Competitive prices, high-end lifestyle! Contact us at +65 9782-8606 (SMS) or email us at loans@propertyBuyer.com.sg for your Financing Needs. Shopping hours are from 10:30 am to 9 pm.

a. lap pool
b. jacuzzi
c. steam bath
d. clubhouse
e. gym
f. BBQ pits
g. multipurpose hall
h. playground
i. fitness station
j. tennis court

You will enjoy living with this 248 unit condominium, which is 12 floors high. The developer of the Parvis Condominium is the Calne Pte Ltd. You may access the place through the Farrer and Holland MRT Stations. Parvis Condominium is also near to the Anglo Chinese International School and the St. Margaret Secondary School.

If you want a place near to the MRT Stations and schools that is also offering high-end facilities, then go to the Parvis Condominium. Contact us at +65 9782-8606 (SMS) or email us at loans@propertyBuyer.com.sg for your Financing Needs.

a. 2 bedroom unit with 199 to 141 sqm area
b. 3 bedroom unit with 123 to 157 sqm area
c. 4 bedroom unit with 257 sqm area

The Olina Lodge has a cozy round balcony designed in its living room and master bedroom. The dining are also has a very interesting design. This low density condominium overlooks the lush and quiet greenery that gives you serene and blissful atmosphere. This place is so right for your peace of mind and stress free end of day life. Are you getting pressured of your competitive business and office world?

Are you looking for an interesting place with an quiet environment? If you want to know more about this freehold development, contact us at +65 9782-8606 (SMS) or email us at loans@propertyBuyer.com.sg for your Financing Needs.

Need some time out? Go to the Chip Bee Gardens and browse on the antique shops and restaurants from the Jalan Merah Saga to the Dempsey Road. Contact us at +65 9782-8606 (SMS) or email us at loans@propertyBuyer.com.sg for your Financing Needs.

You may use your credit or debit card in all shops and fancy restaurants. This place has been called as the bohemian enclave of Singapore. If you want an environment that suits with both local and expats taste. Contact us at +65 9782-8606 (SMS) or email us at loans@propertyBuyer.com.sg for your Financing Needs.

Starting from 1st August 2011, the Conveyancing act 17 of 2011 (under the Miscellaneous amendments) shall come into force to safeguard stake holder’s money.

Conveyancing rules in Singapore previously

Conveyanging Lawyer Zulkifli Amin ­ran away with client’s conveyancing money meant for a property purchase. About $6 million was reported missing from the conveyancing accounts. (01 Jan 2008, The Straits Times)

In the past, when you paid for your typically 1% Option to purchase for a property, on exercising the option, you would need to pay 4% of the property price to complete exercising the option. After that, the lawyers will do the usual property and title searches acting on the Singapore bank’s letter of instructions before disbursing the housing loans agreed in the letter of offer.

It is usually during this stage that monies are collected by lawyers from property buyers and some rogue lawyers ran away with the money.

Most law firms hold this property buyer’s money (“Stake holder money”) under the law firm’s own bank accounts and they pay out the funds to the seller’s lawyers to complete exercising the option on the stipulated date.

However, in the above case, the lawyer took the 4% and failed to exercise the option by paying the seller’s appointed lawyer and siphon the funds from the law firm. This means that the property deal fell through. And the property buyer lost the 4% of the property price.

Law firms cannot Hold Stake holder’s money

Law firms in Singapore will be required to set up a special account with the designated banks or with Singapore academy of law. This money is kept safe by requiring 2 signatories of both the buyer and seller lawyer.

All the Buyers have to do is to put the law firm’s name and add “- CVY” to the law firm’s name and the money will be safely deposited into the special account.

As an illustration, Tan and Partners LLP, when you write a cheque, all you have to do is Pay to “Tan and Partners LLP – CVY”

You can also find more information on Conveyancing.sg

Property buyer and seller legal conveyancing flow

CONVEYANCING LAWYER – SUM OF FLOAT

In buying and selling a property, your lawyer may ask for a float of up to S$5000 to meet last minute adjustments. You may (optional) provide this money into the non-convenyancing account or you may also add “-CVY” to the name of the lawyer.

IMPLICATION OF SUCH A MOVE

The new rule while good for protecting the client’s money adds S$100 to S$150 per transaction to the law firm. If you include possible compliance and administrative costs, we estimate that this could easily cost the law firm up to $200 to $400.

