Property advice needed

Mona Lott

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Hi property experts,

My husband and I bought a Condo(currently still under construction). The circumstances have changed and we have decided to sell the Condo, when to sell the Condo we have yet to decide(be it TOP or further down the road).

We are now looking to get a place of our own in the form of a HDB resale. My brother is willing to help us by allowing us to use his name to purchase a HDB resale. He is currently staying with my mother in a HDB under my mother's name. Our intention is to buy over the unit once the MOP is up for my brother and we have sold off the Condo.

I wish to find out what are the things we need to look out for in order to proceed with this without breaking any of the law.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance.
 

civicguy

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looks ok to me.

your brother buys a place. lend his sister a place to stay while her own place is being built. he is not renting out the place.

just be aware that the law looks at your brother as the owner. all is fine when things are fine.

not sure what others think. would love to see what others say
 

todomachi

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A few things i foresee is with current resale HDB prices on a high, there is a possibility that prices may fall below what is the transacted price when the unit MOP. This will result is negative sale for your brother so not sure ig you would compensate your brother in that aspect.

Also if the property prices rise again, will you still purchase at market price from your brother at that point of time. coz if you buy way below valuation from him, there might be concerns from HDB and banks might also not be willing to issue the loan as they might find the transaction fishy and not at arms length.

I don't recommend ppl to buy from relative or sibilings, due to the additional emotion and obligation attached to it. If anything were to happened, the obligation might be endless. Plus if there are any private arrangement being done, it is hard to enforce legally if any party decide to turn away.
 

Rxgn

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our intention is to buy over the unit once the MOP is up for my brother..

that MOP is 5 looooooong years..

You must also note if your bro cash and cpf + what amt he can loan from bank and your cash is it enough to buy that resale flat?
 

zzzzzzz

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Hi property experts,

My husband and I bought a Condo(currently still under construction). The circumstances have changed and we have decided to sell the Condo, when to sell the Condo we have yet to decide(be it TOP or further down the road).

We are now looking to get a place of our own in the form of a HDB resale. My brother is willing to help us by allowing us to use his name to purchase a HDB resale. He is currently staying with my mother in a HDB under my mother's name. Our intention is to buy over the unit once the MOP is up for my brother and we have sold off the Condo.

I wish to find out what are the things we need to look out for in order to proceed with this without breaking any of the law.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance.
the part in bold is already breaking the law
:frown:
 

SBC

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Very complicated arrangement.
Why dun want to sell condo directly?

kana SSD?
 

todomachi

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Very complicated arrangement.
Why dun want to sell condo directly?

kana SSD?
if sell now, surely kanna SSD. plus if u see what the TS wrote, it seems they are still not certain when they want to sell. Likely they want to maximise their return for the property.
 

SBC

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if sell now, surely kanna SSD. plus if u see what the TS wrote, it seems they are still not certain when they want to sell. Likely they want to maximise their return for the property.
Many had hooted property without much consideration.
 

Laneige

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Don’t do this at the expense of yr bro
who is going to pay for the hdb ? He lost his 2.5% cpf interest
need to wait 5yrs n he can’t buy another 1 that fast? Maybe meanwhile he bto after 5yrs lo
need to add u guys as occupiers

yes chances of dropping losing might b Hugh. 5 yrs laGer how much r u buying from yr bro?
what if u change yr mind again n yr bro stuck with it? U might not like the place anymore

reno leh. Who pay. Yr current condo buc how long. Don’t tell me 4yrs hor
so u see yr recent purchase u also v fast change yr mind. 5 yrs down the road... How
 

Sidler

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only u know ur relationship with ur brother.
Do ur best not to shortchange ur brother when it comes to buying over from him. Remember that he is doing you a favor. E.g. if prices drop, u should pay him what he paid + accrued interest. If prices go up, pay him the market value.
Happy family is most important, always remember that.

That said, legally, your brother must be staying in the house.
https://www.hdb.gov.sg/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/acquiring-private-property
The computation excludes:

  • The period of renting out or non-occupation of the flat

I don't think HDB will be doing checks unless someone complains so if you do this, do keep a low profile. Don't even let relatives know.
Maybe have a room with his clothes inside and have him change his legal address and some bank/utilities letter to the new address to make it look more real.
 

turboflash

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1) It is perfectly fine for your brother to get a flat under his name as long as he has met the HDB eligibility criterias and goes through the proper buying process. Based on your information, he should check his eligibility to buy under Single Singapore Citizen Scheme.

