Singapore Expats

Hi,

I am a single male in my 30s relocating to Singapore early next year. I still have to look for an appartment/condo and, because I completely do not know the city yet, I am searching some help to find a suitable area or place to live.
I will be working near Jurong East MRT station. I am looking into shipping my motorcycle from Belgium (but that's apparently another story) but think I will mostly be commuting by public transport.
So I am actually trying to find a (minimum) 2 bedroom appartment in a 'lively area' (bars, shops, food places, etc). I hope to keep time to travel to work in the morning below 45min...

Many thanks for your help!

If your bike is more than three years old forget it. You cannot import it.

Every area is "lively", guess it really depends how much you want. If you're really looking for the bar/cafe type scene though, and depending on your income, look at Holland Village. It's relatively closer to Jurong East than any other area like that. Otherwise anything should work.

I've been looking for apartments as well. I'm thinking of relocating to Singapore next month to be with my boyfriend who has been there for 2 years. We need to move into our own pad, he currently shares a flat with 2 other guys. I've looked at . and even called a few of them but they're all real estate agents and they're quite sneaky in that they ask you upfront if you are willing to pay commission. I replied sure, I'll pay, how much is it? And they reply that it's one full month's rent!!

I'd prefer to deal with the landlord directly but it seems it isn't easy at all in Singapore.. it's pretty normal to go without an agent in Oz.

I'm considering a place in Tiong Bahru but the prices are sky high.. $3600 a month is more than we can afford right now. Where can I get a 2BR for $1900-2100 a month?

Just call/email the ones on . that say "NO AGENT". It is much easier with an agent, but they do generally want 1 month (plus 7% GST) commission. You can negotiate that down, but you being remote are not in a good position to negotiate.

Can you move into the boyfriend's current place for a few weeks to look? Also, do you have any idea yet which pass you're going to get to stay? See other threads on the difficulty of non-married couples staying here.

cufflinks939 wrote:but they're all real estate agents and they're quite sneaky in that they ask you upfront if you are willing to pay commission. I replied sure, I'll pay, how much is it? And they reply that it's one full month's rent!!

This is very illegal as an Agent can only represent either the Landlord OR the Tenant and as the Agent is advertising a property online they must be acting for the Landlord! What Agents do is advertise Phantom properties just so they can get Tenants to call them up. Advertising Phantom properties is also now illegal, Agents must have a signed agreement with a Landlord before they are permitted to market a property.

We all know that agents are very creative in circumventing rules that comes into their way and will do anything to squeeze a bit more money out of you.
There might be exceptions, but they are rare!

So I am actually trying to find a (minimum) 2 bedroom appartment in a 'lively area' (bars, shops, food places, etc). I hope to keep time to travel to work in the morning below 45min...

For 'lively' areas, here are the recommended areas in order of proximity and accessibility: Holland Village (MRT/bus), Rochester Park (MRT/bus), Bukit Timah (bus).

Where can I get a 2BR for $1900-2100 a month?

Sorry darling, for that range, you can only bet on areas like Jurong, Bukit Batok and nowhere closer (and that only depends on the HDB you're looking at)

For the $1.9k mark you're looking at HDB I assume? That's about the range in Clementi for a 2 bedroom further out from the MRT. But they go VERY fast since you can fit 6 people comfortably, urrr--rather comfortably I guess.