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...
