Housing in SG

Woo, missing in action for about a week, and once I regain some energy, I can't wait to write about.. this? Haha, well, it's August, the month of National Day, Loving Singapore, Our Home, so why not? Furthermore my mummyzhu's happy world is largely thanks to the government! Thus, it's very apt to profess my undying love and admiration for them *nod* I am also very glad that I am not making any revenue from my blog, cos I really don't have to care about readership!

Very randomly, I came across this - a politician's reply to a Singaporean's complaints (what else?) about housing.

Hmm, I live in a nice big (145 sqm) HDB Executive Apartment. Definitely not one of those shrinking/shrunk 90 sqm four-roomed flats. So.. of course I have nothing to complain about, right?? Well, you see..

The flat had two previous owners, it's 3rd hand for us and we signed on the dotted line in early 2008. No cheap heavily subsidised new flat from HDB. We were subject to the merciless market.

The COV quoted was about $45000. (We ended up not having to pay in the end cos the earlier valuation report had expired before we could sign anything, and the new valuation was exactly the asking price.) Anyway, we had decided to buy the flat before knowing we would not have to pay the COV. Seriously, I didn't have the money. Luckily my hubby-to-be had. And I swear that if neither of us had the money, we would have just looked at other flats which we could afford.

Our flat is nowhere near a MRT station or town centre or nice big park or shopping centre or branded school etc. The nearest MRT station is four bus stops away, definitely not within walking distance.

We did consider flats at Marine Parade, but we knew they were out of our range, so we did not even visit any of the for-sale flats there.

In conclusion, I very much agree with what the above link mentions - reality is not a bed of roses. We can't have it all, we have to learn to be satisfied. Want a big flat? Go for older flats. But be prepared to pay $$. Want a new flat? Then be prepared to wait and go through balloting etc. Want a cheap flat? Then there will be more inconvenience in terms of traveling and shopping etc. Want amenities? (e.g. Bedok Central) Then pay $$!