Follow us on instagram for more pics: @bigtreeandkoala :)
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OUR HOME :)
written by Big Tree + Koala

Dear Friends,
Time flies.. We are at the age of getting house and getting married.. fret not if you are single.. your time will come! :) Many of my friends kept asking me to share about BTO application procedure.. and some of my friends and clients even ask me to advise them if their combine salary can afford a flat? So here's some of my advise based on my personal experience.. -In my opinion.. BTO is every Singaporean's privilege.. no matter how rich you are.. buy a BTO flat first! Is a good form of investment.. unless you hit the income ceiling.. 

My husband-to-be applied the house with me right after he graduate from NUS.. best decision ever! please don't wait till you hit income ceiling then apply for BTO.. moreover BTO usually take 3 - 4 years plus to build.. So maybe after dating for 1.5years to 2 years..you can start looking into BTO application.. provided your relationship is stable.. I have seen a few cases of friends giving up their BTO after applying.. quite sad though.. 

Are you Eligible for BTO?

1.   You must be a Singaporean or one of them must be Singaporean/PR 
2.   You must be at least 21 years old at the time of application 
3.   For 4 room and above, your combine average gross monthly household income must not exceed $10,000. For 3 room or below, your combine average gross monthly household income must not exceed $5,000


For more information on Eligibility Condition, Click > HERE

Procedures and how much to pay when applying?

1) Constantly look out for BTO launches
Normally HDB will have BTO sales launches every 2 months and they will announce it in the newspaper. You can also sign up for their HDB eAlert to automatically receive email/SMS alerts about HDB's sales launches.

When we saw May 2012 BTO launch, we were attracted by the Sengkang launch, because
a.   It is near the MRT
b.   It has 5-room
c.   As Big Tree (My Fiance)  lives in Sengkang, we have a higher chance in the ballot

2) You have to pay $10 for balloting
Please don't anyhow apply unless you really want the flat.. because if I am not wrong.. first timer your chance of getting the flat is higher because you have extra tickets for the balloting. But if you manage to get a queue number and you reject their offer twice, you will lost your first timer privilege.


3) Selection of flat and $2,000 Option Fee
Once you are successful in the ballot, HDB will send you an email on your queue number and the appointment date for selection of flat. HDB will also send you an A4 size letter on more details on the appointment and a booklet on the BTO project you have selected. 

On the day of appointment, you will select your preferred unit and then make a payment of $2000 option fee by NETS or cash only to book the unit.

And for us, our queue number for our Sengkang BTO is.... 10 (on 20th June 2012)!!! My husband-to-be was overjoyed when he received the email, he called me from Australia.. while I was in a salon cutting my hair -_-" I am so touched and I actually cried in the hair salon. The person cutting my hair got a huge shock.. -_-" hehe =X
Paiseh.. I too emotional.. because is a big step to our future :D

Our letter on the appointment for the selection of flat, and the booklet for our Sengkang BTO

Our appointment ticket with queue number 10.. We never once win a prize during lucky draw.. hehe. 
I think we accumulated all our luck over the years to get this queue number? :) Hahaha
We have been visiting Ikea ever since we get our queue number..hehe..
Typical Singaporean (Kiasu) couple..

4) Sign Sales Agreement and pay downpayment + Stamp duty and legal fees
After the appointment to book a flat, the next appointment will be to sign the the Agreement of Lease and to pay the downpayment.

For HDB loan, the downpayment will be 10% of the purchase price. You can use your CPF savings to make the downpayment. If you don't have enough CPF savings, you can pay 5% first and the other 5% when the flat is completed.


Note: You may request reimbursement of the option fee after you have paid the downpayment using your CPF savings.


5) Collection of key
We are looking forward to this day to come =) Our estimated completion date is 3 quarter of 2016.. After which we will share about HDB loan.. for HDB loan interest rate is fixed at 2.6% currently, Banks offer a lower interest rate but they are floating. Which means the interest rate banks charge depends on economic conditions. With HDB loan, you don't have to worry about interest rates rising. However, we are still looking at the pros and cons of each.. will decide and share with you here once we decide which loan to take.. 

-
Ok.. that's all for now.. We will have a post to show our future home building progress and our floor plan soon.. :)
A picture of us by AMusephotography before ending off this post :)
I just came back from Taiwan.. feeling very lethargic.. :(
Will collect the rest of the pics from AMusephotography soon.. and post it here
= )

Instagram: @BigTreeAndKoala

20 Responses so far.

  1. YuLing says:

    Thank you for sharing the step to step guide for bto application :-) very useful post!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for sharing (= when u showing ur hse floorplan?

  3. Anonymous says:

    u shld include stamp duty fee

  4. Anonymous says:

    Aww. Sweet and good looking couple.. have a blissful marriage =) so lucky to get q no. 10.

  5. Siew Lian says:

    Thanks for sharing! :)

  6. WeiShan says:

    Very weird.. pretty blogger like you have lesser followers on instagram compared to bimbo bloggers.. Keep updating :) You bf and you looks perfectly good together!

  7. passerby says:

    Short and sweet post! Thanks for sharing! Did anyone say you look very sweet when you smile? Your fiance is one lucky man!

  8. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for sharing! :D

  9. xuanning_87@gmail.com says:

    One sweet couple. Have a blissful marriage!

  10. Unknown says:

    Are you both working when you apply for bto?

  11. Anonymous says:

    Very pretty blogger..you have the sunshine smile :) love ur toned slim legs and pretty face..

  12. HuiShan Shinny says:

    Perfect! Thanks 4 sharing..

  13. Unknown says:

    Hi! I don't think if you stay near to a BTO location, your chance will be increased. That's only applicable to resale flats...

  14. Anonymous says:

    Well written!! Thanks for sharing bigtreeandkoala!

  15. Unknown says:

    Hi. For the eligibility for applying for the BTO, both must be 21?

  16. Anonymous says:

    You are eligible for the 5% downpayment (during signing of agreement) under the Staggered Downpayment Scheme only if you and your fiance/spouse are 1st timer and below age of 30yrs old OR if you have an existing flat and applying for a 2 or 3 room flat in non-mature estate. If cpf savings is not enough for the downpayment, have to top up by cash.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Good looking couple! Please share more tips on how to maintain a 8years relationship.

  18. Passerby says:

    Nice! Thanks!

  19. John and Tracy says:

    Lovely!! Share more tips for ur upcoming bto! Follow u on Instagram!

  20. Anonymous says:

    sorry for digging up such old post. but can i check with you, what do you mean by 'Note: You may request reimbursement of the option fee after you have paid the downpayment using your CPF savings.' isnt it a compulsory fees that is non refundable?

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