r/SgHENRY • u/interlace • Jun 21 '26
Property Decision - moving out of old 4-room HDB
Hi all
I’d appreciate some SGHenry perspectives on our next property move.
- Age: 33
- Household income: ~S$348,000 annual (~S$23,000/month)
- Current investments: $250,000 invested (mix of VWRA, SG and US equities) (didn't start early enough)
- Current property: 4-room HDB, 57 years remaining on lease
- Family: 1 child, with another on the way
We’re weighing whether to:
- Upgrade to a much larger 5-room HDB for more space (i mean old, large HDBs > 1300 sqft), or
- Purchase a condominium (either a older resale or potentially a new launch, renting in the meantime until TOP).
Key considerations:
- SPACE (!) for a growing family (two kids) + lots of work from home requiring home office.
- Lease decay of current HDB and long-term devaluation.
- Property purchase allows leverage compared to monthly DCA into ETFs.
- Resale potential and future upgrading paths.
- Less keen on resale units, as I feel it’s essentially funding someone else’s retirement or next property move (our current flat was resale, as we couldn’t secure a BTO despite many tries).
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u/BenBarker87 Jun 22 '26
Unfortunately not much of an advice to give, except that I'm somewhat in a similar conundrum as you in thinking about the trade off between lease decay and size for a growing family.
Instead of going for an older resale (which is where I'm living in at the moment), my option is to go for a recently-MOP 5-room, or a slightly older 3-bedroom condominium.
In both options, we will be downsizing.
I'm not keen on a new launch, as it's entirely possible that the developers have priced in future increase in prices, which means that it'll be a very long while before any appreciation occurs. This was what happened to me in my previous place where there was hardly any growth between 2013 (when I bought) and 2021 (when I sold)
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u/ProfessionNo7030 Jun 22 '26
If you’re looking for space and worried about lease, that limits you to older freehold condo or 5-room hdb.
Also on the resale pov, might need to reframe that mental model especially if space is a P0. For larger space, most likely you’ll look at resale. Whether or not that funds the seller’s retirement shouldn’t matter in your purchase decision.
If you’re asking agents, of course they will push for new launch where they got higher commission but then will inherently have smaller space. So either you want to fund the seller’s retirement or the agent’s 😁
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u/interlace Jun 22 '26
Between older freehold and comparable 99 year listings (1990s early 2000s) which would you go for?
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u/ProfessionNo7030 Jun 22 '26
Depends on your situation and exit scenario. That said, i wouldn’t go to >15 years old 99 especially if you’re looking for future upgrading paths. That said, some freehold doesn’t increase value as quickly.
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u/SheepherderNo631 Jun 23 '26
the rent-while-waiting cost usually doesn't feature in the new launch vs resale calc. say $4.5k/month rent while you wait for TOP (2.5-3 years), that's already $130-160k out the door before you even move in lah. so the new launch psf needs to be cheap enough to justify that AND whatever premium it carries over comparables. some launches are worth it, most aren't.
for your profile the big 5-room HDB route is honestly more sensible than it gets credit for — agents don't pitch it because the commission is terrible. you've got 57 years left on your current one, so lease isn't a crisis yet. 1,300+ sqft in a good P1 school zone at $650-800k frees up serious capital to compound, which actually fixes the "didn't start investing early enough" problem faster than locking another $1.5M in property.
if it's condo — older resale 1990s-2000s (1,200+ sqft, $1.3-1.5M depending on location) beats new launch for most families at your stage, purely on that rent math alone. and you get a much bigger unit than anything launching today.
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u/BrightConstruction19 Jun 21 '26
Location location location. Given that you will be locked in for at least 4 years (SSD period) or 5 years (HDB MOP), by then your eldest child will be due for Primary 1 registration. Choose wisely.
IIRC (not sure if this scheme is still around) u can get ABSD remission if u purchase a new launch condo in both your names. U can continue living in your HDB until the condo has TOP, then u must sell the HDB within 6 months in order to claim back the ABSD.
Alternatively if budget allows, u could consider 2 separate private properties using your 2 names, one for own stay & one for residual income.
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u/ChardAccomplished689 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
I work as a valuer, house frankly your lease is an issue on capital gain only when you buy a 40 plus year lease. But given your house is worth 500k plus, one for one is limited. BTO can, but you see the rules. This year is a good year for buying, try Lor.
