The Price Tag of Marriage Part 3

Many do not know that the cost of a dwelling is that much until they are about to buy it.

This is what is happening to me. Very ignorant and naive I might say, but it is of the past now. My eyes are opened wide now. This post talks about getting a roof above us in the Sunny (rainy at times) island of Singapore. Getting a flat, unlike the rest of the events in a marriage, is not a one-off spending. (Unless the the couple is rich enough to buy the entire flat in a single payment lolx). In gaming context, Marriage events like proposal and banquet are “Direct Damage”(DD) dealers cytotec asthma whereas financing a flat is a “Damage over Time” (DOT) dealer to your wallet. *laughs*

For cheap generic cialis example sake, some assumptions:

 

• Average household income – $5000 per month ($2.5k per person)
• Contribution to CPF Ordinary Account – $905 per month (based on the combined 5k salary)
• House to purchase – 4 room HDB

 

In Singapore there are basically 2 methods of getting your own dwelling. It is either join in the bi-yearly exercise held by the Housing & Development Board or purchase a resale flat or private property in the market. For balloting, the wait for house completion is usually 4years after the ballot. For couples who do not wish to wait out the 4 years after ROM/marriage, the only other viable option is to purchase a resale flat/private property.

An average 4-room, 91square metres resale flat (104 square metres for older flats) costs around $280,000 SGD (based on market rates including cash-over-value as of writing). In the best of conditions, let us have the couple opts to stay near their parents and are first time buyers. HDB has given a $40,000 rebate for flat buyers who fall in this category.

Next comes loan financing. HDB can loan up to 90% of the balance amount payable for over up to 30years. So that is up to $252,000. The rest of 10% is payable using the HDB rebates and CPF (Central Provident Fund, a Government board which Singapore citizens need to contribute 20% of their salary monthly, only withdrawable at age of 65.) Let us keep the example simple by keeping the CPF contribution as 0 for the 10% payment. Thus after minusing from the rebates, HDB is loaning up to $240,000 for the flat. A 30year loan @ 2.60% repayment period will give it a standing of around $950 per month. Note that this monthly loan can be paid via CPF Ordinary Account, this it kind of crosses out given the $905 CPF contribution per month assumption.

Getting a house does not end here. Next in line is the renovation and furniture. An average household renovation costs around $15k, furniture stands at around $10k for basic needs. That is around 25k either as 1time payment or done buy proscar through a bank loan.

 

Average cost of buying/registering a house: 15k + loans repayment per month.

Note: It is difficult cheap amoxil href=”http://great-levitra.com”>Cheap Levitra Super Active+ to give a good average as many of us have different monthly incomes and our ideal dwelling is different too. This post serves as an insight of what to expect and plan when it comes to financing a house.

 

Stay tuned for the last installment of the “The Price Tag of Marriage”, where I will touch on banquet and honeymoon.