0107Singapore real estate rental relocation stories, extracted from "The Internet Realtors, Singapore", sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet


Mr Summers is an American expatriate who has lived in  Singapore for more than 5 years. He is very well organized and knows what type of condominium he wants to live in. He will email his specifications to me and other realtors and will include a list of condos he has in mind or has seen with other realtors.  

He is not the typical American expatriate who goes house-hunting with realtors.  He never leaves home without carrying a torch. Most Landlords and co-broking realtors are surprised to see him with a black torch to view houses in the daytime. All are too polite to be inquisitive.  Is he going to use the torch to check for defects of the condo? What a fussy prospective Tenant he must be!

We went to the Astoria apartment.  The incumbent Tenant had switched on the air conditioners and the apartment was really cool and nice.  The Tenant was his compatriot.  

"I hear you just got married," Mr Summers congratulated him.  

"Yes, four months and one week," beamed the Tenant hand holding his new bride.

"I hope you don't mind me being a supporter of your rival basement team," said Mr Summers who was wearing the T-shirt with the logo and had seen the picture of the baseball team of the Tenant in the apartment. 

"No problem with me," laughed the American.

Mr Summers then put one end of his torch against the wall of the living area. He pressed the button.  A beep was heard from the torch.  There was no beam of light as we all expected.  

"Oh, this is the Measurement Computer," explained Mr Summers. The MC certainly looks very much like a torch down to its protective circular glass cover at one end. "It measures the distance between two walls, using sonar waves. I need to measure the dimensions of the living area as I have lots of furniture, accumulated throughout the six years of stay in Singapore," he elaborated.  

We were all impressed with this MC.  No need to use tape to measure the dimensions.  How cool!

The MC emitted beeps in all the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen, the utility room and any space Mr Summers felt was necessary. It was also used to estimate the length of the closets. Mr Summers diligently recorded down the data in a yellow pad. 

"You forgot to measure the big balcony," I reminded Mr Summers. He was like a post-doctoral research fellow and I felt that his findings would be incomplete if he had missed the balcony. 

There was no problem measuring the distance between the length of the balcony as there were two walls at each end. 

Now, how to measure the width of the balcony since one end is the edge of the living area?  There is a problem here. 

Mr Summers is the type of American manager whose job is to resolve problems. The more challenging the problem, the better.
He could put the MC at the outer end of the balcony and direct the MC to transmit sonar waves to the wall of the dining area and then subtracting the distance between the living and dining area, I thought.  This sounded complicated and was not what Mr Summers had in mind.

Mr Summers stood at the edge of the living area, put the MC on his knee area and pointed the MC at the far end of the wall to measure the width of the balcony. A beep was heard as the sonar waves bounced off. 

We heard two beeps, one sounded like that of the remote control of the air conditioners being switched on.  

Suddenly, the electrical supply to the apartment was cut off.  

"It never happened before," said the American Tenant.  He re-set the switches at the circuit breaker and the air conditioners purred smoothly. 

Mr Summers continued his clicking measurements with his trusty MC.  The humming of the air conditioners stopped.  The power supply was disrupted again.  The circuit breaker was checked and the switches were re-set.  The air conditioner hummed a while and stopped functioning.

"It had not occurred before and I maintain the air conditioners regularly," the Landlady explained to an incredulous audience of prospective Tenants and a realtor. 

I guessed our countenance showed that we would not believe her nor the Tenant.  Our silence implied disbelief.  

We just stood around the circuit breaker while the Tenant checked once again the switches. The air conditioners would not spring to life. 

I checked out the circuit breaker. All switches were in their usual position. That was normal. Why would the air conditioners of the apartment malfunction?  I looked at Mr Summers. There was the MC in his hand.  

"Ah, ha, ....... Mr Summers, you must be the culprit.

Your MC beeping must have had overloaded the electrical supply and cause the breaker to trip!" I said in a serious tone. I thought everybody would see the lighter aspect of this serious problem.  All eyes were focused on me. 

The Tenant and his newly married wife were silent. The Landlady did not know what to say as she sensed a loss of a prospective Tenant in the Summers family. Mr & Mrs Summers and their daughter looked at me not saying a word. This was a time I wished I was buried under the Siberian glaciers. Anywhere but at this Astoria apartment.

I had expected a repartee from the two American men.  But we were all frozen in time and space and in religious silence and as if we were  paying respects to the dead.  This was a big boo-boo on my part.

What should I do to get out of this predicament?  "We have another appointment," I said.  We said farewell and left a distressed Landlady and Tenant.

Dear reader, do you think that the sonar waves from the MC would cause a power outage and shut down the air conditioners? Is it that powerful?  You can bet your last MC that I would keep mum the next time when the air conditioners break down during house-hunting!                     

Expats relocating to Singapore.
The MC did not cause the power trip! The above mentioned condos in the story and many more are available for rent.  Click thumbnail to see bigger pictures of brand new condos near the American Club and downtown Orchard Road.

Tel: +65 9668 6468, email judy@asiahomes.com for updates.

"Have a sense of humor in your job" stories are supported by Asiahomes Internet.    

You Got Tenant, House Owner? Looking for Tenants is like winning a war. You need to know where your enemies can be found. You need to advertise in www.asiahomes.com where prospects interested in Singapore properties are likely to be found. Why not place an affordable internet ad to contact prospects direct and save you a few thousand dollars in agency commission? Telephone +65 9668 6468, E-mail All Problems, Questions And Comments To: judy@asiahomes.com

Copyright © Asiahomes Internet, 2001. All rights reserved.
"Have a sense of humor" education article is supported by Asiahomes Internet.    Dedicated to AW.  Revised: January 07, 2001. · Asiahomes Internet
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