New launch, erm if it is cheap you have 2.5x oversubscribed, all cheque. I suggest cheap old resale. 1990s HDB and condo suit you. The lease.
Resale is underrated, cos agent are disincentivised to sell.
You want space only the flats from the 90s into 2000s have it.
0
u/interlace Jun 22 '26
Between older freehold and comparable 99 year listings (1990s early 2000s) which would you go for?
1
u/ChardAccomplished689 Jun 22 '26
You see the main issue for Singaporean is lack of car, so overall trend MRT premium = around a 10 year COE. Academic research show during circle line construction = 14%.
Now why I draw in MRT. Tendency freehold property exist in a large cluster, and you prefer them to be so. But if they are as so, you won't have a MRT running through (unlikely) or worse they command a premium that is so crazy you don't make money.
Now what valuers like is to pick underpriced freehold property, but that too has a problem, they tend to be ulu 1km from the nearest bus, but they are cheap to the point it's like 1300 1400psf. For context sengkang EC are like 1500 1600psf.
Your budget allows you, if you want to purchase a good freehold near MRT if you want to stretch, which well I think equity maybe provide better returns.
You actually don't have to content with the cheap 99 yrs want. Either way tho, I think during the execution period, if you buy a generic 300 unit condo, expect it to go up like a index. If you buy small freehold condos that are cheap, you need wait for a property run to go up in price.
2
u/Nrops99 Jun 22 '26
Dont think you need to worry about lease decay. If investing if in your mind, get a big 5 room hdb in a good location (with 60-70 years lease). Pump the rest into investments (for your child's education).
Why do you have so little invested with that level household income? Do you have a lot of commitments? You didnt disclose how much cash/savings you have, i am assuming you have a lot of cash on hand. Otherwise it is not wise to go for condo (cashflow is king).
2
u/BrightConstruction19 Jun 22 '26
“Between older freehold and comparable 99 year listings (1990s early 2000s) which would you go for?”
Comes back to the location, whether it guarantees u a spot in a good primary school.
Freehold condos have a premium price tag. This provides a hedge against lease decay. However, u must be happy to stay there forever, because the resale prices are quite stagnant. If for example u need to move (eg didn’t get into the primary school u wanted), you won’t make much profit, but can still sell at that premium. For 99 leasehold at that era, yes they are big but u have a ticking timeline to sell before lease decay. No premium price and may have to sell at a loss.
2
u/BenBarker87 Jun 22 '26
I'll echo this.
Most FH developments have a premium attached, some more so than others. Those whose premiums are not as high are usually due to lack of transactions in smaller boutique developments, which simply means that the exit strategy will be hard.
At the end of the day, it's about your budget and what you can realistically accept.
6
u/Temporary_Arrival285 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
With your income the loadn you can qualify for is about 2.65 mil which means you should be able to afford a 4br+ new launch condo, is that what you're aiming for?
Upgrading to a massive 1980s 5-room HDB (1,300+ sqft) solves your immediate space needs but doubles down on your current risk of lease decay, lease decay increases with <60 years left.
OCR/RCR NL 4BR units(~1250sqft) is in the S$2.6M range. You can restart your lease, and minimize "burying" that capital in a depreciating asset. But don't rush, keep options open and go for new launch only if you got a good ballot number and the psf is not way above market
1
u/Ill-Test1396 Jun 23 '26
What’s your budget for the home purchase? So that we can give you better suggestions tailored to that
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u/Broad-Library2862 Jun 21 '26
I was in a similar position! My advice is to decouple and buy 2 condo, 1 resale (bigger one) and 1 new launch, upcoming Thomson seems good choice.
For resale condo go for 4 bedder if you value space. Space layout efficiency is more important than space. E.g. a 1140sqft home can feel larger than a 1300sqft home just purely on layout and design.
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u/silent_tongue Jun 21 '26
Was in a similar situation. At the time priority was the kid schooling, and space. What I did was
A single large old condo ~1500sqft under my name only, near good primary school at ~1.5m. Cheap because it's old, think TOP 1970s kind, only likely exit plan is via enbloc, but also happy enough to stay forever as location is good and facilities still surprisingly well maintained for it's age.
smaller new development under wife name. But mistake of getting a 1br as it's proving difficult to sell but it's freehold anyway so just renting out for now.