Renting A House in Singapore
You have reached an age where it is time for you to buy yourself a property or a house in Singapore. Seeing your friends getting a HDB flat one by one makes you even more eager to own a property of your own in Singapore. You want to have a lovely home for yourself but property in Singapore is expensive and you could not afford it yet. Fret not, you could still own a home as there are many houses for rent in Singapore. There are also many studio apartment for rent in Singapore for singles. Renting a home might not be so much of a bad idea after all.
Here is to why renting a house in Singapore might not be such a terrible idea. First of all, buying a property in Singapore might not necessarily be a good investment if you made the wrong decisions and choices. Many Singaporeans view properties as assets for retirement but had made the wrong decisions and choices which led them to a huge sum of debt. They end up losing more money because of a wrong and lousy investment. The prices for private properties have been going a downward slide since 2012. This is such a huge impact to those who have bought a property around 2012. Shoebox units and those who have not gotten the benefits of new MRT stations have it much worse and those who have bought a private property before the cooling measures have it the worst. In addition, it is still uncertain on the recovery period for property market in Singapore. Moreover, HDB flats, specifically old resale HDB flats with lesser than 60 years of lease left are not necessarily a good investment. Those HDB flats that do not get chosen for the SERS en bloc programme will have their HDB flats taken back by government with no cost.
Secondly, renting a home could save you from paying a big lump sum of the down payment for a property in Singapore. The down payment for a $300,000 flat in Singapore will have a down payment of approximately $30,000 to $60,000, whereas for private property, down payment could go up as high as $100,000. The down payment itself is going to weigh you down with burden that you could not afford. Therefore, renting a home has its own benefits and perks. Renters do not have to think of a way to pay such a huge sum for the down payment and the money saved from the down payment can be used for other investments in Singapore.
Thirdly, you are tied with lesser financial burdens and commitments as you do not have to pay for housing loan monthly, though you have to pay for rental, which is also a form of financial burden, but it definitely is going to cost lesser than paying for a mortgage loan. That being said, not needing to pay more for a mortgage loan means you could still occasionally indulge yourself in traveling overseas or extra shopping sprees. In case of any uneventful situations such as losing your job, you could still have an option of downgrading your flat, or move in temporarily with your family until you get a job and be financially stable again.
Next, you get to enjoy the flexibility of moving around when you rent a place in Singapore as compared to having a property where you are tied down to only one location. One thing about having a property in Singapore on your own is that you are tied down to the same location for the rest of your life. At least not until you are financially stable or capable of buying another new property in Singapore again. Although Singapore is a small country where it is equipped with the easy accessibility of public transportations such as MRT and buses, commuting from one place to another can be time consuming, tiring and unpleasant, especially when you are staying in the east but your workplace is located in the west. People who have already owned a property in Singapore do not get to enjoy the perks of moving around as compared to renters in Singapore, where they can choose to move around in Singapore depending on the location of their workplace.
Last but not least, you get to adjust your finance accordingly. Let us say you are a newlywed who have just bought a property in Singapore and spent a huge amount for your wedding, it is definitely going to take a toll on your finance as you still need to pay for month mortgage loan, which is a huge sum as compared to renting just a master room in a HDB flat in Singapore. However, if you are a newlywed couple who have spent a lot on your wedding already, you can opt to rent a home with 1 or 2 bedrooms, or renting a master bedroom in a shared HDB flat where rental is cheaper, until you are financially capable to upgrade to a better and bigger unit or have children.
In conclusion, although it is every Singaporean’s dream to own a property in Singapore, renting a home in Singapore is not so of a bad idea. It actually has its own pros, advantages and benefits that you can enjoy from. At least you do not have to spend a big amount on renovations and maintenance costs. Most important, you get to save a lot from the down payment for a property in Singapore.
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