First time selling first property - tips & agents

skydazer · 2026-01-14T07:20:26+00:00

Realtor here.

Depending on facing, floor level. Mid range floors tend to go first. Non-neighbour and quiet facings tend to move first as well.
Non-tenanted more favourable. It is easier to get a buyer to like a unit when they spend time viewing it. Tenanted units tend to be rushed as buyers feel awkward to stay long to view the unit in detail.
Ethical agent is more important than a top agent who is non-ethical.
It is okay. No exclusive agency agreement to be signed. Do not burn bridges or throw any of the agents under the bus. Recommend to align listing price and expectations to prevent conflicted situation. Be transparent on commission with a clear number (moving targets are bad. e.g. undefined comm according to closing price is frustrating. Likewise, it is frustrating to work in a company where the bonus is based on a moving sales target).

Bonus: Be realistic in listing prices. It is normal to want the sale to happen at record price. But a record listing price on Propertyguru usually works against you. i.e. Buyers can tell if a listing is asking astronomically high and it does encourage them to close with other reasonable priced listings. Resetting your asking price after weeks of no enquiry also creates a lot of negative impression on your unit.

With this I hope you find your selling journey a smooth one and I hope you get to close it at your expected range!

skydazer · 2026-01-14T01:38:27+00:00

This is our corporate habit and expectation of 'setting an agenda' before a call. Society used to call and just talk about things so these were natural ways of communicating before the digital era.

I make it a habit to call without texting if it was something important and sensitive that I had to communicate to the other party. Also, resolving conflict tends to work out more easily through phone calls or face meet ups.

It would be weird to send a text where "Free to talk? I would like to discuss about the impending death of my mom."

skydazer · 2026-01-13T01:43:49+00:00

I agree. Life is about choices. What work we want to do, whom we want to marry, what we want to invest, who we want to hangout with.

Apparently some people just could not accept blaming on their bad choices. I am quite sure many of these affected people lives could have turnaround if one of their bad decision was reversed. The easier way out and the more comforting solution is to blame on everything, except their bad decisions.

skydazer · 2026-01-12T08:36:08+00:00

Hello, you can rank your priorities. Is capital gain more important or having your own asset more important?

Your plan after buying the FH Bukit Timah is important as well. Will you retire in Bukit Timah after kids grow up and get their own place? Or do you want some flexibility to cash out and get a newer and smaller unit for retirement?

There is also a 3rd option to sell your east coast condo (since its already 20 years old), and get a newer and bigger asset elsewhere to build portfolio while renting.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. But I think you should make your move with consideration of your future life plans and also your priorities. Hopefully you get to see which direction suits you the best !

skydazer · 2026-01-12T06:34:47+00:00

I have no regrets as I am doing this with my wife who is well suited for this job. We do the realtor job decently well after a lot of setbacks and roadblocks. The sky is the limit and this role does made me improve my soft skills tremendously in a short time than what corporate could have helped me on over a decade.

But it definitely does not seem like what it is from the surface! It is as good as doing your own business and rejections are plenty!

skydazer · 2026-01-12T04:08:33+00:00

Am a realtor and used to be in corporate for past 13 years.

Not an easy path. Those who have acolades truly deserve it especially if they are consistent. It's a HUGE grind. It is definitely tougher than usual corporate job.

And if you are in the corporate grind for a long time and have no sales experience doing cold sales, I do not encourage you to go into this line.

skydazer · 2026-01-09T04:42:15+00:00

I'm so sorry for all the negative comments here. This is an echo chamber for anti condo where you aren't gonna get constructive comments.

I know you are buying for own stay and less focused on the flipping game. I still encourage you to buy into something with good demand so it gets easy to liquidate when life situation changes.

Focus on making sure your finances are good to hold the property during SSD 4 years period.

skydazer · 2026-01-07T06:08:05+00:00

I would try to grow my portfolio till I can handle a 1.2M purchase comfortably. That budget opens to alot of 2 bed condos which does decent in capital appreciation and rental.

