A Singaporean In Australia

Year 1 is a year of planning and observation. I should also look out for frost during Winter. Since there is no real need for development on certain areas of the property, it may be a good idea to rent out portions of the property in the meantime. The real estate agent gave me a "very conservative" estimation of the rates to expect.

1) House alone without paddock - $400 per week

Even in such a terrible rental market (for landlords), $400 per week for this house is an absolute steal. I have no doubt there will be takers at this price. 

2) House + lower block to the river - $450 to $500 per week

3) Front horse land only - $100 to $150 per week.

Therefore potentially, I could rent out the entire place I am not working on for $550 to $650 a week. That gives about $31k for a year. We don't need to be a financial genius to know for a property that cost about 2 million bucks, that is a miserable yield. However shitty that yield is, it is still higher than fixed deposit in Singapore banks and I get to feel sibei song. At least some 30 grand will be able to cover the operating cost of the land, maintain the place and even add a bit of value with it. Having said that, it may take a century to get a full ROI at this rate, unless the land appreciates in value with another (unlikely) boom in WA in future. Who knows?

So we cannot say this is the worst investment in the world. Well, you can argue it will be very hard to liquid this purchase, as compared to Singapore banks fixed D. However, the weakness of such an investment is also its strength. One can create liquidity with the land. 

But how? 

That is where the average minds do not dare to venture. Unfortunately mine is one of them. That is why I am doing this exercise. To mock at myself and learn. There must be some form of ideas that can give higher yield of the land that can be implemented from the beginning of Year 2. I have yet to come to it, sadly. This post is still about Year 1.

Well there you have it.... let's talk about the land a little more. The flood plain boundary on the right looks scary but it isn't really that bad. It's just normal land when you walk through the site. The boundary is set by the water department to demarcate where they think a flood will happen on the worst case scenario. Thus, they will not encourage major structures to be built within the boundary. Land owners are free to build simple structures such as gazebos or sheds, conduct any activities or grow crops on it. During the "1 in 100 years" flood last Summer, the water came into the dotted area I marked (4) on the top right hand corner. For a flash flood of that shock level, it didn't affect this land that badly. Further up, the contours increased to 5m above river level and rising quickly to 8.5m. It'll take a massive volume of water to reach that level. Still, you'll never know. KL-J said ice caps are melting elsewhere. Hmm... seriously, then he should be looking for a land on the hills with a waterfall, not a land abutting a river lah!

The first thing that a construction manager does is to establish an access route. There is more than enough time during the first year of observation to identify the most ideal access routes. During the last few months before the end of Year 1, access routes to the fields have to be opened. On the first glance, the current one to the warehouse is illogical and will not serve any commercial purpose properly. So 2 new entrances to the warehouse have to be made. One in front and one at the back. The terrain leading out from both new entrances are not ideal and have to be cut and filled for to get the gradient more gradual. It is not a big scale earthwork project and should be easily funded from the rental of the property.

By the end of Year 1, Horse Around has to be ready or almost ready to start. The stable makes it a natural setting for the theme. However, the menu remains a problem. I have no problems designing a menu. Imagine I called one item on our school canteen menu "Chocobo Egg" The students (seemed to) love it and the item was sold out each time it featured on a certain day of the week. I draw my inspiration from Billy Bombers, which amused me when I dined there for the first time. I ordered "B-52" for the name rather than the food. So it is easy enough for me (and probably anyone else) to come out with names for a stable themed cafe. Such as, (description are not actual menu descriptions but to explain to noobs like you)

Entre

Pegasus Wings - same as Buffalo wings but I refuse to call that, that.

Haystack - Vegetable salad

I can eat a Horse! - Jumbo size platter, consisting of fried junk food.

etc

Mains

Trojan Horse - Cheese and bacon stuffed chicken, shaped like body of a horse with nuggets and potato sticks as head and limbs held together with Pocky Sticks. Cheese oozes out from body when you make an incision. I wish I can make soldiers dashing out to give diner a good smacking but don't ask for too much ok. Otherwise, fucking kick ass meal.

