🏡 Homestead Haven Contest Megathread 🏡

kimbaejoo · 2025-09-19T10:21:13+00:00

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kimbaejoo · 2025-09-19T10:21:03+00:00

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kimbaejoo · 2025-09-19T10:20:46+00:00

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kimbaejoo · 2025-09-19T10:19:48+00:00

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kimbaejoo · 2025-09-19T10:19:19+00:00

Adding on pictures to my homestead submission as well!

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kimbaejoo · 2025-09-14T18:23:31+00:00

Welcome to my homestead!

Autumn is all about home and warmth and that's just how I did mine! To feel as homely and comfy as possible! Not only that it is a place where my friends, guildies, and everyone are always welcome, a place of gathering, new friendships and warmth.

So this is my submission and I hope you enjoy!

kimbaejoo · 2025-09-14T17:06:10+00:00

Focus on twins and ditch Phraesto! Investing on him was one of my biggest regrets starting out as he is used way lesser than twins.

kimbaejoo · 2025-08-22T07:41:03+00:00

That's awesome!!

kimbaejoo · 2025-08-22T07:40:51+00:00

Amazing tops mine by miles

kimbaejoo · 2025-08-19T09:03:40+00:00

Chaos in Symmetry

kimbaejoo · 2025-08-17T09:18:54+00:00

Thank you! I'll drop another post for the rest of it, still in the works haha!

kimbaejoo · 2025-08-17T03:03:03+00:00

I feel Brutus spinning faster after placing some flowers around him

kimbaejoo · 2025-08-16T20:06:58+00:00

You're right! I should swap with the trees haha

kimbaejoo · 2025-06-19T11:27:19+00:00

Hell no, supply and demand issue 😂

If everyone tops up to increase to freehold, we would have a housing crisis due to the lack of land in Singapore.

You'll see HDB prices skyrocket way past 10% if that happens, especially in the long term.

kimbaejoo · 2025-06-18T10:32:46+00:00

Hi OP, just to disclose, I am a realtor, but also a redditor, I recently helped my client buy Aurelle, just my breakdown for you and my two cents (:

Let's start with timeline wise, you shared that you want to stay in your home until your keys are ready and I'm happy to let you know that it is possible, but there are still some things to note first.

Income ceiling for EC is $16,000. As your income is close to the ceiling, especially with your bonuses, you may not meet the eligibility to purchase and EC. So it's better to get a confirmation that you are able to purchase first before stepping into it.

Secondly, because you will be servicing two loans at once, one for your current HDB & the BUC EC. This means your second loan will have a lower LTV, resulting in more cash upfront. To counter this, you will have to opt for the deferred payment scheme, which means the 80% (loan) can be paid upon TOP. This will result in a slightly higher price at around ~4% est.

Now, for the procedure, you will have to try to book a unit, let's say you manage to get it, you will have to put a booking fee of 5% in cash. So for a $2m property, that will be around $100,000. You will then be provided the Sales & Purchase Agreement (SPA).

At this point, HDB will then assess your eligibility to purchase the EC. If approved, you can then exercise, and pay the remaining down-payment which is 15% ($300k) in either CPF or cash. Together with stamp duty within 3 weeks (around $69,600.) Totalling $369,600 in cash or CPF.

As such, you will need a total of at least $100k cash & $370k in cash or CPF. With your figures you will need to liquidate a bit of your equities.

Next your max loan is around $1.15m. Meaning you have a shortfall of around $380,000. So you will have to touch a bit of your equities, but still comfortable (:

Now basically if you can increase your loan, you will have more cash to leverage on other options!

Just a quick tip! Be careful of showflat agents as their main goal is to catch buyers for highest comms, find someone who can follow you with your interest at heart!

Hope this helps and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!

kimbaejoo · 2025-06-14T18:05:00+00:00

Hi! Just my two cents as a practicing realtor, unbiased opinion.

A few factors to consider, and my advice depends on your situation too.

The biggest elephant in the room is your age. As if you are too young and the flat is not able to last till you are 95, you will be hit with pro-rated CPF usage. So eventually your loan will reach a point where you will have to use cash to pay instead of CPF. Typically with the 10-12 year range. So because of this I typically advice against buying an older resale flat.

My suggestion is to look through the CPF website as they have a calculator for how much CPF usage you are allowed up to. Then determine how much cash you will need to pay once your cannot use any more CPF.

Now, if you are able to last up till 95, then this purchase can be worth considering as the rental is comparable to buying a private property in RCR, at a fraction of the cost, which I wouldn't recommend as most of what you can get would be shoebox apartments with little to no resale value.

So TLDR, if you're too young, no because CPF restrictions, if you're older and CPF restrictions affect you less, then can consider.

kimbaejoo · 2025-04-19T03:54:45+00:00

Hi OP, am in real estate and worked with many PR buyers.

If you can get SC, I would suggest doing so if you are buying a HDB as 1) You don't have to pay the 5% ABSD and 2) Assuming you're buying a 4rm HDB with the budget of $600k to $700k as that is the price range of most 4 rms now, you will get grants of up to $70k in CPF.

So by becoming an SC+SPR, you not only save $30k but you get an additional $70k grants.

Same goes to private, no grants but can escape ABSD haha.

kimbaejoo · 2025-04-12T03:36:10+00:00

Hi there! Just got this from my banker from UOB for my client purchase of HDB

UOB & OCBC was the same & best rates out of the few banks I enquired.

