How much savings do you have?

Post 753...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Don't think my husband will be happy doing that...anyway his job quite unstable...last year was a good year for him...I came up with this plan in case we r both forced to retire early...

All these years you are the one working harder and earning more, so I think it is only fair that you get to retire first while he has to work harder to make up for the lost income he should have made earlier. I'm sure even though his job is not so stable, he should be able to make at least $60k pa, which is enough since you could get your passive income from your rentals if you stay in JB. If you earn $4k pm from rental and $5k pm for his pay, in total you get $9k pm, which is RM22k pm. No problem living a good life in JB with this kind of money.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Post 753...

Ah yes I see it now, I've been reading post 753 onward.

Your liquid usable cash works out to be
50K (cash) + 40K (Stocks) + 160K (CPF although not call can be used) +20K (SRS) = 270K

Value of Property = 1.8 + 630K + 380K = 2.81 M
Cash Flow = 250K
Total Loans = 1.37 M
Value/Loan = 48%

I would say your current position is comfortable given the two of you are working and can cover the debt obligations. Unfortunately none of your assets are providing any return at the moment and your biggest asset is your home.

So long as you keep working you should be able to weather out some minor/major property correction despite your current savings. But if one of you lose your job and the market took a hit then the story would be quite different.

I won't sayif retiring in Msia is the right step to take, however I feel that you need to shed some debt and put more money into your rainy day fund. I would say at least 300K in cash (exc CPF) and 20 - 30% less debt would be ideal.

And if your are serious about wanting to live in Msia and have a property based passive fund then your should sell your landed and buy condos which give more yield. Your target is higher passive monthly income and not long term capital appreciation. You need to decide on which is your priority and act accordingly.

I can you thought are thinking of selling your terrace you're actually more keen on keeping it, we also have a landed Semi D that I rent out, its worth about 6 - 7 M and I get about 7.5K for it (pathetic). Every time an issue crops up (air con, plumbing, curtains) etc I am looking at a minimum 4 digit bill if lucky its low if unlucky its high. so consider your ancillary cost too.

We can debate to death but at the end of the day it your choice, when 2019 comes move to JB if you like if your savings vs debt has not improve I will not recommend quitting your jobs mainly because you are at thin line if economy takes a downturn. Why don't you move to JB and setup the various bases then review your situation after your properties TOPs and you rent out your terrace. Then you will know if your plan works or not long term, worse case you can always move back no harm or foul. We are all driven by circumstance so consider yours and decide carefully.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Depends on rental market and interest rates. Most optimistic scenario if can rent out high and interest rates stay low, possible to retire in JB, esp if kids go to Sg by bus...

Terrace : $5000 rental
Condo : $3000 rental

Pay off condo

Mortgage for terrace at current low rates:$2250
Mortgage for jb semi d :$1200

Passive income = $8000-$2250-$1200=$4550

Tidal wave of property supply hits S’pore

September 23, 2014

Investors should sell their residential investments in Singapore. The property market, which has been gradually declining, does not need any new action to tip it over. Just the sheer number of new homes being supplied both in Singapore and Iskandar will drive prices lower.

New private home sales in Singapore have plunged in the past three months to about 40 per cent of the monthly average of the past five years or so.

Since January 2010, the average number of homes sold by developers each month has exceeded 1,300 units. The total number of new homes sold in June, July and August were 531, 560 and 490, respectively, including executive condominiums (EC). Excluding the hybrid housing type, the respective numbers were 482, 509, and 432, respectively, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Century 21 (IPA) data showed.

Given seasonal factors, such as the Hungry Ghost Month and the quadrennial football World Cup, the three months of dismal private home sales will not be sufficient to render the residential sector a bear market. However, the downward trend can be confirmed by several other indicators.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB)’s resale price index, which has a direct impact on mass market private properties, has fallen 5.4 per cent over the past four quarters.