Dark Horse - Scotch egg (pork) on baked rice. Wish I can try that with a salted egg but I don't want to kill somebody.

Lead a Horse to water - Fish 'N Chips

One Trick Pony - Spaghetti Bolognaise, MY version

My Kingdom for a Horse - Mushrooms in cheese sauce on a panfried chicken chop with an intricate thin crust.

On the High Horse - Grilled Braised Pork Trotters with spiced peanuts

etc.

Deserts

Crack of the Whip - Rich whipped chocolate mousse

Two Horse Race - Double banana split

Unicorn Horn - Rainbow coloured jelly in v-shaped glass with evaporated milk on top

Hold your Horse! - Double scoop ice cream on cone

etc. etc. Too tired to think of a complete list. To buy a full version of menu .... please pay $57.


I have no freaking idea how to draw a crowd in. I can add items on menu and set up a decent SOP for the entire running of the place. The basic set up requires 3 staff to run optimally. 2 staff if business is still quiet. I can train them and even help out but I cannot be full time involved at this stage. Business better be good enough to pay their salary with access for profit. I wish I know how to make this work.

The ladies at home complained of "scratching sounds" in the roof. So I had to enter the roof to do an investigation. Seriously, I did not relish a battle with a Rat King at my current age. My HP was also not as high as before and falling through the ceiling board as a quick exit wasn't exactly my idea of fun during my weekend. My ladder wasn't even high enough. So I had to put my ladder on top Albany's kids table to get high enough. Her table and chairs set was one of the best things I picked up from someone for free. They were sturdy, stable and built to last for a lifetime.

So I got up there with some Ratsak, bought from the robbers called Bunnings. It was hot, even in the cool Autumn afternoon. I was stuck at the manhole for ages, wondering how the heck I should move. I guess there was where all those obstacle courses I used to do very well when I was a young child were finally paying off. Those bookworms would be falling through the boards if they attempted this, haha! I could imagine the scenes. There were large conduits everywhere to block my moves and rockwool insulation to mask timber beams that I could put my weight on. The low truss also didn't help. Though I'm not exactly very tall, I am no shortie either. 

At times, I had to crawl through tight areas, groaning when rockwool rubbed against my skin because overexposure to these could cause a bad case of itchiness. I could hear the household from the top. Albany's exciting voice and the ladies chatting happily, cleanly forgetting I ever existed, as I struggled to get around the place.

No signs of rats. No droppings or any signs of life of warm blooded animals. I wasn't too sure if I really wanted to find some rats there. I placed some of the poison baits at spots where the ladies thought they heard scratching sounds. I would have to return to check the baits to know for sure.

The baits were supposed to attract the rodents to consume and they would die without a week. Sometimes, they would leave the house in search of water because it was supposed to make them feel thirsty and hot. So there was a good chance they would die out of the property.

Over the next few days, they did not hear any scratching sounds anymore. I wasn't too sure if the baiting works or there were rats on the roof to begin with. I guess the only way to find out was to make another climb and investigate.....

Like I mentioned earlier, I felt like being locked out in a losing Solitaire or Freecell game. Something had to go if I were to make any further progress. My bicycles would be moving to the new factory eventually, perhaps as a good aid slow walking folks to their toilet breaks. Until then they would be taking up precious space I couldn't afford in the garage. So I decided to move everything to one side of the wall. That was the only way I could begin work properly on the empty side.

I packed the rack that Patrick generously gifted me as much as I could, doing a better job than the Missus, of course. When my tasks are through one day, I'll have to run through the boxes of stuff one by one and see what can be eliminated from the household. I am not the slightest convinced we need that amount of things in the garage to run the household.

After one side of the wall was cleared, I made a visit to the hardware store only to find the high prices were not on my side.

