for me, I am not so ambitious. Just hoping COE to drop to $10k, so that I can buy a bread and butter car to fetch my family for errands.

and yes, i'm hoping for COE to drop to $10k too so that I can buy my 2nd car, just nice to park two cars at my new GCB porch. Hoping for GCB to drop to $1m and COE to drop to $10k. Huat Ah!

Let's pray for a economic crisis then. Huat ah!

Not sure if an economic crisis happens, we are all brave enough to buy. You and wife may both lose your jobs. The last thing on your mind is to buy a new car or a new home. You will not even have banks willing to give you any loan. Your priority would be to have enough funds to buy food. Be careful what you wish for.

My advice to those who are over leveraged (defined as an LTV (loan to value) ratio of more than 30%, in my opinion) to delever. Sell away any excess investment properties you have and pay down the mortgage of your own home, the place you are living in. So, even if property prices crash by 60%, you are still above water. So if your home is worth $1m now, even if price drop by 60% to $400k, you still have a home equity of $100k since your mortgage is $300k. You are still ok provided you and wife still have jobs to service your mortgage. Best is to be debt free now. Clear your home loan now so that you don't worry about a place to stay if you both lose your jobs. Also you need to have lots of cash to buy food if you both lose your jobs.

Thanks for the advise. You must be a wise financial planner

30% LTV??? U are v kiasi...
Even our gov stopped at 50% LTV for second housing loan, and in the old days it was 80%LTV no matter how many properties an individual buys.
In general, banks will allow us to keep the property as long as we can still service the monthly loan, it does not matter to the bank by how much the property value crashes as long as the individual can still service the loan.

Actually my own personal guideline is, for your own home you are living in, you should clear your mortgage as fast as you can. Pay in full if you can, if not buy a home with LTV of 30% or lower. We are lucky that we Singaporeans enjoy very cheap BTO flats, which only cost $150k plus for a 3 room flat. I'm sure you can pay off this mortgage within a few years.

For 2nd property for investment, forget about it. With the huge oversupply of new condos coming and restriction on foreign labour, there is a big risk for your condo to be empty. There are simply not enough tenants. So this will create panic and we will see fire sales everywhere. Best is to keep cash savings to prepare for emergency such as retrenchment, which is very real especially for those in their 40s, 50s and 60s. That is why I say clear your home mortgage by the time you are 40. Then save lots of cash.

Can you guarantee you always have a job? No guarantee even if you think your job is solid. Nothing is for sure. Better be safe than sorry.

For public sector workers, yes their job is secure.

The 'no guarantee' part is the tenants for the investment property. But this is where the landlord must be wise to buy a property with excellent transport links and amenties (such as next to MRT and shopping mall), and landlord must not be too greedy. The rental has to follow the market rate, if it falls then rental must fall too to ensure the property is Always Always tenanted. If the investor is wise enough to buy good property and to charge a reasonable or attractive rent to the tenant, the risk is manageable.

There is no such thing as "job is secure" even for those in the public sector.

The risk of empty condos is real. Don't kid yourself.

Ever heard of a public sector worker getting retrenched because of the economy?
If they get fired, its because of bad behaviour. Not because of a poor economy.

There will always be empty condo units. In good times and in bad. The important thing is not to let Your condo unit be empty, by buying an attractive unit in an attractive location, and not be overly fussy about the rent.