By Danson Cheong, newsroom intern

IT'S barely a 10-minute drive from town. The Paya Lebar MRT station is just a brisk five-minute walk away.

And it's smack in the middle of a food hub, with delicious local fare like beef kway teow and hokkien mee just around the corner.

The average price of a 1,200 sq ft condo unit in this condominium is about $688,000, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority resale data.

The price is certainly attractive in today's market, but some may baulk at the location because the Aston Mansions condominium is located in Lorong 42, Geylang.

Not Mr Simon Lim and his wife Irene, a couple in their late 40s.

In 1995, they bought a unit in the 99-year leasehold condo for $750,000. They live there with their two adult children, aged 22 and 25.

Mrs Lim, who works in a head-hunting firm, said: "The Geylang name carries with it a certain negative connotation. But before we moved in, we made sure there were no pubs, novice and no drinking near the condo."

But with a current price tag of below $700,000,one can hardly complain. This is almost as cheap as some five-room flats in some prime areas.

For example, the median price of a five-room flat in Queenstown was around $645,000 last month, according to HDB resale statistics. The size of the five-room flat and the condo unit is almost similar.

A similarly sized condo unit at The Trumps in Kembangan, two train stops away, was sold for $913,000 in October.
The rental yield for private property in Geylang is quite decent too, because of its low capital cost.

Property agent Angeline Lim estimated that the rent of a 1,200 sq ft apartment at Aston Mansions will be around $3,500. That gives a rental yield of about 5 per cent.

Mr Eric Cheng, CEO of ECG Property, said that condos in the Geylang area are cheaper than those in other areas because the demand for such properties is not very high.

He also said that for properties in the Geylang area, some banks may not give the normal 80 per cent of the property value as a loan.

He believes this is because if the property market dips, these properties would probably be the most difficult to sell.

Mr Lim, who works in the property industry himself, said he was looking for a home in a more central area with easy access to the city centre when he bought his Geylang condo.

No regrets

His family had earlier lived in a maisonette in Yishun, which they bought for $100,000 in the 1980s. They sold it for $400,000 in 1995.

Mrs Lim added: "Then, Yishun was not a mature town yet. The location here is much better. "And of course, it's close to a lot of good food."

And they haven't regretted their decision to move to Geylang. The city centre, which is a 10-minute drive across Nicoll Highway, is also where Mrs Lim works.

Geylang is also highly accessible by bus, with 19 different services - including one night service.

The Lims' son, Derrick, 22, who is currently doing national service in the police force, said: "It is easy for me to get to the station and back with all the bus services nearby."

The New Paper had a look around the area and found it to be peaceful, with none of the usual dubious characters one would associate with the area. This condo has the usual facilities like a swimming pool, a jacuzzi and underground parking space.

But being so close to the red-light district admittedly does have its drawbacks. Mrs Lim said:

"There used to be a number of suspicious characters who rented some of the neighbouring units. It's much better now - the management is very strict."

This article first appeared in The New Paper.

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