Due to the land size of Singapore, most of the housing properties are either HDB or condos. Landed property in Singapore is limited. Buying landed property in Singapore is many Singaporean dreams.
Unlike living in a condo or HDB flat, living in a landed property can be pretty challenging. With no management around to help you, you are all alone. From the initial construction to maintenance of the house, you will have to deal with it independently.
You won’t be buying landed property very often unless you are investing, so there may be some common issues that you will neglect. So lets us see what kind of issues you will have to note when buying landed property in Singapore.
What's the Common Neglected Issues When Buying Landed Property?
1. The Lease Of The Property
When you are buying landed property in Singapore, you will want to note if the property is a freehold or a leasehold property. If it is a leasehold property, you want to check the remaining lease. If the lease is below 60 years, you will have difficulties getting the full Loan-to-Value (LTV) from the bank when taking a housing loan. This will affect your cash flow issue.
According to the Loan-to-Value limit, the maximum amount a bank can lend you is up to 75%. However, if the remaining lease is too short, the bank may not approve the lease-up to 75%.
If the bank grants you a lower loan quantum, CPF may impose further roadblocks if you decide to use your CPF-OA funds to pay part of your property.
So make sure you check on the lease as if it is not handled correctly, you will need to rework your cash flow, or you will be having trouble with it.
2. How Many Storey Is There For The Property?
Another issue you want to consider when it comes to buying landed property is the how many storey is the house you are getting. You may be wondering why are there people downgrading their house in later years. The main reason is not about financial but the stairs.
If you are thinking of getting a multiple storey house, you will want to consider about is are you staying with your parents or are you nearly in your later years. Stairs can be dangerous for older people, even with non-slip surface.
Unless you want to install an elevator which is quite impossible, you will be having problem cleaning and maintaining rooms on different floor.
If you are staying with your parents or in your later years, you will want to get a single storey, or at least not more than double storey. There are different type of layout for you to check up, some double storey houses have a room at the ground floor.
3. Pest Problems Will Be Tougher
When buying landed property, you will have a yard to yourself, a home to yourself, so you will have your waste disposal near your area. Unlike strata-titled development, dumping grounds are located in a commonplace further away or underground.
Due to all these factors, when it comes to buying landed properties, it will have more issues fighting against vermin. It is inevitable that centipedes, cockroaches, and other pests come from your backyard. If you are not diligent with your rubbish, it will also create rats problem.
Some people believe that the National Environment Agency is stricter to them. With a backyard, drain gutters around the roof, more potted plants, all these is mosquito breeding place.
If you are a pet owner, your pets will be at risk of eating something they shouldn’t eat, such as poison frog. Also, there is a risk of fleas and ticks.
4. Maintainence Issue
You will need maintenance for your house if you are considering buying landed property. Don’t expect the maintenance fee to be cheap. You wouldn’t need to pay maintenance fees regularly as staying in the condo. But maintenance fees may be higher in the landed property.
In a condo, you pay the same maintenance fee every month regardless of any damages. But don’t forget that the maintenance fee is paid by all owners staying in the condo. This will be a shared cost.
But for landed properties, you won’t be paying a maintenance fee every month, but you will have to bear the entire cost yourself once something happens.
If you are buying landed property, it is advisable to have an emergency fund for maintaining your house. As your home aged, many things will occur. Even a pest can cost a disaster to your house. It can go up to four to five-digit bills for the repair. In the worse case, you may even have to shift out for the renovation to be done.
5. Pets and Kids Gets Out Easier
Unlike in condos or HDB flats, landed property doesn’t need an elevator. The elevator can be considered an added barrier preventing pets and younger children from running directly to the road.
Landed properties don’t have this barrier. Pets and younger children can get to the road easily. It is a real danger posed by the traffic. You are the only one living there, unless your neighbors happen to see it, you can’t count on others for spotting them outside the house.
If you have young kids or pets in the house, you will need an extra precaution to prevent them from getting out of the house. You wouldn’t know when they will go missing.
6. Home Security Issue
Unless you are staying in a place that is guarded, buying landed property doesn’t share the benefit of having security guards like in the condo. Although Singapore is a safe country, some will still want to set up some securities for additional peace of mind, especially if they have kids or valuable stuff.
If you need simple security, installing CCTV is just enough. Still, if you want to guard against breaks in, the security company will provide service to trigger the alarm if there is any disturbance. This will be an additional cost if you are buying landed property.
It is a happy event to buy your own home, especially buying landed property in Singapore. But property isn’t something that we believe often. These are some common issues that will be neglected when buying landed property. So you will want to take note of it.
Seeking Landed Property Builders in Singapore?
