With high home prices and a constraint on land space in Singapore, it’s not surprising unit sizes have become a compromise. All those 600 to 700 sq. ft. two-bedders sure look big in a show flat; and some buyers are so eager for their own space, they vowed to somehow make it work (they can upgrade later when the second child comes along!) Or perhaps some young landlords figured that, if there were roommates to split the bill, they might see more tenants. Here are some cases where the assumptions went wrong:
1. Miscommunication with the in-laws
One young couple purchased a resale two-bedder close to Robinson Road, with the intent of renting it out. At the time, they were living with their in-laws in a landed home “somewhere in the east.” SK, who made the initial decision with his wife, says the plan ended poorly due to a miscommunication:
“We had originally planned to stay with our in-laws while renting out the unit, until our first child had finished Primary schooling – this would have been about nine years down the road. At that point, we would likely sell the unit and buy our own place, or we had the option to keep renting it out if we were doing better.
But maybe we didn’t communicate this well enough to our in-laws, as my wife’s father was under the impression that – as soon as we got this place – we would be moving out.”
It turns out SK’s brother-in-law was moving back to Singapore from Australia, and had a family of his own; and his father-in-law had assumed there would be room (if SK and his wife moved out).
To avoid friction, the couple changed their plans, and moved into the two-room unit after the last tenant left. However, this resulted in some major disruptions:
“It’s a major financial burden for us, as now there’s no rental income. While we can survive, we would have preferred waiting a while more to ready our finances. Now this has become a sort of premature home ownership.
The location is good, but it’s not good for us. Me and my wife both work in the east, and with the change of address, we’re having to look at alternative schools.”
SK says they have also considered selling and buying a resale flat instead (the couple is not eligible for a BTO flat due to exceeding the income ceiling). But as luck would have it, in 2020, the government imposed a new waiting time: those who sell a private property now have to wait 15 months, before they’re able to buy a resale flat.
As such, SK says the couple feels “stuck” with the two-bedder, and in hindsight, they would have picked a simpler form of investment.
2. Noisy and surrounded by too many condos
LS owns a two-bedder unit in the Geylang area, which he describes as “near Guillemard Road, very close to Dakota (the MRT station).”
LS says he bought the unit in haste, which was his first mistake:
“My partner was having difficulties at the time, as he had lost his job and couldn’t afford to rent his own place. He was also unable to move back home, due to domestic difficulties. So since I’d been saving up for a place, I decided to quickly get one so we could move in together; and it was very very fast. I bought it in 2017, and the unit was very well renovated so it was ready to move in immediately.”
Besides the good condition of the unit, LS was attracted to the project because it was freehold and less than 10 minutes from his parent’s home. However, he regretted his decision shortly after:
“It’s too close to the road, and because the road outside is narrow and crowded, you always hear car horns and engines even at night. There’s also a problem with water seepage – not just for me, but my neighbour upstairs also. And the management is really useless, the past three times we solved it on our own.”
LS also says that, upon consultation with a friend (who is also a realtor), he now realises there’s “no point buying for a low unit count, when all around you are also freehold condos with a low unit count.”
LS says that average prices for the project have “barely moved,” since six years ago, and he doesn’t expect much change in the future. He feels that, had he taken more time to browse more options, he might have made a better decision.
3. Regrets over limited space and buying a new launch
VK was a Permanent Resident living with his wife in a flat before they bought their own home. He says their prior home was a 5-room flat in Eunos, which was actually owned by his wife’s parents; but VK was eager to have a home of his own.
“I turned down advice to get a cheaper resale unit, which was my main mistake,” VK says, “As my requirements were first, to be near the MRT, and second, for a new launch, as I want better facilities.”
However, VK realised that most larger units were out of his reach. He then settled for a new launch, two-bedder unit, close to White Sands (a major heartland mall in Pasir Ris). VK was convinced it was big enough for him and his wife; but things soon proved otherwise.
“Even after we gave away half our things, we still feel it’s a squeeze. When our in-laws come to stay, the two of us sleep in the living room. The one other bedroom is so packed with all our things it’s just a storeroom. If we have a kid, I think that’s it, I got to throw out all my worldly possessions!”
