buy a 4 room or 5 room new HDB flat
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i am caught in a dillema.. please share your experiences and your views on this. Currently, me and my wife are both working, with no kids yet.
Contributing factors for 4 room or 5 room flat.
1) [Finances of flat] 4 room cost around $360k, while the 5 room cost around $500k.
2) [Size of flat] nowadays 4 rooms flats seem quite small. 5 room is spacious when it comes to the living room especially, also a bit bigger for the master bedroom and the kitchen.5 room seems to be better for families with kids and more space to roam)
3) [Selling of flat] if choose to downgrade or sell flat in future, will a 5 room or a 4room be a better choice?
4) others ....
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nowadays the 5rm oso bery small
just tt got extra study area or balcony
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Wah lan so expensive ah. I think need to loan 35 years at least and above. Hate you MAh bow tan and Khaw Boon Wah.
We belongs to Y gen. I think i cannot afford to buy. near 2k salary how to buy. My wife foreigner how. -
its better to wait for the market to correct.
this is a bad time to buy.
stay with your parents if you can.
my bro sold his landed property and moved in with his parents-in-law.
in fact a lot of people are doing it now.
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what if it takes 10 years to correct.. wait 10 years ah.. also i feel that there wont be a drastic decrease in the price of the flat especially BTO cause its already cheaper as compare to the market.. you can wait and see though.. anyway just buy what you can afford.. check the % of interest of the loan and calculate the amount of interest you have to pay in total and you will be in shock..
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Sad to have PAP as our government. Unable to resolve the housing issue. THey should learn from Shanghai. Shanghai properties price went down drasticly.
If they cannot push the 4 room HDB to 200k target. I will vote them out of the parliament.
Idun think they care cos they are not the one living in HDB. Their annual salary is 800k at least. One year one hdb still got change come back. -
Originally posted by dragg:
its better to wait for the market to correct.
this is a bad time to buy.
stay with your parents if you can.
my bro sold his landed property and moved in with his parents-in-law.
in fact a lot of people are doing it now.
already squeeze like pig already. Still expect me to squeeze. ;(
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Originally posted by LordsWM:
what if it takes 10 years to correct.. wait 10 years ah.. also i feel that there wont be a drastic decrease in the price of the flat especially BTO cause its already cheaper as compare to the market.. you can wait and see though.. anyway just buy what you can afford.. check the % of interest of the loan and calculate the amount of interest you have to pay in total and you will be in shock..
will you wait 10yrs?
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Originally posted by FireIce:
nowadays the 5rm oso bery small
just tt got extra study area or balcony
Yes yes.. In fact when I saw the floor plan for the 5-room version in my block, they merely take the space from the living room and built 2 walls..
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If not how to save money and earn back into their pockets.
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Hi All,
Thanks for all the sharing. The flat i have to pick is a en-block new replacement flat in a matured estate.
i understand the high price for buying a 5 room flat... can someone list down or provides the advantages of buying a 5 room flat over a 4 room flat?
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You no children.
buy so big for?
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if govt giving $$ those in 5rm get less than 4rm n below
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In some countries, people only have to work 1 year to pay off their house. They are debt free and can have savings to pursue their dreams. =)
In Singapore, most citizens end up becoming a slave to their house, can you believe it??? Husband and wife, work 30 years, just to have 1 roof over their head. By the time they pay finish, you think they still got the energy to pursue their dreams?
Moreover, during these 30 years, every month have to worry about being retrenched or losing job. They cannot afford to go jobless, so when they quit their job, you die die must need another job instantly, otherwise jia lak...
Sometimes I think to myself, is this the life I think we should live? Are we giving too much credit to Singapore government who keeps claiming how good Singapore is?
I tell you how good Singapore is... You need a job for 30 years to pay off "affordable" housing loan and then every morning/evening peak hour you squeeze in the train to kick start and end your day both in misery... for the next 30 years... just to have 1 roof over your head... =D
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forget about the politics and the cursing of KBW and MBT and HDB... the people will have to answer their makers in due time...
what is important is what your finances can handle.. and i don't mean just paying it off.. because when the flat is totally paid off, you will be at an age where retirement looms.. what you need to do now is to sit down and figure out what kind of finances you need.. then start planning and budgeting for it...
what is $1 now, inflation may cause it to be $1.05 tomorrow (looking at 2011 inflation rate which was very high but it is best to plan conservatively)
factor in how much your children will cost and the cost of their tertiary education.. say, $100,000 (today's money) and factor inflation and time into that... give it maybe 7% since tertiary education costs have been going up about 6% a year (not inflation but just the numbers)
then you need to factor in how much you need during your retirement.. start planning now for it because time is on your side.. what little you can put away in conservative investments will balloon over the next 30 years... that can be your nestegg for retirement...
