how much.....???

[topjolly]

Hi, 1st post so please be gentle with me.
I'm considering an offer to work in Singapore and have just started weighing up the pro's and cons'. One thing I am a little confused about is condo rental costs. There are plenty of condos advertised on this site which state cost, but it doesnt say if that cost is per month (which sounds expensive) or per year (which sounds cheap). So, for example, if the advertised cost is $6000 (which works out at around £2,300 UK Sterling, that seems hugely expensive for a monthly rental.
Thanks in advance.
Andy

[durain]

rental listed is per month. and dont forget you have to pay the agent commission which is half the rental.

[Saint]

rental listed is per month. and dont forget you have to pay the agent commission which is half the rental.

You might want to word that a bit better! If you rent a property for $6k a month you shouldn't have to pay any commission.

[topjolly]

Thanks for clearing that up, that makes the prices extortionate though doesnt it?? nearly 3 grand sterling to rent a 2 bed 'flat', I dont pay half that for the mortgage on my 3 bed detached in the UK!! , ust as well accomodation etc is in with the deal.

[road.not.taken]

Yes, but in many respects this is not the UK. Depending where you are moving from, real estate can be seem outrageous. Also, don't forget condo association/common fees -- some places still have them.

[durain]

rental listed is per month. and dont forget you have to pay the agent commission which is half the rental.

You might want to word that a bit better! If you rent a property for $6k a month you shouldn't have to pay any commission.

hmmm... i didnt know that. so how does the estate agent going to make any money?

[cbavasi]

Any rent over $2500 the landlord pays the agents commission. Should you bail out before the lease is complete usually there is a clause where you have to recoup the commission (or part of it).

[Turtle]

Andy: one thing you'll realise about Singapore compared to the UK is that cheap things (bus, cheap local food, government housing) are very cheap, whereas luxury things (car, proper restaurants, condos/bungalows) are very very expensive. A regular (for the UK) 3-4 bedroom family home with a front lawn would probably run into several millions here. Don't expect to get a decent car for less than $100,000-150,000. If you were looking to buy a decent 2/3 bedroom condo apartment in a nice development, you could very possibly be looking at close to $1 million, for an apartment.

[QRM]

Thanks for clearing that up, that makes the prices extortionate though doesnt it?? nearly 3 grand sterling to rent a 2 bed 'flat', I dont pay half that for the mortgage on my 3 bed detached in the UK!! , ust as well accomodation etc is in with the deal.

You obviously dont live in central London, 900sq ft studio house selling for 1.1m pounds. with rentals to match.

[Saint]

rental listed is per month. and dont forget you have to pay the agent commission which is half the rental.

You might want to word that a bit better! If you rent a property for $6k a month you shouldn't have to pay any commission.

hmmm... i didnt know that. so how does the estate agent going to make any money?

Any rent over $2500 the landlord pays the agents commission. Should you bail out before the lease is complete usually there is a clause where you have to recoup the commission (or part of it).

That's the basic rule Durain but there are a few other "rules" which govern the amount and if you pay. Also if you exclusively engage an agent you, the tenant, may still be liable to pay commission if monthly rental is under $5k

[topjolly]

Thanks for the replies, that clears t up nicely, I'll just need to make sure that the accomodation part of the deal allows me to rent something decent.
As a side thought, what is the government housing like?

[sundaymorningstaple]

HDB flats are okay. I can't say anymore than that or the resident expat tai-tai with the high-flyer husband will be on here poo-pooing everything I say as usual.

However, I bought my HDB flat 9 years ago, I have no complaints and more and more expats are opting for HDB flats due to the economies involved. A lot will depend on whether your housing is partially found or fully found or you get an upfront cash allowance and you want to save money. I'm a PR here as well as ksl who has also purchased an HDB flat as well I believe. You can find HDB 3 or 4 BR flats for around 2200-2500/mo reasonably close to town and cheaper further out. You would have to look at a lot though in order to find the ones that have bee reasonably kept up......

[andy21]

I rented a HDB apartment for a while, and I found that they are mostly cheaper not just because they cost a lot less to begin with, but also because a lot of HDB apartments for rental were in fact badly furnished and in very poor condition.

This is because HDB apartments were not intended ofr owners to rent them out, and quite often, the ones being rented out are due to their owners being in financial difficulty and will move to stay with relatives upon rental, so you can imagine that most will be in what is often called 'original' condition.

But I managed to get a really good apartment because it belonged to a couple who had just bought it, renovated it and suddenly found they had to move overseas. Sheer luck though.