Both applicants are students

[xtwis7]

I thought there is a requirement for at least one of the applicants to have worked for one year?

That is if you want to take the AHG. If not, don't need. The average income over the past 12 months will just help to determine how much loan you can get with the HLE letter.

 

[shootingstar88]

I thought there is a requirement for at least one of the applicants to have worked for one year?

/edit: Found out that it's for AHG. Just wondering, how come hdb allows both applicants who are not working to apply for a flat since u all mentioned that they don't treat "future money" as valid? Just curious.

they dont bother whether u are financially stable on ur own.. u can rob the banks, have rich parents/people to pay for u etc.. just bring out the $$$ and they will be satisfied. that's all they care about.

 

[jizzbunny]

I have to agree on this. No offence but am actually quite appalled by applicants who are not financially stable but yet went ahead to apply for houses even though BTOs do take some time to build. And apparently, BTOs are just like lego building blocks and they take around 2 1/2 to 3 years to complete. You will have to create some grace period or 'back up plans' sufficient to cater to the earlier completion/possession date.

IMHO, the AHG grant is one of the pulling factors to 'force' young couples to commit at such a young age. No doubt you will be eligible for higher grant but if you are not financially stable yet, especially when your CPF is very low and have difficulty to cover the first 10% or even 5% of the downpayment (staggered scheme), I suggest not to apply for any houses for the time being.

Well, unless if you are talking about having rich parents or you or your partner come from well-off families and who have no problems footing the bills, then by all means.

But don't jump into it just because of impulsiveness.

Emotions aside, practicality first.

Even for myself, both bf and I have been working for 1 yr plus, we are still kinda worried about the $$$ but we do have sufficient for the 5% downpayment, but our AHG grant is prolly only gonna be around 5k - not alot actually.

Plus, do note of the legal fees and stamp fees which CANNOT be paid by the AHG grant. We chose the highest level, so you can imagine how much the stamp fees are, which are actually a percentage of the purchase price. So logically, the higher the level, the higher the purchase price and higher the stamp fees.

Yes also if you are gonna opt for the OCS package. Bf and I did opt for both packages which would add on to the purchase price as well.

And yes, your projected salary is only a rough estimation and is not 100% accurate. Not to scare you but there fresh graduates from local unis who have a difficult time finding jobs or they are always being offered jobs with low pay, sales-commission based such as insurance, job recruiters other other hard sales like credit cards etc. Commission based jobs do not offer a stable income and fluctuates periodically. Furthermore, the basic salary will be quite low and some do not even offer basic salary! For starters especially, don't expect to draw high salaries. You need to start somewhere, expanding connections etc.

Don't worry day and night over having not to meet at least the bare min financially in getting a house, it's not worth it and might sometimes ruin relationships too.

If you are really financially unstable for the time being, consider rejecting the flat (you will have to forfeit your option fees and 1 yr debarment - which I don't think will affect you much since it would be less probable for u to apply within this 1 yr period). Unless you have other alternatives such as paying the downpayment in cash, or have sufficient cpf savings (which I doubt so? Unless u have the cash the top it up as u mentioned) or taking a bank loan (someone has to be a guarantor if you are not credible enough for a loan since there is no income for both parties), if not, I would say to forgo it.

P.S. : Don't forget about other monetary issues such as ROM, customary weddings and furniture...

Just my 2 cents and sorry for nagging...

Very sound advice from a young woman here.
I agree with that too.
Unless you have a solid backer for your loan, I will suggest to reconsider purchasing the flat at such an uncertain (financially) point in time.

 

[shootingstar88]

Very sound advice from a young woman here.
I agree with that too.
Unless you have a solid backer for your loan, I will suggest to reconsider purchasing the flat at such an uncertain (financially) point in time.

Thank you.. Just offering some advice based on my own experience and opinion..

 

[goenitz33]

they dont bother whether u are financially stable on ur own.. u can rob the banks, have rich parents/people to pay for u etc.. just bring out the $$$ and they will be satisfied. that's all they care about.

Yup thats right.

All they are interested in is Show me the Money.

 

[Think09]

I have to agree on this. No offence but am actually quite appalled by applicants who are not financially stable but yet went ahead to apply for houses even though BTOs do take some time to build. And apparently, BTOs are just like lego building blocks and they take around 2 1/2 to 3 years to complete. You will have to create some grace period or 'back up plans' sufficient to cater to the earlier completion/possession date.

IMHO, the AHG grant is one of the pulling factors to 'force' young couples to commit at such a young age. No doubt you will be eligible for higher grant but if you are not financially stable yet, especially when your CPF is very low and have difficulty to cover the first 10% or even 5% of the downpayment (staggered scheme), I suggest not to apply for any houses for the time being.

