S$2K-3K Apartment in Singapore

[audiojunky]

Hi - I'm moving to Singapore in March and it seems that apartment prices are really really high!!

Also, apartments that are in the $2K-$3K range doesn't seem to be very nice (atleast based on the pictures I've seen on this site) - though I might be completely wrong. Can anyone point me to sites which might have some nice pictures of apartments in Singapore?

Also, can I get a reasonable 2-bedroom apartment in that range?

Thanks!!

[joop]

I presume you're looking for an apartment closer to the city centre, $2k-3k budget is not very high and you can't expect much for that money, normally older and/or smaller apartment units.

You can surf around the web for other sites, but names of other sites would be deleted afterall it's a property portal.

You can try the search function with the budget of $2k and see what you'll get.

Gd luck.

[MissMotivated]

I have been here 6 month now and wish I knew then what I knew now.
when I got here, I looked at EASILY 50 places. They were either really old an daggy, or tiny. I was looking in the 2000-2500k range. Ended up going for a tiny place. It really is nice, great gym, great pool area, floor to ceiling glass and very modern BUT A SHOEBOX. I have half my furniture in storarge. I have liked it here, nice surroundings - but dinner parties are a thing of the past. I did find some bigger places, but they were pretty bloody ugly. Many people said to me "NO GEYLANG IS DANGEROUS", but I am from a normal city where danger doesn't have quite the same perception. (In Singapore, having more than $10 value on your MRT card is considered "dangerous" - if you know what I mean??)
If I were to do it all over again? I'd go for a more 'dangerous' or 'remote (singapore is 42X23km so nothing really is remote)..... place. and you may be able to get something affordable. Of course, this all depends on your personal/family situation

[Makan24-7]

Audiojunky - answer is yes, but the way you are going about searching for a unit, you will be very, very hardpressed.

This is the reason - those 2 bdrm units in the 2-3k region which are decent are snapped up within 2-3 days of being on the market. Most times, the units don't even make it to the websites before they are rented out. Usually at a viewing of such a unit, you will find 4-5 other agents with their clients and more often than not, you will see one of those viewers make an offer, pull out a check book and write a check immediately. The agent even has the letter of intent template ready to fill out and sign on the spot. I've been burnt several times losing out by a matter of hours in bidding for nice condos in the 2.5-3k range in town.

So my advice if you really want to find a decent place in the 2-3k range? Come to SG, find a good and relatively honest agent (mine was ok cos he never did a hardsell), view units in person and be prepared to undergo what I experienced...

[iis]

If you're looking for city area 2-3k is a bit difficult now, however if you want to go further (singapore is not that big..), you can have more choices. You can also try to find condo w shuttle bus to MRT. Condo near MRT are ussualy more expensive, however there're condo providing shuttle bus to mrt.

[dfhslm]

there are some HDBs that are westernized, and others that are not. From experience, as a westerner, there are very few hdbs that expats from the States would be satisified with. I happen to know of a very nice expat owned HDB that is larger and nicer than some of the condos I've seen and the rent is going for around 1600 fully furnished. Of course, it's a huge apartment but the renter will have to get used to living among locals. If you are caucasian, yes, you will be stared at. And the sounds, smells and surroundings are very different from what you are used to back home. If you can take that all in stride, then I suggest living in an HDB if you're on a tight budget. If you're one of those that work or go out all the time , it won't bother you anyway.