It has been 2 years since we (Kay and I) bought our first private property, Treasure At Tampines (TAT). If you are wondering why we choose TAT, do read my explanation and reasons in this post – Treasure At Tampines: Why We Buy This Project. A lot has happened this past 2 years, so in this MELEPAK session, I will be sharing some updates in my property journey. I will also be sharing my plans in the next couple of years and what I am doing to prepare myself for it.
So let’s sit back and start this MELEPAK session…
Treasure At Tampines Updates
TAT is a massive project. In fact, it is the biggest condominium project in Singapore with more than 2200 units. When we were considering TAT, one of the minus point was the number of units. We were afraid that the project wont be able to sell out even when we get the keys. We need the project to sell out quickly so that there will be lots of sub-sale transaction before we can sell our unit.
But guess what…
We Are Sold Out
YES! Treasure At Tampines sold out all 2200+ units within 2 years of launching. Initially, we were a little concern that it wont sell out due to Covid pandemic and the lock down. But the opposite happened. Due to the pandemic, most construction stopped which caused a delay in the completion of everything including all BTO and Condo projects. As a result, the demand for houses rose which boost the sale of most condos including TAT.
In fact, the demand is so high that there are already sub-sale transaction for some units even when we still have 1+ years to go before TOP. Will share the sub-sale transaction below.
Price Change
$279,000!!! That’s the profit we made (ON PAPER) as of June 2022 – according to SRX. I hope the price will continue to increase for the next year. When we bought TAT, my goal was to make a profit of $250,000. But at the current market, I am hoping we can make $300,000 or even $350,000. This will definitely help us in our future plans. If you ask me back in 2019, I might say it is hard BUT with the current market where an OCR new launch can command $2100 PSF, I think it is possible.
If we are able to gain $300,000 profit from selling our TAT, it would mean cash proceeds of $250,000 that we can use for our new home. With that much cash proceeds, we do not have to touch our current cash savings to buy our next 2 units as planned.
Recent Transaction
From the screenshot above, you can see that there are 4 sub-sale for TAT. That is a good sign. Even better is that all of them are profitable (However some of them are still under SSD period so their profits might be eaten up by the SSD tax incurred.) Let’s hope in the next 1+ year, there will be more positive transaction to raise the average price for the project.
When Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP)?
Temporary Occupation Permit or TOP is when we collect our keys to the house. Every homeowners are waiting for that moment and for TAT, the estimated TOP is set for Q4 2023.
Selling Next Year in 2023
The plan is to sell our TAT unit after mid 2023 when our SSD period is over. Ideally, we are able to sell our units quickly so that we can start to hunt for our place to stay. Kay and Dom can’t wait to have our own place to stay and that is understandable so hopefully the market can be kind to us.
However, my agent advise us to rent it out for a year and wait before selling the unit. His reason is that there wont be enough transaction by then to justify a good price and we might be leaving profits off the table. Plus banks do not have a baseline to put a valuation on the unit so the valuation might not be what we wanted. As such, it is better to wait for a year or two before selling it.
But as the current situation stands, if we are able to get $300,000 profit, we will sell so that we can look for our place quickly.
Plans After Selling
Step 1 – Buy Our Home
The current plan is to find a place to stay and buying that using only Kay’s name as she has more in her CPF OA. We will need $200,000 cash to buy a $1.4 million condo. We are looking at a 4 room dual-key condo so that we can rent out the studio. The rental from the studio will help to cover the mortgage.
Here is the breakdown for our home:
- Price of Home = $1,400,000
- CPF OA = $210, 000
- Cash = $186, 000
- Monthly Mortgage = $4400
- Rental of Studio = $2000
- Monthly CPF = $1600
- Monthly Cash Payment = $800
These are estimates so probably plus minus here and there. But roughly, we would have to pay $800 cash monthly for our stay home unit IF we can find a 4 room dual key at $1.4 million. We have shortlisted a few projects that meets our criteria so hopefully when the time for us to buy a house, the perfect unit is listed for sale.
Step 2 – Buy Our Investment
Once we have secure our home, we will be actively looking for an investment property using my name. We will consider a new launch (if the price are not too crazy and right opportunity comes around) or we could even get another resale property for rental and hopefully capital appreciation.
Here is the breakdown for our investment property:
- Price of Home = $1,200,000
- CPF OA = $188, 000
- Cash = $150, 000
- Monthly Mortgage = $3800
- Rental Income = $4500
- Monthly CPF = $1600
- Monthly Cashflow = $2300
For our investment property, we are quite flexible and do not have a specific criteria. All that we are looking for is good value for money and if we can buy an undervalue property would be best.
That’s All For Now
With that, I think I’ve covered a lot in this property update. I will be sharing our shortlisted projects and our plan budget for our property in future MELEPAK session.
I hope this MELEPAK session have been interesting for you and that you learn something from it. If you are planning or hunting for your own property, and you have some questions, feel free to contact me via the email and I will try to answer them. I am not a property agent so I wont pester or push you to buy. But I did took the RES Course so I do know a thing or two which could be useful.
Happy MELEPAK, everyone!