Many conveyancing lawyer firms we spoke to felt that it’s a good move to protect client’s money. However they may have no choice but to pass on the additional cost.

Naturally an orderly and safe transactional environment is welcome, but the additional costs that comes with it, is not welcomed. Many banks are charging $150 (excluding GST), some industry insiders that we at Property Buyer mortgage brokers spoke to said, “It does not cost the banks that much to administer this.”

The new moves are definitely a boost in strengthening the confidence of foreigners buying properties in Singapore, for a small price.

Starting from 1st August 2011, the Conveyancing act 17 of 2011 (under the Miscellaneous amendments) shall come into force to safeguard stake holder’s money.

Legal Conveyancing before 1st Aug 2011

Conveyanging Lawyer Zulkifli Amin ­ran away with client’s conveyancing money meant for a property purchase. About $6 million was reported missing from the conveyancing accounts. (01 Jan 2008, The Straits Times)

In the past, when you paid for your typically 1% Option to purchase for a property, on exercising the option, you would need to pay 4% of the property price to complete exercising the option.

It is when a property buyer submits this 4% of funds that things can go wrong.

Most law firms hold this property buyer’s money (“Stake holder money”) under the law firm’s own bank accounts and they pay out the funds to the seller’s lawyers to complete exercising the option on the stipulated date.

In the case of the rogue lawyer, he took off with the law firm’s money which the client gave to the law firm. And during this time, many clients have placed their 4% deposits (for property buyers) and for sellers (Entire sales proceeds – possibly) are deposited into the law firm’s accounts and the lawyer ran away with it.

Law firms must set up a special account to hold client’s money

Law firms in Singapore will be required to set up a special account with the designated banks or with Singapore academy of law. This money is kept safe by requiring 2 signatories of both the buyer and seller lawyer.

All the Buyers have to do is to put the law firm’s name and add “- CVY” to the law firm’s name and the money will be safely deposited into the special account.

As an illustration, Tan and Partners LLP, when you write a cheque, all you have to do is Pay to “Tan and Partners LLP – CVY”

You can also find more information at the Ministry of Law website.

Legal conveyancing

LAWYER – SUM OF FLOAT

During a property transaction, there are often adjustments such as property tax, MCST charges and other miscellaneous costs which needs to be adjusted during a transaction. Your lawyer may ask for up to S$5000 to meet this need. You can either provide this money into a Non-conveyancing account or you may add “-CVY” to the name of the lawyer.

IMPLICATION OF SUCH A MOVE

With the new move, the conveyancing monies are protected. However there is an additional cost incurred by the lawyers. They could S$100 to $150 per transaction, including possible compliance and administrative costs, this could bump up the lawyer’s cost by between $200 to $400 at the very least.

Many conveyancing lawyer firms we spoke to felt that it’s a good move to protect client’s money. However they may have no choice but to pass on the additional cost.

Naturally an orderly and safe transactional environment is welcome, but the additional costs that comes with it, is not welcomed.

The new moves are definitely a boost in strengthening the confidence of foreigners buying properties in Singapore.

First published on our Parent website www.Property Buyer.com.sg/articles

The last time we invited experienced property journalist Mr. Khalil Adis to write for us exclusively on this issue to highlight the flight of Alvin Eng who approached us Property Buyer for help on this matter of HDB eviction. We wrote into HDB to Miss Goh on behalf of Alvin Eng, and HDB rejected our appeal for Alvin Eng to pay down his HDB housing loan arrears in smaller sums as he has finally found work and is willing to pay down the arrears, but HDB insisted he pays his home loan arrears in full. And Alvin cannot sell his HDB home now as he is into only his 3rd year of his 5 years Minimum Occupancy period. HDB has far too many rules. HDB also stops Alvin from sub-letting his rooms out, so Alvin will really struggle to repay his debt, but repayment is not impossible and we have the proposed plan and in this plan, HDB must allow Alvin to sub-let so that he can repay the debt in 24 months on top of paying his current installment. With so many rules, why is this “Asset” priced so high and causing hardships to HDB Home Loan repayment?

