From the practice
Notes & Analysis
Written notes on process and property decisions. Drafts never appear here.
Concurrent Sale & Purchase in Singapore: A Practical Guide
What concurrent sale and purchase means in Singapore, when it fits, what breaks dual calendars, and how to plan financing, duty sequencing, and contingencies before either OTP is rushed.
Understanding Loan Tenure & LTV Limits
How housing loan tenure, LTV limits, TDSR, and income-weighted age for joint borrowers shape what you can borrow in Singapore.
Understanding the Tides of Singapore’s Property Market
A strategic reading of Singapore private property cycles: crises, cooling measures, post-2017 stability, and how buyers and investors can think about timing.
Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD)
How ABSD works in Singapore: who pays, rates by profile and property count, remissions, payment timing, and FAQs — with verify-current-rates callouts.
BTO – “Decoupling” & 2nd Property
Two lessons from an HDB resale completion: holding structure at BTO stage, and why not overpaying the HDB loan if you may upgrade later.
6 Methods to Analyze a Property
Six comparison-based methods to assess a project against peers: normalised PSF, resale velocity, price trends, rental yield, rentability, and yield trends.
How individual Singapore districts performed during each cycle of the Singapore property market
District-level reading of private non-landed cycles from 1996–2019, now with a 2026 update: which districts gained most and least since 2019, and over 5 and 10 years.
How has age and tenure (freehold and leasehold) affected the capital appreciation of private condos in the past five years?
How age and freehold vs 99-year leasehold shaped condo capital appreciation — the original 2020 study of 87 condos, plus a 2026 re-run across 501 projects.
6 Ways to Upgrade from HDB to Private Condo or EC
Six structural paths for HDB upgraders — hold vs sell, private vs EC, cash conservation, and dual purchase — with full historical tables from the original worked example.
Buyer Stamp Duty
How Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) works in Singapore: when it is payable, the current residential rate tiers (in force since 15 Feb 2023), and worked examples.
Cost of Buying of Singapore Property
Beyond the sticker price: stamp duties, conveyancing, mortgage stamp duty, and agent fees — the original 2019 worked example for a S$1.5m purchase, re-priced at current rates.
How can I buy an Executive Condo when my money is stuck in my HDB?
HDB upgraders and new ECs: normal vs deferred payment, bridging loans, and why fund disbursement order matters when cash is still in the flat.
CPF Refund Rules Upon Property Sales
CPF refund on sale: principal plus accrued interest, option monies as part of selling price, and FAQs when proceeds fall short of P+I.
How much money (or returns) do you really make from your property investment?
A worked ROI case study: capital invested, interest, stamp duties, tax, professional fees, and upkeep — not just sale price minus purchase price.