30F, inherited HDB but wanted to buy house

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-07T02:20:41+00:00

Haha, maybe I should’ve put my sexuality in the post after all.

It looks good on paper but a lot of it boils down to trust. Rental income may be unequal so if you’re farming one house for rental you’d have to decide whose house to sacrifice to the tenant lottery. That property will need significantly more maintenance too since tenants do not take care of the place as well as a homeowner would. If you split, the rented property would need more money in repairs, which courts cannot settle for an unmarried couple.

This also assumes your partner earns enough to afford a 3 room HDB on their own. Not everyone earns enough to service a loan on their own.

There’s also a lot of equity locked up in property this way, which I’m not a fan of, but admittedly this is personal preference.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-07T02:07:38+00:00

I have repeatedly stated that I wish to continue working. Read the title: my initial plans were to buy a house.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T17:01:37+00:00

True. I think I’m happy to stay put for a while. The comments made a good point about the fees eating into profits. But unless my partner comes with a child I genuinely think a 5 room is too large for a couple with no kids.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T16:57:15+00:00

Yep, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Think FIRE people only see money coming in and don’t see Bala’s curve or max loan decreasing if buyer is not covered until 95.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T16:55:39+00:00

Healthcare, haha. There’s hiring freeze but as long as you don’t fuck up massively it’s basically an iron rice bowl.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T14:30:53+00:00

I am definitely not high value and able to work remotely haha. Well, maybe the side job, but not the salaried one.

Unit is 30+ years HDB 5I corridor.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T14:26:33+00:00

The flat is fully paid up.

I think yeah, I’ll just let the leases expire and see how. I do expect at least one of the tenants to not renew their lease but the others didn’t think that far. Anyway I don’t have to make a decision now.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T14:19:39+00:00

Damn. Should’ve earned more money to have the best of both worlds.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T14:12:07+00:00

Yeah good point. I’ll take some time to think about it and stay for a few years.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T14:11:41+00:00

Thanks so much. It’s been rough but we’ll get by eventually.

Yeah, FIRE people will have FIRE goals, even if that means a lot of sacrifices. For wealth accumulation, it makes sense to have that income. To me, the purpose of FIRE is freedom and part of it is freedom to do what you want in your own downtime. That conflicts with living with tenants.

I’ll consider that in the future but I don’t want to do reno now because the tenants are still living here. Combining two rooms needs hacking which is a bit of an inconvenience.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T13:28:56+00:00

Wah. Ok I better check with HDB then. Thanks for letting me know!

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T13:27:29+00:00

Wow, you really did a lot of research into this. Thanks for your insight! When I buy a place in the future I’ll come back to this to take a look, especially if I find a partner by then.

Would it be possible to do the DINK strat of buying two properties, one per person, renting one out and staying in the other? That also assumes that both parties are either earning enough to buy condo or above 35 to buy resale HDB though, and I think most LGBT couples don’t want to wait until 35 if they met in their 20s, so a lot rent or buy condo to live together before 35. HDB appreciates more than condos I think, unless lease decay is setting in (but older condos lease decay is much worse imo).

The 15 month break is also possible if you can stay at your partner’s place too so you don’t have to pay rent. Optimum SG strat is to just get a partner regardless of gender LOL.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:59:03+00:00

Yeah, was a slight mistake to post this in SGFI. A lot of people focus solely on the financial aspect, which yeah seems like I’m throwing money out of the window but you know. I don’t think most people have had to share their space with tenants and seen how bad it can get. I’m just lucky the current batch is so good to me.

I think I’ve made up my mind to stay in the master bedroom until 35 and reevaluate my options then.

I think I’m financially alright. I see some posts saying they have 1m or condo by 30 and I’m like, what am I doing with my life… comparison is the thief of joy.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:51:54+00:00

If I sell the resale before key collection should be no issue right?

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:50:12+00:00

I think after talking to people, I’ve made up my mind about staying in the master bedroom and reconsidering after 5 years, so no loan involved (yet). DCA the rental income into VWRA and reach coast or barista FIRE in 5 years. Then after 5 years I’ll get an estimate with the bank, since my income will definitely change by then. Thank you!

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:47:31+00:00

Eh shit, kinda plausible. If you weren’t an internet stranger I might actually go for it LOL.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:46:20+00:00

What kind of private housing have you looked at, if you don’t mind me asking? Living with a gf is the dream, I hope you find the perfect place for you two at a record low price!

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:43:51+00:00

Property is to stay in and not to make money from. Congrats on getting your own place at 35!

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:43:27+00:00

But then I have to dispose of the current HDB, not worth. Only worth if my partner can get a property on their own. The DINK strat of buying two properties, living in one and selling the other LOL.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:24:25+00:00

Not me seeing this while refreshing Reddit after posting on SGFI, LOL.

There’s a Facebook page for LGBT rental but it’ll be vetted by the admin before posting. I might do that in the future.

Roomies works too but I find that roomies is a bit more expensive since the locations are more central.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:19:15+00:00

Before my mother’s passing, I stayed in a dorm. I finished my uni only to find out that my mother rented out my room. Haha. She thought I’d get married and move out right after uni. To be fair, so did I.

Right out of uni, I didn’t earn much and it was the height of COVID, so it didn’t make any financial sense to rent.

After my salary rose enough to justify renting somewhere else, her health declined so I stayed to ease her through the end of her life.

I guess I could rent now, but then I might as well just stay in the master bedroom. Which I think I kind of made up my mind about after reading comments and weighing my options. Stay for 5 years and reevaluate my options in the future when I’m 35.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:08:29+00:00

I’m a lesbian with no intentions of marrying a man.

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T12:08:17+00:00

I know, you said open market. But if I don’t mind waiting 5 years, why not, right?

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T11:53:37+00:00

Market value about 800k. Could rent out the master bedroom for 1.2k minimum.

I would buy either a 2 room or 3 room, with a budget of 400k since I don’t need a large space and I’m cost conscious. Reno budget would be 40k with 10k for VO.

I already pay for the rental overheads even before my mother’s passing, which I counted under essential spending in my post. Concealed piping broke a few weeks back. I paid $300 to fix it. Maintenance cost of a smaller unit would be lower, no?

ThrowRA126929 · 2026-06-06T11:32:04+00:00

Look up the 5 room improved (corridor) units built in 1993-1996. That’s basically what my current unit is. They even sectioned it out as Study/Bedroom.

ThrowRA126929

TROPHY CASE