She will make close to $1 million if she sells her condominium apartment.

She will make close to $1 million if she sells her condominium apartment.

But an expatriate decided to reject the collective sale offer because she likes where she is living.

She even started a ‘Say No to En Bloc’ petition to get residents to speak up against the sale.

Unknown to her, another group of residents has also organised a petition against the sale.

And surprisingly, they are tenants who have no investment interest in their homes.

Some of these residents at the Dairy Farm Estate do not want to leave because they are in love with its lush, tranquil setting and the peaceful neighbourhood.

The 478-unit, 24-year-old freehold condo near Upper Bukit Timah Road is close to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

British expatriate Andrea Woolhead couldn’t believe it last month when she was offered a million more than she had paid for her flat.

The offer is about $1.8 million for her 2,200 sq ft unit if the sale goes through.

Ms Woolhead, a teacher in an international school here, paid about $840,000 for it in 2005.

It is not often that someone passes up a chance to be an instant millionaire.

The 49-year-old could have returned to the UK and retired on her million-dollar windfall.

But she turned the offerdown.

Harninious Living

She said: ‘I know I could be an instant millionaire, but in so many countries I’ve been to, this estate is probably one of the most unique, with such a wide variety of nationalities living in harmony close to each other.’

‘I could have taken the money, left the country and make good with the profit. But I didn’t because I like this estate.’

She may be making a wise choice.

Some homeowners who took the enbloc route are now finding it hard to get a replacement home because prices have soared beyond their reach.

Ms Woolhead’s anti-en-bloc-sale petition has garnered 91 signatures and needs at least 10 more to make up more than 20 per cent of the residents, she said.

On the other side is homeowner C S Lim, who is on the sales committee tasked with convincing residents to sign for the sale.

The committee has about 10 per cent of ‘yes’ votes from residents.

Under the legislation, an en bloc sale can proceed only if 80 per cent of the owners approve of it.

Ms Woolhead, who lives in the condo with her three children and her husband, a junior college teacher, said: ‘We started the petition because there are residents who are not doing anything even though they don’t want the collective sale to happen.

‘A group of us decided to start the ball rolling and it just snowballed from there.’

Residents can also sign the petition online.

The other petition to save the condo is being led by US expatriate Jean Rueckert, who said they have about 10 signatures so far.

The 39-year-old teacher said: ‘We were not aware of the other petition.

‘We just wanted residents here to share their perspective that this is a unique property that should be preserved as a heritage site because of the beautiful physical surroundings.’

Ms Rueckert, who came to Singapore eight years ago, has lived in the condo for six years.

Her group, like the other residents opposing the sale, wants to save the estate because of its greenery, spacious surroundings and location next to the nature reserve.

More Vocal Minority

The anti-en-bloc-sale community has become more vocal and active of late, said Mr Nicholas Mak, Knight Frank’s head of consultancy and research.

For example, in Ulu Pandan, a group that calls itself Save The Pine Grove is still trying to stop the enbloc process for that estate even though a first attempt at an enbloc sale fell through earlier this year.

Mr Mak added: ‘There have been many recent reports about people who are unhappy with enbloc sales for various reasons.

‘The tyranny of the majority to sell may have led more people to voice their unhappiness,’ he said.

But for Dairy Farm Estate, it’s still too early to rule out the possibility of a collective sale.

When there was talk about Farrer Court going en bloc in March, the dissenters there were out in full force.

But there’s a saying that there’s no property that can’t be sold - it’s just a matter of price.

The estate was subsequently put up for sale with a record-breaking reserve price tag of $1.5billion. More than 80 per cent of owners signed the collective sale agreement last month.

Ms Woolhead concedes that it’s a long road ahead for Dairy Farm.

She said: ‘It’s still a big question mark if we can stop the sale. Of the 91 who signed, some will not sell at any cost, (but) there are those who are just sitting on the fence.

‘I’m sure that when there’s a meeting of minds between the developer and residents’ asking price, more people will sign (for the sale) due to the dollar sign.’

Mr Lim, who spearheaded the sale action, said that there was no better time to sell the estate than now, when the enbloc fever ishot.

He said: ‘The economics of it looks better in today’s market. We could encash the property and unlock the value with the enbloc sale.

‘But ultimately, it’s up to the residents. If there’s poor response, then so be it. It’s the wish of the residents here.’

Source: The New Paper, 26 June 2007