How Much To Get Married (Part 2) - HDB Flat

A few days back, I wrote about the cost of getting married in Singapore. In that post, I gave a brief outline on the items that a typical Chinese couple in Singapore would spend on. One of the big ticket items I identified was one's housing.

For most couples who have just started working and are probably not earning a lot (or born with a silver spoon), they will most probably opt to buy a HDB flat. This is perhaps the cheapest option unless you are willing to rent or stay with parents/in-laws.

When to rent

Some couples might opt to rent a flat or a room instead of buying their own HDB flat. This is usually due to cost considerations or because one is able to get a flat of choice. Others might simply want to be debt free and so choose to rent instead of buy. As a guide, one's mortgage loans (plus other debt payments) should not exceed 35% of the couple's combined salary. Most couples who have been working for 1-2 years should be below the $8000 combined income ceiling and should be eligible for a HDB flat.

In my personal opinion, it does not make sense to rent a HDB flat for long term since the HDB owner will most probably rent it out at a rate much higher than his or her own monthly mortgage payments. For e.g. if my monthly mortgage payment for my HDB flat is $1000, I will definitely rent it out at above $1000. This is common sense and so renting a flat is most probably a short term plan for most couples since it will be more cost efficient to pay the lower mortgage payments compared to the more expensive rent.

Buy A Flat

Buying a HDB flat is most probably cheap if you have money in your CPF. If both couples have been working and have build up sufficient amounts in their CPF-OA, they most probably will have enough to pay the deposit for the flat. Occasionally, some might have to top up the amounts with cash as they might not have sufficient amount of money in their CPF-OA.

In other instances, when buying a resale flat, the owner might ask for cash over valuation. Understand that this ranges quite a bit depending on flat type and location. But as a guide, I don't think that one should be overspending in this area. For me, $20K will be the maximum cash over valuation that I will be willing to pay now. This is because the HDB has just announced that it will be building a huge supply of flats. This flats will be ready probably in 2012 onwards. Based on that, one can expect the prices to come down a bit so if you can afford to wait, do wait. But for me personally, $20K is the maximum cash over valuation that I will be willing to pay.

What do the rest think? Is $20K a reasonable sum to budget for cash over valuation? Or is it too much/little?

How Much To Get Married

A common topic amongst my single friends is the amount of money that they require to get married. Many of them lament that it will cost them a bomb to get married. Big ticket items include paying for the house (cash over valuation), renovation, holding a wedding lunch/dinner @ a hotel, buying the engagement ring and of course other miscellaneous expenses. Some of them reckon that they need as much as $50k and above to get married in Singapore!

Surely there must be a cheaper way to get married in Singapore and still enjoy the perks of all the above. Let's do a rough breakdown of the expenses and perhaps in my next few posts, I can touch on how one might save up on each of the big ticket items.

As mentioned above, the big ticket items are as follows and estimated costs are also shown:

1. Buying a HDB flat (Cash over valuation) = $20-$50k (Rest is usually paid by CPF)
2. Renovation = $20 to $40K
3. Wedding dinner/lunch = $20k to $30k (depends on hotel and no. of tables)
4. Engagement ring = $1k to $10k (depends on the depth of the guy's wallet)
5. Photography + Wedding gown/suit = $1k to $5k
6. Miscellaneous lunches, hongbaos = $1k to $2k
7. Honeymoon = $500 to $10k (depending on where and when you travel)

Anything else to add to the list?

HDB Home Value Will Not Go Down

After contemplating on the option to buy a 2nd property or invest in real estate investment trust (REITs), I have more or less come to a conclusion that investing in REITs is perhaps the more viable option for me now. And that is the reason that I bought some AIMSAMP REITs into my portfolio recently.

I was also heartened to read the news today where Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew opined that since 85% of Singaporeans lived in HDB flats, the government would strive to make HDB homes the most valuable possession they own. In his words:

"85% of Singaporeans are living in HDB flats and we intend to keep the values of these homes up. It will never go down."

