Our Flat

Three agents looking for a home for Celes and Xavier.

Must see

Celes's picks

Viewing list

Flats you want to see. Copy the message for your realtor, one flat or the whole list, mark them as sent, and once you have been, say what you thought. Your verdicts go straight to the agents in the Coffee.

The Coffee

Where you sit with Oslo, Tokyo and Alfonso. Tell them what you like and don't, an area, a look, a feeling from a viewing. They read it at their next run (8am and 8pm), change how they search, and answer here.

They answer at the next run.

The Bank

Your numbers, in your words. Change anything here and the page recalculates the loan you can get and the price we should stop at. Save, and the agents use it from their next run.

What you earn

Take the Net Trade Income on your last two IRAS Notices of Assessment, average them, divide by 12. That is the number the bank uses, not what you bill now.

What you owe

We do not know your MOE loan; this starts at 0. Put the monthly instalment from your MOE or bank statement here, plus any car loan or credit-card instalment plan. See "What your MOE loan does" on the right.

What you have saved

Only OA counts; MediSave cannot buy a flat.
Leave 0 to use everything above. If you want some kept back for renovation or a cushion, put it here.
Cash on top if the seller wants more than HDB values it at. Usually 0 in the outer towns.

What you are looking for

Up to 25 keeps the 75% loan; longer drops it to 55%.
Put your number if you see it differently; the agents search up to it.
1996 or later keeps full CPF use for you until 95, with a year of margin.
Comma separated. The agents will not show these.

What your MOE loan does

Banks check two limits. The first, the Mortgage Servicing Ratio, only looks at the home loan: the instalment must stay under 30% of your recognised income. The second, the Total Debt Servicing Ratio, adds every other loan you pay monthly, including a study loan, and the total must stay under 55%.

For most people buying an HDB flat the 30% rule is the tighter one, so a study loan only bites when its instalment is large: on the income above, more than about a quarter of the recognised income a month. Enter the contractual instalment, not what you happen to pay, and note that a credit card with a big unused limit can be counted too. The calculation on this page checks both and tells you which one is holding the cap. Two practical things: keep the MOE repayments on time, because the bank pulls your credit report; and do not rush to clear the loan with cash you need for the downpayment unless the page shows TDSR as the limit.

The steps, in order

  1. 1HFE letter from HDBDone. It says you buy under the Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme, with Xavier as occupier, on a bank loan. Valid 9 months, no extension, so note the date. You need it to book viewings on the HDB portal and before any option is signed; check its exact wording on the Proximity grant.
  2. 2In-principle approval from a bankTwo or three banks, with your two NOAs (the trade must be at least two years old) and the MOE loan statement. This tells you the real loan cap before you fall for a flat. An approval usually lasts about 30 days, so get it when viewings are serious.
  3. 3ViewingsUse the viewing list here. Take the floor plan and the block's transactions with you.
  4. 4Option to PurchasePay S$1 to S$1,000 option fee in cash. Keep it low. The next working day, request HDB's valuation (S$120).
  5. 5Valuation comes backAbout 10 working days. Anything you agreed above it is cash on top. If it is bad, let the option lapse and lose only the option fee.
  6. 6Exercise the optionWithin 21 days, total deposit up to S$5,000. Bank loan letter and a conveyancing lawyer in place. Buyer's stamp duty is due within 14 days of exercising.
  7. 7Resale applicationBoth sides submit within 7 days of each other on the HDB portal. Legal fees settled with the lawyer.
  8. 8CompletionHDB accepts in about 28 working days, then completion about 8 weeks after that: roughly three months from the application. Keys. Then five years of living in it (the MOP) before selling or renting it out.

The rules that shape the search

Lease from 1996. You are 27. To use CPF in full the lease has to run until you are 95, so 68 years must remain: a 99-year lease that started in 1995 or later. We use 1996 to keep a year of margin. Older flats cut CPF and the loan.

Only you can borrow. Xavier is an occupier. Under the Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme he cannot be on the title at all, so his income does not count for the loan, and nobody should ever suggest adding him: if he became a PR and were added, stamp duty of 5% (PR) or 60% (foreigner) would apply.

Bank loan, not HDB loan. Your HFE said so. Today's packages (around 1.3 to 1.65%) are cheaper than HDB's 2.6% for the lock-in years; after that the rate resets, which is why the bank tests you at 4%. At least 5% of the price must be cash.

Grants. None, with one exception: if your parents live in Singapore and you buy within 4 km of them, the Proximity Housing Grant (S$10,000, or S$15,000 living together) has no income ceiling. Tell the agents in the Coffee where they live.

Listings come from EdgeProp and PropertyGuru; prices, photos and floor plans belong to the listing agents. Comps are real resale transactions published by HDB on data.gov.sg for the last 12 months. Estimates are the agents' reading of those transactions, not a valuation. Distances to MRT are straight lines. Money figures assume a 25-year bank loan at 75% loan-to-value; the 4% line is the rate the bank tests you on.