SCANNED COPY OF HDB’S EVICTION LETTER

HDB is merciless against housing loan arrears

Home Loan Arrears – HDB refuses to be flexible

Does HDB have a heart? Note: Some places will be marked “XXX”, this is done to protect the original data Below is the email we wrote to Ms. Goh of HDB on the 16th June 2011.

————————————————————————————–

To: ghl1@hdb.gov.sg

From: loans@propertybuyer.com.sg

Cc: Khalil Adis, Alex Lew, Alvin Han Lim ENG

Subject:

APPEAL: Eng Han Lim, Alvin Case – Compulsory Acquisition Of BlkXX Circuit Road, #XX-XXX.

Date: June 16, 2011 PM 10:24:16 GMT+08:00
Dear Ms. Goh, We are writing on behalf of Alvin Eng again to seek your kind consideration to restructure his arrears. Now that he is back on his feet with a job, he is willing to pay back as much as possible from his pay, it would be very sad to see him lose his home and end up on the streets. Alvin Eng is more than willing to pay down his arrears and is seeking your kind help in this matter. He and his family will have no place to stay if he gets evicted and he will end up renting and be subjected to poverty perpetually.

Alvin’s Pay

About $XXXX.

His CPF estimated is XXX per month.

Take Home $XXXX+

Expenses $500

Total Disposable $XXXX

Other Sources Of Income

Wife looking for job $ (to be determined)

Year end bonus and 13th month – estimated at $4000 per annum.

if HDB allows him to rent out 1 or 2 rooms in his HDB flat – $1200 per month. (Renting out 2 rooms should be quite easy)

DEBT

Based on your letter, Alvin owes $34,XXX in arrears equivalent to 22.5 months of installment amount. This means that monthly repayment is $1580. Our Proposal Alvin’s CPF $xxx + $xxx (Cash) goes into existing repayment. – Total $1580 Alvin can repay another $320 towards lowering of the home loan Arrears each month (for the 1st 3 month – then from the 4th month onwards, he will increase his repayment of arrears to $1580 every month) – In other words, for every month of installment, he is able to reduce his arrears by 1 month.

Housing Loan Arrear repayment Conclusion

Alvin will have the repayment capability if you allow him and give him a chance to live in dignity. He has the courage to face failure an stand up again and work hard to earn a living, please don’t knock him down. Your understanding and justification to your bosses will definitely help a lot. Technically speaking, anyone could end up in Alvin’s state, it could be me, or you or someone close to you. Losing your job in the private sector is a real and everyday event, this contrasts to working in the government service where jobs are slightly more secured.

Once again, we look forward to your kind consent and good news.

Regards,

Spokesman of www.PropertyBuyer.com.sg

ps: Khalil, kindly forward to Deputy PM Mr. Tharman for his views on this matter. Alex, please ask Mr. Leong to help review and assist if possible.

——————————-End of Email ———————————

The above letter contains minor amendments to hide sensitive confidential data.

GET IN TOUCH WITH US PROPERTY BUYER MORTGAGE CONSULTANTS

Anyone willing to help to has suggestions or ideas to solve the problem, kindly contact Property Buyer Mortgage Consultants at: –

SMS : 9782 8606
Email : loans@propertybuyer.com.sg

Singaporeans and PRs, you must really do your sums and understand Singapore Home Loan Interest rate.

What is considered an “Asset”? In properties or otherwise, anything that carries a monetary value is an asset. Of course, there are assets that lose value and assets that appreciate in value. We’d call it Good assets and Bad Assets.

If you are looking at an investment, but you are saying that you don’t like that furniture, you don’t like the view. You are clouding the investment decision with personal views. What is important is not your liking, but the liking of the people who would eventually rent or buy your place. That is an investment mindset, putting your own preferences last, putting your customer’s preferences first.

Of course you will still need to consider getting a Singapore home loan and make sure you properly calculate the cost.

What is the right investment mindset

Investors look for yield and capital gains. If someone tells you that he/she is investing in a BMW 3 Series car, then our question to the person is, how is this car going to give you yield? (Rent it out?) How is this car going to give you capital gains?  Will you use it and then sell it for a profit?

Many people say, I will invest in myself, to get a good car, to enjoy the ride to and from work. When I feel good, I am more productive at work, I can earn more, etc. We would rather call it a consumption. Anything that is non monetary in yield and gains is not considered an investment in the strict investment sense.

Is Buying a HDB flat an investment or consumption?