Well, unless if you are talking about having rich parents or you or your partner come from well-off families and who have no problems footing the bills, then by all means.

But don't jump into it just because of impulsiveness.

Emotions aside, practicality first.

Even for myself, both bf and I have been working for 1 yr plus, we are still kinda worried about the $$$ but we do have sufficient for the 5% downpayment, but our AHG grant is prolly only gonna be around 5k - not alot actually.

Plus, do note of the legal fees and stamp fees which CANNOT be paid by the AHG grant. We chose the highest level, so you can imagine how much the stamp fees are, which are actually a percentage of the purchase price. So logically, the higher the level, the higher the purchase price and higher the stamp fees.

Yes also if you are gonna opt for the OCS package. Bf and I did opt for both packages which would add on to the purchase price as well.

And yes, your projected salary is only a rough estimation and is not 100% accurate. Not to scare you but there fresh graduates from local unis who have a difficult time finding jobs or they are always being offered jobs with low pay, sales-commission based such as insurance, job recruiters other other hard sales like credit cards etc. Commission based jobs do not offer a stable income and fluctuates periodically. Furthermore, the basic salary will be quite low and some do not even offer basic salary! For starters especially, don't expect to draw high salaries. You need to start somewhere, expanding connections etc.

Don't worry day and night over having not to meet at least the bare min financially in getting a house, it's not worth it and might sometimes ruin relationships too.

If you are really financially unstable for the time being, consider rejecting the flat (you will have to forfeit your option fees and 1 yr debarment - which I don't think will affect you much since it would be less probable for u to apply within this 1 yr period). Unless you have other alternatives such as paying the downpayment in cash, or have sufficient cpf savings (which I doubt so? Unless u have the cash the top it up as u mentioned) or taking a bank loan (someone has to be a guarantor if you are not credible enough for a loan since there is no income for both parties), if not, I would say to forgo it.

P.S. : Don't forget about other monetary issues such as ROM, customary weddings and furniture...

Just my 2 cents and sorry for nagging...

u forget the renovation cost.

 

[shootingstar88]

u forget the renovation cost.

sigh ya...

 

[vinz]

Let's say signing of lease is on May 2013. HLE's validity is for 3 months. Is it possible, for now, Dec 2012, I start declaring my own income to be an arbitrary amount i.e. 3k or smth, and pump money into my own CPF. During April, I would have 3 months already, apply HLE, then sign lease in May. Does this sound workable? Or, whats the loophole?

This is applicable to employed person. Not sure where you going to find someone to "employ" you and put in the CPF under their company's account. Do note FALSE DECLARATION is illegal and you get yourself and the company into trouble if you are being found out.

Tutor , agent , commission salesman are under self-employed. They will want to see two years IRAS statement, plus two years of monthly statement from the BANK. Without all these document, they won't believe you are self employed, so I guess you can easily forget this route unless you had planned your monthly bank statement two years ago with monthly saving from your so-called job.

vinz

 

[Think09]

sigh ya...

renovation can be simple also. like me.i only spend 20k for renovation that include electrical appliance and furniture and carpentry work.

 

[jizzbunny]

renovation can be simple also. like me.i only spend 20k for renovation that include electrical appliance and furniture and carpentry work.

Hehe your Reno already done? If so, intro the contractor if you think they did a good job pls.

 

[wAt3v3r]

Just my 2 cents. But if im not wrong, hdb judges income based on application date, rather than date of signing of lease agreement? That's why we are expected to key in our 3 months income (if any) during application? And for selection, we need to bring down documents for proof of income or financial ability before u are allowed to select? Hdb will not risk having u selecting the flat and end up not being able to pay and then give up the flat since it will be unfair to those who have the ability to pay but were unable to select the units due to some who cant finance their flat.

From wat i know, your only way out is through a bank loan with a guarantor, or paying up in cash.

 

[shootingstar88]

Hehe your Reno already done? If so, intro the contractor if you think they did a good job pls.

Haha, ya.. but hopefully they are still operating when the house is completed. LOL.

 

[lzjlee]

Wow.. A really good advice from shootingstar88. Couldn't agree more on that. Hats off to u...

I think it's no longer a matter of choice anymore if u can't secure a loan or prove that u r able to pay the purchase price of the flat. As far as I know, hdb loan is definitely out n if u dun have the large sum of money available, ur only option available may be the bank loan. I think it's better for u to head down to the bank asap to check if u can secure the loan. If u can't, suggest that u call hdb to reject ur application immediately for the ban to take effect now rather than waiting for 5mths later knowing well that u r not eligible n have to reject eventually.