That is what happens when you give a large corporate a monopoly of the market. Crappy prices for crappy goods. I find prices of many items in Bunnings exorbitant. Sure, I agree that there are goods available at great prices but if you know the hardware market well enough, you will be able to identify much more at cut throat prices easily. Fixtures and fasteners, for example, are some to begin with. They are being sold at a ridiculous margin in Bunnings. If I were to go with their recommendations, I would be spending hundreds of dollars to shelf the garage. Even a crappy fucking hook cost a few dollars. Fuck them.

So I decided to go the Pissed Poor Peasant way. For example, to hold my ladders, all I needed was 2 screws on wall plugs. For less than $0.50 (I didn't even have to buy the screws), I could hold my ladder plus my full weight climbing the ladder on that wall. (Yes, I bloody did that) Try doing that with your crappy overpriced hooks. The shape of the countersunk screws also held the edge of the ladder very tightly. These wouldn't fall even if an earthquake hits. See how the ladders look on the wall. What should I do with expensive hooks in a blood sucking hardware giant? Screw them.

Next, I spent loads of time walking up and down the aisles of Bunnings looking for a cheap solution to create shelving. No, there was no chance in hell I would be paying those money for ridiculous gimmicks. Bolt-less adjustable shelves for a hundred bucks? Hey - how often do you adjust your racks? I don't think most people even do that once in 5 years. Do I care if it was bolt-less or not? You think I cannot tighten a bolt? If they sell me a self-cleaning rack for a hundred bucks, perhaps I'll throw my money at them but not before that.

Tracks for shelves brackets, as shown earlier, was selling at exorbitant prices. A minimum of 2 tracks would cost me $25. A pair of brackets at $6. If I were to make a 3 level shelf, the total sum would be $43 and that was not inclusive of the actual shelf (wood) yet. I looked through every available solution but none of them were low costs. In the end, I sighed and decided carpentry would have to be the solution. The problem was, working in wood was the last thing I wanted to do. I preferred metal obviously, due to my experience with it.

Anyway, beggars cannot be choosers. I bought my cheapo MDR wood material for a total of $21. It consisted of 2 x 115mm x 2700mm and 1 x 60mm x 2600mm. I figured that was enough for now. I visited the "Cut Shop" in Bunnings. They told me the first 3 cuts (since I bought 3 items) were free of charge and subsequent cuts would cost me $0.50 each.

"Ok, do it," I said.

So the chap did it. After the cuts, I realised that they were cut 1mm more than what I required. Every single fucking piece.

I walked to the self-checkout counters, paid for my materials and walked out. $0.50 for each cut? No way I was going to pay for that.

I didn't even want to use fixtures to hold my shelves up. I used leftover tubes of construction glue left over from my laminate flooring job a year ago. The next day, the glue seemed cured so I put my heaviest tool box (above) on one shelf for a load test. The last time I checked (yesterday, after 1 week), the shelf was still holding out fine. So I know my other lighter stuff will give the shelves absolutely no problem. So basically, I spent $21 to create these spaces. I already find it too expensive. I should have picked up unwanted timber in nearly construction sites to do this shit. Unfortunately, I couldn't being them to Bunnings for some clean, inaccurate cuts.

So this is why I didn't report to work at the usual time and better get my ass going soon. It's going to be a busy week at work. The call did not take more than 1 minute and it wasn't a "face-to-face" Skype call. Only the official at work was looking at my lao jiao bin, I didn't get to see her - not that it mattered. I just want to get the terminology correct. It was a laojiao bin-to-computer screen verification.

Fortunately, my lanjiao bin matches my application photograph. Therefore the executive announced that I passed! It did not take more than 1 minute. Guess having a lanjiao bin speeds things up.


The next step to do is to mail my passport to Canberra and get it mailed right back together with the new passport. It's like those chaps going to Vietnam to get a bride back - going to burn a hole in my pissed poor pocket like them. If a bird doesn't steal my mail, I should be expecting my passport this month and I will fly back to SG to visit my loved ones and the rest of you fuckers.

