Stories By: Dollars And Sense (217 Articles Found)
The process of buying our BTO (or any home) is strewn with a lot of decisions that we have to carefully consider. In this article, we will cover just one of the decisions – whether we should choose…
Owning property in Singapore is more than servicing your property loan and paying your property tax. There are institutionalised monthly fees to be paid for maintenance and up-keep of estates and communal spaces for strata property owners. These…
While we spend a lot of time talking (and writing) about how to buy your first home, the discussion on how to buy your second home is more muted. There is a multitude of reasons why your first…
Even in a time of rising property prices, when HDB resale flat prices are hitting a 8-year high in 2020, the price increase has not been equal across the different estates across the island. There are still affordable…
2020 was a precarious year for property owners. Globally, travel has grinded to a halt, impacting hospitality properties. Even Retail, office and industrial properties have been affected to varying degrees, given the strict COVID-19 mgmt measures. We already…
For the Feb 2021 BTO Launch, HDB released the first Community Care Apartments (CCAs), Singapore’s first assisted living public housing development which integrates senior-friendly design features with care services and social programmes. This received a warm reception from…
Due to the manpower crunch and construction delays caused by the impact of COVID-19 and the circuit breaker in 2020, more BTO projects are being deferred and new BTO projects have extended their timelines for the delivery possession…
With headlines proclaiming that HDB resale prices hitting a 8-year high in 2020 and private property prices increasing by 2.2%, Singaporeans’ interest in property is undoubtedly on the rise in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the…
Buying a home in Singapore is expensive. In fact, according to CBRE’s Global Living Report, Singapore is the 3rd most expensive residential property market in the world. For many people in Singapore, buying our home will be the…
In this article, we examine one of HDB’s housing schemes, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, which is meant to uplift second-timer households who are living in public rental flats and assist them to own their own homes. Recognising…
1) Affordability – It’s imperative that you perform detailed calculations of your finances, set a budget, determine how much you need for your cash outlay, and the home loan options available. The main costs you need to take…
1) REITs ETFs – Allow investors to invest in public-listed REITs according to an index. In Singapore, there are 3 REITs ETFs listed on SGX. The key advantage that it merges the advantages of an index fund with…
If you have successfully balloted for a BTO flat, congratulations! Now, the hard work of getting your new flat is just beginning. Aside from preparing the necessary documents including the HLE if you intend to take an HDB…
While residential properties have remained resilient in 2020 with resale prices rising for both HDB and condominiums, REITs have taken a pummelling this year. With a crash of close to 35% at the lowest point in mid-Mar 2020,…
1) Community Care Apartments (CCAs) are move-in ready with built-in senior-friendly designs – Features such as an easy to slide partition separating the living and bedroom spaces and a bench at the main door for putting on shoes…
An HDB estate that needs no introduction, Pinnacle@Duxton unsurprisingly has the highest number of resale flats above $1 million. Centrally located in Tanjong Pagar with stands out from its run-of-the-mill HDB siblings with award-winning design and condominium-like features…
Recently, the achievement of a young couple in their mid-30s had managed to pay off the housing purchase of their Bishan flat in 2 years was lauded on social media. The couple earning an ordinary income had accumulated…
The subject of HUDC flats is a confounding one in Singapore. Yet it’s not common enough to find a lot of information about the scheme and what happened to the estates today. According to a ST article, 18…
In the best of times, running an F&B business in Singapore isn’t easy. With high rental cost (especially if you are at a hipster-loving location like Bukit Pasoh), manpower challenges, intense competition and long working hours, even F&B…
You can check the number of applications received for the Nov 2020 BTO launch and the number is updated at 8 am, 11 am, 2 pm and 5 pm daily. The final update on the total number of…
In Singapore, property taxes and duties need to be paid not only when purchasing residential property purchases, but also annually on all the properties you own. This article will focus on the latter tax on property ownership, and…
1) Buying is easy; selling is harder – Even if we are in a property bull run, selling a property is going to take some time, especially if you want to achieve your ideal asking price; 2) Once…
1) BTO construction delay resulted in a demand swing towards HDB resale flats – It is no wonder that many newlywed couples have decided to switch to buying a resale HDB flat – rather than to be forced…
There are many misconceptions around the use of CPF for deposits and mortgage payments. In this article, we will explain why many arguments against using CPF for mortgage are incomplete, what is CPF accrued interest and why the…
80% of Singaporeans stay in HDB housing estates. Lift maintenance, void deck cleaning, and fumigation are sights that we take for granted in the background of our daily lives. Yet, these are services that our town councils maintain…
The Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) and Multi-Generation Priority Scheme (MGPS) are both intended to encourage families to live near each other and support each other communally. These two schemes, unlike most HDB schemes, are also available to…
1) Pro of using CPF: More cash in your pocket for other expenses – Being able to use the 20% CPF contribution from your salary for housing repayment means that you still have 80% of your salary for…
1) Forking out a more affordable downpayment – When taking an HDB home loan, our LTV limit is 90%. On the other hand, the LTV limit for a bank loan is 75%; 2) Being able to pay our…
The family unit has changed over the years from multiple generations living under one roof in the same enclave or kampung to married couples forming their own family nucleus. Yet, there are joys and advantages of multigenerational living…
More than 80% of Singapore’s population live in HDB flats all around the island. HDB not only takes care of building new flats, but also the administration, maintenance and upgrading of neighbourhood amenities, including carparks. In fact, according…
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