Property Stories

A First-Time Homebuyer’s Journey: 5 Little-Known Tips To Avoid Ghosts, Floods, And Pests In Your Next Home

In this first-time homebuyer’s journey series, I hope to document down my journey into buying my first home in Singapore. What I’m actually buying may be fairly unique, but the process and decision-making behind it can apply to others too…

• 18 Jul 2021
• 6 min read
• 1

A Dream Home Or An Investment Asset? Here’s How This Couple Made Their Choice

“Why did you all buy a resale HDB? You might as well have bought a condo with that amount of money.” For couples who’ve recently bought a resale HDB in a central location, you might have encountered this reaction from…

• 17 Jul 2021
• 7 min read
• 2

A First-Time Homebuyer’s Journey: Single, Over 35, And Looking For A Multi-Generational Home

35 is a threshold year for many singles in Singapore. If you’re not fortunate enough to be able to afford private property, 35 is the age at which you can buy your first HDB flat and decide whether you want…

• 11 Jul 2021
• 9 min read
• 0

I Bought A $3M Leasehold Cluster Housing Home And I Have No Regrets

Cluster housing is a bit of an unusual property choice that most wouldn’t think about immediately. A lot of Singaporeans are inclined to ask “Why not just a fully landed home?” After all, cluster homes aren’t exactly cheap – and…

• 10 Jun 2021
• 6 min read
• 2

5 Property Deals That Got Away: These Were The Biggest Regrets Of Property Buyers

Ever heard of Laszlo Hanyecz? Perhaps not. But you may have very well heard of the guy that traded 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas.  A true story that has resonated with so many, that the 23rd of May is now…

• 26 May 2021
• 13 min read
• 4

Hitting The SERS Jackpot: How One Singaporean Timed His HDB Purchase Just Right

To many Singaporeans, the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) is one of the best possible outcomes for their HDB flat. The compensation is generous, your lease is topped up to 99-years again, and you have a whole list of replacement…

• 21 May 2021
• 7 min read
• 0

Our Resale HDB Buying Journey: $700k+ Home At SkyTerrace@Dawson (Ethnic Quota Helped)

From the long wait for Permanent Resident (PR) status, to the process of house hunting, finding an HDB flat can be a challenge. But this week we spoke to A, who recently managed to find a new home with a…

• 10 May 2021
• 10 min read
• 0

We Bought Our First Home On Carousell: Here’s What We Learnt

The digital aspects of Singapore’s private property market have grown to new proportions – from a time when people didn’t trust online listings, to today when you can buy a house by tapping on your phone. In this week’s property…

• 16 Apr 2021
• 6 min read
• 0

First Time Home Buyer Story: Buying A Condo After The 2007 Financial Crisis And Lessons Learned

It’s certainly been some time since our last buyer story, but nonetheless we have quite an interesting feature this week. This time, we look at the first-home purchase of Andy (not his real name). What’s unusual about this case is…

• 27 Mar 2021
• 7 min read
• 2

5 Special Old Features Of HDB’s In Singapore That Are Hard To Imagine Today

It is frankly quite amazing to see the progress Singapore has made over the last few decades. Today, we have structures like the now iconic Marina Bay Sands, the glittering lights from Gardens By The Bay, and the current tallest…

• 20 Mar 2021
• 8 min read
• 0

The Previous Agent Declined The Challenge of Selling This Freehold Landed Home. Here’s How I Sold It In 4 Months.

I got to know the owner of this landed home back in 2019 when I was marketing an inter-terrace landed home within the vicinity. But the owner already had another exclusive agent marketing it at that time. During that period,…

• 8 Mar 2021
• 5 min read
• 0

From An EC To A 999-Year Landed Home: How I Helped My Clients Achieve Their Dream Home

This couple approached me to sell their 3-bedder EC last year in 2020. Their EC was the Tampines Trilliant which hit the 5-year MOP last year. As a family of 4 – they were looking forward to move up to…

• 8 Feb 2021
• 6 min read
• 0

14 “Special” Spaces That Make A Place Home: What Makes A Home For You?

Recently, as I was looking out from my balcony, I realised many parcels of land in my neighbourhood that used to be empty are now all filled – either by construction sites or new BTOs.  Perhaps I was in a…

• 2 Feb 2021
• 8 min read
• 0

5 New Retirement Realities For The Millennial Singaporean

In an era of low interest rates, the traditional strategy of saving and stashing away your monies in higher-interest rate accounts is dead in the water. With various banks slashing their interest rates multiple times in 2020 – there is…

• 30 Jan 2021
• 9 min read
• 0

Here’s What I Learnt After Spending 2 Weeks To Earn A $300 Commission.

I know that real estate agents sometimes get a bad rep. People think we are pushy, too salesy and love to proclaim that “everything is a good buy!” pitch. And I don’t blame them. This happens partly because our incomes…

• 21 Jan 2021
• 4 min read
• 0

We Moved From A BTO Flat To An Executive Apartment: Here’s Why

If you’re old enough to remember the 1980’s, you might recall Executive Apartments (EAs) were all the rage of the time; you might call them the ECs of their day. These were even larger than 5-room flats, and may have…

• 9 Jan 2021
• 9 min read
• 0

I Sold My Freehold Penthouse Unit For $1.75 Million During The Pandemic. Here’s How.

In Dec 2019, after almost 9 years of staying in Gallery 8 – a small freehold development located in the East Coast area – we decided to sell and move on to the next stage of our lives. As my…

• 7 Jan 2021
• 9 min read
• 0

How Do We Keep Prime HDB Flats Fair? We Review Your Responses

Last week we asked you how we could keep prime area HDB flats fair, and we got a good number of answers. It’s also timely, as a little more information regarding new flat policies have come up: as of 12th…

• 14 Dec 2020
• 5 min read
• 0