To maintain my Singaporean traits, I dropped her an email to confirm the verification has been done and the actions I will be undertaking shortly. Just in case. You never know... because even in Australia, pratas are available and can certainly be flipped.

This post will make no sense to anyone. It is not meant to be for anyone, just a brain exercise for me. 

Initially I wanted to share the house I had the privilege to access and assess the day before. As a pissed poor peasant, it isn't an everyday thing I get to view a property asking for 2 million bucks. It had a beautifully built double storey house. I call that a character house and I doubt anyone who see it will disagree. It was the kind of house you'll either love it or hate it. If you belong to the latter, it will make no sense to buy it and do a major interior renovation. What a shame it will be.

Anyway, I changed my mind about posting the lovely features of the properties as well as the drawbacks that I saw. It is pointless and doesn't do much good. Instead, I'll take this opportunity to exercise my brain and come out with a 5 year plan for this land if I bought this land. That is a big IF but I believe strongly opportunities come to those who are ready. If I do not make my brain work and start learning and improving, I will never be ready for any opportunity. I don't care if I can afford this land or not. Eventually one day I will. It may be at a far, far away place where I can afford, nowhere near this plot of land I'm reviewing but it doesn't matter. 

It doesn't matter. I'll get there someday or at least die trying.

Profile of land:

This is an unusual piece of property. Most of the time, owners choose to build their houses along the frontage. However, the previous owners of the land chose to build their house right in the middle of the land, accessible by a narrow charming driveway flanked by matured trees. The rest of the frontage were covered by two sections of horse ranches.

The second storey bedrooms overlook a tennis court, which is the last frontier of the land of that elevation. The land begins to slope gently downwards from the tennis court towards to river abutting the rear boundary of the land. The river level is about 5m below the highest part of the rear and about 3m at the lowest part. The risk of flooding is low but flood walls may have to be built to ensure.

The condition of soil is relatively fertile. The rear land has never been used. The ranches have been used to mind or rear horses in the past. The fields are visibly healthy with thick grass.

Facilities

A beautiful house

1 good size open warehouse

3 sheds

3 car ports

1 stable

1 borehole with 10,000k L license for 10 years

At least 4 large aviary 

reticulation throughout the land

Automated security access gate

Year 1- The year of observation

No major earthworks or changes to the land will be implemented in Year 1. It will be a year of observing how the basic infrastructure and land works through the 4 seasons. Observations must be quantitatively recorded and analysed. That includes the weather, rainfall, daylight, sun direction, human traffic, neighbours, wildlife and the observation of the natural energies of the place such as falling leaves, wind, dust, wind droppings etc.

In the meantime, get approval from the local council to convert the stable into a cafe. For this land zone, this type of land use should be classed as Restaurant, where approval has to be granted to start a business. I do not foresee any major issue because this land is in a prime tourism region and the neighbours are running something similar. However, the council may have an issue with using the existing stable as the restaurant. A comprehension proposal will have to be drawn out in accordance to the requirements of the council and relevant authorities and changes will be made until approval is granted. 

While the cafe should be profitable, or at the minimum breaking even as soon as possible, the purpose of this cafe primarily to get public to know the place. It takes time to get the word around, therefore this should be done as early as possible. 

The budget of the project is $50,000. The conversion of the stable can be done without a builder, as changes will be functional and . Tradesmen have to be roped in to get the services up but the rest (or a big part) of the work can be done myself. The cafe will only open up about 1/5 of the land to the public and can be operated standalone. The cafe will have a country feel, with existing features of the stables preserved, such as half-swing doors, hooks and trap doors. 