 

[kaysee]

Plus, do note of the legal fees and stamp fees which CANNOT be paid by the AHG grant. We chose the highest level, so you can imagine how much the stamp fees are, which are actually a percentage of the purchase price. So logically, the higher the level, the higher the purchase price and higher the stamp fees.

how much are the stamp fees and legal fees approximately?

 

[Artie]

how much are the stamp fees and legal fees approximately?

Stamp duty is calculate as 1% for the first 180K, 2% for the next 180K and 3% for the remaining amount.

You can also calculate it as (3% of the cost of unit - $5400) to get the amount needed to pay.

 

[tanjhj]

I disagree with most ppl here, they didnt check out properly with the hdb before they give their opinions which are wrong!

i dun have job before my Kallang may 2012 bto application and my gf only have 3 months of job which is also not counted by hdb as income. our approved hle is only 12k! but we still got the flat and paid the downpayment of 10% plus taxes and fees from our cpf. apparently it is ur ability to pay the initial deposit which is more important. the next impt time for prrof of income is when you about to collect the key. hence, as long as you can pay the deposit, you should be able to get the bto.

so go ahead with ur bto if ur gf dad can help to pay the 5%-10% deposit + abt 5k of taxes + fees by cash.

however the thing you shld worry is not the loan but whether you or ur gf will change after working. most of the ppl esp woman (on contrary to majority's belief) will change after they start work and their career is flying and they met better man than you along their climbling of the rat race. marriage doesnt help as divorce is easy in current age.

 

[lzjlee]

U r very lucky bro.. Ur gf have jus met the min requirement of 3mths employment to be eligible for the HLE. Yes. 3mths income is not considered as 'income' by hdb if u r applying for housing grant which requires at least 12mths.

I think we have a different case here as it appears that both of them have not been working. Thus, they are unable to secure the HLE n is now exploring other possible options.

 

[charel_ong]

U r very lucky bro.. Ur gf have jus met the min requirement of 3mths employment to be eligible for the HLE. Yes. 3mths income is not considered as 'income' by hdb if u r applying for housing grant which requires at least 12mths.

I think we have a different case here as it appears that both of them have not been working. Thus, they are unable to secure the HLE n is now exploring other possible options.

In this case, lets say downpayment n legal stamp fees are not an issue, by applying bank loan with his dad being gaurantor, his dad's condo fully paid and has quite a sum in his acc, is my chance of bank loaning 80% to us higher? This is our first loan.

Once working we would like to take his dad name out and put ours in..

 

[shootingstar88]

I disagree with most ppl here, they didnt check out properly with the hdb before they give their opinions which are wrong!

i dun have job before my Kallang may 2012 bto application and my gf only have 3 months of job which is also not counted by hdb as income. our approved hle is only 12k! but we still got the flat and paid the downpayment of 10% plus taxes and fees from our cpf. apparently it is ur ability to pay the initial deposit which is more important. the next impt time for prrof of income is when you about to collect the key. hence, as long as you can pay the deposit, you should be able to get the bto.

so go ahead with ur bto if ur gf dad can help to pay the 5%-10% deposit + abt 5k of taxes + fees by cash.

however the thing you shld worry is not the loan but whether you or ur gf will change after working. most of the ppl esp woman (on contrary to majority's belief) will change after they start work and their career is flying and they met better man than you along their climbling of the rat race. marriage doesnt help as divorce is easy in current age.

Actually, that's exactly our point.

The 1st downpayment be it 5% or 10% might already be a headache if you have insufficient CPF savings/cash to pay and I did qualify my statement that unless you have someone to help pay them off in cash, since CPF savings to be from the parties, or get a guarantor to borrow from the bank, since the applicants will face much difficulties in getting loan unless they show they are credible enough to pay off the loan, if not forget about getting the house.

As for the future fees required, I think we should focus on the more pressing issue which is the 10% or 5% (in this case since both applicants are below 30) downpayment + legal fees and stamp fees. Do note that the latter two cannot be discounted off from the AHG grant and to be paid either in cash or straight from the cpf savings, which can amount to quite a huge sum as they are percentages of the purchase price. The AHG grant is meant to offset only on the purchase price.

 

[lzjlee]

In this case, lets say downpayment n legal stamp fees are not an issue, by applying bank loan with his dad being gaurantor, his dad's condo fully paid and has quite a sum in his acc, is my chance of bank loaning 80% to us higher? This is our first loan.

Once working we would like to take his dad name out and put ours in..

Hi.. I'm sorry. I'm in no position to comment on ur chances. Think the banks would be the best 'person' to answer ur quiry. Maybe u can ask the banks n let us know as well? It would be of great help to those concerned..