Finding a spacious three-bedroom condo in Singapore at an affordable price is no easy feat in 2025. But for those who don’t mind living a little further from the action, there are still some options worth considering. This week, we’ve…
Units Of The Week
Several changes to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) have taken effect from 2025, prompting questions about their impact on housing purchases in Singapore. The effects vary between individuals, depending on their reliance on CPF for housing and the extent of…
Commentary
If you want to retain your flat – even after you buy a condo unit – it often means paying the 20 per cent ABSD (for Singapore citizens; it’s even higher for PRs). There may be some ways around it,…
Commentary
When the Design, Build, and Sell Scheme (DBSS) was around, there were a lot of negative comments. Complaints about poor finishing, and excessively high prices, meant the scheme was short-lived: we saw only 13 DBSS projects enter the market before…
Resale HDB
Last week, we visited Jago Close and Chapel Road – I found the heritage houses there very charming but the area was quite densely built up. This week, we’ll be visiting Peach Garden, a landed estate also in the East…
Editors' Pick
Don’t live in a dictatorship seems like common-sense advice, but sometimes that’s what local condo buyers get themselves into. This week, I heard a story about a certain condo and dogs. I won’t name it, but it sounds a bit…
News
When it comes to high-rise living, most Singaporeans have a preference for the highest floor. It’s associated with privacy, a better view, and fewer pest issues (allegedly!). But for the same reasons, top-floor units are almost always priced higher, and…
Editors' Pick
When you say you’re not concerned about upgrading and just want a place to enjoy, the response is sometimes eye-rolling and condescension. “So naive,” some people will say, or “So impractical.” But here’s an unpopular opinion: there’s genuine merit in…
Commentary
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31 Jan 2025
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10 min read
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Some homebuyers may feel an agent of their own is unnecessary. Some want to avoid paying commissions (though for private properties, the seller usually pays both agents). Others worry about the buyer and seller agents colluding to raise the price,…
Buying
Everyone wants to stay in a convenient location, which is why homes in the centre of Singapore typically are priced at a premium. As such, this makes affordable options in this area a bit of a rarity. That’s why, this…
Units Of The Week
There are certain projects in Singapore that consistently rank in the top five to ten for gross rental yield. From time to time, inquiries arise regarding these projects, asking why they are so special and why they never seem to…
Editors' Pick
In Asia, few numbers are more emblematic of prosperity than the iconic “8.” In Mandarin, “8” (“ba”) sounds similar to “fa,” which means wealth—a linguistic coincidence that has made “8” a symbol of abundance. So we’ve decided to put this…
Editors' Pick
Homebuyers tend to be a pragmatic bunch. Sometimes, this leads to a certain dismissive attitude towards the more “froo-froo” aspects of a property, such as the finishing. For every buyer who cares about the tiling, countertops, light fixtures, etc., there’s…
Buying
Some homebuyers associate the lack of nearby HDB flats (i.e., a low-density area) with luxury. We see this among landed homes, for instance, or in areas like Bukit Timah. But this has also sometimes led to the misconception that being…
Commentary
Today, we’re headed to Jago Close and Chapel Road, 2 parallel streets in the East of Singapore. These 2 streets are just off East Coast Road and between Marine Parade MRT station, the Marine Parade HDB estate, and many famous…
Editors' Pick
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26 Jan 2025
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10 min read
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In this week’s episode, we explore a 1980s HDB flat in Singapore, spanning 700 square feet with two bedrooms. Designed to embrace simplicity and nostalgia, the homeowner retained original features like textured walls and ceilings, intentionally leaving them unplastered for…
Living In
There are some pretty hair-raising ideas out there, about what happens when one co-borrower passes on. This was a source of panic for an acquaintance last week, when that exact thing happened. He’d been under the impression that, when the…
News
When buying a home, who better to learn from than the experts? If you’re like many buyers, you may wonder whether your estate agent would follow the same advice they’re giving you. Would they make the same choices they’re encouraging…
Commentary
