additional costs of renting an apartment!!!!

jase · Post by **jase** » Wed, 23 Jun 2004 9:08 am

Hi have just made an offer on an apartment.
However when I was signing the letter of intent for the agent I was shocked to hear of all the additional costs involved which I had not budgeted for:

- quarterly maintenance of air conditioning
- deposits for utilities
- enforced payment of tv licence

I have also been told by a colleague that there may be facility maintenance charges e.g. for pool, gym etc. that could be around $300 a month!

Are all these charges normal? I know if you rent in the UK all maintenance requirements and costs are the responsibility of the landord and not the tenant.

My colleague also tells me that typical electricity costs will be around $200 per month! (because of the a/c running costs).

This is all scary because I came here for the experience and to save some money in the bank and now saving anything seems unlikely!

I guess I should have done a little more research before I did my budgets before coming here!

Any information appreciated.

NBB · Post by **NBB** » Wed, 23 Jun 2004 9:32 am

Jase,

You raise some interesting points. I'm sure Pal will come along shortly to shed some light on these issues. I'm quite eager to find out more on this also.

Pal, the floor is yours. BTW, see you tomorrow (any particular time?)

NBB

YouTube · Post by **Pal** » Wed, 23 Jun 2004 9:34 am

Air-conditioner maintenance (usually quaterly), deposit of utilities and TV licence ($110 yearly) is the responsibility of the Tenant.

Whereas the payment for the facility maintenance charges (pool, gym) should be paid by the Landlord. The rent is inclusive of all these.

For more information on Rental Procedures in Singapore, I suggest you goto our guide at this page:

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/guides-f ... rental.htm

YouTube · Post by **Pal** » Wed, 23 Jun 2004 9:36 am

NBB wrote:Jase,

You raise some interesting points. I'm sure Pal will come along shortly to shed some light on these issues. I'm quite eager to find out more on this also.

Pal, the floor is yours. BTW, see you tomorrow (any particular time?)

NBB

Busy arranging appointments for you now. Confirm the timing with you shortly.

DespeRuth · Post by **DespeRuth** » Wed, 23 Jun 2004 10:01 am

An electrisity bill at S$200 is noraml even with aircon only in the bedroom at night...

Welcome to Singapore!

Yutenji · Post by **Yutenji** » Wed, 23 Jun 2004 3:13 pm

Given the 'buyers market' for rentals right now, you might be able to get the Landlord to pay for aircon servicing. We managed to get this, after some back-and-forth.
Good luck.

HowMuch · Post by **HowMuch** » Fri, 01 Jul 2005 8:12 pm

How much is aircon maintenance for a 2-bedroom ?

Is $200 realistic for a single person using normal tv/fridge/washing plus aircon at night ?

Thanks

George · Post by **George** » Mon, 04 Jul 2005 1:51 pm

HowMuch wrote:How much is aircon maintenance for a 2-bedroom ?

Is $200 realistic for a single person using normal tv/fridge/washing plus aircon at night ?

Thanks

$200 is normal for a 2 bedroom with a normal tv/fridge//washing plus aircon at night. Thats just about US$120.00 or so.

lukn4babes · Post by **lukn4babes** » Mon, 04 Jul 2005 6:33 pm

uhm how much would water cost??? the average cost thanks guys....

k1w1 · Post by **k1w1** » Mon, 04 Jul 2005 7:45 pm

Water, gas, rubbish and electricty all come into one bill: your PUB bill. A single person should not be using $200 a month, I don't think.

As for the other costs (like pool maintenance), that is not the tenant's responsibility. The TV license is a hundred a year - money well spent

A general rule of thumb is that a repair bill below 100 bucks is the tenants problem but anything above that goes to the landlord.

You may want to think about getting a flatmate if your budget is going to be blown completely.

waterz · Post by **waterz** » Mon, 04 Jul 2005 7:54 pm

lukn4babes wrote:uhm how much would water cost??? the average cost thanks guys....

Depends on your usage, can range anything from $100 onwards. Air-conditoning is one more the more expensive costs to the bills. So if you want to cut down costs, do not use too much air-conditoning.

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