The journey to getting our new home is surely exciting and stressful at the same time, and we’re another step closer to our dream house!
I think the biggest question before getting a flat is: BTO or RESALE?
We kept pondering over this issue back and forth many times. And if you have read from my previous post about giving up BTO for 3 times, you would have known one of the huge reasons why we have eventually settled for a resale flat instead.
There is no clear cut answer to which is a better choice. It all boils down to your own preferences and priorities – Budget, location, and waiting time.
Pardon me if the blog post gets slightly messier as it is quite challenging to structure my thoughts since I’m not professional in this area. There are many articles out there comparing between BTO and Resale flats, but I hope that it would be helpful to allow readers to read this post from a personal perspective based on my experience.
Budget
The price range of a resale flat is pretty huge as it depends on location, lease, nearby amenities and other factors.
Let’s just say, a resale flat can range easily from 300k-700k, whereas BTO flats safely range between 250-400k (just an estimate).
It might sound really expensive to get a resale flat isn’t it? But here’s the catch.
The Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) is only given to first-timer citizen families who are applying to buy a 2-room Flexi, 3-room or 4-room flat in a non-mature estate and who are able to meet the eligibility conditions under the SHG.
Keyword here is NON-mature. And since we are only interested in Tampines/ Bedok (matured estate), we’re not eligible for SHG, and proximity grant really depends on the location. Additional housing grants (AHG) has an income ceiling of $5000 and requires at least one person to be continuously employed for 12 months (note that there are other conditions)
On the other hand, you may receive up to 50k family grant + 20k proximity grant for resale flats.
Yes, resale is definitely still more expensive, but from another perspective, you still get more savings! Of course, you have to weigh if the extra money spent is worth it based on your priorities! Because renovation for resale flat is definitely more expensive too.
BTO do have its advantages in terms of long-term investment. If you’re lucky, some estates might fetch a higher selling price in the next 5-10 years! Resale flats might not be worth that much over the next couple of years, so you might want to pick the right location where it’s accessible with convenient transport like MRT station, good schools, etc, and most importantly, choose a newer flat.
Location
I think this would be one of our greatest priority because of my laziness and baking. Some BTO flats are not located near the MRT station and may become an inconvenience in the long run. But of course, if you are lucky enough, MRT stations or bus stops might be built over the next few years and your flat will be worth more than what you have paid for (like I’ve mentioned above). But it might still be a risk if location is a huge priority for you.
We specifically chose our resale unit to be near my current house and the MRT station (about 8 min walk). And it’s also one of the newest blocks within Bedok. I personally don’t recommend getting flats with less than 60 years lease left – you may outlive your flat lease, or would face difficulty selling in the future. We try to choose places with good schools and accessibility so that either plan would work for us if we wish to sell or stay for long term.
We just found out that HDB will be launching new BTO flats in Tampines during November. And I was pretty shocked to see that the new flats will actually be really near my current place! (I stay directly opposite the Bedok Reservoir (pointing below the map), so you can imagine how close it will be! I would have totally gotten it 1 year ago, but given our options and 2nd timer issues, I think we’re good with what we have settled with. No regrets! Which brings me to the next point too.
https://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/buying-a-flat/new/bto-sbf
Waiting time
I think this reason is pretty straightforward. BTO has a waiting time of 3-4 years whereas Resale flat has a waiting time of only few months (Maximum of about 6 months if owner requested for extension of stay). We both agree that it sounds quite urghh to think that we’ll only be getting our place after 4 years. And this is only possible if we were selected with a good queue number.
Some people wouldn’t mind as long as they are able to get a unit, but we’re quite particular about the floor level, layout and block (probably many of you feel the same way too). So given our queue number back then (702) with only 716 units available, Resale does seem to be a better choice for us.
If you need more information about grants for resale flat, it is better if you check it over here since everyone has different eligibilities and I don’t want to confuse you with the wrong info.
But then again, do take my opinions/advices with a pinch of salt as it might not be applicable to everyone! Just hope to share my thoughts over here (;
