# Housing in SG



## lucane (Jan 17, 2012)

Greetings,

I am an American currently living in Shanghai, but I have two older family members that are moving to Hong Kong or Singapore later this year (non-work related).

I have some general questions and would be appreciative of all constructive feedback.

1) Are there places in Singapore where they can rent a decently constructed house without breaking the bank? Preferably places under 4,000 SGD pm. And yes, I do know that housing in SG is very expensive, so 4000 SGD pm is quite low. They need not commute to work so being more isolated is not an issue as long as a supermarket is not too far away.

I am not interested in specific properties for rent, but rather just general areas of Singapore in which to look to find these types of rentals (for example: Northeast Singapore, or ABC District).

2) Same question as #1, but with condos. Once again, decent quality & lower price trump any location considerations (they need not commute).

3) I have seen ads online for villas / condos / HDB for rent in Singapore, but are the ads reliable? I know that in Shanghai most all real estate advertisements are fraudulent (pictures wrong, price wrong, property might not even exist).

Thank you for your assistance!


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## leone and john (Oct 15, 2008)

All agents here (Singapore) have access to the same db of accommodation that is available .... so one will not have any more than another ... the person you choose will be one you get on well with and one that knows exactly what your priorities are.

Get a list together of what you want: ie: oven or hot water in kitchen. Maybe a balcony etc. PLus the areas you may wish to rent. Give this to your agent of choice and make sure they stick with what you are after.

No one starts looking until just a couple of weeks before it is needed. No idea why .... its just the way they are. I prefer to have an idea at least two mths ahead of time ... and not have the stress of thinking that I only have a week left and wont find what I want!!

For $4000.00pm keep away from central Singapore, Holland Village, Tanglin areas.

East Coast area is good, plenty of good eating out areas too.

Way over in the heartlands, west of Singapore ... there are many good low cost places. That is if you don't mind the 45+ mins to get into Orchard Rd.

Our 3 bedroom apartment is in Pasir Panjang, South / West Singapore area. Not far from Haw Par Villa MRT (train station) and a bus out the front. I need to go by bus to the nearest supermarket which is 10 mins away. We have a pool, an old gym, small condo of 30 apartments. We pay $3400.00 pm.

Hope this gives you some idea. 

Leone and John


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## lucane (Jan 17, 2012)

Leone and John,

Thanks for the great wealth of information!

Are there any parts of Singapore that are especially flood-prone? Should this even be much of an issue when selecting housing?

Thanks again.


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## leone and john (Oct 15, 2008)

lucane said:


> Leone and John,
> 
> Thanks for the great wealth of information!
> 
> ...



Orchard Rd .... main shopping strip .... seems to be a bit of a flooding problem when there is excess rain fall. But other than that, never known any other major issues ... we have been here 5 years and never even seen any area 'flooded'!

But if you are looking at condos, it wont be an issue. 

This blog post I did last October maybe of help:

our life in Singapore: where to live in Singapore?

Leone


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## lucane (Jan 17, 2012)

Leone, that was an excellent blog post. Thank you very much once again.


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## Mrsstrachan (Jan 25, 2012)

Really useful blog, thank you


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

Mrsstrachan: Blog ? what blog ??   when will you plug your ads here ?? haha ..


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## cylshain (Mar 15, 2012)

Hi, my name is Christina. My husband and I have lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years. Right now, we are living in U.S. We have been back here for 12 years from Hong Kong already. However, we are moving back there in April this year. Last year, I spent many weeks in Hong Kong, looking for an apartment there. For HK$30,000, usually you can't rent a single family home in or near the city in Kowloon, or on the Hong Kong Island. However, if you go to the country side such as Tai Wai, or Tai Po, Yuen Long and so on in the New Territories, you may be able to get a single family house within your price range.

In those areas, the housing are quite good in quality, and in transportation. Shopping malls and other basic facilities are also very good. However, they are not right in the city, or near the city. Nevertheless, Hong Kong is not that big, so even in the countryside, it is often still withing an hour for us to go from one place to another in Hong Kong.

As with the real estate listings online, I think they are not fraudulent, but they are usually gone already the first day being listed if they are very good deals. Those good listings often remain there to attract you to contact them. However, the real estate agents in Hong Kong are usually quite efficient, and they will help you find something within your price range usually within a few days. However, if you get hold of a real estate agent, don't sign any contract with them to state that you will use him, or her exclusively. I usually will ask a couple of real estate agents to show me what I am interested in first, because if I sign anything with any of them, I cannot use any other agents from other companies, or from the same company, within certain period of time even though I find out that agent I use is not any good later, I cannot change agent. Actually, some people may still change the agent secretly, but if the agent finds out, they may still have to pay this agent commission. Therefore, don't sign anything, just ask them to show you something first.

By the way, when you move, which shipping company or international mover did you use? We are desperately looking for a reasonably reliable one. Thanks.

Christina




lucane said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I am an American currently living in Shanghai, but I have two older family members that are moving to Hong Kong or Singapore later this year (non-work related).
> 
> ...


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## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

cylshain said:


> Christina


Did you realise that this is the Singapore forum ??   

Your write up is all about HK 

No offense ..


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## cylshain (Mar 15, 2012)

Sorry, my bad; this is my first time using this site. Sorry about that. Hey, we will be visiting Singapore to visit our cousin, and her husband who is sent to work from the States to Singapore this year. Perhaps, I will tell them about your forum.

Take care,
Christina



ecureilx said:


> Did you realise that this is the Singapore forum ??
> 
> Your write up is all about HK
> 
> No offense ..


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## Jimmy1978 (Mar 21, 2012)

1) If you don't mind living in a HDB flat, you can definitely get a place under 4000. Most flats have a supermarket located within 15 mins. With that budget, you can get a place closer to central of singapore. 

2)That budget will probably get you a condo in the 'suburbs' area like paris ris, etc

3)Your best bet is to look at singapore property websites 

hope this answers you


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