This was spoken as the MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC announced the 5 year master plan for Tanjong Pagar which includes upgrading programmes. Since I live in a HDB flat, I am glad that the government is committed to making the value of my home rise. In fact, I am glad that I am an owner of a HDB flat as I have witnessed the value of my home increase significantly over the years.

Buy a 2nd Property or Buy REITs?

Should one buy a 2nd property or invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts? I have been thinking about this for sometime. The minimum occupation period for my HDB flat is almost up. That means that I can actually sell my flat in the open market pretty soon. At the same time, I really love the place where I am staying at now. So it is going to be a tough decision.

The remaining mortgage on the HDB flat is now $238,000. Market value based on a similar size flat sold at the opposite block is estimated at $600,000. Bought the flat for slightly over $300,000. Currently monthly mortgage loan is $1096. Right now, I have been thinking about the following few options. Family's gross monthly income is around $5600 (really average!).

Option 1 - Sell the HDB and Buy a Private Property

This will mean selling the HDB flat, giving it up and buying a new private property. It is going to be difficult as I will have to buy a private property that is less than $1mil I guess. If I can only take 35% loan based on family's gross monthly salary, that means the maximum monthly mortgage loan that we afford is around $1900+. As we are still paying for the car we bought, it probably means that we can only afford a mortgage loan of around $1,400. I don't think the banks will be willing to land us to much. I figure that means we can only borrow around $350k (pls correct me if I am wrong). Selling the HDB and buying a private property also means that this does not count as my 2nd property and I am not obligated to set aside the 50% minimum sum in both my wife's and my CPF account. We can probably use the gains from selling the HDB to pay for the private property.

End of the day: I am probably saddled with more debt but have effectively upgraded to a more expensive property. There will be less money to spend as I have to pay more each month for mortgage.

Option 2 - Keep HDB flat, Buy a Private Property to rent out.

This is option 2 which I have been thinking about and which I am leaning towards. But it seems almost impossible to do this. This is because of the following reasons:

1. No money in CPF-OA to pay for it. Will have to use all cash to pay for the downpayment. Even if all assets (stocks + bank accounts) are liquidated, I figure that we only have slightly over $220k. Not too sure how much the bank will actually lend us for the 2nd property but I guess it is around 60-70%.

2. Will also have to rely on cash to pay for the monthly mortgage. That is impossible considering that existing HDB loan is already $1096. It means I can only get around $800 per month more in mortgage loan. Will also have to repay off the car loan so that I can borrow the $800 per month more in mortgage loan for the 2nd property. That leaves very little options for me as I won't be able to find such a cheap property that only costs $800 per month!

Option 3 - Keep HDB and Buy REITs.

REITs are easily liquidated. I also collect dividends. This seems to be a very feasible option with little downside.

Option 4 - Sell HDB and Buy 2 Pte Property

Lately, I came across this strategy which advised to sell 1 property and buy 2 properties. In this manner, you can rent out 1 and stay in the other. Not too sure whether this strategy will work at all cos it will probably mean that I have to buy 2 really small pte property.

Wise folks out there. Any advice on all the options???

Cash Over Valuation (COV) for HDB

Having bought a HDB flat directly from HDB itself, I never had to grapple with the issue of cash over valuation or what is commonly called COV.

If a flat is valued at $300,000 and the owner asks for a COV of $50,000 , the buyers literally have to fork out an extra $50K. This could potentially dry up the savings for a young couple who are thinking of getting their own place. I wonder whether any couple has put off marriage because of the high costs involved in setting up their own homes.

If it were me, the maximum COV that I will be willing to pay will not be more than 5% of the valuation of the flat. A 5% error in valuation is what I can accept as a logical explanation for the owner's refusal to sell. But to have to increase the valuation by 10% or 20% of the valued price seems a bit ridiculous to me. Either the valuation is wrong or the owner is really not keen on selling. Or am I mistaken?

