eBay Inc. is an American multinational e-commerce corporation based in San Jose, California that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in the autumn of 1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble. eBay is a multibillion-dollar business with operations in about 30 countries, as of 2011. The company manages the eBay website, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a wide variety of goods and services worldwide. The website is free to use for buyers, but sellers are charged fees for listing items after a limited number of free listings, and again when those items are sold.
Lim Kim San was a Singaporean politician. He was credited for leading the successful public housing program in the Southeast Asian city-state during the early 1960s, which eased the acute housing shortage problem at that time.
For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, is the process of selling real estate without the representation of a real estate broker or real estate agent. Homeowners may employ the services of marketing or online listing companies or market their own property but do not pay a commission and represent themselves with the help of a lawyer or Solicitor throughout the sale.
Urban planning in Singapore has formulated and guided its physical development from the day Singapore was founded in 1819 as a British colony to the developed, independent country it is today. Urban planning is especially important due to land constraints and its high density.
The practice of Karang guni is common in Singapore. Its practitioners are a modern form of rag and bone men that visit residences door-to-door. They can either walk along corridors or for certain HDB estates where the carpark is right under the HDB blocks, walk through the carpark downstairs honking a horn. However, around landed properties, they may drive around in a lorry with a horn attached to it, instead of going door-to-door. They make visits in carts, collecting old newspapers and other unwanted items. These will be resold at specialized markets and eventually recycled or reused. "Karang guni" is a Malay phrase for gunny sack, which was used in the past to hold the newspapers. The Karang guni men would haul the heavy sacks on their backs as they walked their rounds to do the collection. Today, most of them use a hand truck instead.
Build To Order is a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat allocation system that offers flexibility in timing and location for owners buying new HDB flats in Singapore. Eligible buyers planning to shift into a new HDB apartment in the near future, can apply for apartments in their preferred location from specific sites launched. Tender for construction will be called only if the number of applicants is at least 70% of the number of apartments in a specific contract, otherwise, the project is not built.
The Walk-in-Selection / Balloting Exercise of the Housing and Development Board in Singapore was a scheme that enables eligible flat buyers to book their apartment. It was replaced by Sale of Balance Flats (SOBF).
In finance, an option is a contract which gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price prior to or on a specified date, depending on the form of the option. The strike price may be set by reference to the spot price of the underlying security or commodity on the day an option is taken out, or it may be fixed at a discount or at a premium. The seller has the corresponding obligation to fulfill the transaction – to sell or buy – if the buyer (owner) "exercises" the option. An option that conveys to the owner the right to buy at a specific price is referred to as a call; an option that conveys the right of the owner to sell at a specific price is referred to as a put. Both are commonly traded, but the call option is more frequently discussed.
The Home Improvement Programme (HIP) is a programme announced by HDB, during the National Day Rally in August 2007 that replaced the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP). The HIP offers lessees a choice on the works they want to be included in the upgrading of their flats. It also helps lessees deal with common maintenance problems in ageing flats, such as spalling concrete and ceiling leaks, in a systematic and comprehensive manner. Flats are eligible for HIP twice, one at 30 years old and one at 60-70 years old. Priority of upgrading programmes is traditionally given to wards held by the ruling People's Action Party, which appoints the Minister for National Development who oversees the Housing Development Board. When asked why opposition wards are penalised by the statutory board at a NUS student forum in 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong responded, "The answer is that there has to be a distinction. Because the PAP wards supported the Government and the policies which delivered these good things.”
The Pinnacle@Duxton is a 50-storey residential development in Singapore's city center, next to the business district. The project features the world's two longest sky gardens of 500 metres (1,600 ft) each, on both the 26th and 50th floors. All seven connected towers are collectively the world's tallest public residential buildings.
Treelodge@Punggol is a HDB estate located in Punggol, Singapore. It is Singapore’s first experimental eco-friendly public-housing project and was awarded the Green Mark Platinum Award. The project also won international awards such as the Green Good Design Award in 2010 and the Futurac Green Leadership award in 2011 for its sustainable design.
Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) is a monetisation option introduced by Singapore to help elderly households in three-room or smaller flats unlock their housing equity to meet their retirement needs. It was announced by Singapore’s Minister for National Development, Mah Bow Tan, in Parliament on 6 Feb 2009, and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has started accepting applications for LBS from 1 Mar 2009. The scheme underwent a review, following Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Manpower, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam announcement on 17 Feb 2012. The enhanced LBS was announced on 27 December 2012, under which, eligible elderly households will receive a $20,000 LBS bonus when they sell the tail-end lease of their 4-room or smaller flats to HDB and use their net proceeds to top up their CPF Retirement Account (RAs) to the specified top-up requirements. Further revisions to the scheme were announced on 3 Sep 2014, and took effect from 1 April 2015.
Additional Housing Grant is an additional subsidy over and above the regular market subsidy and Central Provident Fund Housing Grant that new and resale HDB flat buyers in Singapore can enjoy. It offsets the purchase price of a new or resale HDB flat in Singapore, thereby reducing the housing loan a flat buyer needs to take.
Pay what you want is a pricing strategy where buyers pay their desired amount for a given commodity, sometimes including zero. In some cases, a minimum (floor) price may be set, and/or a suggested price may be indicated as guidance for the buyer. The buyer can also select an amount higher than the standard price for the commodity. Many common uses of PWYW set the price prior to a purchase, but some defer price-setting until after the experience of consumption. PWYW is a buyer-centered form of participatory pricing, also referred to as co-pricing.
Executive Condominium, or EC, is a type of public housing in Singapore. First built in 1999, EC is a hybrid of public and private housing. They resemble private condominiums and are enclosed within a gated compound with security, amenities like swimming pools, clubhouses, playgrounds and so forth.
Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) flats are a type of housing unique to Singapore. They were first built in 1974 to cater to a sandwiched class of Singaporeans who can afford something better than the typical public housing, or HDB flats, but yet still find private housing unaffordable. Moreover, in the 1970s there were fewer private housing in the country.
Canberra Plaza is a future New Generation Neighbourhood Centre (NGNC) build by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), the government agency in charge of public housing development in Singapore. It is one of the new Neighbourhood Centres (NCs) being constructed by HDB in 10 years after the completion of Pioneer Mall and Punggol Plaza in 2004. Cable News Network (CNN) reported that Canberra Plaza will provide a "complete live-work-play-learn environment for residents and signifies Singapore's public housing for the future".