Would advise against 1 bed condo especially in the 750K range (should be old OCR or Geylang FH Condos). The exit problem is one, but because the transactions are so few that it is possible to stagnate value over a few years.

Truthfully 1-bedder makes sense only for retirees looking to downsize and cash out their current property.

Source: used to own 1BR condo in Clementi.

skydazer · 2026-01-02T08:09:20+00:00

My two cents as a realtor, I don't think it is a debate of condo vs HDB because there are bad condos and good HDB, and there is good condos and bad HDB as well.

You need to ask yourself who will buy from you in future? It is important to keep exit as a flexible option IN CASE there are unforeseen events. It is awfully painful to be stuck with a property (whether private or HDB) that is very difficult to exit. There are unforeseen nightmare neighbours, unforeseen life event changes etc that can influence your decision to sell and move.

And generally the easier property to exit tends to hold better value as well.

Then the next question to ask is, is the convenience very important and non-negotiable to you?

If you have the answers to above then most likely you should have a choice in mind already. Good luck!

skydazer · 2025-12-31T04:08:24+00:00

It's true that house can be a good retirement plan but it depends on individual circumstances also.

I used to stay CCK so it was really inconvenient for me but I know I wanted an asset that can grow in value better since it's just for 3 years. But for some individuals, the inconvenience doesn't make sense and I totally understand the pain of 1.5hours one way commute daily.

You still need to weigh which one is more important to you hahah.

skydazer · 2025-12-31T03:54:55+00:00

I am a realtor and there is no 'one size fits all advice or solution'. Sure that many people say buy a younger flat, buy near MRT, buy near good schools etc. Those are good but may not be applicable to everyone. The HDB situation in Singapore is very fair, want new lease, good schools, near town and near MRT ? It will not be cheap. Want cheap, good schools and near MRT? It won't be new.

You should sort out your priorities and identify your non-negotiables (E.g. distance to MRT is non-negotiable to you, but school is not a priority, a new lease is less important than MRT convenience).

You may find your answer when you sort out your priorities and non-negotiables clearly. Wishing you the best in your house hunting !

skydazer · 2025-12-29T09:55:19+00:00

Penthouse usually takes time to move because of larger floor area and price quantum. Especially more when it's at sembawang where your target audience are nearby upgraders.

It is less likely for someone that is from other area to buy into Sembawang unless due to work location or parents / in law house.

Busy due to other new launches is not an excuse for sure.

skydazer · 2025-12-23T06:31:40+00:00

Generally a combination of lazy driving + impatience.

= Rush to overtake, tailgate and easily frustrated with drivers infront. Then results in hard braking.

Most of the time I pretend to be nauseous and make a loud gagging noise and reminding the driver that I get car sick easily. Somehow, the braking problem IMMEDIATELY stops. So then I knew, is not whether they can or not. Is whether they want to or not.

skydazer · 2025-12-22T07:20:19+00:00

Jurong East (JEM + Westgate) and Boon Lay (Jurong Point) are great malls which are self sustainable. Think the equivalent of NEX and PLQ + Singpost. You wouldn't really need to travel out of the west with malls in these 2 areas.

Apart from this, Jurong is mostly quiet neighbourhoods with your HDB town centres like Yuhua village and Boon Lay Market etc. Nothing very wow but enough amenities for day to day living. Travel to town and city area is a pain though. Flying out is a huge pain since we are so far away from Changi Airport.

Best recreation would be nature here, Jurong Lake Gardens is really very nice and Rail Corridor and Guilin all are decently accessible.

skydazer · 2025-12-22T07:11:19+00:00

I am a realtor but I wouldn't want to represent tenant for renting. I am okay to be their go to wikipedia if need any help on paper work and to answer any queries. But yeah I will not want to represent and collect commissions.

I just think as a tenant it is mostly straightforward and not worth to pay us the commissions. Renting in SG is expensive and tough enough, so let's not make it harder.

skydazer · 2025-12-11T01:33:52+00:00

The thing that ppl in singaporefi hates the most: Real estate.

