Chapter 1: We got a House!

The story started 6 months back when we decided to get a resale flat in the open market in 2010 Dec instead of waiting for a BTO to dawn on us.

Advice for friends: Before you go hunting for your flat/agent, apply for the HLE at HDB]

As we began to look through the HDB web site, we were bombarded by the sheer volume of information available on the loan schemes, monthly installment amount, selling trend in the different area, etc.

However, one item concerned us the most: AMOUNT OF CASH REQUIRED.

At that time, we had worked for only 1.8 years and 敏had just turned PR and had only started paying the 20% CPF for a couple of months. This meant that we had very limited cash and an even more limited combined CPF amount. Adding salt to the wound were the debts we have already accumulated in our university days. (Education and Laptop loans)

Hoping to find an apartment with lower COV and to utilize the HDB grant, we started out searching for a 4-room flat near our parents’ in Yishun; only to find that the price tag does not goes down with the old age of the apartments in Yishun. The owners were asking for a COV of 30-40k regardless of distance to MRT, house condition and age of the house!

After even more house viewing, we realized that the government was just bull-shitting when they cheered themselves on the newspaper that the measurement they took to cool off the housing market was successful. The entire Singapore is generally having a COV of 30-40k. We had even viewed a house with fungi growing on the walls but still asking for a COV of 20k!

Here I provide a simple calculation which would illustrate our trapped situation:
Estimated Cash Required = $5k + [10%(Lowest Between Valuation and Resale Price)-CPF-Grant] + COV + 1%[Resale Price]

4 rooms HDB = $380k + $30-40k COV
Total CPF = $35k
Cash = $5k + [10%($380k)-35k-20k]<-Cannot be negative + 40k + 1%($410k) = $32k
Renovation + Lighting = 15k
Furniture + Electrical Appliance = 10k

Losing heart, we thought that it is not possible to get any flat from the open market with our saving.

Then like all good hearted people in any fairy tales, our prayers were answered.

Our agent brought us to Puggol where a 5 room flat is on sale with a COV of only $8,000.

Initially, we were not having much hope as we thought that the house would be in a rotten state or in a super-remote place, given the low COV the buyer was asking.

But to our surprise, the house is well maintained and decorated. Furthermore, there is a food-court, super market, clinic and a cleaning shop right at the door-step. Although it is not anywhere near the Puggol interchange, it is a 3 min walk to the LRT. The owners just wanted to sell the house quickly.

Overjoyed, we made our offer quickly and purchased the apartment at 8k COV, which sums up to a cash payment to about 20k.

With the house settled, our story on how we build our love nest begins.

LIVING ROOM BEFORE OWNER MOVED OUT


DINNING AREA BEFORE OWNER MOVED OUT


MASTER ROOM BEFORE OWNER MOVED OUT


GUEST ROOM BEFORE OWNER MOVE OUT


CLINIC BELOW


SUPER MARKET BELOW


BREAD SHOP BELOW


LRT STATION WITHIN 3 MIN


FOOD COURT BELOW