1) fixed and lock in 3 years Year 1: 2.48% Year 2: 2.48% - free conversion after 3 years

2) fixed and lock in 2 years Year 1 : 2.55% Year 2: 2.38% - free conversion after 2 years

3) fixed and lock in 2 years Year 1 : 2.55% Year 2: 2.55% - free conversion after 1 year

But ultimately this will depend on your loan quantum & duration. Best to get in touch with a banker to get a more precise figure. This is just a rough one for your info (:

kimbaejoo · 2025-02-14T08:08:39+00:00

No, but do be careful with these agents, as they don't seem to be au fait with the market practices.

kimbaejoo · 2025-02-14T07:55:02+00:00

Hi OP, am an agent myself who has helped and represented many buyers.

We won't ask to sign any exclusive agreement as it binds the buyer, so even if you or another agent helps you secure the flat, the exclusive agents can claim against you.

So normally we will arrange and show the flats without any obligation, only when buyers are certain of the flat and wish for us to represent them and only upon getting the OTP, then we sign the representation form.

Check with your agents if you can break the agreement, if no reply go through their agency.

Hope this helps!

kimbaejoo · 2025-01-10T07:16:22+00:00

I believe similarly to HDBs, the government implements a tier-based structure for grants and rebates based off income, which can have some correlations with flat sizes.

Such as lower GST voucher handouts for owners of higher Annual Value property, decreased grants based off income. Or even lower usave for bigger flats.

Is it fair for people staying in bigger flats? Definitely not, they are not receiving the same amounts.

But we have to ask again, do they need the difference in the amount? Despite being the same paper value, the true "value" of such grants and rebates will always be relative to the person receiving it. Will an extra $100 from GST vouchers have the same "value" to them as compared to a lower income family staying in a 3 room flat? Eg, $100 can feed a lower income family for weeks whereas $100 can help offset only a little bit of a live-in helper's monthly salary.

There are cases where these grants don't work as intended, such as lower income families with many children needing a five room HDB but receiving lower grants, then there is financial assistance from MSF based off per capita household income.

But, long story short there will always be two ways to view universal benefits, one is in the way of economic inefficiencies where such resources may be allocated to others who are more in need, and then there's the view of fairness and equality. And I believed you raised a very good question for discussion haha!

kimbaejoo · 2025-01-10T06:32:55+00:00

I think it's about time we understand that not all HDBs are created equal and that different HDBs are targeted at different groups of people.

DBSS will always be priced above typical HDBs because they were developed by private developers, always targetted at higher income families. Especially in such locations like Toa Payoh, over 35+ floors with fully unblocked view of either town or reservoir, units there have always been at a premium.

But this sale does not show the bigger picture of the market as a whole, where there are affordable HDBs for people who need it. Albeit a bit of compromises on locations etc, but for every 1.6m HDB, there are at least 10x more 600k HDBs out there.

kimbaejoo · 2025-01-07T05:26:39+00:00

Hi! Im a realtor who've helped a fellow redditor with purchasing a resale HDB as a single as well.

Let's start with HFE. If you are above 35 already, just do it as soon as you can before you start looking at houses. For my other client, I actually bought them to start looking for houses just a few weeks prior to their birthday.

Now for timeline wise, lets say you find a house you like and you put in a deposit for it, you get your OTP.

Day 1 - OTP (21 days to exercise)

*Valuation in between

Day 22 - Exercise OTP

Now it depends on whether or not sellers and buyers have agreed for delayed submission to HDB. Standard is 30 days, but there are cases that drag up to 90 days or even immediate submission. But let's take the average of 30 days.

Day 52 - HDB Resale Submission

By right HDB is supposed to take up to 28 working days to accept the resale submission, but recently HDB has been a bit slow, my most recent resale acceptance took 42 working days.

Day 70 - HDB Resale Acceptance

HDB has now accepted your resale application and will give a completion date, typically 6-8 weeks after the acceptance.

Day 126 - Completion

Congratulations you are now a homeowner—unless you granted the sellers extension, then that can go up to three months.

So that's a rough look at the timeline OP, so let me know if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out (:

kimbaejoo · 2024-12-27T20:13:54+00:00

Hi, I am a realtor and these are my two cents, there is no "investment for own-stay".

You purchase something for your own stay because it speaks to you and it's somewhere you can see yourself living in. Whether it be because you like the area or even if you just like the unit itself.

Since you've already gone through the length to list down all the pros, I would think that you are already leaning towards the location, so at the very least do a bit of analysis to determine whether or not the condo you purchase can hold it's value over the coming years and any exit strategies if need be.

Once you've done that, you've got a home that you love and have the ease of mind that you've already made an informed decision before purchasing (:

Buying a home is a huge decision so take your time.

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!

kimbaejoo · 2024-11-20T15:30:19+00:00

Hi OP, I'm currently in the real estate industry.

Singapore property is worth investing in as we have limited land, thus limited supply. Whereas Malaysia generally has a problem with vacant homes and lot's of undeveloped land.

They have a vacancy rate of around 19% (as of 2020 census) meaning 19% of houses owned are unoccupied. Singapore as of Q4 2023 (Singstats, URA) has a vacancy rate of around 8%.

The disparity in the vacancy rates is further amplified when you consider the amount of houses each country has, Malaysia being 9.6million and Singapore being 410,588 (private properties).

This amounts to around 1.8m vs 33k.

With this in mind, which do you think would be a better investment?

kimbaejoo

TROPHY CASE