Young Aussie family relocating to Singapore - where to live?

[polarkitten]

Hi all,

This is my 1st post but I'm hoping you can help.

My husband has been posted to Singapore, working in the Ang Mo Kio district, and we will be moving there in a few months.

We are both early 30's with a 2 month old son.

We are wondering what districts we should be looking at for rental properties? My husband would like to be fairly close to work, and I'd like to be close to shopping malls. I have only been to Singapore once, so am not sure where is best.

We are very open to any suggestions you may have.

Thanks!

[AngMoKio]

Well, the good news is that its hard to be farther then a stones throw for a giant shopping mall -anywhere-.

It is probably my biggest complaint with Singapore. I hate malls.

Where to live will predominately be governed by where you work, what schools you are interested in, and your pocketbook.

I would try to plan a long stay in a hotel while you look around.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Ang Mo Kio is a good place to start looking as well. MRT station, Community Hospital, Ang Mo Kio Hub (new shopping centre/bus interchange) and only 15 minutes by MRT to main shopping belt at Orchard road. 20 minutes to City Hall/Raffles Place Financial District.

[littlegreenman]

Depending on your budget Novena might be a nice location. They have lovely condos there and it is not far either to Ang Mo Kio or Orchard/Harbourfront.

[polarkitten]

Thanks you for your replies. We really appreciate them!

I will look into Novena, as it does seem about halfway between Ang Mo Kio and Orchard.

Any other suggestions though? Budget wise, I think a max of approx $4000 for rent. Would the East Coast be too far away for my husbands work, as I've read it's quite lovely and family orientated there.

I'm also interested in anyone who knows of mothers groups/meet ups for new mums in Singapore.

Thanks so much.

[littlegreenman]

SGD 4,000 a month should get you a very nice two or three bedroom apartment at Novena. You will have a gym, swimming pool, tennis court etc. You should be able to get something at a slightly lower price actually given the current economy.

East Coast is nice but very remote as there is no MRT around there currently. The bus network is excellent in Singapore but it would take your husband about 40-50 minutes to get to work (assuming he takes public transport) and he might have to change bus or to the tube along the way. It is by far not as convenient as Novena for him. If you will have a car it won't be much better because you will have to take CTE which is alwasy jammed during peak hours.

Just as a reminder, if you don't have a car, taking the taxi is really cheap and easy and you can be at East Cost on the weekends in no time.

One last think, keeping in mind you are Australian, the Australian School is actually in the North East near Serangoon, so Novena wouldn't be too far from that either. Come to think about it, Kovan is not too far from Ang Mo Kio either and they have a lovely condo called Kovan Melody just next to the MRT station and a neighbourhood shopping mall (to get your groceries). You can be at Dhoby Ghaut from there within 20 mins of leaving the house and your husband should be able to catch a bus.

[polarkitten]

Thanks so much littlegreenman for your help and advice.

I'm going to look up your suggestions now.

Much appreciated.

Polarkitten

[littlegreenman]

You're most welcome. Let me know if you have any more questions. I used to live in the North East for a long while. If you want to save a bit of money and don't mind adding another 10 mins to your train journey to town you might also consider Compass Heights right on top of Seng Kang MRT station on the North East Line. It is not the nicest of all condos but you have a nice pool, a gym, sauna, tennis courts there as well plus you have a bus terminal, an MRT station and an entire four story shopping mall right underneath the condo. I liked living there although it is not as posh as the condos at Novena. Still not too far from Ank Mo Kio and the city.

[OogieBoogie]

I'm on East coast, and it take me 10/15 minutes with a taxi, or 20 minutes with a bus to go to Raffles place... very far from the 40/50 minutes littlegreenman is talking about.

You can easily consider East Coast for a quick commute in the city, if you chose your condo well enough to be near a bus station.

[littlegreenman]

I'm on East coast, and it take me 10/15 minutes with a taxi, or 20 minutes with a bus to go to Raffles place... very far from the 40/50 minutes littlegreenman is talking about.

You can easily consider East Coast for a quick commute in the city, if you chose your condo well enough to be near a bus station.

How long does it take you to get to AMK using bus or MRT? I sdaid this takes 40/50 mins.

[AngMoKio]

http://www.gothere.sg/

I find the estimates to be spot on most of the time.

[polarkitten]

Hi again,

thanks for the new replies.

I have been busy reseaching places in Novena, but am interested to know of any other areas we should be looking at?

As I think I mentioned, we need to be on MRT line, not too far from Ang Mo Kio. We'd prefer a condo with other couples in our situation - with a new young baby, to try to build a friendship base. I'm worried about leaving my whole support network, so any relationships we can build, the better!

I did mention before that our budget would probably be around 4000 a month, but 3000 is probably more realistic. We'd prefer a 3 bedroom place if possible, but 2 would surfice.

Are we being realistic with what we're wanting?

Thanks in advance guys!

[littlegreenman]

You should be able to get something for 3k further north along the North South Line (the red one). You will be further from the shopping malls but of course save quite a bit of cash every month. Yio Chu Kang has some nice condos and would be very convenient for your husband of course. So if you keep going along the line you will see Khatib, Yishun, Sembawang... beyond that you are quite far from town already. Just have a look at the gothere website and check out how long it would take you to get from the MRT to Orchard Road MRT, then you get a rough idea how far the shopping malls are

[Tammy138]

what is the monthly rent for Quartz? for a 2 bed?

[newbiejojo]

Hi all - very interesting replies - we are in a similar situation to polarkitten - moving with 2 little ones - 21 months and 4 months and wondering where to live. I think our max budget will be $4000 per month but the relocation company is going to show us places $4000 - $6000 per month - will be interesting to see how this pans out. I also have a question - what is the common lease on condo's because if you got something at a reasonable rent, when could they put the price up - is it generally a one year lease or longer? My husband will be working at Tanjong Pagar and we also want to be close to public transport but don't want to be paying a bomb in rent!!