BTO or Resale

Resale. If you are certain than there is no use wasting 4 years before starting a life together. Approach a good agent and they will help you work out what you can afford.

I think the issue is more that unlikely to get the flat on ballot and dunno have to wait how many years. If you could be certain of getting a flat on ballot, can always go rent somewhere for 4 years. The price difference between a bto and resale easily covers the cost of rental. 

For resale yes you’ll still have housing grants, BTO no as BTO only has EHG (based on income, less than 9K) Housing grants for resale are: CPF housing grants (80k for 4room, 50k for 5room) Proximity housing grants (30k living with parents, 20k for 4km radius) For no cash outlay, you could only get this with HDB loan(2.5% interest), bank loan REQUIRES 5% in cash. For future planning: If you’re planning on a resale and MAY look into EC or BTO in future, you may option to not receive any grants and be able to have your first timer priority for EC or BTO.

HDB Loan is 2.6%, not 2.5% and their loan quantum is using 3% stress test.

Still need $5000 cash for hdb loan though. Not a big amount for OP but just to make it clear.

Not sure why you’re downvoted but yes, this is for option & exercise fee for the seller.

14k limit combined to qualify for the CPF housing grant. So unless you gonna be inbetween jobs and without income for a few months, u guys should apply HFE before your combined income crosses 14k. Go read how income is assessed by hdb. HFE will tell you what grants u qualify for. For BTO there is the Sales of Balance Flat ◇SBF option (left over BTO) and followed by Open Booking (left over SBF) which have shorter / immediate? Waiting time. Use mortgage calculator and compare with your savings and lifestyle to decide for yourselves what is comfortable as you put it. If using some or all your cpf balance to pay for the purchase price not covered by a loan, remember the "lost" interest and drawn amount has to be paid back when you sell and it can accumulate to a large amount. But u can pay it back incrementally as and when to prevent the amount to payback from ballooning. Note this applies to the cpf housing grant top. Remember resale, cater that you might have to spend on renovation unless you find 1 renovated to your preferences. Reno costs have jumped since covid. 50k if u wanna whole house reno is on lower side. Bto slightly cheaper as no tear down needed, empty slate. Factor in the buyers stamp duty. It is on top of purchase price. Around 3%. online calculator. For resale HDB you can complete the purchase without the need for a property agent and save the 1% buyer commission + GST. Or you can negotiate the fee with the agent beforehand. Actual steps and paperwork are very simple, submit via hdb portal. If seller is using an agent their side of the commission is usually 2% for hdb. Personal opinion, be cautious if you allow your agent to do the price negotiation. As by knowing your max offer price the agents can collude to max their commission and you are also not hearing directly from seller side. Most resale list prices start high and not completely unlike carousell, have room for negotiation. (Not as much as carousell though) Use edge prop website to see the past resale prices for each block. Congrats and all the best

With that OA balance and no cash outlay, resale might still make more sense than waiting 4 years for BTO since you'd be building equity sooner and the grants can offset a chunk of the higher price anyway.

expectation is for resale prices to moderate going forward, unlike last 2-6 years. not really building equity sooner. but agree going in earlier is better especially if cannot stay with parents, just dont do it for equity gains.

My opinion is to get a resale as there are more grants available, less waiting time to start your lives together. As mentioned above, HDB Loan interest rate is 2.6% and they use 3% rate to stress test. It might be more prudent to pick a slightly cheaper unit in the unfortunate scenario that one of you loses a job and the other has to service the loan solely. Please also do talk about how y’all gonna split the monthly mortgage repayments. Please do up your HFE now so that you can see how much you can loan. Also, even if you want to have no cash layout, I would suggest paying $1 cash and the rest CPF as this would help in less administrative overhead if you choose to pay more cash in the future.

Can elaborate more on the admin overhead for the $1 cash?

