[Neoxenon]

Cheryl saw me checking her out, and started apologizing for the attire. “I’m sorry I was late. I had to do a presentation in the office this morning,” she stammered. “Well, I thought you were an insurance agent in this outfit!” I said without taking my eyes off that sexy office attire. “We’d better go check out your offer – I don't have all morning!” I said.

We took the lift to the 36th storey, and came to a 3-bedroom apartment. Like she said, the view overlooking the Marina Bay was breathtaking through the full-sized windows. I tried to hide my enthusiasm as I browsed through the apartment, and I saw that there was furniture inside the house. She must have considered renting out the unit for expats perhaps, only to be burned by the waves of expats leaving Singapore. Perfect opportunity to increase the pressure on her to sell the house – I chuckled to myself. It wasn’t fancy designer furniture for sure, but the basic necessities such as the sofa, bed and dining tables were all there.

“What do you think, Derrick?” she asked. I turned around and saw Cheryl standing in the hallway. The rays of the morning sun bathed her in glorious light, and I can see her big round eyes looking at me in earnest, hoping that I can rescue her from the financial crisis. “The house is nice, but it is not worth anywhere the price you are asking for.” I said as a matter of factly. I can sense her disappointment immediately in those expressive eyes as her eyelashes with those perfectly applied mascara fluttered in panic.

“Derrick, this is a very good unit unlike the rest facing the city area. Please trust me on this! How much are you willing to offer?” she looked at me with those doe-like eyes. I looked at the young sweet thing standing before me, and said “$1100 psf and nothing more.”

Cheryl took a deep gasp at my bargain-basement offer. “But… but I paid $1500 psf for this unit!” her voice trembled at the prospect of not being able to offload this huge burden. I mentally calculated the price she paid - $1.6 million. She must be mad or greedy to commit to such a house in the first place.

“That was way too high. You went in at the wrong time and got burned by your greed – pure and simple.” I told her. “That’s not true! I wasn’t greedy!” as tears welled up in her eyes. “My fiancée wanted to invest in property with the extra money he made in property. And then the market crashed suddenly… and he lost all his money. The property completed at the wrong time and now we’re stuck with all the paper losses in shares and property!” her voice was quivering and she was looking down. I can detect drops of tears on the floor, but I wasn’t about to soften my position…