Originally Posted by
reuters
Unless she is really lucky to land a first job that pays $4,000 immediately after her divorce, she must have worked a few years to get to this amount. That means she has CPF.
Ask her to check how much her Ordinary Account in CPF has. I estimate it to be about $50,000. With the $40,000 from the sale of the flat, she has a budget of about $90,000 assuming she can use all of the OA on a flat. HDB is not within her choices because of the age factor, but she should hunt for a small and simple studio apartment with the $90,000 as budget for paying the 20% upfront + stamp fee. A year ago, this would have been alot easier as there were many studios at $400,000 but she should still try those 99-year leasehold suburban condo units. With a salary income of $4,000 a month, she can definitely handle the monthly installments since the bank is likely to allow her to borrow up to 30-35 years.
She SHOULD NOT part from her dogs as those are her only emotional support now and it is traumatic to handle life alone right after a divorce. It may affect her work or lifestyle and cause more problems. She also SHOULD NOT rent because that will continue to deplete her cash resource and make it harder for her to buy something later on.
Such is the problem with the housing in Singapore. I am sure many had thought of buying a HDB flat before 35 but we just cannot. And when we do turn 35, we (singles) realise that we can only buy resale and have to fork out a silly amount for the COV! Plus these flats would have appreciated too so it is not really that worth buying a >5year old flat. That is why small condo units continue to be attractive.