The question to ask yourself is, are you buying this HDB to stay in or to lease out?

If you are buying to stay in the HDB flat, then you are using it. And after you used it, it is consumed. Same as buying a car, after you use it, after several years, it is consumed. It becomes old and useless. You do not receive income from the property.

Can your rental cost be considered a form of income?

Several things to consider, if you are currently renting a place, it costs you money. By buying a HDB flat, you immediately save on rental. In this case, this saving from of rental cost can be considered an income.

You will then be replacing your rental with housing loan repayment, it’s a matter of how much you will pay for housing loan interest versus rental. Do note that you will need to do principle repayment which could mean a larger sum of money sunk into the house.

However, you must then consider whether this income is sufficient to pay for your HDB installment and repayment. And general investment rules applies.

In the case of a rental replacement, we can tweak it to say it’s an investment. However if you rent something cheap and you are later purchasing something too big and luxurious, then the rent you have paid and any savings may be insufficient to pay for your interest  for the home loan, let alone the Interest + Principle payment. If you end up paying too much, that means you have stretched yourself too much buying too expensive and too luxurious or that you were too thrifty when you were renting a place.

The decision can then be, should I reevaluate?

Can HDB flats be considered an investment?

If HDB flat or a Private condo is your only home, then will you sell when the prices appreciate?

If the prices run up, will you sell it? Where will you stay?

Therefore HDB should be first and foremost considered a home. Asset values don’t really matter.

HDB flats are for mass market, don’t feel shy about it

HDB flats are more than 80% of all housing types. If there is a pricing rise, it mainly reflects  general supply and demand conditions. Of course HDB has been known to mis-manage the supply and demand quite badly leading to a squeeze in HDB prices, leading to a wave of upgrades to Mass market condominiums. Everyone is happy with making money and upgrading to Condo, but do they really know the cost of doing so?

In a scenario of generally buoyant market conditions, the entire moves up. Pricier assets will move up in quantum much more than HDB flats.

Upgrading from a HDB to a condominium during the buoyant market can be detrimental to the wealth of the individual. In cases where Condo prices run up first (Condo prices leads HDB price rise), then in this scenario, when HDB prices also start to run up, when HDB home owner sells his HDB and upgrades to a condo, he would end up paying a lot more.

Percentages are not a good way to measure affordability. If a HDB owner’s flat rose 100% from $300,000 to $600,000 and he went on to buy a condo which has gone from $500,000 to $1,000,000. In this case, he would have been better off to upgrade to a Condo when the price difference between Condo and HDB was at $500,000 – $300,000 = $200,000 difference rather than $1,000,000 – $600,000 = $400,000.

In terms of financing cost, the Condo property buyer would end up paying $400,000 ($1m – $600k) rather than an extra $200,000 ($500k – $300k) in financing cost.

So in the case of an equal rise in property values (in terms of percentages), this would put the HDB seller into a precarious financial situation.

As such costs are interest bearing if you take a Singapore Home loan, therefore it further eats into the property buyer cash flow. Assuming income levels are similar before and after shifting into Condo, the home owner is said to have increased his consumption.

So Can HDB be an investment?

Can anyone make money from HDB flats? The answer is YES. If someone is a Permanent citizen (PR), or is a Singaporean living overseas, as long as that someone does not need a place to stay or has a place to stay after capturing the capital gains.

Not only that, you can even shorten your mortgage rate too.Which means, this can help you save up a lot of interest along the way.

Usually, there are two kinds of rates. They are fixed rate and the adjustable rates or sometime otherwise known as variable rates. For banks to make up for economy losses, they usually will take the adjustable rates and what this means to you is that, you will be at a disadvantage. If this happens to you, it is always better to take up fixed rate option.

It just pure common sense that if you really want to do a refinance, always go when the interest rate goes lower than usual. If you do an investment property refinance, you can make a cash out refinance. You can refinance at a higher amount and use the extra cash to remodel or upgrade your property. However, look out for tough time when you decided to do a refinance reason being, you still have to pay your bills and mortgages when you do an investment property refinance.

So as you can see, there are a lot of advantages when doing an investment property refinance. However, don’t start blindly. Perform your due diligence and educate yourself on this subject so you can judge by yourself when the rates are going down. If you do not have the time, you can check with a professional mortgage refinance consultant to do this for you.