Need HDB/Condo Rental Advice (Serangoon Nr Ave 4 or 5)

[Ronio.Ron]

Hello All,

I will be moving to Singapore end of Dec to start for Jan 1st and would like to rent an apartment near my office which is located on Serangoon North Avenue 5. I am on a tight budget of up to Singapore$ 1300 per month.

May need to avoid any travel (greater than 15 mns walk or bus) due to early start for work. Would you pls suggest available locations for me with wife and new born child.

I do understand this office location is closer to few shopping amenities as well.

Understand HDB are the best option available, but I did find "few" condo's online under Singapore$ 1300 bracket in high rise buildings. I have been through many posts here and websites but still not sure of the best location to stay as i dont yet understand locations/roads in Singapore.

thanks,
RR

[beppi]

Sorry to disappoint you, but if you find any HDB at all for S$1300/month, it will be a crappy shithole in a location nobody else wants - definitely not near office, shops or anything else you need.
For S$1800-2000 you'll be able to find something (HDB) that fits what you are looking for and is near your office.

[Asdracles]

Understand HDB are the best option available, but I did find "few" condo's online under Singapore$ 1300 bracket in high rise buildings. I have been through many posts here and websites but still not sure of the best location to stay as i dont yet understand locations/roads in Singapore.

Double check, please. Under that price, Im sure you are renting a room and not the whole condo

[revhappy]

Also, Please dont look for the absolute cheapest HDBs. I would say dont even consider any house less than 1.8k. More often than not if you get something cheap, either there is some issue with the house, it may be unapproved or it could even be a SCAM!

One of the very common issues here in SG is Loan Shark attacks on houses.

Hunting a flat is a real experience in itself. Welcome to Singapore! You are in for a lot of fun.

[Ronio.Ron]

Thanks,

Point noted, will keep my eyes doubly open before i agree to any deal.

What would help is a pointer on what to look out for when going for such a deal. Is there a possibility of getting cheated by anyone and everyone.

How are loan sharks affecting rental stay - how to avoid.

rgds
RR

[beppi]

There are many dishonest real estate agents in Singapore, search this forum for some horror stories!
Yet if you are in a hurry, it's difficult to avoid them. I recommend arranging a month or so temporary accommodation at the beginning to have sufficient time for house hunting.

Dishonest landlords usually become apparent only at the end of a lease, when they don't return your deposit. Again, there are plenty of stories in this forum.

Loan shark problems are not too common (but maybe more frequent in the lowest rent areas you are looking for), but a big nuisance it it hits you (and there is basically nothing you can do). It starts if a previous occupant of the flat you are renting owes money to an loan shark and didn't update his/her new address with them. So the (illegal) loan shark, who cannot use legal means to recover his money, will send his goons to the flat and they can be very nasty, threaten, damage things, etc.

Don't worry too much, though: If you avoid property agents (or manage to find a good one - in case you think their service is worth the fee) and let common sense and gut feeling decide about landlord and neighborhood, you will be fine in most cases.

Good luck!

[beppi]

Oh, one more thing:
When looking for HDB flats, always check (with HDB directly!) whether it is "approved" (meaning legal to rent out). If not - no matter what agent and/or landlord tell you - stay away!

[Ronio.Ron]

Wow, this is real news to me.

I did some cross checking inside this forums and man did i get to see all kinds of ways to cheat someone coming in from outside Singapore.

Beppi, to be honest I agree and not surprised, but considering how small a country this in comparison to china or India or USa. very surprised to see this can happen in broad daylight.

what i'm saying is about Landlords cheating their tenants OR landlord being totally unresponsive in case of damage or issues with HDB flats and most imp of all Agents cheating ppl directly and making off with money or being hand-in-glove with landlords to screw innocent renters.

I also have a query, some of my senior employees wife's are doing estate agency work as part time, can they be trusted with our hard earned money.

Also since seeing a house how long will it take for me to cross-reference with the HDB authority to confirm if indeed this house is for rent and legally able landlords.

Do they have anywhere where Landlords and or agents are rated on their performance (i may be naive, but definitely want to keep my eyes wide open).

thanks for heads up - all.

rgds

[x9200]

Wow, this is real news to me.

I did some cross checking inside this forums and man did i get to see all kinds of ways to cheat someone coming in from outside Singapore.

Beppi, to be honest I agree and not surprised, but considering how small a country this in comparison to china or India or USa. very surprised to see this can happen in broad daylight.

They are very greedy (seems like one of the most greedy social group) and they know that your position will be often very hard as many expats leave the country so it is very difficult for them to sue such scammy landlord. Legally it is ok - this is a civil case, not a criminal one so theoretically you have the legal means to sue the bastards but for practical reasons this right is not that often executed (apparently).

[beppi]

The reason that the legal route isn't often used in such conflicts in Singapore is the fact that legal fees (e.g. lawyer costs) are not borne by the losing party. Thus a rental or deposit dispute, where the fees are easily higher than the disputed amount, is simply not worth pursuing legally (even if you win), from a purely financial standpoint. You are better off finding another solution, or even walking away empty-handed.

[x9200]

Actually there is another reason: lack of legal awareness. Vast majority of the disputes between tenants and landlords are under the jurisdiction of Small Claims Tribunals. Typically it costs around S$10 of legal costs to file a claim and it can be the only legal cost for the whole lawsuit.

[Ronio.Ron]

So what is indeed the best way to go about this process.

Assuming one has 2 weeks of paid accommodation, how wud you suggest i pick my agent who can be of help and not cheat me in broad daylight.

[x9200]

There is no good way to work around dishonest landlords and agents if you leave Singapore immediately after finishing your housing contract. To minimize potential damages you simply have to be paranoid not trusting anybody and documenting everything and everywhere and not accepting any part of the agreement if you do not like it. If the landlord tells/promises you something - have it on paper. Always. If you take over the apartment take a lot of photos, cover every inch of the place. Same when you leave. Some people do not pay the last rent(s) to avoid problems with the deposit but it could be easily a double edge sword as majority of TAs has the clause not allowing such thing and could be a good reason to kick you out from the apartment. It is really impossible to cover everything in one post so simply browse/search some tenant + problems related topics.

[sundaymorningstaple]

This is a good place to start:

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic62035.html

[Strong Eagle]

I've gone through my entire house and taken pictures of everything upon move in. This shows the condition of everything from the floors, to the bathroom tile, to the exterior and the yard. I burned a CD for landlord and for me.

Now we both know how things look like. I will say that my landlady is a very reasonable person, and I believe, trustworthy... so I don't expect the horror shows that seem to creep out of HDB rentals.