What do you think? What is the maximum COV that you will be willing to pay for a HDB flat?

An Average Singaporean's Largest Expense = HDB

In Singapore, people spend the most amount of money on their houses and their cars. With the increasing prices of HDB flats and COEs for cars recently, I think quite a few Singaporeans are concerned that these big ticket items will only go higher and higher.

Our Largest Expense $$$$ = Housing ($200K to $500K)

I remember that there was an article published on Today newspaper over the weekend stated that HDB's policy was to provide housing for the majority of Singaporean, make it affordable and at the same time allow Singaporeans to monetise on their houses. (I can't really remember the exact details so someone will have to correct me if I am wrong).

This being said, it shows that the government is truly concerned about making housing affordable for all. The supply of HDB flats have been increased recently but at the same time, the government needs to make sure that the value of people's houses increase over time. So this supply and demand has to be managed carefully. I have written about this previously when I said that the government should not be pressured into increasing the supply of HDB flats just because people are complaning. Complaints have to be heard but if the supply of HDB flats are increased without any proper planning, the value of all HDB flats in Singapore will be diluted.

Yet in today's newspaper, we hear of one flat being applied for by 6 applicants. It perhaps shows that there is still a great demand for HDB flats. Or maybe the supply is not enough. The cup is either half empty or half full depending on how you look at it =)

But are there any alternatives for people who cannot get a HDB flat?

1. They could opt for private housing which is even more expensive or they will have to put off their buying to a later date.

2. HDB BTO flats are another option. This is quite a funny scenario as I know of people who are still waiting to occupy their BTO HDB flats. Some have waited for 2 to 3 years. The wait is long and at the mean time, they put up at their parent's place.

3. HDB resale flats. More expensive and sometimes require Cash Over Valuation.

4. Another alternative would be to rent a place. But rental isn't exactly cheap either for an entire unit.

5. Stay with parents or in-laws. I know of people who chose to stay with their parents. They do not have to worry about queuing up for a HDB flat. Of course, they will have to forfeit their privacy.

So the point at the end of the day is that we need to manage people's expectations. If your expectations are high, be prepared to pay a high price for it. At the end of the day, most of us will still have a roof over our heads even if we can't get a HDB flat.

With housing being one of the largest expenses that an average Singaporean will incur, the house that you buy has a GREAT impact on your finances and should not be taken lightly. The loan period is usually 30 years and one can expect to pay a grand total of $200 to $500K depending on where they chose to stay. Of course, there are groups of people who purchase houses that cost way above $500K.

When people are desperate to get a HDB flat, they might sometimes make a hasty decision of buying a flat that is way above what they can afford. A rule of thumb used is that your monthly loans (all loans) should not exceed 35% of your monthly income. Please take note that some women also tend to stop working when a baby arrives. It might be wise to consider buying a house where the monthly installments can be managed based on a single person's income.

12,000 HDB flats per year to meet demand

In Singapore, a large percentage of Singaporeans live in Housing Development Board flats or HDB flats. Since the government controls the supply of the flats, there has been a steady increase in the value of the flats over time.

Over the past few months, there has been complaints (mainly amongst younger couples) that there are not enough HDB flats to go around with long queues and waiting times to buy their dream homes.

Just today, I read the newspapers and see that the Housing Board has decided to offer between 10,000 to 12,000 flats ever year over the next 5 years to meet this growing demand. This will serve as the guide for HDB's build-to-order scheme with the actual number made available depending on market conditions.

This year's planned supply of 6,500 flats was quickly raised to 13,500 flats after there was a spike in demand.

So what does all these changes by HDB show?

1. Demand of flats is totally unpredictable and depends on market conditions. Since demand is unpredictable, supply of the flats need to be changed and tweaked accordingly.

2. Complaints by Singaporeans are heard by the government. That is certainly good news for all of us.

Some concerns I have still remain however.

It is my personal opinion that if the supply of flats can be readily tweaked accordingly, this will have an impact on the value of ALL HDB flats across Singapore.