I think it takes a few days to process. So if you don’t time it well then you’ll miss your repayment. With the $1 method, you can shift the allocation anytime without processing delays

Get a resale for now. You have no idea how long it will take before you successfully ballot for a unit or whether there will be any construction delays. Once you’re settled and completed the min occupation period and if a BTO in a nice location comes along then try your luck.

Get a resale. Ballot is po heng sway. You might not get, and you even if you get a number, might not get a unit that you like.

are you guys renting? married? stable relationship ? planning to have kids ? i’m abit concerned with his earning of 3.5k. The pressure will be on you alone to service the loan.

There's that and also the consideration on whether you made a right choice for a partner. I was together with mine for 6 years and we BTO, he broke up with me and we forfeited the house. It was a 17k loss (CPF) on each side, not counting the other fees. Many have always stated that "money can earn back", but it still stings and annoys me to no end. The consequences are heavy and are going to get heavier as property prices rise.

That is why I always say for BTO anything upfront guy pay all so later broke up ger won't rugi.

That's a very nice thought but unfortunately not the case for a lot of guys out there. The provider mentality doesn't necessarily come with the provider wallet after all. I've funded quite a lot of my exes meals and transports for 2 years in Uni, only for him to turn it around at the end of our relationship stating that he felt emasculated. It's a no-win situation. Having said that, as a working adult, I too want a stake in my property and knowing that good developments appreciate (ours was the development in between Farrer Park and Little India), that gives me leverage in asking for the profits should we divorce and sell the asset.

mine similar case… that is when i found out divorce rate is very high in Singapore. Something which i didnt know until it happened to me. 😢

Stay strong friend 💪 I'm enjoying my singlehood now for about a year and it's been great thus far! Hope it's been better for you.

Stay strong friend 💪 I'm enjoying my singlehood now for about a year and it's been great thus far! Hope it's been better for you.

Dunno why the down votes but your post is valid. Despite now is 2026 that are still mindset male should earn more than female. Reason is simple female got much more to lose if later the r/s did not proceed further. For OP case the guy shiok pick up cow horse xxx. Sibei shiok. Some males call him small white face eat soft rice etc but he say we sour grapes want to pick up also cannot.

yea those who downvote should explain… i’m not looking down on people who earn less, but i’ve seen families including my parents who quarrel over financial matters throughout my 18 years of childhood. As i become older, i started to understand the difficulties starting a family. Bills, mortgage, kids, holiday, health, reno, parents,… all these require financial stability. it’s ok if one has high earning power, or if both carry the same weight, or one/both has strong financial support from family.. Otherwise further down the road one may start doubting his/her choice and it’s seldom a good ending when resentment manifest. **Life is short but… time is long.** *(let that sink in for a moment)*

You see every reader in this forum have different childhood experiences. You go through you know but some have the privilege in a much smoother childhood so when they become adult their mindset different from yours obviously. So just pretend the down votes come from the blessed childhood readers and don't let it ruin your day.

It's all good! The ones who understand are on your side. I too didn't have a great childhood growing up. I was even paying for some of my own education and trips since Primary school via MOE and school awards. Family funding was subsequently cut off at 15 so every dollar I earned was truly my own. Losing any amount of $$ better be for a good reason, and a terrible partner is a terrible reason. Hindsight is 20/20.

not sure why the downvotes but this is a legitimate question and concern. it'll be important for OP to decide how the financing of the house will be divided to prevent any disputes down the road.

If u don’t wanna wait then get a resale. But imo if u wanna get resale better do it asap. Coz with your combined exceeding $14k soon u will no longer be eligible for the grants. Damn lugi leh

On an investment basis approach, if I have time, I would go for a matured estate BTO, and there is a chance potentially after MOP it could turn into a million-dollar resale HDB.

