You are amongst the lucky ones who are successful in the recent BTO ballot and are waiting for the selection day.
Suddenly a thought hit you - how much cash do I need to fork out?
After all, owning your first home is like a dream come true and let’s face it, a home in sunny Singapore costs quite a fair bit.
In today’s article, we examine how much is needed for the purchase of your first HDB flat.
When you apply for an HDB flat, you need to have enough cash and/or CPF monies for the following:
Submission of application
There is a submission fee of $10, which is payable by either credit cards (Visa/MasterCard) or using the HDB payment QR code.
Booking a flat
At this stage, you need to pay the option fee, the amount, which is shown below, is dependent on the type of flat you are buying.
The option fee you pay will count as part of the down payment.
Signing Agreement of Lease
During the agreement signing appointment, you will need to pay the stamp duty and legal fees, and the downpayment.
If you are taking an HDB loan, the downpayment is 10% of the purchase price, which can be paid by using funds from your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) and/or by cash. If you do not have sufficient funds in the CPF OA, then the balance will have to be paid in cash.
If you are taking a loan from a bank/financial institution, then the downpayment will be 20% of the purchase price with a loan ceiling of 75%. Of the 20%, 5% must be in cash and 15% CPF OA and/or cash. As the maximum loan allowed is 75%, you will need to pay another 5% in cash and/or CPF.
Also payable at this stage is the stamp duty and legal fees.
The stamp duty payable is as follows:
First $180,000: 1%
Next $180,000: 2%
Next $640,000: 3%
Remaining amount: 4%
If the tiered stamp duty payable is confusing, do not fret as you can use the IRAS stamp duty calculator.
If you are using the HDB legal services, you can find the estimated costs by using their Legal Fees Enquiry Facility.
Conveyancing fees by HDB are calculated as follows:
First $30,000: $0.90 per $1,000
Next $30,000: $0.72 per $1,000
Remaining Amount: $0.60 per $1,000
So if the purchase price of your flat is $253,400, then the conveyancing fee payable is $176.55, inclusive of GST.
But if you want to use your own lawyer, it is best to check with them on their prices.
Collection of keys
Finally, you are now attending the appointment to collect the keys to your new home and you are all excited.
Hold on, there are still more payments to be made!
Before you can collect the keys, you have to pay a survey fee and stamp duty on the Deed of Assignment.
The survey fee payable is based on the flat type you are buying and they are as follows:
If you are taking a loan from the HDB, you need to pay stamp duty for the Deed of Assignment.
The amount payable is calculated at 0.4% of the loan amount, subject to a maximum of $500.
There are also small amounts you need to pay, such as the Home Protection Scheme (HPS) and Fire Insurance.
The HPS is a mortgage reducing insurance scheme by CPF and you have to be insured under the HPS if you are using CPF OA funds for your monthly mortgage instalments.
If you are taking a housing loan from the HDB, you have to be insured for fire protection from FWD Singapore Pte Ltd (FWD), which is HDB’s appointed insurer.
Before collecting your keys, you have to produce a valid Certificate of Insurance from FWD.
In addition to the above, you have to factor in costs such as renovation, furnishing, property tax and the Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC).
So there you have it, a comprehensive list of payments needed when buying your first HDB flat.
For more property news, resources and useful content like this article, check out Mogul.sg blog here.