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Full Name (as in passport)
i) Passport Number: ii) NRIC number:
Gender
DOB
Expiry date (of existing passport)
Mobile number / Residence number
Email Address
City of Residence in Australia:
Address in Australia
Have you submitted an application to renew your passport?
If yes, when did you submit the application?
Was it submitted via APPLES or through the Singapore High Commission in Canberra?
By when do you need the new passport?
Are you traveling back to Singapore before your passport expires?
Please provide reasons for not being able to travel down to collect your passport in Canberra. (Pls elaborate)

Why does the Singapore embassy in Australia expects Singaporeans in Australia to travel all the way to the no-man's desolated wasteland to collect a passport? Hello, Singapore Embassy, wake up your fucking idea. This is Australia and that is the Eyre Highway, not Orchard Road. Travelling all 1660km on Eyre only takes me to the halfway point between me and your no-man's land.

And if we don't make that Journey to the East to retrieve our scriptures, we are under their mercy of a "case by case" consideration to grant us a fucking Skype call. Why don't they station the embassy at Alice Springs? At least when we travel there by foot, it gives us that correct 'feel' and we'll certainly ascend to the heavens as deities after we retrieve our holy red passports.

Yes, I know they will probably (they better!) grant me the interview but I hate the fact that they hold the right to "consider" and put us under a "case-by-case" situation as often as they can. I hate the fact I have to insult my intelligence by providing reasons why it is not feasible for me to fly to the fucking ACT to do the shit. It is the same shit that I moved away from but they are completely the same here. They will never change. Never!

Angie is going to migrate to Perth around the 3rd quarter of the year. We have been putting aside everything from kitchenware, household items and children's toys for her. Each time we asked if she wanted an item, she would never say no to it. By now, we have gathered a sizable heap of items.

If you want to put it in a bad way, I am dumping my unwanted items to Angie. However, I don't see things that way. I believe firmly each item will go a long way to help her out in settling down. Be honest, don't you feel happy when you receive a goodie bag, containing a handful of diapers and other useful stuff for new parents, from the maternity hospital after your baby is born? How about a goodie bag for Standard Chartered runs in Singapore? I know of people who go for runs for that finisher T-shirt instead of anything rightfully else. Well, people get really exciting receiving a Fun pack pack at NDP. Therefore, I should be proud to present Angie a Migration Fun Pack Pack.

Angie's "Simi-sai-also-want" attitude reminded me of myself when I first came to Perth. Imagine, I picked up a gas stove and put it in Joanna's backyard. I couldn't understand her incredulous expression then but I do now. I picked up a really heavy couch and drove it back to my rented property on my 1995 Corolla. Children in passing cars gave me faces of amazement as if they were watching a Chingay Procession. I felt proud to share my Singaporean culture with the locals. The fucking Singapore embassy in Canberra where no living Singaporean is living should make me an ambassador just for that.

What happened to me and is happening to Angie is a phenomenon I call the Gathering Mode. It doesn't happen to everyone. You will be surprised it does not happen to the most Kiasu and Kiasi Singaporeans. Quite the opposite, in fact. These valued species in Singapore are the entitled version of Singaporeans who expect red carpet treatment from their adopted countries, walk into jobs, expect the locals to accept their culture and mentality. Sure, they love a freebie any day but picking up discarded items in public? No way! Scared kena somehow Stomped in Perth also. No money can but cannot no face lah!

There is nothing shameful about being in a Gathering Mode. Yes, I am a pissed poor peasant and Angie will pretend that she is. (but she isn't, she owns a car in Singapore!) However, this has little to do with money or the lack of. I did bring a sum of money to Perth when I came over. It should be sufficient to last us long enough before finding a job that can kick start a more sustainable life here without eating into the savings anymore. I went into Gathering Mode because I was pessimistic about my migration.

Yes, you heard that right. That is what set Gathering Moders like Angie and I apart from the other Singaporeans. Most migrants are optimistic about their moves, which is logical. Who in the right mind will move to a country if they are pessimistic about their future there? Well some of us do because we have reached a tipping point where economic reasons are no longer significant on the push-pull balance.