When most Singaporeans spend a large amount of their money and savings into buying their homes, it is not in the benefit of the majority of Singaporeans if the value of their houses do not rise in accordance with market conditions.

I also attach an email from one of my friends regarding this HDB issue. It was written by a professor from NTU and contains a lot of insightful thoughts on the matter. As I do not have the name of this professor, I am not able to give him the necessary credit due in this email.

Please see the email (with certain details deleted).
____________________________________

Thanks xxxxxxx,

Yes, we are living in an upside down world, and Singapore is no exception.

In my joint paper with ******* (attached), to appear in the book "*****" to be launched next month by *** ***, we made the point that in 1965, the goverment owned 20% of the land in Singapore. Today, it owns 80%. There is really no proper market-based land market. The price of land on which HDB/URA builds is artificial. I think about 2/3 of the cost of a new HDB flat is land cost. However, this land was obtained at confiscatory prices from private landowners under the Land Acquisition Act. Hence the present land cost of HDB flats is inflated, because it is based on private land values which are themselves inflated.

Hence, somebody who bought a landed property in 1965 (like myself) has seen its value increase 500 times in 40 years. I sold it and donated 1/3 to charity (****** etc.) as it is not due to my hard work or economic foresight.

I wrote an article in the *** *** suggesting a way out, otherwise young Singaporeans will be priced out of buying HDB flats. Since all land on which HDB flats is government owned, such land should be based on their acquisition cost which is very low, and not on the "market" valuation, which is essentially that based on inflated private property values. Hence new HDB flats will once again be affordable to young graduates. When I graduated in 1960, I could get a HDB flat at 3-4 times my annual income. Today it is 10 times. No wonder our recent graduates feel frustrated.

The problem with this radical proposal is that the values of resale flats would drop. Their prices are also artifically high due to the decision made in the early 80s (referred to in Ngiam Tong Dow's book "The Making on a Mandarin") to raise the value of the land on which HDB flats are built. This was because existing flats owners were making excessive profits when they sold their flats, since they had bought their flats based on HDB land valued at confiscatory prices, and now they can sell at private market-based land values. Hence the prices of new HDB flats rose from the early 80s onward. This made the rise in CPF rates of contribution to 25 +25% necessary which caused the 1985 recession, the first in Singapore's economic history. The HDB in other words did not want new flat owners to make that kind of a handsome profit.

Today the flat owners who are making really handsome profits are those who had bought theirs before the early 80s. There is a politicial cost in alientating these flat owners if the price of new HDB flats drops to what is their "real" cost (i.e. based on the confiscatory acquisition value of the land), so that the price of old resale flats also have to drop. Senior citizens would vote against the governement.

However I think this group is like me, who never really dreamed to get such a high capital gain, when they sell their property. However they are now in the 50+ age group and are facing an uncertain future due to the lack of a safety net for those growing old. If we favour the young by making new HDB flats cheap, the medium-old and old-old would suffer by seeing their only asset, an HDB flat, depreciate in resale value.

Another problem is that some of these old flats are still being HDB-loan financed. If their resale value drops, the HDB may get into trouble. It was only in 2000 that the HDB allowed commercial bank financing.

However this also means that commercial banks now would get hit should those who purchased HDB resale or new flats on commercial loans, find that their market value is below their loan value (negative equity).

Any suggestions on how to get out of this dilmma, now that 85% of Singaporeans stay in HDB flats?

*** ***
____________________________________

Limit Supply of HDB Flats Please

It seems that people have been complaining over the lack of flats in Singapore. Many have called on the government to increase the supply of flats so as to reduce the waiting time for flats. Various blogs have also started to give their 2 cents on the matter. While it is easy to give in to populist sentiments, I think that we all should take 2 steps back and look at the issue.

The reason why HDB flats are so popular is this:

1. They are cheap (because of government grants and stuff)

2. They are expected to rise in value over the years and people can sell them at a profit.

These are the two main reasons I can think of on why HDB flats are so popular amongst Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents.

