REALLY??? Cmon now, thoughts on RENT in Singapore...

[revhappy]

Welcome to Singapore I suggest you consider a hdb far away from the city?

You would be surprised how fast rents are rising in HDB too

I was renting I paid 2100 for a 2 bedroom condo in kembangan...

Isn't that escada view? When I came to SG in 2009 June when the credit crunch had just got over, I had an offer for that condo for 1.8k. Melville park too went for 1.8k for 2 bedrooms those days. Now its 2.8k for a 2 bedroom

[nakatago]

Two words

Demand & Supply

2 more

Greedy landlords!

and greedy agents.

There is a lot of truth in this!

FTFY

[JR8]

Two words

Demand & Supply

2 more

Greedy landlords!

and greedy agents.

There is a lot of truth in this!

FTFY

YOS

[JayCee]

Two words

Demand & Supply

2 more

Greedy landlords!

I not sure why some people think a vendor should take less than the market is willing to pay

There's the thing though, landlords in Singapore who are renting condos know that their main market is foreign expats who have a limited time to find somewhere to live when they arrive (typically between 2-4 weeks) and jack up the prices accordingly knowing that there are enough people who will pay it not because they think it's good value but because they don't have much other choice

The funniest thing is that some are actually prepared to let their places sit empty for months until they find someone who will pay the inflated prices.

I can't speak for HDBs, but I wouldn't be surprised if similar happens there.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of the acceptance of voids in SG. One of the key mantras for the more experienced UK landlord is 'Voids kill', i.e. it is better to have a place let at a price lower than you had hoped for, than to have it sitting empty.

Yes agreed, I have been lucky that my own place in London has only been empty for a couple of months out of 5 years and I would have reduced the price slightly to get someone in if it had gone much longer. Doesn't seem to be the same in Singapore though, they'd rather let it be empty than take a price that they deem below their valuation, cultural thing related to 'face' I think

[JR8]

Yes agreed, I have been lucky that my own place in London has only been empty for a couple of months out of 5 years and I would have reduced the price slightly to get someone in if it had gone much longer. Doesn't seem to be the same in Singapore though, they'd rather let it be empty than take a price that they deem below their valuation, cultural thing related to 'face' I think

Good for you. I tend to be very pragmatic, and for example on my own place in London when I left for SG in '08 I took a 15% haircut on the rent to get it let with a circa 3 week initial void. That was right at the Armageddon stage of the GFC though, so basically the market was quite clearly entirely f'd. Three years on I'm right back to the rent level I initially wanted and have had one change with IIRC a one week void. I consider that a result.

The way I look at it is, an additional (to the initial 3 week actual void) say 3 month void if I stubbornly held out for the asking rent would have cost me the same as letting it go at the 'original-15%' rent for a nearly 8 year fixed rent term. But I was back at the level I originally wanted by year 3.

That's why voids kill, and although I get all the 'face' stuff, it sounds like something of an expensive ego-thing for a landlord!



Edit: To change the date I left for SG

[BillyB]

Two words

Demand & Supply

2 more

Greedy landlords!

I not sure why some people think a vendor should take less than the market is willing to pay

There's the thing though, landlords in Singapore who are renting condos know that their main market is foreign expats who have a limited time to find somewhere to live when they arrive (typically between 2-4 weeks) and jack up the prices accordingly knowing that there are enough people who will pay it not because they think it's good value but because they don't have much other choice

The funniest thing is that some are actually prepared to let their places sit empty for months until they find someone who will pay the inflated prices.

I can't speak for HDBs, but I wouldn't be surprised if similar happens there.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of the acceptance of voids in SG. One of the key mantras for the more experienced UK landlord is 'Voids kill', i.e. it is better to have a place let at a price lower than you had hoped for, than to have it sitting empty.

Yes agreed, I have been lucky that my own place in London has only been empty for a couple of months out of 5 years and I would have reduced the price slightly to get someone in if it had gone much longer. Doesn't seem to be the same in Singapore though, they'd rather let it be empty than take a price that they deem below their valuation, cultural thing related to 'face' I think

I concur with this and the same goes for selling too. I don't know whether its stubbornness or the fact the properties are owned outright meaning no real pressure to meet costs, or they don't see the longer-term trade off between watching the yields and profit so tightly that common sense goes out of the window?

My landlady has our condo on the market for $1.8 mn. Gets an offer of $1.78 and refuses it. Stays unsold for 9 months and then she decides she wants to sell again. Drops the price to $1.75 and the original offerer comes back and offers the full price. She refuses and puts it up to $1.8 and won't budge on price now. Yes its tenanted but she risks it being vacant shortly and losing the monthly yield and also has no potential buyers in the pipeline. All over the sum of $20k which is around 1.1% of the asking price.