I'm not sure if I can considered myself settled down in Perth today. The Gathering Mode is still well and alive, but to a lesser extend. We have been doing a lot of paying forward recently. The kindness we have received over the last 5 years helped us tremendously. If I am unable to express my appreciation to friends and strangers who had help me in person, I hope by paying it forward, I can make their efforts to me worthwhile because I will be doing the same for the others in their spirit.

Long live the Gathering Mode.

Recently, I bought some chicken thighs from the nearby butcher. When I was getting them ready for marination, I realised they were whole thighs instead of the smaller pieces that they normally sell in Coles or Woolworths. I thought it would be a shame to slice them into smaller pieces for meals during the week so I decided to make "chicken chops."

I can't say I'm really good at this but this isn't rocket science and I have done it long ago, when we ran that amateurish "western food" stall in a secondary school. Though we weren't "world class" or even "hawker class", we tried our best to provide students of the school the best value for money meals we could. It was tough and we didn't have a fantastic first year but revenue increased steadily year by year. By the 8th year, we were easily the stall with the highest revenue in the canteen. Still, I wouldn't call ourselves "world class" or "hawker class." I don't think we were that good but we are proud to gain acceptance of our cliente. Outgoing students were overheard telling freshmen which stall they would highly recommend.

Most of the work was done by my mother. By now, she is too old for this tough work. Surprisingly, I still remember most of the basics despite only standing in once or twice operationally when Mum was sick. It was a daunting experience to be awaken by my frail-looking mother at 5am in the morning to be told I was the boss for that day. So I skipped lessons in university to go to war. I would have skipped lessons to play computer games at home anyway.... so how could I not help out if I could. My mother's revenue was the family's revenue.

Auntie (our helper) gave me cues all day. How much of stuff I needed to cook and when. My focus on getting food fully-cooked than be productive. A dent in our reputation would have cost more than lost revenue for that day. When I am fully concentrated in work, I am a wonderful multi-tasking machine. My brain can process a lot of information at the same time and my body (then at least) could perform and keep up. However, when I am in this zone, I hate to talk or have anyone breaking my chain of thoughts. Therefore, I do not work well with bosses who micro manage. I will quit a job faster than a bean sprouts should I encounter such a boss. I thrive in environments where the hierarchy is flat and everyone is working as a team. It was a rare occasion working in a kitchen without someone barking orders.

The day turned out okay. Thankfully, I didn't break the lowest revenue record. The day's takings was among the higher side. NS didn't make me grow up. What I experienced that day did. All along I knew it wasn't easy for Mum to bring us up all those decades. None of the jobs she did was fulfilling. None of those were cushy, comfortable jobs too. However, she had done that for decades, so that we didn't have to.

After that day, I went down to the stall to help out whenever I could. I washed plates. I found that after you take on a plate washing job, (those without a commercial dish washing machine) you will never be scared to get your hands dirty again. It formed the basis behind my willingness to take on jobs that I would never had considered in my life, jobs that started my life in Perth. After taking on those jobs, working on flooring, paving, painting, insect screen replacement and other whatnots around the house became a formality.

That day when I had to whip up chicken chops in a humble little stall changed my life forever.

Savvy Steve's garage does not look that messy. Unfortunately, this (left) is the neatest part of the garage. There are worse sides of the walls that are best remained unseen.

I found myself standing like a loon in the garage many times last weekend. I didn't know where to begin. Believe me, I am a great organiser and can sort out any mess if I want to. However, that felt like playing a game of solitaire or freecell, being in a permanent locked situation. Fortunately unlike in those games, I can add elements into the situation to change it. My current racks do not solve my problem. I will need to spend time (and some money) to install wall shelves to house some of the permanent items. It shall be be done flushed to the columns without encroaching into the garage space.

The far side shall be have shelving flushed to the columns as well. Only one side of the wall shall be lined with my racks. That way, I could free up enough space to park 2 cars in the garage once again, as well as accommodating the amount of things I need to house in the garage.

