Homeowner status again!

Wow, its been a busy week this week. Not only did we set in motion the
sale of our flat in Grand Waterfront, and also confirm renting the
neighbouring tower in the same place, we also bought a new flat too!
Judy got a call from one of the estate agents saying that a new
development called Harbour Place was having some superb pomotional
offers that we should consider. Harbour Place is situated right
between the Hunghom train terminus, the Hunghom ferry pier and Whampoa
Gardens. It has seven blocks, and is developed jointly by Sung Hung
Kai Properties and New World Properties. Its long history of
development included it being a public housing estate, with the outer
frame looking rather spartan compared to more contemporary styles.
However they later decided to market it privately since it was on
prime harbourside land.
We had checked it out earlier in the year when they were selling
blocks 4,5 and 6, but at the time it was way put of our budget. This
time, they were offering blocks 1,2 and 3, the ones closest to the
harbour. They were also offering special mortgage deals such as 3yrs
interest payments paid by the developer, or 18mths guaranteed "rent"
of 5% of property value per month by the developers.
We got that news on Friday afternoon, and racking our brains for the
entire night working out costs and viability of the purchase! At first
we thought that the three year interest-free plan would be best as we
can charge lower rent yet still cover principal payments. But when we
talked to Ricacorp estate agents and explained that we wanted this fot
investment purposes, they suggested that the 7% discount would be
better. We would save on purchasing costs like Stamp Duty, legal fees,
and we can sell practically anytime if house prices suddenly rise,
whereas the three year plan would really need us to keep the flat at
least that period to maximize the benefits. The discount also gives us
a nice buffer against any market downturns. Sweet!