During the same period, the URA’s private residential price index slipped 3.4 per cent. The weakness is also reflected in the rental market, where median private non-landed rentals eased 1.1 per cent in the past four quarters to S$3.79 psf per month. Meanwhile, private residential occupancy rates fell to 92.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year from 93.9 per cent in the third quarter of last year. In absolute terms, the number of vacant units increased to 21,268 in the second quarter of this year from 17,459 in the third quarter of last year.

Taken together, it is evident that we experienced a slow decline over the past year. Will this gradual weakening lead to a soft landing? Or are we about to fall off the edge of a cliff? As a practising real estate agent, I find it tougher to hold up high rents for landlords. With the rising vacancy rates amid a stream of newly-completed properties, the competition for tenants is intense, especially with the Government tightening foreign employment.

Although some landlords have yet to tune themselves to this new reality, others have reacted quickly ahead of next year’s record high supply, which will further pressure rents.

Supply of HDB, EC UNITS and Private Residences

In the past 10 years, Singapore has added about 8,000 new private residential units per year. But next year, we can expect about 22,000 units to be completed and 24,000 the year after and at least 16,000 in 2017. The pressure on rents will be overwhelming. Lifting the property curbs will not help fill vacant apartments and improve rents.

The expected supply of new HDB flats and ECs is large as well. More than 25,000 units will be completed every year over the next three years. There are also many second-time new HDB buyers and those who are upgrading to ECs who are required by law to sell their current HDB flats when they collect the keys to their new flats or ECs. Unless a few of the cooling measures are lifted and the foreigner employment policies are relaxed, the HDB Resale Price Index and the URA Residential Price Index are set to decline at a faster pace with the onslaught of new, completed home completions, even after taking into account the need for infrastructure to keep pace with population growth.

Supply in Iskandar

We must also not forget the promise of lower-cost properties across the Causeway in Iskandar.

The numerous Iskandar residential projects launched in Singapore since 2010, in locations such as Puteri Harbour, Danga Bay, Tebrau, Medini, etc, are now being completed.

They are ready to compete for tenants from Singapore seeking to reduce their housing costs and who do not mind making the commute between the countries. I estimate that over the next four years, about 10,000 new homes will be added per year in Iskandar and some of these will find tenants from Singapore with their attractive rents.

In the past six months, there has been an increase in the number of mortgagee home sales, with several headline-grabbing ones involving luxury condominiums in Sentosa Cove and the prime District 9. During the luxury property boom from 2006 to 2008, about 60 per cent of top-end apartments were purchased by foreigners. Some have held on to their investments, but they are now feeling stifled as a result of the multiple rounds of cooling measures, weak property demand and the restricted ability to refinance under the current regime.

For those who are willing to take a long-term view, say, 15 years and beyond, landed homes and high-quality freehold properties in Districts 9 and 10 would remain safe bets as these sub-segments are limited in terms of current stock and future supply.

As for now and the immediate future, as I forecast in a commentary in this column last year (“The price war has begun”, Nov 8, 2013), sellers are lowering prices and this will continue to take its toll on investors.

I recommend that investors sell their residential investments before they are engulfed by the tidal wave of new supply.

By Ku Swee Yong – a licensed real estate agent and the chief executive of property agency Century 21 Singapore. An author of two bestsellers, Real Estate Riches and Building Real Estate Riches, he has just launched his third book, Real Estate Realities — Accommodating The Investment Needs Of Today’s Society.

Source : Today – 19 Sep 2014

Actually, people will not want to stay in JB due to:

1. High security risks. Is saving a thousand dollars a month worth the life of your family and loved ones?

2. Big traffic jams. Is it worth it to make your children wake up at 4am and they leave home at 5am and reach home at 9pm? How to rest and study when they are so tired?

3. Expats will not want to risk their lives by renting in JB.

The reality is:

1. People will still live in Singapore. They will save cost by not owning a car (costs $2000 per month to own and use).

2. Expats rather pay more to live peacefully in Singapore. Anyway they are paid high salaries to work and live in Singapore, not JB. They also can't afford to waste hours in traffic jams at both checkpoints.

3. People value life more than money.

[lazyplane]

I am not very inclined to accept his view cos as property agent, buy or sell, i will make a commission. And I feel that the low levels of transactions in this property market has been worrying many agents instead of the real buyer/sellers of the property market.

My view on the reason for this low levels of transactions is that it affirms that many property holders have done proper planning and can so far maintain their property/debt/cashflow levels despite slight drop in property prices. Banks also have not started calling for top up due to this price drop or increase drastically their interest rate. So there is no mass panic. Even Government intervention have also not been so drastic todate to create this mass panic and govt have clearly said that this is not the intention as well.

At the current level of prices, buyers are also not willing fork out to buy a property because of all these news of overwhelming supply unless there is a real need. The lower rental yields have also made this a less "sure win" investments and coupled with all the negative news in the world, other alternative investments with lower capital outlay have become more attractive.

What we are seeing in the market now may be the "truer" fundamental demand/supply level of transactions which makes sense as singapore is a small country/population . The years before this were just noise in the market created because property was deemed as a attractive investment.

Any bros feel the same way ?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Tidal wave of property supply hits S’pore

September 23, 2014

Investors should sell their residential investments in Singapore. The property market, which has been gradually declining, does not need any new action to tip it over. Just the sheer number of new homes being supplied both in Singapore and Iskandar will drive prices lower.

New private home sales in Singapore have plunged in the past three months to about 40 per cent of the monthly average of the past five years or so.

Since January 2010, the average number of homes sold by developers each month has exceeded 1,300 units. The total number of new homes sold in June, July and August were 531, 560 and 490, respectively, including executive condominiums (EC). Excluding the hybrid housing type, the respective numbers were 482, 509, and 432, respectively, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Century 21 (IPA) data showed.

Given seasonal factors, such as the Hungry Ghost Month and the quadrennial football World Cup, the three months of dismal private home sales will not be sufficient to render the residential sector a bear market. However, the downward trend can be confirmed by several other indicators.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB)’s resale price index, which has a direct impact on mass market private properties, has fallen 5.4 per cent over the past four quarters.

During the same period, the URA’s private residential price index slipped 3.4 per cent. The weakness is also reflected in the rental market, where median private non-landed rentals eased 1.1 per cent in the past four quarters to S$3.79 psf per month. Meanwhile, private residential occupancy rates fell to 92.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year from 93.9 per cent in the third quarter of last year. In absolute terms, the number of vacant units increased to 21,268 in the second quarter of this year from 17,459 in the third quarter of last year.

Taken together, it is evident that we experienced a slow decline over the past year. Will this gradual weakening lead to a soft landing? Or are we about to fall off the edge of a cliff? As a practising real estate agent, I find it tougher to hold up high rents for landlords. With the rising vacancy rates amid a stream of newly-completed properties, the competition for tenants is intense, especially with the Government tightening foreign employment.

Although some landlords have yet to tune themselves to this new reality, others have reacted quickly ahead of next year’s record high supply, which will further pressure rents.

Supply of HDB, EC UNITS and Private Residences

In the past 10 years, Singapore has added about 8,000 new private residential units per year. But next year, we can expect about 22,000 units to be completed and 24,000 the year after and at least 16,000 in 2017. The pressure on rents will be overwhelming. Lifting the property curbs will not help fill vacant apartments and improve rents.

The expected supply of new HDB flats and ECs is large as well. More than 25,000 units will be completed every year over the next three years. There are also many second-time new HDB buyers and those who are upgrading to ECs who are required by law to sell their current HDB flats when they collect the keys to their new flats or ECs. Unless a few of the cooling measures are lifted and the foreigner employment policies are relaxed, the HDB Resale Price Index and the URA Residential Price Index are set to decline at a faster pace with the onslaught of new, completed home completions, even after taking into account the need for infrastructure to keep pace with population growth.

Supply in Iskandar

We must also not forget the promise of lower-cost properties across the Causeway in Iskandar.

The numerous Iskandar residential projects launched in Singapore since 2010, in locations such as Puteri Harbour, Danga Bay, Tebrau, Medini, etc, are now being completed.

They are ready to compete for tenants from Singapore seeking to reduce their housing costs and who do not mind making the commute between the countries. I estimate that over the next four years, about 10,000 new homes will be added per year in Iskandar and some of these will find tenants from Singapore with their attractive rents.

In the past six months, there has been an increase in the number of mortgagee home sales, with several headline-grabbing ones involving luxury condominiums in Sentosa Cove and the prime District 9. During the luxury property boom from 2006 to 2008, about 60 per cent of top-end apartments were purchased by foreigners. Some have held on to their investments, but they are now feeling stifled as a result of the multiple rounds of cooling measures, weak property demand and the restricted ability to refinance under the current regime.

For those who are willing to take a long-term view, say, 15 years and beyond, landed homes and high-quality freehold properties in Districts 9 and 10 would remain safe bets as these sub-segments are limited in terms of current stock and future supply.

As for now and the immediate future, as I forecast in a commentary in this column last year (“The price war has begun”, Nov 8, 2013), sellers are lowering prices and this will continue to take its toll on investors.

I recommend that investors sell their residential investments before they are engulfed by the tidal wave of new supply.

By Ku Swee Yong – a licensed real estate agent and the chief executive of property agency Century 21 Singapore. An author of two bestsellers, Real Estate Riches and Building Real Estate Riches, he has just launched his third book, Real Estate Realities — Accommodating The Investment Needs Of Today’s Society.

Source : Today – 19 Sep 2014

I agree with you totally. It is especially unsafe for ladies, in particular single ladies to live in JB.

There are many singles, expats as well as Malaysians who work in Singapore, who prefer to rent in a Woodlands condo than in JB. This is a compromise between the expensive Singapore city condo and the cheap but unsafe JB condo.

In Woodlands, you can easily rent a one bedroom condo for only $1,600 pm. This is cheaper than a city condo which is rented out at $3,500 pm. Just search in Propertyguru and you can find so many cheap Woodlands condo for rent.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Actually, people will not want to stay in JB due to:

1. High security risks. Is saving a thousand dollars a month worth the life of your family and loved ones?

2. Big traffic jams. Is it worth it to make your children wake up at 4am and they leave home at 5am and reach home at 9pm? How to rest and study when they are so tired?

3. Expats will not want to risk their lives by renting in JB.

The reality is:

1. People will still live in Singapore. They will save cost by not owning a car (costs $2000 per month to own and use).

2. Expats rather pay more to live peacefully in Singapore. Anyway they are paid high salaries to work and live in Singapore, not JB. They also can't afford to waste hours in traffic jams at both checkpoints.

3. People value life more than money.

27yo, single, no debt but the occasional credit card debt cleared @ month-end, have worked for almost 2.5 yrs.

- 10k in SG stocks (approx.)
- 20k in cash (approx.)


lost money by (foolishly) investing in the wrong things while in school - now i adopt an investment approach, to find the right stocks to act as a money sink (scouring for "undervalued" stocks with good balance sheet/cashflow, potential long/mid-term appreciation in stock price or potential acquisition targets) and to hold some cash in case of an opportunity.

also actively trying to look at short-term trading opportunities for the tickers that i "cover". i'm quite risk-averse so i do smaller trades and only doing so if i'm very comfortable.

no opinion on property market since my networth doesn't afford me much.

with SGX reducing board-lots from 1000 to 100... it will certainly set the path for liquidity, reduced brokerage fees with the likes of SCB (hopefully) for small fishes like me and more stocks to look at.

12 yo $50 cash.

7 year old, 3 silver coin. My daddy says that silver is cheap now.