An inspection of the fence also confirmed the possibility of freeing up about 1.5 sqm of space if I were to modify part of the fence behind. It was an oversight from me, I should have gotten the lazy fucks who did the fencing to do that. However, I was too busy working on the interior back then to think about it. Fortunately, my experience in making the side gate will be adequate for me to modify my fence. I shall claim my 1.5 sqm. In a tiny house like Savvy Steve's, every inch matters. I shall add this task to the list but it may or may not be completed in Autumn. All tasks unfinished will be carried over to Winter.

Despite moving all the remaining pavers out of the garage, it appeared that was only 10% of the work done. Addressing the mess in the garage is harder than I thought. I will have to put in real effort this weekend or it will never be done. Well, at least I got started. The start will always be the hardest. Things will get better.

It turned out that not all that glittered was gold, I found out the hard way. There was an easement placed on the land where Acres of Gold was. There was an important gas line across the land beneath. Though the previous owners might have not be disturbed for the past 30 years, it does not mean there will not be any disruption to the land in future when the need arises. Thus the easement clause in the land title and that does anything but to put one at ease if you are considering buying the land. KL-J's advisers told him to stay out. I had the same opinion. I wouldn't mind living on the land even if a gas pipe running below. In Singapore, we live above all kinds of shit anyway. However, running a business on land with easement is an entirely different story. If the easement is exercise, the business downtime, opportunity costs, reinstating costs and compensation will be potential headaches. Since prevention is better than cure, the best thing to do is to avoid.

Was I embarrassed for not spotting such a critical problem? Yes. However, it was the first time I heard of the term easement in my entire life. Much as I tried, I didn't cover every single potential issue associated with buying land. That is how we learn things. I am grateful for an opportunity to an eye opener rather than dwelling on my lack of knowledge. I learnt something from that and I am sharing it now for your benefit.

There will be always better properties around. Perhaps not at the same price or location but there will be interesting ones here and there. So it is up to KL-J (and me to a lesser extent) to shortlist new ones. Coincidentally, the one that he spotted and noted me was one that caught my eye just a minute before. It was a beautiful looking estate on paper. One that sends hearts fluttering. However, I thought it might be over his budget so I didn't suggest. Of course, I was wrong again. From the way I see it, if it is value for money, investors will not mind paying more.

The land report suggested a scary drop in land price in just one single year but it was still valued for a million despite the plunge. It looks like most people who buy land recently, be it residential, commercial or rural, will be sitting on a property worth less than what they paid for today. Despite the drop in land value, the owner is expecting at least a million more on the raw land itself. Is the stunning house, water licenses, boreholes, infrastructure, buildings and other investments worth a million dollars? 

I'll visit it soon to find out. Hopefully my eyes will be keener this time.

I was invited to take a seat at the veranda. There was home-made cakes on the table and I was asked if I could like a cup of coffee or tea. Sean, the real estate agent looked like he was an old family friend, chatting with the owners of the property as if they had known for ages.

Neil, the owner's son was telling me about the property with genuine passion. He seemed like the real real estate agent and was doing a better job. I told my audience I had 30 questions for them and they gasped. I assured them it wasn't that bad.

"I went to another property with 60 questions," I revealed. They responded with rattles of laughter. "Besides," I continued, "I have the answers to about 10 of these, so we have only 20 to go."

The owner was silent throughout our conversations. After introducing himself, he sat with us throughout without saying a word. The quiet, unassuming man was Robert David. He came to Perth from India 50 years ago. According to his wife, Perth had "nothing" back then. That matched what Lynus Martin, who came to Perth 30 years ago, said of Perth. Coincidentally, Singaporean tourists still said the same thing up to this day about Perth's nothingness and return to show their ignorance to their friends by telling them Perth was boring.

