Hi suchard,
Nope, a potential buyer myself. In fact, I've been following the EC market since ARC @ Tampines and indeed I can relate to what you have mentioned but on the other hand, agree with what some of the other members mentioned.
At the end of the day, I guess you are quite disappointed with the price of Ecopolitan in comparison with the negative factors you've mentioned. And indeed they are valid points. I did my research as well and I'm likely to get a unit at Ecopolitan (if my number is good).
I've walked with my fiancee and we took 9 mins to from the entrance of Eco to the entrance of Punggol mrt. Its quite leisure as my fiancee walks quite slowly. If I were to walk alone, it'll be 7 mins. We've tried walking from Twin Waterfalls too (from its designated side gate) and takes us 6-7 mins.
Noise from the expressway was a concern for us too, and we really went every weekend to nearby blocks to assess the noise level.
So what made us decide on Eco despite its hefty price and seeming negativities? Its the timing of launch and surprise surprise, location.
It was too early for us to get units previously and aside from that, I can tell you the cons of the projects we've been to.
1. Arc @ Tampines - Marketed to be near future downtown mrt but the distance is still far, Arc is at one end of Temasek Poly while the station is at the other end. And it is next to a petrol station.
2. Tampines Trilliant and Citylife - Very near to Tampines MRT, but the price is around $850 - $900 psf. Trillant doesn't even have a tennis court. We both stay in Tampines btw.
3. Twin Waterfalls - Really wanted the project but timing wasn't right. Not to mention its 700 over units, we felt it was too crowded. Worse still, the land was bought at a very low price but sold at 720 psf. Developer increased the price a week after booking by 1% and more subsequently.
4. Heron Bay - In the middle of nowhere and not that much cheaper. Btw, they gave free pillows (your point on the free pans).
5. Waterbay - 750psf as well and near to mrt. But felt very constrained as its a small project surrounded by lots of estates beyond the schools.
I guess my point is, there are pros and cons to each and every project. Like what many said, its really about doing your own homework and taking the marketing with a pinch of salt. All sales people wont go around telling you the negatives of projects or products. It applies to houses and every other thing else. We have to make our decision.
Price is high, but honestly future projects might be higher and they are situated even further from mrt. Look at Waterwoods, it was sold a record price and is even further from Punggol MRT. Unless the developer is going to make a loss, I highly doubt it'll be cheaper than Eco (but I might be wrong).
Lush Acres might be cheap but again next to a future petrol station and far from MRT. Again the buyers have to decide if it suits them.
I know some agents are putting a price to the units using the indicative range. Again, we should just use them as reference to have a feel of what to expect but ultimately see the final price and decide.
All marketing strategies are aimed to create awareness and giving people a feel of the project and comfort level but ultimately, I guess we are all mature enough to decide ourselves and like what Minister Khaw mentioned long agao during the Centrale 8 saga, if its too expensive, we can choose not to buy.