How much are you earning per annum?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Buy property for own stay is ok because you need to have a roof over your head.

Buy for investment not advisable as there is an oversupply in the market.

With all the en blocs, there will be more oversupply in the future.

With less immigration and less foreign workers, there will be more supply than demand for property for you to rent. Your property can be empty for a very long time.

Agree... And we also got to be able to weather the market correction in the near future. However we felt that it's really quite a pity to sell the HDB as we got it cheap and at a potential location to fetch us some rental.

As with investment, it's also quite a bad time to start and the extra funds we have are just depreciating...

Reading this thread seriously made us envy how fellow finance people built up their portfolio having such high nett worth! Perhaps those times are over, not?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Agree... And we also got to be able to weather the market correction in the near future. However we felt that it's really quite a pity to sell the HDB as we got it cheap and at a potential location to fetch us some rental.

As with investment, it's also quite a bad time to start and the extra funds we have are just depreciating...

Reading this thread seriously made us envy how fellow finance people built up their portfolio having such high nett worth! Perhaps those times are over, not?

if you are leaning towards property investment, you can buy REITs instead of owning a physical property... or you can spread your investments to exchange traded funds (ETFs) or other blue-chips, local / overseas stocks... depending on your risk appetite...

a physical (private) property investment is too illiquid and uncertain... we no longer live in an era like my uncle who used to buy his landed @ $500k, now worth 3-4m...

today if you were buy a $1m condo (freehold or not)... in 20 years time i honestly don't think it'll shoot up to $5-6m.

1. Property oversupply --> En bloc --> GLS --> BTO --> More oversupply --> High vacancy rate --> Low rental yield

2 . Interest rate rising

3. Less foreigners

4. Tough cooling measures - ABSD, SSD, TDSR

5. Property tax

6. Maintenance fee

7. Agent commission


All these are reasons why physical residential property is NOT a good investment

That said, perhaps we shouldn't even progress to private property right? We are uncertain how this property market is going to be like considering it's dependent on government policies. But our HDB possibly has maxed out it's potential for appreciation so we thought of upgrading for now.

ETF is on the high now and not sure if the REITS boom will continue for long... Any veterans investors here to share some thoughts?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

That said, perhaps we shouldn't even progress to private property right? We are uncertain how this property market is going to be like considering it's dependent on government policies. But our HDB possibly has maxed out it's potential for appreciation so we thought of upgrading for now.

ETF is on the high now and not sure if the REITS boom will continue for long... Any veterans investors here to share some thoughts?

You only upgrade if you are confident of your jobs. Can you confirm you both won't be retrenched in the next 25 years?

If you are confident, you can sell your HDB flat and upgrade to a cheap 2 room condo costing $800k.

Use $500k for downpayment and loan $300k. If you both lose your jobs, you can then sell your condo and downgrade to a 3 room HDB flat.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You only upgrade if you are confident of your jobs. Can you confirm you both won't be retrenched in the next 25 years?

If you are confident, you can sell your HDB flat and upgrade to a cheap 2 room condo costing $800k.

Use $500k for downpayment and loan $300k. If you both lose your jobs, you can then sell your condo and downgrade to a 3 room HDB flat.

To loan 300k, we probably only need to pay $700 per month and I don't foresee that we will need to sell it even if we both lose our jobs... Understand from close friends who are property agent that usually people with combined 8k/month does it this way... My job is stable but probably not my partner's. We will eventually downgrade when our children grow up so probably need not take 25years... What's your portfolio like by the way?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are both in finance. This industry can be volatile. You can be retrenched if times are bad. What if both of you got retrenched at the same time? So you need lots of cash. When times are bad all assets will crash. If you buy property and cannot rent it out and you lost your job and the value plunged and cannot sell, then you will be very worried and cannot sleep. Just stay in your hdb flat until you retire. Save lots of money to prepare for retrenchment and retirement.

Very good stress testing scenario!
We picked up cheap blue-chips & reits during GFC, and now enjoying good yields.
During Brexit, when pound dropped to 1.68, we bought uk building companies stock and now has doubled.
We loved crisis because we can buy cheap cheap. Being in finance industry means we can know when to go for the kill, when others are in fear, and stay cool when others are greedy

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Very good stress testing scenario!
We picked up cheap blue-chips & reits during GFC, and now enjoying good yields.
During Brexit, when pound dropped to 1.68, we bought uk building companies stock and now has doubled.
We loved crisis because we can buy cheap cheap. Being in finance industry means we can know when to go for the kill, when others are in fear, and stay cool when others are greedy

say until so sat then come forum act stupid and ask for advice?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

"..... We will eventually downgrade when our children grow up so probably need not take 25years..."

Reality is more like this, as the children grow up, they will need more space. They are not likely to get married till they are in their late 20s or even late 30s. And some never marry. It is a fact that many adult and working children are still living with their parents.

Also being in a stable job doesn't guarantee continued employment. I have been working with the same company for over 32 years - a good example of a stable job. Yet, I have seen many colleagues leave their "stable" job. Some lucky ones leave the job for "greener" pastures, but many quit because of the stress or because of reasons beyond their control.

One moment you could be in the limelight, get good projects and attention from top management. Next moment, management team changed, and a new favorite employee takes your place and you start to fall, and then the only graceful thing to do is to leave. The job is still there and stable, but its not for you.

The secret to a secure financial future is to live within your means. Buy assets that generate income for you, instead of spending on liabilities- such as a fancy car, expensive time-share holiday chalets, big homes to stay in when a smaller would do just as well.

My wife and I do not earn good salaries as we are not in finance, but by practicing the above "tricks" diligently, my wife and I have amassed a networth of $7M+. At this point, our assets are practically self sustaining. We have been reaping and enjoying the fruits of this disciplined life when we turned 50.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To loan 300k, we probably only need to pay $700 per month and I don't foresee that we will need to sell it even if we both lose our jobs... Understand from close friends who are property agent that usually people with combined 8k/month does it this way... My job is stable but probably not my partner's. We will eventually downgrade when our children grow up so probably need not take 25years... What's your portfolio like by the way?

We are an average middle income PMET couple, earning only a total of $193k pa. Not much compared to those in this forum. Our residence is a two bedder condo which is worth $900k, which we have fully paid. I drive a luxury sedan. We have cash, CPF savings and stocks. Our combined net worth is only $1.5m. Btw, we are in our late forties. What's your household net worth?