If HDB flats are just affordable but are not expected to rise in value, I for one will not buy them as I will have trouble selling it later should I intend to upgrade to a bigger house.

It is thus very important current supply of HDB flats are not tweaked to cater to populist sentiments.

Instead of increasing the supply of HDB flats, I say that the current status quo should instead remain. 10 interested buyers to 1 flat is a very good ratio I must say.

That means that 9 buyers will have to be looking at the resale market or private property should they wish to purchase their own homes.

This will be good news for people who wish to sell their homes.

Can you imagine that if there is a supply of flats such that every buyer is able to get their flat of choice?

That would mean that there will be less people who will buy resale flats and that means we will all have problems selling our flats in the future! This will make HDB flats alot less attractive and will thus reduce the demand overtime.

Current policy guidelines should remain and the supply of flats should be tightly controlled for the greater good. This will help ensure that HDB resale prices remains high.

Even though it is possible to increase the supply of flats, this should not be done so to tilt the fine balance between supply and demand. Oversupply now will lead to problems further down the road.

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My HDB Flat is Worth Half A Million?

In Singapore, the government provides affordable housing through the Housing Development Board (HDB) which provides flats for people at very cheap rates. I bought my flat from HDB brand new and it cost me slightly over $300,000 for a 90 square metre or 968 sq foot flat. That works out to be around $325 per square foot which is quite alright for Singapore flats.

Yes.. I know that I should never count my HDB flat as an asset since I am essentially living in it.

But just for interest sake, I checked out the HDB website and realised that flats around my area were selling for over half a million!

There were not a lot of transactions but I guess that it should provide a rough gauge of how much my flat is worth now. It's a pity that I am not able to refinance it to unlock some of the cash value in my HDB flat. Otherwise, I would be really rich in cash.

Oh well, guess I will just have to wait for another few more years before I can start hunting for a 2nd property to either live in or rent out..

Networth Main Contributor : My House

So far, one of the large ticket items that I have bought is my 4 room flat.

Based on the 3Q 2008 housing statistics obtained from HDB, my 4 room flat is worth $481,000 (based on the median price). Considering that I bought my home at just slightly above $300,000, this has by far proven to be my best "investment" (note: I do know that this is not really an investment per se)

TOWN	4-ROOM	5-ROOM	EXECUTIVE
ANG MO KIO	$333,000	$468,000	-
BEDOK	$305,000	$430,000	$471,000
BISHAN	$390,000	$537,500	$600,500*
BUKIT BATOK	$335,000	$441,400	$470,000
BUKIT MERAH	$438,300	$572,000	-
BUKIT PANJANG	$284,000	$360,000	$457,500
BUKIT TIMAH	$431,900*	$615,000*	$667,500*
CENTRAL	$386,000*	$593,000*	-
CHOA CHU KANG	$299,000	$358,800	$413,000
CLEMENTI	$367,000	$503,900*	$630,000*
GEYLANG	$364,000	$570,000*	$500,000*
HOUGANG	$303,000	$380,000	$462,000
JURONG EAST	$308,500	$418,000	$465,000
JURONG WEST	$294,500	$363,000	$406,000
KALLANG/WHAMPOA	$400,900	$520,000	$542,500*
MARINE PARADE	$395,000*	$632,500	-
PASIR RIS	$320,000	$375,000	$500,500
PUNGGOL	$327,000	$391,500	$450,000*
QUEENSTOWN	$481,000	$620,000*	$780,900*
SEMBAWANG	$300,800	$355,000	$420,000*
SENGKANG	$320,000	$374,000	$458,000
SERANGOON	$325,000	$414,000	$485,000
TAMPINES	$330,000	$395,000	$488,000
TOA PAYOH	$397,000	$553,000	$617,500*
WOODLANDS	$283,400	$330,000	$420,000
YISHUN	$251,000	$338,000	$401,000*
OVERALL	$313,000	$380,000	$455,000