JB Property

  Been travelling up to JB quite a bit.

Looking at the property there.

R&F Princess.

Coronade Twins.

Exsim Causewayz (wtf?)

Thinking of sinking a small bit into another hard asset.

Can be for investment, can also be for retirement?

Might get stuck for the long haul though.

Fun Second Property Thought

  Here’s a simplified table summarizing your second property investment strategy in Singapore:

🏠 Second Residential Property Investment Summary (S$700K Property)

Category	Details
Purchase Price	S$700,000
Loan (45%)	S$315,000
Cash/CPF Needed (55%)	S$385,000
ABSD (20%)	S$140,000
BSD (~2.2%)	S$15,600
Total Initial Outlay	S$540,600 (cash + CPF + duties)

💰 Rental Income & Returns

Metric	Amount (S$)
Monthly Rent	2,500
Annual Gross Rent	30,000
Est. Annual Costs	~10,000 (taxes, agent, maintenance)
Net Rental Income	20,000/year
Net Rental Yield	~3.7% on total outlay

🧮 Break-Even & Outlook

Factor	Estimate
Capital gain needed to offset ABSD	S$140,000 → ~20% price gain
Break-even price (to recover ABSD)	S$840,000
Time to reach (at 3% growth/year)	~7–10 years

✅ Pros vs ❌ Cons

Pros	Cons
Stable passive income (S$20K/year)	Huge ABSD upfront (S$140K lost to tax)
Long-term asset appreciation	Limited LTV (low leverage = lower ROI)
Singapore property stability	Better returns may exist in REITs or commercial property

Perth Property

  Recently been quite infatuated with Aussie properties.

Then my wife sent me a leaflet on a promotional seminar on the weekend, so of course I went to check it out.

Basically quite an interesting deal which has made me read up and calculate more.

I have my reasons for wanting to own a property there at some point and maybe I’ll find some time to blog about it to rationalize my thoughts.

Meanwhile, here are some details just for reference.

This one is in Cannington, Perth. It is called Elements at Carousel by The Jean Yip Group.

No More Mortgage

 So last month I blogged about something massive brewing.

Basically we have completed full repayment of our mortgage last week.

It’s such a huge milestone for some reason, and each day nearing the deduction date by the bank felt like something or anything could go wrong.

I’m so glad we made the decision to do it and upon its completion, it really felt really good!

So yay to me and wifey.

Now we’re just waiting for the title deed to be confirmed returned to us in the digital registrar administered by SLA.

Did you know that based on the average private property mortgage size of 500K to 1M in Singapore, assuming 3% loan interest and 30 year tenure, you’d be paying between 250K to 500K in interest to your bank if you just stuck to your loan repayment schedule?! That’s about half your original loan amount that you will pay in interest! People just don’t notice it because they just consider their monthly repayments of 2.5K to 5K and see if they can afford it month by month.

No wonder the banks make so much money!

Anyway I’m not here to educate anyone or advocate anything, and having a longer loan tenure allows people to afford more now with their future earnings. I’d have to take another loan too if I were to buy my second property. I’m just being happy for myself that’s all. Yay little wins!

Now to aim for bigger things ahead.

Suffice to say 2025 has begun well. Let’s hope it gets even better!

Let’s go!

Huat ah!!!

Is It Worth It To Pay ABSD?

 Here’s an interesting case study.

I’ve always wondered if it is really worth paying ABSD to own another property.

The issue here is that we have our current forever home in joint name.

Decoupling sounds mafan, but probably will save us some money since any Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) is surely more expensive than the decoupling share purchase.

Then recently I chanced upon this unit at Siglap V, a tiny freehold condo which just got me thinking for fun.

The 500+sqft unit is trying to sell for $920K but is also asking for $3.2K monthly rent. A check on URA’s website shows me that last transaction of the same size was only $800K.

This means if I can get the unit for $800K and then subsequently rent it out at $3.2K, I actually earn a yield of 4.8%!

However if I factor in having to pay ABSD, which is currently 20%, that means I have to pay $960K for the unit. This translates to a rental yield of 4.0%.

Somehow it sounds not bad and it makes me a multiple property owner never again. This means paying the ABSD over the mafaness of decoupling might not be as sever?

Sure maybe I will end up having to pay more than $800K for the unit? Maybe I cannot get a rental of $3.2K and have to settle for less. I still have to pay maintenance and any charges for large expenses incurred by the unit, which will eat into my yield. 

But still.

Is my math not mathing here?

Maybe go viewing for fun :)

IREIT Global Update

 This REIT I have followed closely since the popular finance blogger ASSI took a big position in it.

Unfortunately the price keeps dropping because of the uncertainty in global interest rates and uncertainty in Europe (its properties are entirely in Europe).

Yet, when it is dividends time, this REIT continues to pay really well, yet without overtaxing itself. It is prudent and management makes very good decisions aimed to benefit shareholders.

What a bumper dividend this time round! I will use the proceeds to either reinvest or to buy something else undervalued in Europe (I like that its dividends I’ve chosen to pay out in EUR), as I’ve done with the last few years of its dividends.

But the market keeps devaluing it.

I do question myself what’s wrong but I can find as much issues as another big holding of mine, PSNY.

So I do feel quite convicted to not only keep holding but to find some opportunities to average down.

Hopefully they are as undervalued as I see them.

HUAT AH!!!

US REITS To Buy And Hold For Long Term

This list is quite useful to archive.

Foreign Property

Recently, it was reported in the news that Singapore could hit past 40deg Celcius in 20 years time.

This was quite alarming for me as I am a very strong believer that climate change and global warming are both changing the way we live, and more importantly, the way our children will live in the future.

