Understand URA Website and The Master Plan For Singapore

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Delwyn Tan

singapore-masterplan-2008Good day to all! Time for a little bit of our weekly info-sharing session! Today, I like to touch on a website that I believe is a good friend to property agents, and a should-know to home owners & investors! Yes, my title has divulged it; it is our Urban Redevelopment Authority website!

Here’s the link:

www.ura.gov.sg

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In case you are wondering why I introduced this website to you, this website is a good aid in many situations such as:

1)      Buying into a new area (be it for investment or home stay)

2)      Selling of your current place

3)      Confirming your own plot ratio (if you are owning a landed property)

–and many more. Continue reading →

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Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) for HDB Flat Purchase

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Javier Chua

additional-cpf-housing-grant-ahgIf you are a HDB flat buyer, you must understand what are the available housing grants that you can enjoy in order to help you get the big ticket item (Flat) by reducing the amount of housing loan you need to take.

Today, we are going to touch on the Additional CPF Housing Grant which in short is called AHG.

The main purpose of the AHG when it was first introduced in 3 March 2006 was to help the lower-income Singapore citizen to own their first HDB flat. AHG is actually an additional subsidy that is provided by the government for new and resale HDB flats buyers in Singapore.   There has since been a few enhancements to the income ceiling of the families over the past few years. Continue reading →

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What Should Couple Know About Money Before Marriage?

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Delrick Chu

money-for-marriageIn Singapore context, a couple usually look at marriage only after settling their housing issue because of the Build to Order (BTO) system. So what happen during this period before marriage? An important aspect that many couple neglect is MONEY?

Why MONEY? Because many things need it, marriage, renovation, housing loans, honeymoon, child’s expenses, car… the list can go on forever.

7 out of 10 Couple can face marital problems due to the lack of $$money or too much of $$money, accordingly to Lawyers who handle divorce case.

So what are the money issue to look out for? Continue reading →

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7 Fun Facts About The Art of Singapore Street Names

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Delwyn Tan

singaproe-street-namesGood day to all! A week ago, I visited the Central National Library at Bugis and came across an interesting exhibition on the different types of street names. The exhibition mentioned about the meaning and history behind the street names and if you are interested to find out more, you might want to go down to visit as I believe it is still ongoing till somewhere in June 2012.

Anyway, I suppose you guys have figured out by now that I am interested in such stuff with the posts I come up. So today it will be a light and fun-to-read post! Continue reading →

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3 Steps to HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) Application For BTO Flats

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Javier Chua

hdb-loan-eligibility-hle-letterIf this is the first time that you are applying for Build-To-Order (BTO) flat, you might want to take note of how are you going to service the mortgage payment of your selected BTO flat. As a BTO flat involves a big sum of money, most of the young couples who are thinking of getting a flat to set-up their own family will need to take up a loan from either HDB Board or Banks.

Most if not all of the Singapore citizens will prefer taking up a HDB concessionary loan to service their HDB flat payment as they feel safer about obtaining a loan from the government instead of banks. Before HDB Board can grant the housing loan, they will require all potential flat buyers to first obtain a HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) Letter. This allow them to evaluate your financial status. Continue reading →

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Home Contents Insurance Protection For Your Property

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Delrick Chu

singapore-home-contents-insurance

Have you been watching the news recently regarding the flooding issues in Singapore? If you have, you might have noticed that some of the landed properties along the flood areas were greatly affected and suffered big losses. Unforeseen situations do happen in such a small nation such as Singapore.

So ask yourself, is your home sufficiently protected from fire, theft or any other unfortunate event that might destroy your household contents or your even your property assets?

You may want to look into a Home Contents Insurance to get your property and its’ content covered. Continue reading →

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4 Frequently Asked Questions about Mortgage Insurance

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Delrick Chu

singapore-mortgage-insuranceQuestion 1: I just took up a housing loan with HDB and I already applied for fire insurance, do I need mortgage insurance?

Fire Insurance is a compulsory insurance covering the house structure in event of Fire.

Mortgage insurance pays the beneficiary in event such as Death and Disability. The payout can then be used to clear the outstanding housing loan. HDB owners are automatically enrolled into Home Protection Scheme (HPS – see previous post). You should have adequate mortgage insurance to pay off the debt, so your beneficiaries will not be forced to sell the house if they are unable to pay off the loan.

HDB owners are also allowed to purchase Mortgage Insurance from private insurer to replace HPS.

You should also consider Home Contents Insurance to protect your home contents. Continue reading →

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Simple Guidelines For Filing Your Personal Income Tax On Rental Income

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Delwyn Tan

income-tax-on-rental-incomeGood day to all! This is the period where I believe that most of us are filing our personal income taxes (and without fail, we would try to maximize any tax deductions so as to pay as little taxes as possible).

If you happen to have an additional property that you rented out last year; or if you plan on having rental income in the future (I hope most of you are aiming for this), hopefully this entry will be of help!

Being an accounting student who had his internship at Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), I have learnt from my course of work that rental income can be from a mere few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars each month. The amount sometime will allow families to just live off from their rental income. Continue reading →

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Rent Protection Insurance For Singapore House Rental

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Javier Chua

rent-protection-insurance-for-singapore-house-rentalAre you a homeowner who have not receive your rental fees from your tenants for a couple of months already? Are you aware that there is actually a new rent protection insurance introduced for our Singapore house rental?

Today, we are going to share with you about this QBE Rent Protection Insurance that is exclusively marketed by SingCapital.

SingCapital is actually a MAS licensed Financial Adviser that provide a wide range of financial services to both Individuals and Corporations.

If you have not heard of QBE before; it is actually an insurance company founded in Australia in 1886. QBE established themselves in a number of countries such as United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

All of us know the importance of insurance, whose primary aim is to help protect the client if something unforeseen were to happen. Have you ever worry that your tenant may lose his or her job and stop paying you rent? If you own a rental property, it is very important to protect your investments (your rent) with this rent protection insurance. With this Rent Protection Insurance, landlords can enjoy a peace of mind and enjoy financial protection without having to worry that their tenant will default on their rent. Continue reading →

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Who Else Wants To Know About SIBOR?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Delrick Chu

singapore-interbank-offered-rateIf you have watched “Mind Your Money” on Channel 5 or read the newspapers, you might have heard before the following post that we are going to share with you. Please take note that this article is actually a repost from the Asiaone website where it stated clearly about what SIBOR is about.

What is SIBOR?

It stands for the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate. It is reflected in bank statements explaining how your mortgage rates are determined. Continue reading →

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