Didn't know this thread existed....

i've been working in S'pore for 8 years.
2 years in westin hotel / prego restaurant at city hall mrt & 6 years in singapore post center at paya lebar mrt.

i stayed in ang mo kio, toa payoh, redhill, clementi & bukit gombak before.

it's a very very hard life there as a permit holder....

but this is different coz you could see the COE crashed ..at least save you around 5k minimum

I could see all the stock markets crash end of last year, early this year as well... just like COE a few months ago. But the point being, did you think it was a V shaped crash or L shape or U shape? I expected COEs to stay around 1-2K for a few more months as dealers slash prices to move inventory. I thought I could wait. Obviously, I've been wrong so far.

But then again, 3-6 months ago I was less secure at work than now. So although COE was zero, I wasn't considering a car because I didn't know how long more I'd be in Sg.

how much cash i need to prepare if i wan to buy hdb cost me around 250-300k?

Generally 10%, I think. But you need to do some detailed research because there are a lot of variables involved... like if it's new, whether you're buying first time, if resale.. how much is the amount over valuation, whether you take HDB or bank loan, your CPF balance in the different accounts, whether you qualify for HDB grants etc.

Nobody here will be able to give you any numbers without having to work through the different scenarios on your behalf.

This post has been edited by seantang: May 31 2009, 07:55 PM

No bank will give a loan to purchase a HDB flat without at least a 20% downpayment. You also need to add in the legal fees (approx 1500-2000), stamp duties (3 percent of valuation minus 5,600 as an approximate) and payments to the housing agent for the buyer side (1% of transacted sale amount).

Depending on the flat condition (and some of the older ones are in really bad condition), you might need to fork out additional $$ to pay for renovation costs.

Cash over valuation amounts are much less nowadays compared to the heights of the property boom in Sinapore in 2007 - one should not pay more than SGD10,000 for COV in today's market and it is not uncommon to see trasactions done at valuation amount or even below that.

Only Singaporean citizens and PRs can buy HDB flats (EP holders are not eligible). Singaporean PRs are not eligible to buy HDB flats as a single, there are several schemes where PRs can purchase HDB flats e.g. as a married couple, siblings, etc. Check out the HDB site for more info. Also, PRs can only purchase resale flats (no new flats), no HDB loan grants (only Singapore citizens are entitled to the SGD40K grant) and are not eligible for HDB loans but you may take commercial bank loans.


This post has been edited by SPS: May 31 2009, 09:55 PM

For me, I m happy to hear that Firefly will fly from Sg to Subang..
Coz if flying to LCCT/KLIA, I have to pay more and spend more time on the road..

hey guyz, when is the next pc fair held at SUntec??I want to be stalker this time...

11th june sunteec

http://www.davincithegenius.com/singapore/

looks interesting, anyone wanna go ?

Should be interesting, but museums and the arts in Singapore tend to be disappointing if you've ever been to one of the established exhibits or shows in US and Europe, or even Australia and China.

I've been to the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Peranakan Museum, Science Center, Discovery Center, 1497 Exhibition and watched Phantom at the Esplanade... each time I ended up walking away thinking "damn, I paid money for that?"...

This post has been edited by seantang: Jun 3 2009, 12:05 AM

i'm thinking about going one of the saturday...

but sgd 15 for it ...

I will be there.

That's the same price as a ticket to the Louvre. The Summer Palace is half that. The Smithsonian is free.

New here to this forum....

Been working in singapore for the past 1 yr + after graduation....

Staying in chua choo kang while working in tuas....

As a native johor-ian, i go back to JB once per week..

never been to those of places u mentioned, so i dont know how those are. only been to various museum in Malaysia, Thailand, HK and SG, hav to say my fav is the National Museum of SG, the personal information gadget thing is awesome n informative for me.

anyway i'm definitely going for the Da Vinci exhibition, mayb next month. if anyone else interested maybe we can go together.

This post has been edited by Chrisky: Jun 3 2009, 10:14 AM

hi there, how do u find it in S'pore?
was it hard to apply for permit since you're a native johorian?


This post has been edited by ah liew: Jun 3 2009, 02:17 PM

hey guys/gurls,

i wanna noe any1 working on accounting field at sg ther? i plan to work over ther.

i hav 3 years of xp in audit and tax on both local firm and big4. a CPA holder. do u guys tink i stand a chance over ther?

i plan to fly over ther by next month as i hv no intention to apply thru jobstreet or others.. employers will tend to ignore my resume since im not singaporean nor PRs..

Do you have a degree? MICPA, ICPAS or Australian/US CPA?


So, you're just going to walk up to their offices? You have at least sent a resume in and been called for an interview, right?

For my case, my parents sent me to study in Singapore ever since primary school.....

Did my secondary and tertiary education also in Singapore...

Was offered permanant residentship upon graduation from polytechnic, was like 5 years ago.....

I do find life in Sg quite hectic and crowded almost everywhere....


It used to be very easy to get Singapore PR a couple of years back even for a person with a pay of roughly 1k SGD..

Generally, if u earn more, your chances of PR ship would be higher regardless of nationality...