That was when I thought it'd be a good idea to start hunting for foreign property.

My preferred locations would be either in Australia or New Zealand.

Currently, Australia stands out because the SGD is at an all time high against the AUD. (SGD 0.95 = AUD 1). Also, Perth is a really nice and pleasant city, that is only 4hrs flight from Singapore.

The hunt begins now.

>$3 Billion

After almost 12 months of en bloc fever that I've written about here and here, all Mandarin Gardens managed to canvass was 65% of the votes approving the en bloc.

In a last ditch effort, they raised the sale price even higher! Meaning each unit would get even more money! Pity they didn't do this earlier as I might've been moved to sign away my home.

Too bad!

Major Enbloc Update

An increase of more than 12% for each home owner! Yet a reduction in PSF for potential buyer!

Will this tilt the scales?

Let's see.

En Bloc Timeline

This is supposedly the BEST CASE SCENARIO.

$2.48 Billion

Mandarin Gardens is now trying to en bloc at a Collective Sale price of SGD2.48B!

Good luck getting the required 80% approval to go ahead.

Not going to happen at this price!

En Bloc Fever

There has been an en bloc fever coming over Singapore for a few months now.

Many old HUDCs have successfully en bloc-ed, and many more and currently trying.

In the latest developments, the entire coastline of old condos along Marine Parade are seriously considering or polling for en bloc.

Neptune Court, Mandarin Gardens, Laguna Park and Lagoon View.

Let's see what happens over the next 12 months.

HUAT AH!!!

Finally Sold Sengkang

After our HDB rental passive income nightmare over the first half of the year, we’ve finally sold off our Sengkang unit.

It was not the lofty high price I would’ve wanted, but in hindsight this was a very good transacted price.

There are so many new launches in the north eastern part of Singapore especially the Sengkang and Punggol region, with more coming up over the new 5 years.

Coupled with how dense a HDB urban jungle that the place now is, how can prices appreciate any further?

I will cherish the memories, but when I own a second property again, it shall be a private one.

Hopefully it won’t be too long for that to happen.

Hurt ah!

SG Property Prices Are FINALLY Turning Up!

Trust me I look at this at least once a week.

The key indicator for SG properties is the East Coast, and where better than the collective stretch of older by-the-sea condominiums.

Over the last two months, listings have reduced. Not only is that an indicator that people are snapping up these properties, but because of the latest enbloc fever, there is a very likely chance that those property owners who've suddenly had cash windfalls are looking at a nice spacious seaside condo.

Mandarin Gardens 3-bedders used to yield 50+ listing on PropertyGuru just 3-4 months ago. Now it's drastically down to 20+ and when sorted by lowest price, the minimum is at $1.45mil. Previously as low as $1.2mil for a very low floor was still possible.

Laguna Park is the biggest recipient of the Thomson East Coast Line (TEL), and the station is directly outside its entrance. Suddenly listings dried up overnight and everyone is asking for the moon. 12mths ago it was still possible to find a unit for $1.6mil.

Neptune Court is the lowest end condo of the three due to its lack of facilities. Yet it's unites are commanding almost $1mil when 4mths ago it was still possible to get $800k units.

Cashflow Worries

Buying a new property has brought a whole new set of problems.

Worrying about paying down the hefty loan.

Worrying about paying paying back what the wifey has had to stump up up front.

Worrying about paying for renovation.

Worrying about paying for furniture.

Worrying about paying rental for the remaining months at my present place.

Worrying about what we will receive from the proceeds of our other property.

Worrying about having to make this year's SRS contribution.

Worrying about saving money every month.

It's no wonder the white hairs are starting to appear.

One Simple Update

Busy.

We've just bought a new home.

In the process of selling our current one.

Will blog more details to come.

Started a new 'Property' category.

Terrorism And REITs

On the back of the brazen terrorist attacks in Paris the night before, it appears that the atmosphere of fear created has reverberated all over the globe.

From an investment perspective, this atmosphere of fear will affect our investments as well. From the number of people staying away from crowded places, to general avoidance of large foreign branded places, this will become the new normal.

Stocks such as REITs and property owners of retail spaces will likely be affected. Particularly in Singapore, where a lot of us are used to thronging malls, there might be a concerted effort to avoid the mall crowds in case an attack happens.

There would be avoidance of malls in general, cinemas, taking trains to popularly crowded stations, maybe even concert and sporting events.

While we try our best to adjust to this new normal, going to work in our usual transport modes, we bear in mind that we could reduce the probability of being caught in an attack by avoiding large-scale events and places of large crowds.

Hence it is not the best time to invest into REITs right now IMHO.

Trade safe.

Property Prices In Districts 15 & 16

Are slowly coming down!

A quick search has yielded some interesting results so far.

I firmly believe there is more weakness to come and if patient enough, we will be able to find some bargains.

En Bloc Potential Or Not

This old condo I live in now has got tons of old folks. I hear that a lot of them have even lived here since day one, back in the seventies when this place was still a HUDC.

The oldies are very nice and friendly. Many a times if you're stuck in the lift with one of them, they'd be the first to initiate some form of polite conversation. It's very informal.

Yet this begs the question.

When you're already so old, chances are you won't want to move out of this place no matter how much money some cash-rich developer could pay you right? Home is where the heart is and these people have lived here all their lives, their comforts are all here. What would abit more money do for them? Money cannot buy the familiarity of this place they've lived so long, nor can it buy the old neighbours and friends they've grown to know and grow up with? Heck many of them have even seen their friends kids grow up and move out.

So what en bloc potential are we talking about afterall? 

The vote will never come to pass in this old town. Probably over their dead bodies.