Moving to Singapore (from the UK) in 6 weeks

[MikeJones]

Hi all,

I've accepted a job in Singapore with a start date of the beginning of November (contingent on visa/work permit coming through in time). Company is giving me four weeks accommodation during which time I need to find a place of my own. So where would you recommend I be looking? template answers below:

Priorities:
- Budget is around $2,500 pm, paid by me, no company contribution to accommodation.
- Working in Woodlands (north east corner so closer to Sembawang MRT)
- Looking for 2 bedroom place with one bedroom to be used for office/visitors. Will settle for a one bed if 2 beds are over budget. Not looking to share a flat.
- No car needed
- Close to MRT would be good.
- I'm a single guy so no kids or schools required

Nice to have:
- Walking to the shops would be nice but not essential.
- My sporting participation these days extends to watching it in the pub Though access to a pool would be nice.
- No pets, parents or other hangers on.

Your current home and commute:
- Live centrally in a small UK city (Bath) which does tend to get flooded with tourists so am fairly used to city living.
- Currently in a 1 bedroom 3rd floor flat, not sure of the square footage but it's on the small side.
- Currently drive to work 45 minutes each way, can take over an hour when traffic is particularly bad.

Thanks

[x9200]

There are not many people on this board living in Woodlands so it may be tricky to point you to a specific place. This is pretty remote area mostly, I believe, occupied by the expats* with children attending International Schools located there. If you are into pubs and such probably not that good but there should be some. If you don't care about it, then I suggest you look at the map, pick up some condos near your working place / MRT station and check for the nearby infrastructure. I believe 2BRs condo is within your budget - Woodlands is pretty inexpensive.
Having said that, if you are a pub animal, you are still limited by your budget to some less central areas and if you rent something close to an MRT station Woodlands or not, it should not make so much of the difference for a Friday/Saturday nights drinking trips.

*) and the locals of course

[Ramekins]

heyo,

try condos in Admiralty. not much amenities considering that you are at pretty far end of SG.
But there are decent malls.

HAng out in the city on weekends. there are many pubs and nightlife.

cheers

[the lynx]

I used to live at the north area in my early years in Singapore. Expat-friendly areas would be within Woodgrove area (south of Marsiling MRT) and Sembawang Road itself, where they have shops, pubs and amenities.

Granted, most of the areas up north have condos dotted among HDBs.

I'd like to live in Upper Thomson Road if I were you. It is straight up to Sembawang area on the road, although there is no MRT at the moment, plenty of buses ply through that route. You can check the route using GoThere, Google Map or Street Directory to have an idea. Straight down and you're already within Novena (closer to Orchard, Bukit Timah and Little India).

Your only restriction is the budget. I don't think you will be able to find a two-bedder condo at $2.5k rental per month in those areas (normally $3-4k per month). And I have no knowledge if the one-bedder types are available and at what rate. Even a common room rental (shared unit) in the mentioned areas is about $1.2k and above, let alone a master bedroom with attached bathroom.

Unless you are OK staying in a condo among HDBs in far-flung areas. Usually the rental would be just about $2.5k per month.

[PNGMK]

+1 to Woodgrove. You might have to share a condo at that budget.

[MikeJones]

Thanks folks,

That gives me something to work on. Looking on a couple of property sites it seems there are a bunch of condos around my budget (though I might need to settle for 1 bedroom) at Parc Rosewood which is at one end of Woodgrove and looks fairly handy for buses to the MRT and Woodlands centre so that might be a possibility. I'm getting to old to be much of a party animal so not being near to pubs/night-life etc is no big deal and it's not like it's going to take hours to head into town for a night out when the mood does take me. Anyone got any thoughts, knowledge or comments on that particular location?

One final question a lot of the listings for the Parc Rosewood places state "Just TOP", am I right in saying that means the development can be occupied but is not necessarily entirely complete so there may be some construction etc ongoing?

Thanks for all your help