“Is $80K for renovating a 20-year-old 5-room flat too high?”

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user asked, “How much did you spend on your reno?” after being charged around S$80,000 for a 20-year-old five-room flat.

u/thewan2345 wrote on r/askSingapore on Thursday that an interior designer he spoke to says that the quote given was for a “full tear down and do up” renovation. Aside from this, the flat also needs complete rewiring that is likely to cost around S$5000, in addition to “furniture and appliance shopping which in this economic climate, isn’t too wallet friendly.”

He also said he is “Looking at ways to cut it down at this point.”

One commenter who responded told the post author that the quote of S$80,000 was actually quite reasonable, but suggested ways to cut down costs.

“80k for 5-room 20yr-old resale property is pretty standard. Unless OP wants to go the full contractor route. wouldn’t advise going “hybrid” (ID + your own contractor for certain areas) cos it might jeopardise the ID’s timeline (they usually have to coordinate for multiple projects). Takes effort to manage,” added another.

One wrote, “My recent (6 months ago) reno, 4rm HDB was around 70+ k. IDs was quoting me closer to 80k.”

“Whatever you do, do not scrimp on electric and plumbing/waterproofing. Budget for that first. everything else is negotiable. These 2 items if they go wrong during the duration of stay can be very expensive,” another warned.

However, a commenter who said he was not a “fan” of renovations also weighed in.

Others agreed that S$80,000 was a reasonable rate.

Many people spent around the same amount.

/TISG

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