2) As a legal owner of the flat, after 5 years MOP, he is free to sell his flat to anyone, including yourself if you meet HDB eligibility criterias. So there is nothing illegal about it. The main concern here comes down to money. If it is negative sale, he will likely be requested by CPF to top up CPF + Accrued Interest shortfall in Cash.

At this point, some people might be wondering why cannot waive off if it is sold at or above valuation. CPF requires the sellers to declare their relationship with the buyers when sellers write in to waive off the negative sale shortfall top up. By requiring this, I assume CPF wants to protect sellers' rightful CPF retirement fund from under the table family transaction. So then the question is, who is going to pay for this top up if it happens?

Your brother must be mentally prepared for the worst case scenario to stay in the HDB flat should you change your mind not to buy from him later on. And I don't think private sale agreement related to HDB can be enforceable under the law. So he might want to seek proper legal advice on this area.

It would be good if you and your brother have a good talk on this cause money could become a sensitive issue which can make or break a family relationship.

3) Regarding the condo, the best time to sell in my opinion is during TOP. This is the time I feel has the highest demand because people looking for brand new ready-to-move-in no-one-stay-before condo will come in at this time to buy. Having said that, your unit attributes and timing also plays a part as cooling measure introduced at the time when you are ready to sell could put a damper on the selling price.
 

Charactor

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Hi property experts,

My husband and I bought a Condo(currently still under construction). The circumstances have changed and we have decided to sell the Condo, when to sell the Condo we have yet to decide(be it TOP or further down the road).

We are now looking to get a place of our own in the form of a HDB resale. My brother is willing to help us by allowing us to use his name to purchase a HDB resale. He is currently staying with my mother in a HDB under my mother's name. Our intention is to buy over the unit once the MOP is up for my brother and we have sold off the Condo.

I wish to find out what are the things we need to look out for in order to proceed with this without breaking any of the law.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance.
Better don't as u never know yr brother situations may change down the road...
1)If yrs is pte condo, u can sell any time subject to seller stamp duty.
2) for ec, can return to dev but face some penalties like certain % forfeited deposit.
My take is Sell first then buy resale. But you are facung head wind as yr condo is noy TOP yet and u r fighting with many on resale hdb. Good luck.
 

Taloona

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I wouldn't involve any family members in any legal transaction especially in such big ticket items like property purchase. You, your spouse or your brother may change your mind years down the road, the property prices may go up or down in years to come, the are also stamp fees, legal fees etc involved. I will not even open my mouth and ask my sibling for such a favour as he or she may feel obligated.

I speak from experience. My sibling purchased a property with a close relative, which soon involved another sibling due to some financial issues. Now all three are not on talking terms. The close relative's parents are also not on talking terms with all the parties involved. This family feud is likely to continue with the next generation. And it all started with the property purchase. The legal issues were so complicated it was mind boggling.
 

qhong61

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only u know ur relationship with ur brother.
Do ur best not to shortchange ur brother when it comes to buying over from him. Remember that he is doing you a favor. E.g. if prices drop, u should pay him what he paid + accrued interest. If prices go up, pay him the market value.
Happy family is most important, always remember that.

That said, legally, your brother must be staying in the house.
https://www.hdb.gov.sg/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/acquiring-private-property
The computation excludes:
  • The period of renting out or non-occupation of the flat

I don't think HDB will be doing checks unless someone complains so if you do this, do keep a low profile. Don't even let relatives know.
Maybe have a room with his clothes inside and have him change his legal address and some bank/utilities letter to the new address to make it look more real.
Don't do that. It's not legal.
 

keithster

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very good case study... I love to see what others say too.

I will say everything will be fine cos no one will know so long as you dun put things in record.

for special case like this, it is very hard to do things the legit way... jus have to be careful.

end of the day, there are many opportunity costs involved here... i.e. profits gained after resale 5 years MOP.

during these 5 yrs, a lot of things may change i.e. ur brother may get married & choose to settle down & he refuses to sell back to u.

usually i will not involve my closed ones for commercial matters... if you wanna choose this road, there is a risk of ur brother and your relationship getting sour later...

so i would say jus stay in your condo and move on with life, else sell ur condo away (i have not consider the financial aspect for doing this)
 

䏣炆玧示老太

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Just go to rent a flat for your own family lar
Don’t do anything illegal not worth the risk of getting caught
 
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