VK says his wife is especially unhappy because her favourite activity is hosting meals on occasions like New Year, Deepavali, etc. But big parties have become impractical, given the small amount of room and small kitchen.
“If I could go back in time, I’ll reconsider my priorities, 100 per cent. I’ll still want something near the MRT, but I think I should have accepted a resale house, if it meant I could get a bigger one.”
4. Thin walls and lack of amenities
AM and his wife bought their two-bedder with the idea of renting out a room.
As AM’s wife is out of the country for long stretches (three or four months of the year), this seemed like a tolerable arrangement. In addition, AM entertains thoughts of possibly moving to Thailand permanently, to live with his wife and in-laws; they might then retain the property as a rental asset.
AM says the project is located close to SUTD and the Upper Changi MRT station. So far, his rental predictions have been correct – they have owned the unit for four years, and in all that time have only been without a tenant for three months.
However, AM feels misled by the selling agent, over the degree of privacy he and the tenant could expect:
“I was told that as it’s an older condo, the unit is larger than usual two-bedders, it’s over 800 sq. ft. So there will be a lot of privacy even if I take on a tenant. That, plus the condo being freehold, seemed like a really good deal.
But the master bedroom and the other bedroom are very close, and the walls are very thin. I can even hear the tenant typing on her keyboard sometimes, to give you an idea. I even have to tell my tenant to use headphones in their own room; even they also know we can hear each other. I hate to be ‘that guy’ but that’s how it is.”
AM adds that, when his wife is home, she is frequently disturbed by tenants who come home at late hours, “But I can’t govern when they come and go right? So we have to live with being woken up at 2 or 3 am sometimes.”
AM also empathises with his tenants, over the lack of nearby amenities:
“I warn them about this before they rent; but lucky for me there are students who rather be close to school than a shopping centre. But this area is honestly dead – our entertainment is to go to the petrol kiosk at night and buy Polar cakes. Sad.
It’s on me as I could see it was the case; I thought it was not so bad as I could take the train or go to the airport. But now in hindsight, it does bug me that I can’t even find a convenient supper spot nearby.”
5. Regrets on buying a large two-bedder unit
For M and his wife, they always knew that they wanted space in their home. This was going to be their first home together, and they started by viewing new launch condos first.
“Many of the new condos we saw were just 600 over square feet in size, which was just too small for us. So we started looking at older condos, and found an ideal one that was over 1,000 square feet in size and with a sizeable patio.”
M mentioned that they were initially very taken in by the size of the unit, and they envisioned themselves sitting out on the patio in the mornings.
“It looked like a very ideal lifestyle as neither of us had lived in a ground floor unit before, and it also looked like a good place to entertain guests or have dinner on cooler evenings.”
It seemed like a good deal too, as overall the psf was lower than the other units in the development (which they now know in hindsight that this was because it had a large PES). Also, because it wasn’t a big development, their maintenance cost per month was quite costly due to the size of the unit as well.
To be fair, M did share that they enjoyed their time there, and the regret really only came about when it was time to sell.
“As first time homeowners, we never realised how high maintenance costs can be a dealbreaker for many people. And also how hard it is to sell a 2 bedroom unit with a large patio! It seemed like many people would rather just buy a 3 bedroom unit at that same price point.”
It may have been due to a lull period in the property market too, but for the couple, it took close to 8 months before they finally sold their place. This made things difficult, as they definitely had to sell their home before buying the next place.
“We needed to move because we were planning for kids, so the extended time to sell meant that we took longer to find and move into a bigger place, which set us back for an even longer time.”
In the end, while the spacious two-bedroom unit with its expansive patio provided M and his family with many cherished memories, it also taught them a valuable lesson in real estate: what seems like an asset in one scenario can become a liability in another. The unit’s generous size and features, though initially appealing, ultimately narrowed the pool of potential buyers, complicating their onward journey.
At Stacked, we like to look beyond the headlines and surface-level numbers, and focus on how things play out in the real world.
If you’d like to discuss how this applies to your own circumstances, you can reach out for a one-to-one consultation here.
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