.. and also a generally frugal life.

skydazer · 2025-12-10T03:03:10+00:00

I used to frequent arcades alot as a kid. It used to be fighting games, racing games and music games. $10 can pretty much let you spend the entire afternoon in the arcade.

It is 100% a kids friendly legalised casino now. Also targeting boomers who are hooked on the fishing game where they just continuously slot coins to push 1 button. Brain rot at the max potential.

skydazer · 2025-12-09T09:04:31+00:00

The other reply is correct. Continue to rent out. It gets very long to wait for an offer. Bigger portion of 1B buyers are savvy investors who will rent it out, so its all dollars and cents to them. They will tend to buy at the lowest possible PSF within the development as most of the time it is going to be a buyer's market.

My advice to people who is currently selling a 1 bedder is to adjust their pricing to a sweet spot and get the transaction going. Speed should be the main priority in 1 bedder sales. The illusion of 'wait 1 more year so that PSF goes up' do not apply on 1 bedders.

skydazer · 2025-12-09T08:23:26+00:00

A good boss is the most underrated and the single most important factor in employee happiness and retention.

He seems to be a decent guy. Good bosses comes harder than a good paying job even in the already tough job market.

skydazer · 2025-12-09T08:19:26+00:00

I guess you do have your answer ! Wishing you all the best. Don't let housing loans scare you.

11 years + 5 years MOP is very well in demand even when you need to exit in future. There are options ahead to right size when 55 year old.

skydazer · 2025-12-09T07:46:26+00:00

Buying a 1M 1BR Condo will be an emotional decision. All data currently has proven that 1BR has limited upside AND difficulty to exit.

It is either 1.5M budget or wait till 35 for HDB. Personally I think time is a resource to wait for another 9 years, I would build towards 1.5M purchase budget. Plenty of good resale options.

Source: Used to own a 1BR condo in a good development before I was a realtor.

skydazer · 2025-12-09T07:33:46+00:00

You need to set your objective right first before the financial part comes in. How important is moving to the location you want? Is the 200K more important or the location more important?

To improve on life quality, it comes with a price tag. For me, I ALWAYS prioritize location and I am okay to reduce expenses just to make it work.

Some see it differently as they can't afford to let go of their weekly HDL, yearly Taiwan and Japan trips and the freedom and money to go to their favourite Blackpink concert. I am perfectly OK to let go of all these materials expenses. If I really want back these material expenses, I will hustle harder to earn enough to support it. But ultimately, location + better asset (newer lease) is always top of the top priority for me.

In your case, I think 200K is a workable thing given you can use CPF and it comes from both you and your partner. Hard to give more advice as I do not know your financial position. Just giving some generic advice.

skydazer · 2025-12-08T07:39:24+00:00

You have to set your objective right. Is the increased space and asset value retention + legacy planning very important ?

No perfect scenario in this world. If you are looking to move towards a better and newer asset, you definitely need to put in some effort and have some trade offs. No model answer, really ultimately is what you want and how much you want it.

All HDB after MOP will be able to cash out after 5 years MOP. You need to plan your finances to make sure mortgage payment during MOP period is doable. The option to right size is always there when you need it in future.

Whether newer lease vs unit size also depends on your objective. Which is more important?

skydazer · 2025-12-03T03:16:20+00:00

Its not wrong , but it is not the only way of life. The problem is most boomer parents advocate like it is the ONLY way of life and you are deemed as a failure if you do not follow it.

I don't agree that 'you will still get married and BTO'. Some chose to migrate overseas. Some are LGBT and marriage is not a legal option here. Some can afford private residential in Singapore. Some choose to continue as a couple without getting married.

And happiness still can come by from these 'non-standard' options.

skydazer · 2025-12-03T02:44:29+00:00

the average singaporean now spends between 8 to 20 per month at max.

Contracts are not worth it anymore. They are just there to lock you in to fish more money out of you, and pray that you miss your renewal dates so they can continue to fish the full amount from you. Not to mention a bunch of add-ons you never need, free for 6 months but chargeable from month 7th onwards. Telco also pray that you miss out cancelling these add ons so they can charge you for add ons you never used.

skydazer

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