Rent or Buy ?

[psyflyer]

I am moving for a couple of years to SIN with my wife and our two pooches for my work which is in investment banking.

At this stage I am going to eye at properties in close proximity to my job as I would prefer to walk to work (30 Raffles Place / Caltex House).

Questions: What are people's thoughts (yourselves) as to weather to buy or rent a condo in the area knowing that 2-3 yrs from after purchase you would be gone? Any thoughts on the current real estate market out there?

Secondly, I would appreciate any intel on the area such as if you know of a nice condo(s) (only really looking for very high-end if possible) in that neigboorhood.

Thanks

[humpbackwhale]

the turn around cost for property in Sing is about 5%
the cost of staying at city core area is about 3-4%
the word in the sing property market is that prices will go up until the new casino opens, thats 3 years later
prices and rental in city core went up by 20-50% last year

so the above tells you if you staying for more than 3 years in Sing is worth while to buy then to rent. but both has pros & cons. property at city core is not cheap s$1200-2000 per square foot

there is not much condo near caltex house, the nearest is the icon (about half hour walk) but its not ready yet.

caltex house is just beside the train station, and there are many many condos just beside MRT stations 5-10mins (ride) outside city.

good luck.

[psyflyer]

WOW... 30min walk? that really sucks....

Thanks for the info but now I am going to figure some stuff out. I would have been certain some stuff would be around there... thanks again.

Ill probably buy something then and make sure its accessibile to my work. Just cant believe there is nothing short-walk wise.. guess Ill start shedding some pounds

[psyflyer]

BTW, when you say ICON you mean MArina Bay (Sail building?) cant find anything mentioning ICON condo on google etc. thanks

[Pal]

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/housing- ... o-icon.htm

[humpbackwhale]

The ICON is by a local developer called Far East, owner is richess man in Sing. But the website sucks. Thus they did not even put in on the internet for list search. Marina Bay Sail is another condo, very far from your office, walking i think at least 40mins, but next to casino so if you gamble then its great. i don't.

[Leela]

At this stage I am going to eye at properties in close proximity to my job as I would prefer to walk to work (30 Raffles Place / Caltex House).

Questions: What are people's thoughts (yourselves) as to weather to buy or rent a condo in the area knowing that 2-3 yrs from after purchase you would be gone? Any thoughts on the current real estate market out there?

Secondly, I would appreciate any intel on the area such as if you know of a nice condo(s) (only really looking for very high-end if possible) in that neigboorhood.

In my opinion (which is shared by many others living here) buying something when you are going to stay just for 2 years is not really worth it. Prices are so high at the moment that they are unlikely to go higher in the short term. Rental contracts are for 2 years, which means that your rent is fixed for that period, but it also means that there are financial penalties if you want to leave sooner. So, it's important to choose the right apartment from the start.

There is one condo just 10 to 15 minutes walk away from Raffles Place, but it is 9 years old and I don't think it is very high-end. You could always take a look at it and decide if you prefer a normal condo very close to work or a top-end one that is 10 minutes away by MRT. If you are worried by the thought of using the MRT bear in mind that it's nothing like the London underground. The trains are air-conditioned, very modern and very clean. There is no such thing as signal failure over here, but if you don't want to get on a train you can always take a cab. They are very cheap and lots of expats use them to get to and from work every day.

The condo I'm talking about is called Emerald Garden:

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/singapor ... garden.htm

[humpbackwhale]

I disagree with leela as if one made the correct "investment" decision of buying an apartment instead of renting, the person will not just save on a huge expense item ($50-$150k rent of 2 yrs) but turn it into a profitable investment.

The recent increase in rent is due to the increase in property price, this is not just in Singapore but in almost all SEA countries for the past 2-3 years, and Singapore is just catching up. Furthermore there are more and more REIT buying into real estate here as they all believe the new casinos will enable them to make a huge killing.

REIT are professionals and they have seen what casinos can do to real estate in places like Macua, Monaco.

[Leela]

the person will not just save on a huge expense item ($50-$150k rent of 2 yrs) but turn it into a profitable investment.

I guess that to be able to save that amount on money on rent you would need to have the cash to buy the property outright and not have a mortgage, which would not be the case for most people. Depending on the size of your mortgage you can end up paying just as much in interest as if you were renting.

[humpbackwhale]

totally agree with you leela, many people don't realise it when they buy house that they are paying "rent" as interest to the bank. The cost of putting a roof on our head is always there, whether it is rent, loan interest or for some lucky feel opportunity cost.