Brandon's Punggol BTO Home Journey
After getting married, Brandon and his wife applied for two different BTO plots — Yishun & Punggol....
After getting married in 2001, Finn and her husband were looking for a home to purchase.
A Lack of Forward-Thinking
Due to a lack of a property consultant's advice, the couple did not think much about property investment nor looked at profiting from the then vibrant market conditions. The couple ended up purchasing Finn's brother’s 4-room S-model resale flat in Pasir Ris for $223,000.
They took a 15-year loan from HDB hoping to clear the mortgage using their CPF monies, despite incurring accrued interest.
7 years later, in 2008, the couple divorced and Finn was granted the flat under court’s order, where she subsequently fully paid the mortgage.
Leveraging Resources
As a Finance and Human Resource professional, Finn decided to purchase a new launch condominium by taking advantage of the progressive payment scheme (PPS).
Initially, Finn wanted to purchase a One-Bedder but changed her mind as the size of the flat was too small. At only 506 sqft, Finn wanted a larger space compared to her current 1,000 sqft flat. However, back then, Finn wanted to first understand her purchasing power and so, she reached out to her property consultant for a consultation.
After a discussion with her consultant, Finn realized that the deposit and installment for both the one and two-bedders were within her limits. And so, she decided to move ahead on the Two Bedder unit in Riversails for $720k.
Making Her Own Luck
As luck would have it, Finn purchased her condo in 2011 before the introduction of the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD), saving a good 7% of her purchase price.
In 2016, Riversails TOPed, and Finn moved in to enjoy the full condominium facilities. Concurrently, Finn had rented out her fully paid HDB in Pasir Ris to finance her condominium mortgage. In 2021, when the price of HDB rose unexpectedly and Finn decided to take the opportunity to sell her 34-year-old flat at $428K, earning a profit of $200K.
Decisions on a $200K Profit
With the profit, Finn considers her condominium fully paid though she prefers placing her money into her CPF to earn the yearly guaranteed interest of 2.5%, compared to the bank’s interest rate of 1.2%.
Today, Finn has a few options:
- Sell her condominium and downgrade to HDB to enjoy semi-retirement; or,
- Continue staying in her condominium as it is ‘fully paid’; or,
- A potential third option of looking into further growing her wealth.
What did Finn choose?
After considering all her options, Finn is moving towards one of the options listed above. If you're curious about her decision-making process and the different discussions she's had with her real estate network, why not ask her directly?
You can WhatsApp Finn here. She's more than happy to share her journey with you!
Nicholas Gottron
As a student of technology, Nicholas is exposed to digital, eCommerce, and program building digital capabilities within organizations. Combining both business strategy and branding, Nicholas has found a niche to apply his knowledge of inbound, global branding to property sales.
As a student of technology, Nicholas is exposed to digital, eCommerce, and program building digital capabilities within organizations. Combining both business strategy and branding, Nicholas has found a niche to apply his knowledge of inbound, global branding to property sales.