502 units
3-bedroom: 199, 202 sq. m (2,142sf).
4-bedroom: 223-226s sq. m (2,400sf).

Completed: 1993  

Interiors: Living/Dining room - light coloured marble tiles. Bedrooms - carpets laid over parquet flooring in many units.  In 2000, many owners have had installed new parquet flooring.  Built-in wardrobe, kitchen cabinet, cooker hob & hood, air-conditioning system.

Individual basement storage lockers for golf clubs at basement car parking. No assigned car park lots. 

Excellent tropical landscaping.  Al the bedrooms have attached baths of various colours like pink in the master bedroom which has dual sinks, blue and grey shower and water closets in the other 2 bedrooms.

For the 4-bedroom units, the 4th room is a study room which has a bathroom which is actually the powder room for guests.

The kitchen counter is greyish.  Cooker hood, hob and over are white Elba brands.   
Some owners have used metallic strip to replace the burnt wooden strip fronting the cooker hob near the wall.

Master bedroom is characterized by pink long bath, pink dual basin and water closet.  The other 2 bedrooms have grey and blue water closets. 

Big spacious utility area and maid's room.  Some owners have enclosed the utility area with sliding windows or grilles.  The storage room for the air conditioner compressors in the utility area tend to be very dirty and will need to be cleaned before taking over.

Facilities: An Olympic-length rectangular swimming pool, big children's pool,  tennis court, squash court and a gym. 24-hour security system, covered car park, playground, sauna, fitness area/jogging track.  There's the mini-mart and beer for sale when this report was recorded in 2002. 

The Waterside, near East Coast Park and Suntec City	Spacious playground for children & pets	Spacious living and dining area
Spacious separate living & dining areas able to accommodate a dining table with 10 chairs easily.	Pools are upgraded by the management corporation in around 2000.

There may be cable vision points in the living area. However expats must negotiate to get points into the bedrooms. Some new condos have points in all rooms. Should have water heaters for all rooms and kitchen.  Do check on ceiling water leaks in the kitchen area or bathroom.

As there are so many new condos with balconies, nearby, it is much harder to rent The Waterside condos more than what the Landlord wishes to. However renovated units in Block 9, with good sea views, tranquility and high floor may justify the higher rental.

ADVANTAGES
Panoramic sea views above 12th floor, but  the humming of traffic from expressway below can be heard if windows are open.  Plenty of sea breezes.

< 10-minute bus ride to Suntec City/Raffles Place by Bus Plus (express bus) with bus-stop outside Condo. 

Bus service to the Kallang subway in 10 minutes and then to City Hall or Raffles Place. Many taxis.

DISADVANTAGES
Many apartments in 2002 are dated as the owners do not change the coloured bathrooms and the grey kitchen counter tops. Most Landlords have not renovated the bathrooms and kitchens, but rentals are much lower per sq ft. 

High density living, but the buildings are spaced out unlike the new Costa Rhu condos.  Traffic noises louder on higher floors which also have panoramic sea views. Noise travels upwards.  However, closing the windows shut off 90% of the noise.  One owner has had installed double rows of windows to solve the problem. Blocks 1 and 11 are fronting the expressway but they have unblocked sea views from the living area. Block 7 is further back and has pool and sea view but the view is partially obstructed by Block 1 or 11. Units without sea views and on low floors, you can get lower rentals.

"I have this Letter of Intent from the Chinese Indonesian at $5,000 rental. Unless you can find me better offers within a couple of days, I will have to accept this prospect" said the Landlord.

The pressure was tremendous for Asia USA associate as much expenses and time (several weekends and weekdays) were spent "opening house" for this Costa Rhu condo.

The Chinese Indonesian had offered $4,800 but was rejected by the Owner as there were adverse considerations such as:

• Financial stability. A start up Singaporean Company was just registered and the office address was a residence (at Paterson Hill). Start ups may not be financially sound.

• Capriciousness. The co-broking agent for the Chinese Indonesian offered 3-year lease, then said 1-year and reverted to 2-year when the Owner did not respond. Also mentioned was the possibility of purchase.

