After applying for the Toa Payoh BTO in the Nov 2020 HDB sales launch, we are balloted a 1XX queue number out of 184 units for 3 Room flats. Initially, it may seem that chances to select a decent mid to high floor unit are low as the queue number is almost at the back end. However, as the selection process goes on, with a 20% drop out rate and applicants ahead of us preferring to select unblocked low floor units, by our scheduled selection day, there are still several decent mid to high floor units left on not so popular stacks that are west facing or blocked. After much thinking and deliberation, me and Ms Doraemon decided to book a unit on our selection day this week.
The Toa Payoh BTO project in Nov 2020 consists of Bartley Beacon and ParkView@Bidadari located within the Bidadari estate in Toa Payoh town. Bartley Beacon is conveniently situated beside the Bartley MRT station and Maris Stella High School along Mount Vernon Road while ParkView@Bidadari is a few mins walk from Woodleigh MRT station and is located nearby Alkaff lake, Bidadari Park and a Heritage walk under construction. Both sites are located in district 13, rest of central region (RCR) on the city fringe in Singapore.
I am open to several options in property purchase/investment in Singapore. Besides applying for a new HDB BTO flat, other alternatives I considered are resale HDB flat, Executive Condominium and private property. The downsides of getting a HDB BTO flat is the long waiting time and dependency on luck in getting a decent queue number and unit. On the other hand, the upside is about getting a new HDB property at lower rate than the resale market. There is obviously a huge tradeoff between time and money amongst all the options. The more we pay, the more flexible and more time can be saved before moving into the property.
Why get a small unit?
While we could afford a larger flat based on income and financial health, we decided to go for a smaller unit in order to avoid taking on hefty property loans that will add on to financial liabilities. As working couple, most of the time in the day, the flat will be left empty. The flat will be only used to store our possessions and furniture, and become like a hotel where we wash up and rest in the evening. If we are able to live in cosy hotel rooms smaller than 30 sq m during our backpack trips, we do not see the need for a huge living space that will make us become debt slaves for longer period of our lives. In fact, we plan to fully pay off this HDB flat when we collect our keys in 5 years time.
Why this location Bidadari?
A quick check on PropertyGuru for nearby BTO flats that have just MOPed revealed that 3 Room HDB flats in Joo Seng are asking for more than $500k with a 94 years outstanding lease. Joo Seng is located further away from Bartley MRT and some distance away from Tai Seng MRT. Hence, I believe the 3 Room flats in this project will easily fetch above $550k after MOP in 2030. The 4 Room flats will easily be above $700k and not to mention the 5 Room flats in Bidadari all asking for close to $1m. Congratulations to all couples who have gotten or are moving into your new homes in Bidadari! The location of Bidadari is the middle ground between my current home and Ms Doraemon's place and is conveniently within 30 mins away from our workplaces. This project is the second last BTO in Bidadari and coincidentally the last Bidadari plots have been released by HDB this week for applications, which have been overwhelming.
Why Bartley instead of Woodleigh?
On the selection day, there were high floor units i.e #14, #11 left in ParkView@Bidadari but we opted for a mid level unit in Bartley Beacon mainly due to close proximity to Bartley MRT station on circle line. Although ParkView@Bidadari is also within walking distance to the Woodleigh MRT station, the north-east line is usually crowded during rush hours with people rushing back to or from their homes in Punggol or Sengkang. Things may be better recently due to more people WFH due to Covid. Furthermore, there are no amenities such as supermarket or shops in the ParkView@Bidadari project. Not to mention the units in ParkView@Bidadari command a higher premium due to being more southern and has closer proximity to a future Woodleigh mall, park and CBD town. Also, a check on older 1984 map in the Bartley vicinity reveals that Bartley Beacon resides on the grounds of former Mount Vernon Secondary School and not on cemetery grounds which are occupied by other Bidadari HDB BTO projects, including the likes of Bartley Greenrise, the current BTO open for application, which is residing on a former Muslim burial ground.
Some stacks of ParkView@Bidadari will be situated opposite to a future Mount Vernon Funeral Parlour complex. Bartley is very close to the industrial park in Tai Seng and is a great catchment for tenants and future buyers. After MOP, there should be little difficulty with flipping away the property for a 50% gain or renting it out for passive income. This plot is also closer to a larger mall, Nex in Serangoon than the Woodleigh Mall which is still under construction. Although there were better options in the past BTOs and in the future BTOs, the time is now or never.
How and what to prepare before HDB BTO selection day?
1. After receiving the email and SMS from HDB that notify the flat selection appointment date which is usually around 2 weeks later, login to HDB webpage using SingPass to view and download the appointment letter, project information and other documents.
2. Apply for Home Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter if you have intention to get a HDB loan.
3. Gather and print out payslips of both applicants for past 3 months prior to application month. Notice of Assessment (NOA), CPF Yearly Statements, CPF contribution Statements are also required especially when you have intention to apply for the various grants i.e AHG, SHG.
4. Check the available units, research on site layout, floor plans, directions facing, various stacks and shortlist the stacks and potential units that you intend to select. Try to come out with a list of units more than the number of applicants before your queue number a few days before the selection day. Eg. shortlist 20 units 3 days before your selection day, knowing there are 18 people before your queue number so that at least 2 units from your shortlist will be available for selection.
5. Do the financials to ensure there is sufficient amount of savings in your CPF OA or money to pay for down payment of flat, as well as affording the monthly mortgage loans in the future.
6. For students, widows, or other special schemes, do check out HDB website for the details of documents and information required to apply for those schemes successfully. Always be well prepared and know what is required beforehand.
On Selection Day
1. Remember to bring NRIC, ATM card for payment of option fee, and the printed documents wherever possible.
2. Can enter HDB Hub 30 mins before scheduled appointment. Go register at kiosk by entering NRIC to get queue slip.
3. Then check out the optional components on display i.e. the doors, tiles and also the model displays for your BTO project.
4. Monitor your queue number on the display TV and the level and counter number. Once queue is called, proceed to the assigned counter to meet the sales officer.
5. Tell the sales officer your selected unit and block number, sign all the documents and so on. The sales officer will also give time for you to confirm final decision before confirming your unit selection in the system as all decisions made are final and irreversible. The sales officer will then explain the financing methods and calculations on how your CPF OA will be used to fund the down payment, purchase and in 5 years time, how much loan will be needed depends on the improvement of your financial health.
6. Sign the option to purchase agreement and pay off the option fee by NETS.
7. In 4 months time, there will be another appointment to exercise the option of purchase, sign the lease agreement and pay the down payment.
8. The collection of keys for BTO flats since Covid will be at least 5 years later.
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