Buying a private property in Singapore

meNme · Post by **meNme** » Thu, 24 Sep 2009 7:18 pm

Hi All,

I am willing to buy a private property in Singapore.
Have you experienced this?
Kindly let me know what I have to do and to know (e.g. what can I buy, how can I buy, legal n agent fees,...)

Thank you in advance.

Post by **jpatokal** » Thu, 24 Sep 2009 9:22 pm

What's your residency status in Singapore, and what do you want to buy?

meNme · Post by **meNme** » Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:26 pm

I will become a PR soon.
I am willing to buy the private property (apart/condo).

Looking to your information and advice.
Thanks.

ProvenPracticalFlexible · Post by **ProvenPracticalFlexible** » Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:35 am

Have you done any research on your own so far?

This site for example is actually a real estate one with this discussion board on it. You could start by reading:
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/guides-f ... rchase.htm

Than maybe thinking where do you want to buy a place, how much space you need, how much you can afford to pay monthly. All these small things to consider before buying a property.

I can also recommend you a condo by random choice. Mount Sophia looks nice, in the city, close to MRT
http://www.singaporeexpats.com/singapor ... sophia.htm

meNme · Post by **meNme** » Sat, 26 Sep 2009 2:23 pm

Thanks for the information..

It is said that I have to pay for stamp duty fee and also I took a look at other websites, and it's said that there is legal fee..
What is stamp duty fee? and what is legal fee?
For the stamp duty, it will be 3%-5400 for property above 300K..
but, for the legal fee I can't find how much it will be??

For private property, as far as I know expat can buy it anytime and any kind, am I correct? (I mean I can either buy the brand new one or the resale one, and I can buy it anytime).

Thanks

carolynW · Post by **carolynW** » Sun, 27 Sep 2009 2:45 pm

The rough rule of thumb is to have about 4% of the purchase price available in cash for stamp duties, legal fee's etc....

ksl · Post by **ksl** » Sun, 27 Sep 2009 4:44 pm

carolynW wrote:The rough rule of thumb is to have about 4% of the purchase price available in cash for stamp duties, legal fee's etc....

Not forgetting the 20% deposit in cash too!

meNme · Post by **meNme** » Sun, 27 Sep 2009 6:45 pm

Do you all know how I can get the market price for the private property?
Is there any website providing this?

And also, what is the trend of property's price in Singapore?
Does it go up at the end of year or at the beginning of the year?

Thanks

mrlily · Post by **mrlily** » Mon, 28 Sep 2009 1:46 pm

meNme wrote:Do you all know how I can get the market price for the private property?
Is there any website providing this?

And also, what is the trend of property's price in Singapore?
Does it go up at the end of year or at the beginning of the year?

Thanks

Hi meNme, a yard stick for you;

My partner and i purchased a freehold property here in Singapore recently.

I'm not a PR but had no problem securing a loan. At the time DBS were offering a minimum 10% deposit type deal. Because i wasn't a PR i had to prove my income, simply the last 12 months of pay slips and my employers details.

The interest rate on our loan is made up of a SIBOR (Singapore Interbank Offered Rate) rate and a fixed rate, in our case 1% for the life of the loan. We are currently paying around 1.6% all up.

Almost forgot, the agents fees were paid by the seller (although i'm sure the seller just knocks up the price to allow for this)

good time to buy.

meNme · Post by **meNme** » Mon, 28 Sep 2009 9:59 pm

Hi mrlily,

Thank you very much..I appreciate it..
Wow..the interest is 1.6%? I heard that the fixed rate will be about 3-4%..

And if it's Ok for U, can I know how long the bank loan is?

ksl · Post by **ksl** » Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:46 am

I know quite a few Singaporeans that regret purchasing condo's because of the very restricted space, we considered it too, and thought it was a very bad investment deal, if caught out at the wrong time.

HDB is dirt cheap, good solid and plant of room, not like the crap they are throwing up, just like UK. though if you are quick you may get a good deal. we have just purchased 4000 sq ft for business, couldn't squeeze the price down becuase the economy is slowly on the rebound, though we still managed 150K discount in other negotiations, you can expect the same in the private sector I would imagine. They are very reluctant to drop price, because that will knock the market back too much, but definitely you have the power in the private sector more than the business sector, so you are looking at 150 and more, 20, to 25% would be a rule of thumb

It also depends how you handle it, and knowing people in the business, a downturn in the economy can be very very painful, so now is the time to score if you are going to succeed, but believe me it's like a game of poker!

mrlily · Post by **mrlily** » Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:38 pm

ours is over 35 years, which i believe is the maximum for DBS.

The bank calcs your payback period something like this, i forget what the cut off age is but i think it is around 70.

70 - your age = loan duration (to a maximum of 35 years)

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Tue, 29 Sep 2009 1:40 pm

The banks have more leeway than the HDB does. HDB maximum is age 65-current age for maximum duration of loan.

meNme · Post by **meNme** » Tue, 29 Sep 2009 8:41 pm

Thanks for all your information.

Ok, so the loan duration will be depend on my age..I see..

Btw, I am not very clear about the loan interest.
In this case, mrlily's was 1.6%..but, my friend's is the floating rate and it's 1,..% for the first year, and 2,..% for second year, and 3,..% from the third year onward. So, it's confusing me..

mrlily · Post by **mrlily** » Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:08 pm

The rates on offer depend on lots of things, hence your mates rates are different to mine. The best thing to do is to approach the bank. Try DBS.

Our loan was similar, 0.5% for the first year 0.75% for the second year and 1% there after (+ the sibor rate)

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Buying a private property in Singapore

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