my budget. I like this into design
Speaker 2: and design is great. But what about the payment terms?
Speaker 2: I will be very cautious if the
Speaker 2: interior designer contractor tells me to pay 50 percent upfront.
Speaker 2: Like today, I'll be cautious or even 30 40% would
Speaker 2: be deemed high. 30% is considered high. Yes, upfront. Like
Speaker 2: just to secure the contract, we normally recommend probably not
Speaker 2: more than 20% just to secure the contract. Sure. Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I think anything more would be, I'll be very cautious.
Speaker 2: Ok. I'm good that we, we were able to put
Speaker 2: the number on it because a lot of us are
Speaker 2: never really sure. And most of us renovate maybe once, twice.
Speaker 2: That's it in our lifetime. Anything else that we need
Speaker 2: to look out for in the T and CS, outside
Speaker 2: of the payment terms? I think some people also look
Speaker 2: at rectiv rectification and defects like what happens at the
Speaker 2: end of it. So I think some of the better
Speaker 2: contract I've seen would be the last maybe 5% payments
Speaker 2: with held until the rectifications are done. So I think
Speaker 2: something like that would be, would be good for the consumer.
Speaker 2: I think project timeline, if there are delays, anything like
Speaker 2: that should be indicated in the timeline for sure. Although
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how robust in terms of what happens
Speaker 2: if the timeline is missed. So maybe that could be
Speaker 2: improved a midway or even close to the finish line.
Speaker 2: We discover things aren't up to scratch, they're not meeting
Speaker 2: the satisfactory conditions that we were hoping for. So what
Speaker 2: do we do if we encounter such
Speaker 2: episode with a contractor? Things go bad. Who can I
Speaker 2: complain to? Case would be the most obvious one. But
Speaker 2: that's only for maybe case trust ids that are under
Speaker 2: case trust. So that's one I guess on canvas. If
Speaker 2: you found them through us, we have a canvas resolution center.
Speaker 2: You can come to us and we're able to help
Speaker 2: you get in touch with the ID or if you
Speaker 2: want to go higher, then we can get in touch
Speaker 2: with the man the management of the company just to
Speaker 2: make sure that we bring both parties to the table,
Speaker 2: try to mediate
Speaker 2: and get more parties because at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: we want the home to be happy. The home is
Speaker 2: their dream home. If it's a first time home, excited
Speaker 2: to move. It's not one of those products that you
Speaker 2: can do that. I think it's a big cost and
Speaker 2: a lot of people obviously have a lot of heart
Speaker 2: put into it because yeah, it's my home, right? So
Speaker 2: I want it to be beautiful. I want it to
Speaker 2: be exactly how I envision it to be. I think
Speaker 2: that's one area we try to help homeowners with. And
Speaker 2: then
Speaker 2: obviously on the inter designer side, I think if they
Speaker 2: are reputable companies that want to have recurring business, I
Speaker 2: think they are also in their interest to make sure
Speaker 2: they try to resolve it as best as possible so
Speaker 2: that there's at least positive word of mouth, people are
Speaker 2: able to recommend them to their friends, family and all that.
Speaker 2: So I think that's also, I think sometimes what we
Speaker 2: try to do to just try to balance both sides
Speaker 2: and make sure that they come to an agreement when
Speaker 2: dealing with contractors or ID firms in general, you want
Speaker 2: to build that relationship with them because this is your
Speaker 2: heart and soul project,
Speaker 2: right? But at the same time, it is still transaction
Speaker 2: and we have to maintain an arm's length in a
Speaker 2: manner of speaking. So any final piece of advice here
Speaker 2: when it comes to dealing with any kind of contractor,
Speaker 2: Erin or not, because at the service, exactly on the
Speaker 2: top tip, again, I just going back to the timeline.
Speaker 2: So again, just make sure that the schedule is very
Speaker 2: clearly laid out. And again, I will be very concerned
Speaker 2: if I'm paying 5070 percent very early on.
Speaker 2: Typically, it's a 5 to 10% maybe deposit to secure
Speaker 2: the contract. And then from there, it's probably in stages
Speaker 2: of like 20 to 30% in the next two or
Speaker 2: three stages. Right before carpentry, I think before hacking and masonry,
Speaker 2: you would have a stage. So it's like 1030 30 2010,
Speaker 2: something like that. I think that would be a good
Speaker 2: payment schedule to follow, you know, not 50 40 10.
Speaker 2: So there will be a red flag to me. That's one.
Speaker 2: And I think the second thing would be more very
Speaker 2: open communication.
Speaker 2: You have to communicate your expectations very clearly to the designer.
Speaker 2: And by that, I generally advise meetings or phone calls
Speaker 2: and not like over whatsapp. But nowadays, it is very
Speaker 2: easy set up whatsapp group. Everybody's in there. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: not everyone's reading. Sometimes everyone's in there, four or 56
Speaker 2: people and then you message S MS are busy with
Speaker 2: multiple projects and then they might just say, OK, or
Speaker 2: like they might miss it. So I think it's
Speaker 2: very important to clearly communicate up front, face to face
Speaker 2: in a meeting or even over a call and you
Speaker 2: can follow up with a message later for just, just
Speaker 2: to get back and white and all that. And that's fine.
Speaker 2: But I think communicating it very clearly with your expectations
Speaker 2: to the individual so that he knows what you're expecting
Speaker 2: and he tries his best not to fall short. I
Speaker 2: think that's very clear. I've seen sometimes where homeowners are
Speaker 2: very, very nice because they are afraid to damage their
Speaker 2: working relationship. This is my friend. Ok. And he's helping
Speaker 2: me design my home and I don't want to piss
Speaker 2: him off because otherwise you don't appear naggy as well,
Speaker 2: like chasing someone because we, we face that at work. Right? Yeah,
Speaker 2: but it's your home. So I think you should be
Speaker 2: a bit naggy but
Speaker 2: communicate again, I guess, face to face and not just
Speaker 2: over a message and think, ok, that's done. I've already
Speaker 2: communicated it. Thanks very much for this. I hope that,
Speaker 2: that our listeners and our viewers will be able to
Speaker 2: take away so much from this conversation.
Speaker 2: So now comes the fun part of the podcast. This
Speaker 2: is called Questions in a Hat. So there are five
Speaker 2: questions in here. Pick one hand it over to me
Speaker 2: and I will read it out.
Speaker 2: Your question is what is pricey but always worth it. Self-improvement. Oh,
Speaker 2: tell me more. Yeah. So anything, I guess with regards
Speaker 2: to self improvement books causes talks, I would personally invest
Speaker 2: in that might cost a bit more like upfront, but
Speaker 2: I think the benefits are as intense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, intangible everlasting becomes part of you. So I personally
Speaker 2: invest in that. That's a lovely, lovely one. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much. Now, listener, we hope that we were able
Speaker 2: to stick to our promise of delivering sound advice on
Speaker 2: managing your renovation fund and your budget. Most importantly, if
Speaker 2: you have a question about it, feel free to send
Speaker 2: us a message, you know, where to
Speaker 2: features Money talks is available on Apple podcasts as well
Speaker 2: as Spotify and youtube music. Don't forget to rate us
Speaker 2: if you're enjoying this podcast. And big thanks to the
Speaker 2: team Christina Robert Tiffany Ang Jaini, Johari, Joan Chan, Haida
Speaker 2: Amin to Yan Yan and Sayu Wind. I'm Andrea Heng.
Speaker 2: This has been the Money Talks podcast.