Bizarre mindset!

[JR8]

Hahaha.... unbelievable, and yet hilarious!

As you suggest it is like being fixated on the sticker price, and so being totally oblivious to the bigger picture.

[BillyB]

Hahaha.... unbelievable, and yet hilarious!

As you suggest it is like being fixated on the sticker price, and so being totally oblivious to the bigger picture.

I think she's just a stubborn old bat to be honest!!

[JR8]

Hahaha.... unbelievable, and yet hilarious!

As you suggest it is like being fixated on the sticker price, and so being totally oblivious to the bigger picture.

I think she's just a stubborn old bat to be honest!!

And a fool to boot!

[Girl_Next_Door]

I concur with this and the same goes for selling too. I don't know whether its stubbornness or the fact the properties are owned outright meaning no real pressure to meet costs, or they don't see the longer-term trade off between watching the yields and profit so tightly that common sense goes out of the window?

My landlady has our condo on the market for $1.8 mn. Gets an offer of $1.78 and refuses it. Stays unsold for 9 months and then she decides she wants to sell again. Drops the price to $1.75 and the original offerer comes back and offers the full price. She refuses and puts it up to $1.8 and won't budge on price now. Yes its tenanted but she risks it being vacant shortly and losing the monthly yield and also has no potential buyers in the pipeline. All over the sum of $20k which is around 1.1% of the asking price.

Bizarre mindset!

My landlady is the same as well. She has been trying to sell the place since I rent this place almost 2 years ago. She asked for $1.5mio 2 years ago, and there was no buyer. About a year later, she decided that she wants $1.6mio (despite her unsuccessful attempts to sell the place for $1.5 mio for a year). I was told someone offered her $1.5mio and she rejected. Recently, she decided (again) that she wants $1.8mio for her place.

To me, I am amazed how she can keep increasing her asking price, when there are obviously no buyers. I suspect that she is not even interested in selling and is merely waiting for a dumb fish to hook.

[nakatago]

I concur with this and the same goes for selling too. I don't know whether its stubbornness or the fact the properties are owned outright meaning no real pressure to meet costs, or they don't see the longer-term trade off between watching the yields and profit so tightly that common sense goes out of the window?

My landlady has our condo on the market for $1.8 mn. Gets an offer of $1.78 and refuses it. Stays unsold for 9 months and then she decides she wants to sell again. Drops the price to $1.75 and the original offerer comes back and offers the full price. She refuses and puts it up to $1.8 and won't budge on price now. Yes its tenanted but she risks it being vacant shortly and losing the monthly yield and also has no potential buyers in the pipeline. All over the sum of $20k which is around 1.1% of the asking price.

Bizarre mindset!

My landlady is the same as well. She has been trying to sell the place since I rent this place almost 2 years ago. She asked for $1.5mio 2 years ago, and there was no buyer. About a year later, she decided that she wants $1.6mio (despite her unsuccessful attempts to sell the place for $1.5 mio for a year). I was told someone offered her $1.5mio and she rejected. Recently, she decided (again) that she wants $1.8mio for her place.

To me, I am amazed how she can keep increasing her asking price, when there are obviously no buyers. I suspect that she is not even interested in selling and is merely waiting for a dumb fish to hook.

Me having specific context....the nerve of that woman!

[pacificrim]

Nothing is worth the 1000's you pay for a poorly designed, 300 sq ft box. This is definitely a place I will not be calling home...

[aster]

Where is a good place to invest in properties nowadays? Maybe it's just me but I looked at UK prices yesterday in the Bournemouth area and they seem quite high. Has the property market in the UK gone through the global financial crisis relatively unscathed, or is it just the south that has been resilient?

I've been reading that flats in Dublin are available at 25% of their previous value, is this just a headline-grabber or something worth looking into?

[JR8]

Where is a good place to invest in properties nowadays? Maybe it's just me but I looked at UK prices yesterday in the Bournemouth area and they seem quite high. Has the property market in the UK gone through the global financial crisis relatively unscathed, or is it just the south that has been resilient?

I've been reading that flats in Dublin are available at 25% of their previous value, is this just a headline-grabber or something worth looking into?

Vulturing over the victims of the euro?

Hehehe... ironic

[bluenose]

The market and thinking behind it is moronic here...greed based, gossip based figures and so many inexperienced agents here it is horrendous.

I have just sold a house in the UK, large detached, large garden, 4 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, dining room, real big and proper kitchen....for 155k sterling... and have bought a condo here for 10 times the price and a fraction of the size and will make money from it....more so than the UK...even if we rent it out....some morons will pay double the mortgage just for rent.....

jump on board!