According to Neil, their family visited more than 50 properties before falling in love with the property they ended up buying and staying for 30 years, where the family of 8 grew up and grew old together. Both his parents worked their socks off, working 2 jobs each to pay for their 15 acres and brought up all 5 kids. The land held a lot of fond memories for the family. The animals roaming freely, the plentiful fruit trees that used to be there, the fishing, gutting and cooking straightaway for dinners, the countless parties held in the open area....

On Robert David's book, he described himself as an engineer, accountant, musician and short story writer at the back of the book. He told me he had written many books. When he handed me a copy of his booked titled, "A land I once call home" it did not look anything like a short story. It was a massive book that would take me weeks to finish. After he autographed the book for me, I hold it against my chest and thanked him.

You know, when I saw the book title, I thought I could write a book with the same title too. My primary school friend, Inshera kept asking me to write a book a few months back. She had since migrated to NZ and never looked back since. Incidentally she stopped bugging me about the book too but the seed she planted in my mind remained dormant. Me, Sg uneducated beng, write book? Even my mum will laugh if she knows. heh heh.

Ok, any pre-orders?

Before I drove off, I left KL-J a text, "If you are not buying this, give me a loan of 1.5 million."

By the time I reached home, he came back with, "Can no problem but we take your daughter as collateral. My wife always wanted a daughter..."

That was a toughie. I've gotta think. 

When I saw Judy, she asked me how was the viewing. I didn't answer her but asked how much was the EC in Singapore that she was interested in.

"$945,000," she replied.

Damn.

I sat down and ate some chicken and carrots for dinner quietly. Savvy Steve's house was only a 5-10 minutes drive away... but what a big difference it makes. Here we are, sitting on a measly 310sqm land. With building cost, it didn't come out to 0.5 million bucks but it was close. That property I viewed was a 15 acre lot. It had a residential property on it, built in 1980 but very well kept for its age, almost at a move-in condition. There was a large cottage on it too. It was built in 1940s and would have a lot of character if it was better taken care of but unfortunately it wasn't.

While the cottage was in a shabby state, it was structurally sound with good Jarrah wood that stood the test of time. The cladding of the house, however, badly needed a face lift. Still it had charming things such as 1 very old school fireplace and a firewood oven, features that could potentially look amazing if restored.

I wanted to spend 1 hour at the property. I ended up spending 3 hours there. I have viewed a fair share of properties but never had I spent that much time in one property before. Although the sellers were serious sellers, they had been great hosts and along with the agent, were never pushy. Neil, the son of the owners, told me a lot about his growing up days and what he used to do in the property with his 4 siblings. There were animals everywhere and they caught breams at the river for dinner often. However, his parents are 75 and 80 respectively and could no longer handle the chores in that land and had to sell it.

The owner was a little deaf in his ears. He was a quiet man who did little talking. However when he did, his words carried substance. While looking through his study room, he even showed me a book that he wrote.

"Can I have it?" I asked shamelessly.

"Yes," the old gentleman said and even offered to sign it for me.

They also prepared tea and cakes for me. It wasn't a facade put up for the sale. They were simple and nice folks and I could feel it.

Sentiments aside, let's get down to facts.

This property is 15.3km to Perth City, a 26 minutes drive.

It is 13.3km to Perth Airport, a 17 minutes drive.

It is 6.8km to the nearest hospital, a 10 minutes drive.

A 5 minutes drive to the nearest train station.

It is 7km to an upcoming university.

10 minutes to 2 historic suburbs and 1 big one with full amenities.

It is 1km off the road along a famous tourism route in Perth

It has a riverbank at the end of the land. How many such property can you get hold of?

It has good neighbours to synergise with. They run good businesses and keep their properties beautiful.

It is a safe, peaceful area.

The main property enjoy a consistent gentle breeze from the river throughout the afternoon

All 15 acres of it plus the houses on it, the great location and great potential for $1.5 million. I challenge you to find a better deal.


If only I am not a pissed poor peasant....