How much should I budget for an apartment in Singapore?

[audiojunky]

I am totally amazed by the condo rental prices in Singapore. They are even more expensive than San Francisco! And the salaries in SFO are much higher than the typical salary in Singapore. This doesn't quite add up.

How much percentage of one's salary should he/she budget for an apartment??

In the US, in expensive places, we usually target around 1/3rd of after-tax salary for an apartment. In Singapore, with the condo prices, it seems that I would to target something like 3/4rd of my salary for an apartment

For a person earning say S$5000, how much should he/she keep for an apartment??

[sundaymorningstaple]

first of all you must consider that singapore has limited land mass. that means they can only go vertical. once you get past that, you realize that there is limited land left for parking places. Therefore housing and cars are a very high percentage of your monthly expenses. On the other hand, you won't die in the emergency room because you don't have blue cross & blue shield.

You can rent a HDB apartment (3 bedroom) for 1200/mo but if you want to live in a condo with all the other perks, then be prepared for 2K up to "the sky's the limit". It's like everything else here, the locals can do it on 3K total a month with a family of four. If you want to live above your station then you can or not. Additionally, remember the net usable portion of your salary is higher as the tax rates are low here. Also, there is no tax withholding as with the SS taxes & Fed & State taxes. So, for practical purposes your monthly gross is your net for Singapore purposes. Based on a 60K/annum salary your taxes would only be a maximum of 2,500 sgd/year.

[huggybear]

audio junky

obviously you have not done any homework.

might i introduce you to a fantastic tool called "google.com"

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/top-50 ... 17013.html

if you observe. Sillypore is #17 where as San Francisco is a balmy #34.

[Makan24-7]

Depends on area... And please don't be fooled by what people are paying today especially if they signed their lease more than 2 months ago...

2 bdrm units that were renting at 1.8k near INSEAD only 1 yr ago are now renting for 2.8-3.5k today.... Worse, all the units that come into the market are snapped up the moment they come into the market in a crazy bidding war. What's left are those 3.5k up in places like Caribbean, Meraprime etc...

At S$5k a month, I really recommend u finding a nice HDB which is renovated in a nicer area for about 1.4k tops... Apts and condos are just insane unless u can settle for someplace farther out of town. Heck, even looking at Astoria Park right by the Kembangan MRT - one year ago, those units were going for less than 1.8k for a 2bdrm, now they are asking for at least 2.5k and u get to meet at least 5 more viewing parties at the same time....

I'm really sorry to have to say this but you and I arrived at the worst possible time... I can truly empathize cos I make more than US$130k and I'm still really p***ed with how the rental market is like.

[huggybear]

i don't think it's a good idea to post what you're making so directly...

but anyways...so ur company hiring or what?

[Bonbon]

Makan 24-7 hahahah good to know you're earning so much...hmmm so it was alright that the beer was on you last time...guess it makes sense that beer should be on you all the times then

Kidding...but you're not comparing apples with apples once again, I can say I earn 3 times as much in the UK as I am earning here...but again, cost of living is different etc...

As in terms of porportion of the rent to what you earn, I think it's personal perference, some people want to have a better living environment, and close to town, MRT etc....you always pay much more in the prime district than other areas...and the type of housing you want too...

if you are fed up with the rental market, welll you can always choose to buy one, saving the rental, in the end what you pay what you get. rather than paying someone else.

or else you can always buy, then rent out the spare rooms ....

[Makan24-7]

Haha huggybear, u're right... Got a bit emotional while writing on this topic... Just a hot button for me. Haha, don't think u wanna join my company as a local hire, if you get recruited out of the US or EU, then yeah....

Bonbon, haha, come on, I make a pittance compared to what you bankers and consultants make. But if it's a round of beer on me again, that's no problem

Am comparing to cost of living in LA and Phoenix to Singapore... actually about the same.. and my comp package is also the same..