• Wear and Tear: Higher when there are more occupants.   In this case, the couple had 2 kids and 2 maids.

• Hard bargaining. Offer from the co-broking agent started at $3,500.  $4,800 was provisionally agreed and the cheques/contracts were ready but the Owner said "no" as he was not comfortable.  Many Indonesian and Singapore Chinese love to bargain to get rock-bottom rent resulting in a win-lose situation.

The next moment, the agent sent in the Letter of Intent and cheque for $5,000 purporting from another prospective client.  The Owner suspected this was the same party but another name was being used.

There might be a long wait for the next offer. As had happened to many Landlords, a 2^nd and 3^rd offer come in within next few days.
You still have to put in record fast, what you have to offer and the best is by fax as shown below.

To: The Owner, Costa Rhu.
September 6, 1998 / 8.20 p.m.
Unable to reach you by phone (residence). Left 2 messages or 3.

TWO QUALITY CORPORATE TENANTS

Please consider these 2 prospects seriously as they are quality Tenants.  These 2 parties had the following details:

Prospect No. 1.
British National. Single with girl friend.
Operations Manager
Company Lease
Company: (Established company in prestigious Raffles Place location).
Commencement: October 1998
Offer to you: $5,000

Occupants: Husband (Englishman) and wife (Japanese), both around mid-thirties. No children, no maid. One small breed terrier dog.

Requirements: ceiling fan in living and master bedroom

Mosquito netting in windows. Both items are not compulsory but will be nice to have. Presently renting The Cairnhill, 3,000 sq. ft at $6,000.

Prospect No. 2.
Australian National. Husband and wife, no kids.
Regional Human Resource Director, Asia Pacific Company Listed on Singapore Stock Exchange.
Company Lease

Commencement: November 15, 1998.
Offer to you: $5,500

Occupants: Husband & wife (Welsh), around mid-fifties, no children, no maid. No dog/pet.

Requirements: curtain behind door of kitchen. 2 months' notice to break lease if there is construction on vacant piece of land opposite living room.

How to assess the quality of a prospective tenant?

Some tips have been given above case study.  If your condo is "rentable" (location good, views excellent, quiet, near subway), there is no problem as you will have a few choices within a short period of time. Unfortunately, this was December 1998 and a recession year in Singapore and Costa Rhu condos were just completed.

The Owner had waited over 6 months as he wanted a good tenant. No offers above $5,000 were received and he had rejected one some months ago.  The repair for damages might   exceed his rental income if he made a bad choice due to the prolonged vacancy period.

Advices to first-time as regards ground floor condo rental:

• Many agents view the above unit as unmarketable, being a ground floor unit. This is generally true and a great expenditure of time and money may lead to zero income as you don't usually get exclusive marketing rights. 
  
• No privacy and no security, limiting prospects to Caucasians who love garden or have a fear of high-rise living.

• You have to work hard especially weekends. Your mobile phone is a necessity and make sure you return calls immediately. Many realtors do not work on Sundays.

• Above 2 Caucasians called on Sundays and visited the Costa Rhu Condo by themselves. One called Asia USA after checking http://www.asiahomes.com. The other responded to the Straits Times Open House advertisement.
  
• The Caucasian husband in general wants their wives to be happy and if the wife is happy, the husband can focus on his career. The husband usually agree with the wife's choice since he spends most time in the office or travel a lot.

Of course, you must be able to "sell" the advantages of this waterfront, private corner Condo unit, including objections to the "vacant piece of land".

In the above case study, the Owner now has 3 choices whereas he had none for the past 6 months!

• There is no exclusiveness in this case.
• Much depends on timing really but there is no substitution for hard work and weekend work (when customers are free to go house hunting). Expose your property through all means including the Internet.

Conclusion:

Fortunately, the Landlord accepted the British National at $5,500.  It could have been zero income despite the hard work and time spent if other agents had closed. The financial risk of being a rental realtor is very high as can be seen in this report.  

Singapore owners seldom give exclusive rental marketing rights, so you may have to be selective in your newspaper advertisements, choosing "rentable" properties rather than any property. 

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