We gave up a queue number of 99 for BTO Feb 2017
(at Tampines)!
I know that sounds really crazy and you must be thinking, “WHY SUCH A WASTE?”
Yeah I know right.. we actually had a tinge of regret somewhere in the later part of the year. But it was also our fault for jumping into it without fully understanding the details of the process. We also didn’t have much expectations about the whole thing. But when results were out, we realised the difficulty of getting loan/ grant. Back then, I just resigned from my job to venture into baking and my bf’s previous job did not have CPF.
We realised that we may not be financially ready and decided to call the BTO off, without realising that those concerns were not actual issues.
Firstly, Tampines was a matured estate and no CPF grant will be given ANYWAY. We will probably just miss out the Additional Housing Grant (providing that only 1 person was officially working and not hitting the income ceiling of $5000). Secondly, it didn’t matter if our loan was insufficient. Many couples actually head for the first appointment for flat selection with insufficient loan as well, and we had about 4 years from the point of application to plan for our finance and the first 5% downpayment is at least many months later. Well, to be fair, I wasn’t really sure that my baking would be a success, and I can understand why the past me would make such a decision.
That being said, we didn’t really think it through and just canceled our BTO application in fear of taking a risk.
When our career finally stabilised, we applied for another 2 rounds of BTO.
Feb 2018: queue position of 511, which is within the supply of 644 units of flats on offer.
May 2018: queue position of 702, which is within the supply of 716 units of flats on offer.
The number was really bad though we had higher hopes. We have applied under the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS), which gives you an additional ballot chance if the flat is within 4km of your parents’ or married child’s private property/ HDB.
My mind was like, “Sigh why did we give up such a nice queue number of 99!”
The results became worse one after another, and we knew that it would be difficult to wait for another Tampines launch within the next year. And even so, we would only be qualified as second timer applicant, giving us even less chances.
We decided to still keep the Queue number this time so that we can decide between Resale or BTO after going for the 1st HDB appointment. We told ourselves that we shouldn’t cancel anything this time round.
Back then, we were inexperienced in housing process and there were a lot of factors unconsidered, which also affected our decision in cancelling the application. I wouldn’t say that there is much regret now as we managed to find a better path now (which I will share in my later posts!). But for those who are going to purchase their flat, it is highly advisable to check through all the loan/ grant that you are eligible for before making any decision.
While it is common to discuss your plans with your friends, do make sure that you verify the accuracy of the information as different people tend to have different information on hand, which may cause some confusion! The best way to do so is to actually book an appointment with HDB and clarify all your doubts just in case!
I know this post is really wordy! But I hope my experience can help you with your planning process too!
I’ll be discussing about choosing between Resale and BTO in my next blog post! Stay tuned! (:
