WhatisWhat

  [29 Jun : Update - I've reached out to the insure updated the responses below, marked in green]  I'm revisiting this as I was offered to buy Mortgage insurance package after buying my house. In my case, I already had an existing term policy bought in 2015 with asset protection in mind. However, this coverage isn’t enough to cover the full loan. For context, I asked for quotes on mortgage insurance to cover 1.25 mil till 65. The annual premium was $800 – $870. The current term I have covers 1 mil for about $1000. This is even after buying it 8 years ago. I wouldn’t discuss in detail the pros and cons of mortgage insurance vs term insurance or why mortgage insurance is essential as this has already been covered. Esssentially, I’m not going ahead with mortgage insurance as term insurance isn’t quantum-reducing. As I pay down the loan, this would provide a residual payout for my family. I feel the trade-off of $100-$200 is justified. If I can’t cover the shortfall, then t...

In my last article, I shared about banking with UOB One Savings account here . I’ll share how I managed to get about 6.12% of interest by switching over. So if you are looking out for a bank to store idle cash next year, you might want to consider this strategy. The Base Rate To get the base Interest rate of 5%, we need to fulfil the following requirements. Basic requirements: Spend $500 on eligible spend – credit/debit card expenditure on UOB ONE card Credit your salary of a minimum $1,600   Maintain the daily average balance of 100k As mentioned, I don’t have 100k cash lying around so I’m sharing my account with my parents and giving them interest.  Sign–on bonus This is normally called an “Online Account Opening promotion” and is only for the first 200 customers. The main thing that caught my eye is that there are various payouts for different customer tiers, i.e. new customers or existing customers but opening a new type of account. In my case, I chanced upon a 3-day flash...

After buying my house, I started reading up on property information and how the market works. Some of the objections I heard from my friends are: These days no one cares about Freehold(FH) any more. There’s no need to care about lease decay, you won’t stay that long anyway. So it got me thinking, is that really the case?   Better Location If we look at HDBs, there is constant renewal by the GRCs to enhance their value, with better amenities, social support centres, connectivity and covered walkway. In terms of planning, it also makes sense to plan the train stations in a way that has the minimum impact on existing buildings. Next, creates land value through further development around the vicinity. That could mean that future development of the land parcels near the Station is likely going to be new HDBs or GLS > Condos In addition, selling the GLS at these locations would help attract developer interest and strengthen the reserves.  It is essentially a p...

  Previously, there was a flash sale on Ryde Vouchers that I have posted here . I explained how we can get about 37-39% discount by having Flash discounts / Bundle Discount + Shop Discount + Platform Discount However, in the last CEE sale on 25 May, I’ve noticed a slight change in their strategy and I managed to get around 49% discount in total. The next sale is 6 Jun 23 so let’s keep our eyes open. Base item Discount During a sale, the base price of the vouchers will drop 25-26%, and the one with the best marginal discount is normally the $30 Voucher. At times there might be a bundle discount at the $100 - $120 vouchers so you need to compare first. Shop Discount There are only 2 kinds of discount, either the shopee coin cashback or direct $$ discount. The shopee coin discount will normally be better as it gives about 10% at a certain cap of about 2K coins or 3K coins This is more generous as it encourages more transactions for shopee   While dir...

  [Update: I have updated that part on the last 5% downpayment after clarifying]  Following my last article , I went on to consider my housing options. In terms of HDB, there were 4 new MOP projects available but I couldn’t get over the fact that I would have to negotiate the price, secure the OTP before doing the Fengshui review. I could shortlist the units first, do the fengshui review. Then proceed with the viewing and negotiations, but the house might not be available anymore. So what did I just spend money for?    My next options which were completed Condos near my house around the Geylang Lorong 30 – 40 and Tanjong Katong Road. They were mostly freehold and affordable. The only issue is that I'm not ready to commit everything now. The other issue was that the development size was normally quite small implying a lack of transactions on price clarity and higher maintenance fee.   This brought me to the last option, which was to look at new launches.  A...

I’ve honestly started looking into this recently as inflation was rampant. Getting an asset was a plausible consideration. I looked around and there were really only 4 options: HDB Built to order (BTO) Resale HDB Resale Condo New launch Condo. I would love to try for BTOs but it’s not something I’m eligible for. Resale HDB Next, I looked at resale HDBs in my area. I’m living in a mature estate. Most of the amenities are developed and the Town Council are honestly just maintaining it. This meant that the HDBs have at most a remaining lease of 60 years old. Looking at the Bala curve, the property value is expected to steadily decline in property value at an increasing pace. I am not ready to buy such an asset. This also made me aware that regardless of which HDB I buy I will be stuck with an issue of lease decay. Source: Centre for Liveable Cities So existing resales are out of the question, what about HDBs that hav...