Australian moving from Canada to Singapore: rent and pay Qs

[movingtospore]

Hi all, first off what a great resource this site is! I've just spent a couple of days reading around.

So here's my questions I couldn't find answers to yet:

1. Do most of you guys get some kind of rental assistance as part of your moving package? I'm taking a position in a new company and not relocation within a company.


2. I did some googling and found that pay for people in the video games industry might be comparatively low in Singapore, I've seen everything from $30k to $100k. Is it even possible to live in Singapore for this much? I'm still negotiating but going in with $120k, but want to know how low I can go. As reference I'm currently on $95k canadian + bonus and have been offered a job in the US for ~$120k.

Games Industry salary:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/69214115/Singa ... 202012.ppt

It's quite possible no senior people added figures to the above survey.


3. Most posts I've seen involve people with families wanting larger condos. I'm after a 1-2 bedroom place for me and my GF (I know about visa situations, that another conversation). I've been searching through the property listings and most come up as "Price On Ask". Is this code for "Expensive! don't bother looking"?


4. I've seen various posts about not trusting estate agents. I actually had a relocation package to move from Aus to Canada and was allocated a person who helped out with finding an apartment. Is this generally true in Singapore? Should I trust an agent supplied by my employer? No one has actually stated specifically what these agents are doing to be dodgy.


5. Given a budget of ~$3000, should I even bother looking in areas such as 15 (close to work and play) for a condo or is it just plain out of my price range?


6. How representative are the rental property web searches of the number of rentals out there? Am I going to find many more options once I get to Singapore or is what's on the sites pretty much it?


7. How ghetto is HDB housing? It's looking like this might be my best option to keep costs down but apparently people don't like the insides of apartments being photographed in Singapore so I can't really tell from the web. Is HDB something expats do regularly or am I really slumming it if I go this route?

Feel free to flame if these have been asked millions of times before and I'm suffering from searchfailitis.

Thanks!!!!

R

PS: Oh and I personally dont trust any COL adjustment data. I currently live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Living is supposed to be very cheap here but the fact that it gets down to -40C means you need to spend a lot of money on things like winter tires, and also the roads reassembling the surface of the moon means you blow tires/wheels every couple of months. Plus the oil boom is pushing rental prices way up. None of which is acknowledged by the company that moved me here.

An Aussie in an Edmonton winter that's just funny.

You should get the company to pony up to cover relocation and agent fees to find a place here. And health insurance!! It's not the US but you need private insurance here.

[zzm9980]

I thought marine parade is one of the older estates with HDB blocks constructed in the mid 70s and most 2 bedder units not even having attached bathrooms

The newer blocks are in areas further out. Tampines has HDB blocks built in the mid 80s and they are decent. Pasir Ris and Sengkang has mid 90s and they are great. Punggol has almost brand new and plush looking HDB blocks and will put a lot of condos to shame.

It is true, it was built in the 70s. It's in a prime location though. Those you mention are quite the outskirts and not as 'canadian-expat friendly'

[AndrewV]

I thought marine parade is one of the older estates with HDB blocks constructed in the mid 70s and most 2 bedder units not even having attached bathrooms

The newer blocks are in areas further out. Tampines has HDB blocks built in the mid 80s and they are decent. Pasir Ris and Sengkang has mid 90s and they are great. Punggol has almost brand new and plush looking HDB blocks and will put a lot of condos to shame.

It is true, it was built in the 70s. It's in a prime location though. Those you mention are quite the outskirts and not as 'canadian-expat friendly'

the pinnacle@duxton is a very nice HDB that can put many condo's to shame. That location is fine too, walking distanc to CBD/Tanjong pagar, outram park mrt.

[zzm9980]

the pinnacle@duxton is a very nice HDB that can put many condo's to shame. That location is fine too, walking distanc to CBD/Tanjong pagar, outram park mrt.

Yes, but its rent will also put many condos to shame. They're above the OP's budget, and that's for an HDB!

[colio]

Rambutan2000: Whilst I am unsure of your particular skills & seniority, don't use local job boards here in Singapore as a guide to salaries. All the really good jobs with the higher salaries are not posted on any job boards. If you are particularly good at what you do &/or senior, then you should contact executive recruitment firms that deal directly with companies & basically headhunt people or have a database of top people. These firms do not post job ads on any of the local boards. Occasionally they may used LinkedIn but generally not even then.

If you have been offered $120k in the US, go for the equivalent here.

I did the exact same thing when I moved here. My company wanted to pay me the equivalent of a local package for my skills & seniority. They used local job boards to get the comparable salary but I told them I wanted exactly what I would get paid if I stayed in Australia, converted to SGD. They eventually agreed plus I got relocation package as well (not the huge packages that top execs in big MNC's get but I was happy with it).

I think Singapore is great.. my vote is for Singapore instead of the US.

On another note, I feel like eating rambutans!