During a major online sales event like Singles Day, people always like to talk about their latest loot from online shopping.
Well, you know what?
Shoes and bags and clothes are great, but really, can they compare to the feeling of owning your own home?
Compared to the independence from overbearing landlords and nitpicking parents?
I doubt it. I seriously doubt it.
Hereâre four options for you to pursue if youâre under 35 and desperately need to move out.
Buy A Condo
Financial Difficulty for a single person: Hard. Like, really hard. You need lots of money.
Being private property, condos are far less regulated than HDBs when it comes to purchasing rules.
The big one being it is perfectly legal for people below 35 to own one.
This sounds awesome and all, but the thing is, youâll need to be earning at least $5,052Â to even attempt buying the most affordable resale condo (letâs not even start with new launches).
That puts even an entry-level, non-central condo out of the reach of the median Singaporean who earns approximately $4,400. (He/she will need a spouse to share the cost and double their capital)
Oh, did we mention the downpayment?
The amount for that same entry-level, non-central resale condo is at least $225,000. That means youâll probably need to save really, really intensely if you canât borrow money from your parents.
PS: This list of condos people can buy on a 6k income might help.
Market Segment | Median Price | Loan Amount (75%) | Downpayment | Est. Monthly Repayment | Min. Monthly Gross Income Needed To Satisfy 60% TDSR Requirement |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CCR | $2.06 mil | $1.54 mil | $514,337 | $6,915 | $11,525 |
RCR | $1.37 mil | $1.03 mil | $342,000 | $4,625 | $7,709 |
OCR | $1.10 mil | $824,250 | $274,750 | $3,701 | $6,169 |
What you need to have when you want to buy a brand new condo. It’s probably out of reach for many Singaporeans.
Market Segment | Median Price | Loan Amount (75%) | Downpayment | Est. Monthly Repayment | Min. Monthly Gross Income Needed To Satisfy 60% TDSR Requirement |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CCR | $1.52 mil | $1.14 mil | $380,000 | $5,119 | $8,532 |
RCR | $1.18 mil | $885,000 | $295,000 | $3,974 | $6,623 |
OCR | $900,000 | $675,000 | $225,000 | $3,031 | $5,052 |
Renting A Place/Whole RoomÂ
Financial difficulty for a single person: Mid-difficulty
We donât hear of Singaporeans moving out to rent a place often, but yes, it is a viable alternative to buying a condo. (Renting is not just for foreigners, mind you).
A lot of people think that renting a place means they are immediately throwing money away because theyâre not building equity, and well, this is true for the most part in the long term.
That said, renting a place is far, far, far, better than buying the wrong property.
So if you canât make up your mind on the right property, keep calm and just rent first.
If you search the 99.co portal, youâll find that rentals in Singapore can start anywhere from $500 for a common bedroom, or up to $8000 for a studio.
In my personal opinion, spending anything more than $2,000 on a place that houses one person seems like a luxury.
That said, I am pretty conservative when it comes to rental budget and have extremely limited knowledge when it comes to pampering myself.
If you can afford something nicer and pricier, why not?
Read this article to figure out how much you should spend on rent, and how to potentially get that amount slashed.
Renting A Place In JB
Financial difficulty for a single person: Low, but physical and mental difficulty high.
For the brave and the bold, Johor Bahru is always there with its more affordable standard of living.
Sure, moving to good olâ JB requires plenty of sacrifices.
The queues at customs can be long and painful unless you wake up at ungodly hours, and the thugs there put those in Yishun to absolute shame.
Oh yeah, and you MIGHT need to get a car just to get around JB.
That said, there are very valid reasons to live in JB.
Food is affordable.
Rent is affordable.
Everything is affordable.
Decent studios can be had for as low as S$300 to S$500.
(Iâd link them here but hey weâre a Singapore portal.)
Live With Your Parents, Tolerate Them Till 35 Then Buy A Resale Flat
Financial difficulty for a single person: Low to mid.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it. Living with your parents has never been glamorous.
But if youâre cash strapped and living on a diet of instant noodles, being patient and putting up with your parentâs whole âmy house my rulesâ system could work.
For one, youâd save money you would have spent on rental.
Assuming youâre 10 years away from 35, and hypothetically spent $1,000 on rent each month that would mean $120,000 in the long run.
Trust me, thatâs MORE than enough for the initial downpayment for your flat â you might even have enough left for a sick reno job.
Moral Of The Story
If you havenât figured it out already, the price of independence in Singapore isnât cheap.
In fact, itâs really expensive.
If youâre reading this after spending your entire paycheck on the 11.11 sale… Congrats, youâve set your independence day back by a couple of months.
Hot tip: Start saving your money so you can start spending on property.
This article first appeared on 99.co and is part of a content syndication agreement between 99.co and Seedly.
For our Property Talks, the Seedly team worked closely with 99.co, who is an expert in the field, to curate unbiased, non-sponsored content to add value back to our readers.
99.co is a Singapore-based property portal that aims to take away the tedious bits of property hunting.
If you have any questions regarding property feel free to discuss them with the friendly Seedly Community!
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