You can login hdb website and churn the numbers in and almost immediately know the cash outlay+cpf you need to fork out. There is a calculator in there to do the work for you For resale you have to bear in mind two things: age of flat vs your average age. That will determine how much % loan against the valuation you can get. 2nd is reno cost can go up to 50k to 80k depend on how fussy you get. For BTO, its much easier for younger people who can wait and affort the time to ballot for better locations. For below 30s, it may be more advisable to let your relationship settle down a few years before making the decision to marry. Relationships normally get better with time but sometimes it doesn't work that way for some people. All the best！

EHG for BTO is damn low at that point, don't bother considering it at all. Ultimately depends on your own preference, resale don't have to wait, and you can choose your ideal unit. Only thing you have to take note is that you will have to buy a younger unit, which may cost more. Reason is that if you buy an older unit, your LTV will drop and proportionate, so more CPF/cash is needed.

Get resale. Total income $13K can handle the mortgage comfortably.

Im assuming u are married? Personally I would go for resale. Can straightaway spend time tgt! BTO need to wait 4 years... Then depends if u all want to rent in the meantime or live at parents hse, or live separately. Money can earn back, but time lost tgt cannot get back. Just my view. No right or wrong.

BTO doesn't mean 100% can get a flat, your income currently is 13.5k, there's a chance it will hit 14k soon and you will be ineligible for both BTO and resale family grants. Not sure on your finances but if you want a prime BTO 4rm, likely your budget won't be enough. Personally I think you are not ready for a resale though - You need to * ROM * Apply for HFE * Have cash ready for the house - misc fees, payment for the house, renovations If you want to take advantage of the perks, then resale is probably the way to go, because if you miss the next BTO, likely your income will burst the ceiling.

OP can resign so no more income then depend on the guy 3.5k to apply. My era really got couple do that i.e higher income resign

Can consider Sale of Balance Flats too.

Definitely Resale. BTO only gives you the EHG, and that one stops at $9k household income. You two are at $13.5k so you'd get nothing from a BTO. No point waiting 4 years for zero grants. For Resale, The Family Grant goes up to $14k income so you just squeeze in: up to $80k for a 4-room, $50k for a 5-room. Buy near your parents and there's another $20k (within 4km) or $30k (same flat). Apply for HFE to know the real grant amount you qualify for. Few things worth knowing: Check the remaining lease before you fall in love with a unit. The lease needs to cover the younger of you till 95, so roughly 68 years left or more. If it's shorter, your CPF usage and loan amount get capped and you end up needing cash to cover the gap. Your CPF isn't free money. Whatever OA you use, you pay it back with 2.5% interest when you eventually sell. So don't empty your OA just because the sum allows it. Related to that, it might be smart to leave some money in your OA. Your monthly loan installment gets deducted from OA automatically. If you drain it all on the downpayment, there's nothing left to deduct from and the monthly repayment starts coming out of your actual cash every month. Keep a buffer so CPF keeps paying the loan, not your bank account. Also grants are a one-time first-timer thing. Take them now and if you ever want an EC or another HDB later, you're a second-timer and you pay a levy. For no cash outlay: HDB loan (bank loans need 5% cash), and buy at or below valuation since COV is always cash.

Go with resale. My partner and I also had similar salary as yours and it was good with the extra benefits govt gave. If you wait another year you might not get it.

BTO more worth your money in the long term but whether you can wait depends on the couple.

BTO is a few years later. During the wait can break up one then how?

BTO. Why giving up the major benefit offered by the government.

Girl, if you’re earning $10k and he’s earning $3.5k, you need to seriously think about what living together is actually going to look like. You’re going to be the main breadwinner, contributing most of the money and probably funding the lifestyle you both enjoy, but there’s a very real chance he’ll still expect you to take on the traditional “woman’s jobs” like cooking, cleaning and managing the home. How does it make sense for you to play the traditional male role financially AND the traditional female role domestically while he gets the easier end of both arrangements? If you’re bringing significantly more financially, then at the very least he should be willing to compensate by taking on more of the household labour. Otherwise, you’re not gaining a partner you’re gaining another responsibility.