Seekadvice,
On your poll "whether you aspire towards landed property", I really don't have a straightforward answer for you. I do not aspire to STAY in a landed property, though having said that, landed to me is just like any investment instrument. If it makes money, why not? So if one day, yields make sense vis a vis other classes of assets, I'd say why not. But at current levels of investment outlay versus yields (which is negative taking into account pest control charges for the tenant, exterior painting and replacement of roofing beams/tiles every 15 years or so), I'd say it does not make investment sense. So at the end of the day, the aspiration question only applies to the stayers, not the investors.
Two things which I am curious about, which I hope you don't mind me asking (though if you do mind, you can always choose not to answer)-
1) You mentioned you are a conservative couple and you have waited patiently on the sidelines for 3 years. So what is the trigger event for jumping into a $4m property now? The macroeconomic factors aren't particularly rosy, EU and US are mired in significant sovereign debt, demand drivers seem muted for the short to medium term. India is experiencing countless policy missteps. China is facing external headwinds. So why? Why now? Why $4m and not $2m?
2) For a household with income level of $500-600k, a total savings of $1.5m (since your present condo costs you $550k and you have an additional $1m in savings) after about 20 years of working is not particularly high. I am saying this cos your affordability assumptions for borrowing the next $2m seemed to be based on the number of years the current salary is required to repay, though you might also wish to consider your savings level, household expenditure levels and the sustainability of your current income for the next 20 years esp since you are buying a property for self stay.
Good luck on your bank valn! Do update us.
amk,
I am also keen to get a decent freehold in the ccr of at least 2000sqft of built in space. Actually prices have been softening in this segment, and people often overlook that a large contiguous land plot in the ccr (eg parvis at holland hill has land size of 244k sqft, with only 248 units) with much higher plot ratios and building height limits than landed could sometimes be more attractive.