{"id":31,"date":"2024-02-20T08:04:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T08:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/?p=31"},"modified":"2024-02-20T08:04:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T08:04:55","slug":"buying-my-first-house-at-24-unmarried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/?p=31","title":{"rendered":"Buying my FIRST house at 24 (unmarried!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hi there! I bought my first house at 24, all on my own as a single, unmarried woman! There’s so much I’ve learned along the way. So, I’m here to share my journey with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Part 1 of my series, where I dive into the nitty-gritty of costs and expenses related to buying a house. \ud83c\udfe0\u2728<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Singapore, if you’re under 35 and unmarried, HDB isn’t an option. That left me with private property as my only choice. Here\u2019s a detailed breakdown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1% Deposit for OTP: This is the Option to Purchase, which is a commitment fee and needs to be paid in cash. This was about $7,600 for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remaining at Completion: This can be paid via cash, your CPF savings, or a combination of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimum 25% Downpayment: With the loan capped at a maximum of 75% Loan-To-Value (LTV), I had to pay at least 5% in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, my downpayment was $190k. As I was still relatively young, I didn’t have sufficient money in my CPF. I paid about $120k in cash with the rest from my CPF. If your CPF has sufficient funds, you simply need to pay $38k in cash, and the rest can be covered by your CPF OA account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stamp Duty: A tiered tax based on the property\u2019s purchase price – 1% for the first $180k, 2% for the next $180k, and so on. This was about $17.4k for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawyer Fees: These can vary, but I ended up paying around $1,800 for legal services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, I paid about $209.2k (of which, $139.2k was cash) just for the bare unit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you get your house, be prepared for the expenses to really ramp up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Commonly Overlooked Costs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deposits & Equipment: For a private property, the residential utility deposit starts from $150. Plus, essential equipment like washing machines and fridge can quickly become significant expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One-Time Expenditures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reno on a Budget: I managed to all my renovation costs, furniture, and household equipment under $20k.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitchen Overhaul: About $4k went into tearing down existing kitchen cabinets and installing new ones, along with a sink, tap, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bathroom Refresh: Spent $1k to replace toilet bowls, taps, the vanity, and do epoxy painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furniture & Equipment: I allocated $8-10k for furniture, with the rest spent on various home equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Budgeting Tip: Prioritize what you need. It’s perfectly fine to acquire things gradually. For instance, I initially bought an air fryer and a pressure cooker, but later, a NinjaFoodi replaced both, which would have saved me both money and space if I had waited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing my grand total to $159.2k cash \ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Typical Monthly Expenses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water Bill: About $20 a month for me.
Electricity: Approximately $100 a month.
WiFi: Roughly $40 a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embarking on this journey as a young, single person has been challenging but rewarding. \ud83c\udf1f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to know more about my homeownership journey or have specific questions? Drop them in the comments, and stay tuned for the next part of this series!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi there! I bought my first house at 24, all on my own as a single, unmarried woman! There’s so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33,"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hweeshin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}