Hi everyone,
Let me relate my story. I am 30+ this year, married for three
years. My wife and I have been very supportive of the government's
baby policy and we already have a baby.
We would like to have more kids, but our current situation does
not allow us to do so. I will elaborate further.
Since 2004, I have been balloting for HDB flat. And the queue
number has been always extraordinary long. From not married, to
married and now having a baby. I am a avid subscriber of HDB news,
and a loyal HDB balloter. 5 years have passed and no flat.
I have brought up my case to my MP and MCYS and the reply from
HDB is always to same...that is too look out for resale market. Now
the problem is....a young married couple like us, and especially
now with a new member in our family...how could we afford the
upfront cash involved in resale flat transaction. To be honest, I
am very disappointed with the kind of insensetive answers from the
authority. To quote the actual word used by my MP, he thinks that I
am super "suay". And also another quote from him, "Yes, you are
first timer applicant, but first timer applicant with first timer
priority does not guarantee you a first timer flat".
There are other disadvantages of resale flat, which I will
explain further.
1. Possibility involvement of high cash payment, pending to the
seller. Which equate to no more money to pay for renovation.
2. Yes, you can use CPF to pay the loan (whether bank or HDB).
However, you need to use cash to pay for the cummulative interest
accumulated over the period you have loan. And this means, that
when you are old, make sure you have lots of cash to pay for the
interest accumulated over 20 to 30 years. It could amount to $1000
a month for a period of 3 years.
3. As a first timer, you are entitled government grant if you
buy resale flat. When you decide to give up this resale flat for a
new HDB flat, you have to pay back this government grant.
4. The unknown history of the flat, whether wear, tear or
others.
In the HDB reply, they also point out that we can go for BTO
(Build To Order) flat. Again, problem is we are
already married with baby, how can we wait 3 years?
In addition, HDB also point out that they have shorten my queue
number. In the last balloting exercise for 149 flats, my queue
number is half of the total 1500++ application. My God! there are
bascially 10 applicants competing for 1 HDB unit. Does the head of
HDB even aware there is an extreme shortage of flats in
Singapore.
And with queue number of 700 for 149 flats, it does not even get
me any place nearer to choose a flat. So we continue our live as
modern nomad...till the next balloting exercise we will try our
luck again.
The morale of the story is...(in my opinion)
There is extreme shortage of HDB flats in Singapore, but if you
are rich and can afford a condo or if you have lots of cash on-hand
then you will not face housing problem like an average Joe.
Don't get married, because you will not have flat problem
Don't have kids, because it does not prioritize your chances of
getting a flat.
Thank you for your attention and please share your thoughts.
<> You should be thankful they didn't say "you are one of
many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country,
................... please, get out of my elite uncaring face.”