Residents nervous about Farrer Court en-bloc sale, but it goes off almost without a hitch
Happy: Farrer Court resident Shirley Lee said she was happy with Credo Real Estate and law firm Rodyk & Davidson as they kept in close contact with the residents. - Picture: Kua Chee Siong
MANY residents in Farrer Court had braced themselves for a nasty confrontation.
After all, anonymous letters spreading malicious rumours about the estate and allegations of vandalism had started flying even before any en bloc deal was signed.
It didn’t help that industry people were watching them because the deal was expected to break all records here.
But instead of sour faces, there are smiles aplenty now - the deal that finally went through last weekend has made instant millionaires out of the 618 home-owners there.
Among them is housewife Shirley Lee, in her 40s. She was full of praise for Credo Real Estate and law firm Rodyk & Davidson which handled the deal.
She said: ‘Everything was so fast and smooth. Such a huge estate is not easy to handle. I’m very happy with the sale.
‘They kept in close contact with the residents, gave frequent updates, and made us feel more secure, though it’s a lot of extra work for them.’
Farrer Court was sold for $1.34 billion, the largest amount ever paid in a collective sale here. Each owner stands to receive $2.2 million or $2.1 million, depending on whether they own the 1,600 sq ft or 1,450 sq ft units.
Resident Tan Quee Hong, 65, was relieved he wasn’t caught in a legal bind like his friend at Horizon Towers.
SMOOTH SAILING
He said: ‘Friends said it’s so coincidental that we had two in our group going through en bloc at about the same time, but comparing the two was like comparing heaven and earth.’
Even Mr Tan Hong Boon, executive director of Credo, was surprised by the smooth outcome. He said: ‘This is one of the smoothest collective exercises we’ve had, given its size.’
Credo has handled other en bloc sales like Duchess Court, Eastern Mansion and the Zion Road apartments.
Said Mr Tan: ‘It’s very rare to find a big project with only two objections.’
In comparison, the 168-unit Eastern Mansion had two objections, the Zion Road apartments had two objections out of 40, while Duchess Court had 100 per cent support.
Credo, which was appointed in July last year, took just seven months to gather the minimum 80 per cent signatures for the sales agreement.
In the end, 571 unit owners - more than 94 per cent - signed the collective sales agreement.
Only two out of 618 units filed objections against the sale with the Strata Titles Board (STB).
After mediation, both withdrew their objections last Saturday.
That’s when the STB gave the approval for the sale of Farrer Court for $1.34 billion to a consortium comprising CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and US-based Wachovia Development Corporation.
Residents The New Paper on Sunday spoke to said that although they love the spacious and leafy estate, the price was irresistible.
Said Mrs Lee: ‘I didn’t expect the price to go so high, otherwise I would have bought more units here.
‘Ours is a 99-year leasehold property, built by HDB, with no swimming pool. Where can you find this kind of price?’
Madam Lee and her civil-servant husband had bought their unit for over $500,000. They and their two sons have been living there for 10 years.
Added her neighbour, Mr Tan: ‘This estate is 30 years old and some of the units need repair, which may be hard for some (financially).’
Of course, there was a time when things seemed less certain.
In March, poison pen letters started circulating, claiming that certain blocks there had bad fengshui and could bring bad luck to residents.
Then one of the residents, Mr Lo Hung Ee, 73, found the windscreen of his 3-year-old Mazda smashed.
Someone later also used an object to damage the car’s bonnet.
Mr Lo believed his car was vandalised because he was on the en bloc sales committee.
He said: ‘I was quite upset at first about selling, because I love this place. When I bought it, I thought this is where I’ll live until the end of my life.’
But he said that after speaking to many residents, he realised most wanted to sell.
So he joined the sales committee to make sure the residents - many of them senior citizens who bought their units when the project was launched - got a fair deal.
The residents will have to move out by September next year.
One especially sad to leave is MrsEvelyn Venning, 83. As she is only a tenant, she would ‘lose’ her home, but have no gain in return.
Said the energetic retired teacher, who prefers to live alone rather than with her son’s family: ‘I’ve been asking around, who will take me in.
‘It’s very sad. I really love this place. Here, it’s a big family, everyone knows each other. It’s so safe, I keep my door unlocked.’
EN BLOC FEVER SEEMS TO BE COOLING
# The 109 deals worth $13.3billion done so far this year is a big jump from the 79 deals for $8.2b last year.
# But of these, 82 deals worth $10.49b were done in the first-half.
# Only 27 deals worth $2.81b have been done since 1 Jul.
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