do not think of "downgrading" your flat as an option because if everything goes to shit and the bottom falls out of the market, your downgrading may not even pay for anything...
then there are miscellaneous things like your insurance, your conservancy, your utility bills and if you have a car, the car loan...
go sit down with a good financial manager (not the idiots selling insurance, they're useless) and plan it all out.. a good financial manager will help you get properly insured (not the bullshit "whole life" or "savings" insurance which are only there to line their own pockets).. how to budget for everything, how much to set aside, how to invest your savings, how to put away money for your children's education and most importantly how to generate enough for a comfortable retirement and be financially independent
good luck
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Originally posted by DailyFreeGames.com:
In some countries, people only have to work 1 year to pay off their house. They are debt free and can have savings to pursue their dreams. =)
In Singapore, most citizens end up becoming a slave to their house, can you believe it??? Husband and wife, work 30 years, just to have 1 roof over their head. By the time they pay finish, you think they still got the energy to pursue their dreams?
Moreover, during these 30 years, every month have to worry about being retrenched or losing job. They cannot afford to go jobless, so when they quit their job, you die die must need another job instantly, otherwise jia lak...
Sometimes I think to myself, is this the life I think we should live? Are we giving too much credit to Singapore government who keeps claiming how good Singapore is?
I tell you how good Singapore is... You need a job for 30 years to pay off "affordable" housing loan and then every morning/evening peak hour you squeeze in the train to kick start and end your day both in misery... for the next 30 years... just to have 1 roof over your head... =D
30 yrs of funds locked up in a worthless concrete cage. So worthless that even banks dun want them as collateral.
Same thing applies for car.
No wonder everyone is wondering where had all the money disappeared to.
It was mentioned in another thread that the cost of building an apartment is around $100k, so we are paying like $200k over the building cost.
Imagine if every household have this $200k to spend. That is what I would call an economic stimulus.
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And to TS:
Regarding what size of flat to get, ask yourself.
Are your parents, in-laws going to move in with you?
how many children do you intend to have?
Do you really need such a big house?
Afterall, there is no point in getting a 5 room flat, when you are most probably only going to use the master bedroom, and leave the other rooms empty.
The price of 3 room flat seems the most stable, with little fluctuation, and is also the most value for money. $150k
4 room is when you intend to have 2 or more children. But think about it. for 1 extra room, you are paying twice the amount of money of a 3 rm flat. Not very worth it.
However, investment-wise, 4rm and above, the prices fluctuate greatly, and thus have great potential for returns.
Have to factor in interest and the length of repayment. at 3% interest, 30 yr loan, you will end up paying a 90% interest. Unless you are confident that your house will double in price, avoid going into lengthy repayment length.
Happy house shopping!
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get 5 room.
the trend is going with 5 rooms since we are getting more ppl per household now.
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Originally posted by dragg:
its better to wait for the market to correct.
this is a bad time to buy.
stay with your parents if you can.
my bro sold his landed property and moved in with his parents-in-law.
in fact a lot of people are doing it now.
You wait nong nong.
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I know next to nothing about HDB prices and their spaces but here's my take on your point. You said $500k for 5 room, $360k for 4 room. You're paying $140k more for a bigger living room, slightly larger master bed room and kitchen. Living rooms are often "laced" with the same furnitures - TV, sofa, etc. Its just a place to relax and occasionally, to entertain guests. How frequently are you required to do that? Do you have relatives and friends visiting every now and then? I've got a really small living room and there are 6 people in my family. It fits us just nicely, but when guests come, we've got nowhere to sit. We will have to grab stools and manipulate whatever little space we have left. I don't know how it goes for other people but for my family and I it hasn't been a problem. Let's say your visitors want to play mahjong. You can just use a room and open a table. Its less noisy that way too! If you limit the things you are going to put in the room to neccessities, you'll probably have more than sufficient space with a 4 room. Do you really need a big kitchen? Work with the space. After all, technology is so advanced now and you can do and store a lot more with small spaces. As long as you get the right furnitures, I think you'll be fine. Just my 2cents worth. Feel free to rebut because frankly, its my first time reading about a topic like that. Would be nice to be corrected and to learn the ropes the right way, :). Good luck with your decision-making!
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in SG, u dont own anything
everything is "rent" from the govt
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4 room is enough.
5 room the extra space is just a "suggested study area".
let's face it, your children will say "cannot study at home. need to go airport study" anyways! -
wow hit the nail on my head. 30-35 slave for the government. OUR MONEY Gone to their POCKET and we are not allowed to retired and work till we die.
Like that cannot la. Vote PAP out if not we are going to suffer.
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HDB flats are extremely affordable.
Really.
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Goverment think 5rm people rich, 3 rm people poor.
Buy what you can afford.
Not what other people think is best.