Woohoo! You’ve got a posting to Singapore! That island in the sun that has been touted as one of the safest, but also one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in. What do you do next? You go online of course, and you find a few common listing sites like www.propertyguru.com or www.SRX.com. The choices will be bewildering, especially if you don’t have too much local knowledge and may not be familiar with colloquial terms used. Here are a few pointers to help you navigate the field.

1. Do you really need a property agent?

Most potential tenants start by thinking, “it can’t be that hard, I’ll just call the agents on the property listings”. A few unanswered calls and many un-replied messages later, you start thinking twice. Why is this so? A few scenarios are possible here: the listing may already be rented out (most listing agents do not bother to remove old listings), the landlord may be looking for a certain tenant profile (e.g., some landlords insist on only renting to family units, other landlords strictly do not allow pets!).

In assisting a tenant to find an apartment to call home, it is estimated that on the average, your agent would have sent 30-50 enquiry messages, received perhaps 15 replies, and after exchanging information on tenant’s budget, profile, preferences etc., end up with 8 viewing appointments. This is a tedious process which you may end up realizing is not a good use of your time, especially so if the rental budget is above $3500 per month and the lease is for 2 years or longer (in which case, industry practice is that tenants do not pay commission to the agent).

There are a few other advantages of having a (reliable) agent serve you, the key being “local knowledge”. Say you find two listings, one is 500m from the MRT station, another is 800m. What you may not know is that the former involves an arduous walk through heavy traffic, and the latter is just a leisurely stroll under a covered walkway. Local knowledge also means the agent knows if the apartment gets traffic noise from the main roads, or is currently facing a construction site.

P.S the real estate industry in Singapore is well regulated. Property agents worked very hard to obtain that licenses and know better than to risk it by flouting rules set by the Council of Estate Agents (CEA). You are generally in good hands, but of course, some will go the extra mile for you, while others may go strictly by the books and leave you to handle miscellaneous issues such as paying for Stamp Duty and applying for a utilities account.

2. Rental – how negotiable is it?

As a rule of thumb, there is generally some room for negotiation. Thus, if your budget is say $4000 per month, you may wish to check out apartments listed at $4500 to widen your selection pool. Having said this, the law of demand and supply will always stand. Going for a longer lease period almost always gives you a stronger bargaining position, but there will always be exceptions. Some landlords prefer to sign one-year leases as they may have plans to sell the property in the near future.

3. Fully furnished vs partially furnished vs unfurnished

Fully furnished generally means everything you need in an apartment is made available: bed, mattress, sofa, coffee table, television and dining set, air conditioners, refrigerator, oven, washer/dryer, hob & hood etc. Partially furnished usually refers to only the white goods, i.e., air conditioners, refrigerator, hob & hood, washer/dryer and oven. Unfurnished has been used interchangeably with partially furnished, so be sure to make a clear list of your requirements in the Letter of Intent,

A note on dishwashers: these are not common in Singapore, and are generally only available in higher end apartments. Microwave ovens and fans (standing or ceiling) are not a given, but this can generally be negotiated into the lease.

If the lease is for 2 years, and the unit comes unfurnished, we sometimes advise tenants to let us help them negotiate a low rent based on unfurnished, while they purchase their own furnishings. The logic is that landlords will ask for around $150 – $200 more if tenants require furnishings. In this case, one may be better off using this savings in rental ($200 x 24 = $4800) to purchase their own choice of sofa and bed and mattresses. Two years later, the furniture still belongs to you, there is no need to account for any damage or wear and tear, and if you are leaving Singapore, there is always the option of doing a garage sale OR asking the landlord to take over the furniture at a reduced price.

4. One-year vs two-year leases, and what about short-term leases?

Let’s talk about short-term leases first. Singapore law dictates that the minimum rental period for private residential properties (houses, condominiums and apartments) is 3 months, and for public housing (i.e., our ubiquitous HDB flats) the minimum rental period is 6 months. Having said this, landlords are rarely willing to sign such short-term leases. If you really only need a short-term lease, you may be wish to check out serviced apartments or co-living spaces.

5. Location

Singapore is tiny, really tiny. From east to west, we are talking about 42km. Most tenants do not plan on purchasing a car when they are here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki51vh6ihJs), and the first thing on their minds would be the MRT. Thus they focus only on apartments that are within walking distance to MRT stations, which comes at a slight premium of course. Having said this, with some advance “local knowledge”, there are really very viable alternatives that are not near the MRT station, but a short bus ride to the business district!

6. Pets

For HDB flats, there is a prescribed list of approved pets (interestingly cats are actually not allowed!). For private apartments, the management (called MCST) are generally allow cats and dogs, but some really common sensical rules apply (e.g., not being a nuisance, being kept under lease etc). BUT, and there is a always a but! Many landlords prefer not to rent their apartments to tenants with pets, as they are concerned about damage to the flooring and furniture. This can sometimes be negotiated by adding a pets clause that undertakes to make good all such damage. If you are planning on relocating to Singapore with your beloved paw friend, be ready to answer questions such as breed? Size? Gender,? Toilet trained? Neutered? Interestingly, we have often been asked for a photo of the pet as well.

7. Facilities

Private apartments usually come with some facilities. Pool, gym and barbeque pits are standard issue. Tennis courts, saunas, multi-media room and putting greens are not. It helps to be clear what is a must-have and what isn’t. Also, both a wading pool and a 50 metre pool are pools, so if swimming is really important to you, be sure to ask. The same applies for gyms. Many gyms in condominiums are nothing more than a 30sqm room with 2 treadmills and a bicycle station. As a general rule, the larger the estate, the more well equipped are the facilities.

Now that you know what to look out for, it’s time to start finding the property of your dreams! Leave a comment, or drop us a message at +65 9794 8823 / +65 9069 9129 if you want to know more.

Cindy + Geri

Right Property | Right Time | Right Price

Property Consultants At Your Service