Singapore Expats

Roughly how much your monthly salary will be so as to afford either a condo or private property? Thanks alot.

How long is a piece of string?

Buddy you need to add some basic criteria such as number of rooms, location etc. otherwise the question is too open ended and impossible to answer.

Cheers

Aren't you supposed to use 1/4 of your monthly take home pay as an estimate for your monthly rent budget?

Are you talking about buying or renting?

If buying, it depends how much cash upfront you have. Your salary determines only the loan amount, not the entire price of the property. The cheapest one-bedrooms (500-700 square feet) I've seen are about S$400,000 in today's market if that's any help. The same size in a prime location would be at least double that. Two-bedrooms go from about S$600,000 onwards to over SS$1million in a prime area. Just as a guide, Singaporeans are not allowed to buy a government-subsidised property once their income hits S$8000. At that income, they are deemed to be able to afford a private property.

If renting, you can get a decent 2 bedroom for S$1400 further out of the city, though rents vary widely depending on the age of the condo, facilities available, accessibility etc. Downtown the rents today are very high, about S$3000 for a one-bedroom and S$5000 for a 3-bedroom, and over S$10,000 for the really prime properties.

These are just rough estimates from what I've seen while looking around myself. You should talk to some real estate agents to get a better feel, and not just one but a few as the quality of agents here varies widely. Good luck!

Wind In My Hair wrote:Are you talking about buying or renting?

If buying, it depends how much cash upfront you have. Your salary determines only the loan amount, not the entire price of the property. The cheapest one-bedrooms (500-700 square feet) I've seen are about S$400,000 in today's market if that's any help. The same size in a prime location would be at least double that. Two-bedrooms go from about S$600,000 onwards to over SS$1million in a prime area. Just as a guide, Singaporeans are not allowed to buy a government-subsidised property once their income hits S$8000. At that income, they are deemed to be able to afford a private property.

If renting, you can get a decent 2 bedroom for S$1400 further out of the city, though rents vary widely depending on the age of the condo, facilities available, accessibility etc. Downtown the rents today are very high, about S$3000 for a one-bedroom and S$5000 for a 3-bedroom, and over S$10,000 for the really prime properties.

These are just rough estimates from what I've seen while looking around myself. You should talk to some real estate agents to get a better feel, and not just one but a few as the quality of agents here varies widely. Good luck!

That's a lot of words Fire or WIMH or etc etc.

How much your salary is doesn't mean squat if your company's willing to fork out the amount.

Just like me.

Do I know you, Arizona?

I was just trying to answer the OP's question by saying what I know. I'm assuming your post was meant to be helpful too?

Wind In My Hair wrote:Do I know you, Arizona?

I was just trying to answer the OP's question by saying what I know. I'm assuming your post was meant to be helpful too?

I have been reading your posts and I do find that, you do provide good insights with your replies and thread contribution.

I also understand that the topic of housing is something you can be very much of help for those in need.

However, never assume. Sometimes you get it right and most times, wrong.

This time, you got it right.

Wind In My Hair wrote:Are you talking about buying or renting?

If renting, you can get a decent 2 bedroom for S$1400 further out of the city, though rents vary widely depending on the age of the condo, facilities available, accessibility etc. Downtown the rents today are very high, about S$3000 for a one-bedroom and S$5000 for a 3-bedroom, and over S$10,000 for the really prime properties.

These are just rough estimates from what I've seen while looking around myself. You should talk to some real estate agents to get a better feel, and not just one but a few as the quality of agents here varies widely. Good luck!

I am moving to Singapore and I got some questions in all sincerity:

When you say out of the city, do you mean how many MRT stops, south, east, or west?
Like an apartment or a HDB ?
What is the environment like out there?

Hi Eurobill, first of all I'm not a housing expert but have just been looking for fun and talking to people about investing in property. Also I'm not an expat so I have no particular bias towards the traditional expat areas and am open to basically any property that makes sense. With that in mind, the following is a local perspective:

'Out' would probably be something like 10 MRT stops out of the city, or about 30 minutes. To the north the cheaper areas are Woodlands (way out), Yishun, Sembawang. To the west, Jurong, Choa Chu Kang, Toh Tuck, Upper (as in VERY upper) Bukit Timah. To the east, Simei, Loyang, Changi. South is the city area and everything there is expensive, even the HDBs.

I was referring to condo prices though HDB rents are catching up, especially in the central areas like Tiong Bahru, Bishan, Toa Payoh. Unfortunately for you rentals have been going up, so only the older condos are still reasonably priced. Some people love older buildings, some hate them. Any condo less than 5 years old is likely to be expensive as most people prefer new.

The environment is hard to describe, you should wander round the specific suburb you're eyeing to get a feel of whether you like it. For example if too much quiet gets to you then you may not like the Upper Bukit Timah area, and if crowds bother you then the East Coast area will feel claustrophobic.

Anyway I'd better stop now, or Arizona will say I'm being wordy!

"Wind in the hair", thank I appreciate that you took the time explaining.
Personally, Woodlands and Toh Tuck is basically out of question for me. I remember I have visited Toh Tuck Road and the like and it's just too industrial, and it defeats the purpose of moving to the tropics.

I am already today staying in a grim place up in Northern Europe.

So I guess I will need to look around and bargain hard. Maybe the best thing is to send my wife doing the running, because she is local local. Once they see my white face, 3000 becomes 5000, and 5000 becomes 7000.

But then my wife will prefer a new condo, less than 5 years old, and near the city. So in any case I lose.

I guess that is why there is this expression; kiasi, kiasu, kiabo....
I will lose I know, but I am not going down without a fight.

Is total of $15k combine salary per month able to afford a condo? Thanks.

zidan3 wrote:Is total of $15k combine salary per month able to afford a condo? Thanks.

Please read WIMH's post until you understand it.

jpatokal wrote:

zidan3 wrote:Is total of $15k combine salary per month able to afford a condo? Thanks.

Please read WIMH's post until you understand it.

I think you may be overestimating the literacy levels of some of the forum members