HDB Tips101: Application procedure for (BTO) Build-to Order Flats

Hi bloggies,

I’ve got quite a handful of friends who kept asking me on BTO and the procedure itself … i’ll try to give as much advise, although I’m not an expert for property or even a Real Estate Agent… so to make my life easier.. you can actually read this… and only if you got some question you can ask me in my facebook..Do note that I’m just doing this free willingly in a hope to help others out there who got no clue or any idea on how to get their dream home into reality. I’m gonna use my own personal experience so that you can compare too.

My fiance and i recently applied BTO in the early 2011 for the very first time.. and to our surprised we got the queue number few months after. (*NOTE THAT THE QUEUE NUMBER DOESN’T REALLY MATTER MUCH AS LONG AS YOU GOT IN THE QUEUE UNLESS YOU ARE THE FIRST LUCKY COUPLE, simply because it doesn’t follow the queue number, during our time to select our unit there’s actually 44 flats left avail for us!)

In Singapore, first time buyers can only buy their FLATS with HDB ( Housing Development Board of Singapore) authorisity and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development to sell affordable homes to Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. *terms and condition apply visit their website: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/  for more detail info and procedure.

But before you even think of applying, please consider these followings: Especially if you are applying under the Fiance / Fiancee scheme.

1. Minimum combine CPF $30,000
2. 1year of working experience in the same company
3. Both couple Must not! i repeat! Must not exceed combine gross salary! i say GROSS SALARY INCOME of SGD$8,000
4. Never been married or annul.
5. Eligible age and last but not least
6. if YOU BOTH ARE REALLY, REALLY SURE HE/SHE IS THE ONE FOR YOU! (cos once signed the agreement, there’s no turning back!)

<ok i lied, if any chances by God’s will or if fate is not meant for you guys to be together, you can actually download a form from the HDB website to apply, i mean, to cancel you flats. There’s two type, if you cancel it before the signing of AOL, you will not get back the $2000 option fee only… but IF you’ved signed the AOL and paid the down payment, HDB will absorb the option fee and also 25% of the down payment fee, in which you will not get back the full amount And subject to consideration case by case basis…very LECEH!)

soo since you already have all these figure out… pretty much is all about PLANNING! Plan! Plan! and Strategise your Plan!!

Every month there will be few selected flats in different area that has been offered by HDB, so what are you waiting for?

Waiting for a flat near your parents home? or near the central area? Well, you have to wait very long for that to happen, unless you are very lucky that particular month it is very near your parents home. But lightning sometimes, strikes once only.

Now… once you cleared which area you are open to apply with, its all about the flat itself.

• Step1- Both couples must have a mutual agreement on which flats that they consider to choose from..

(note: i advise that you and partner do a survey on past BTO and ask around to get others feedback; especially individual parents. But not everyone is correct, for us, we don’t really ask our parents advise cos its our home and we know what’s best for us in the end.)

Be open. Singapore is small country so it’s okay if we don’t get near our parents. Its harder to get the $30,000 grant cos if everyone choose near their parents, the value of the total sale of the flat will be cheaper… *winks*

• Step2- BTO application available  Online only!! it takes 15- 20 minutes to complete.
• Step3- after 2-3 months (depending), HDB agent will call you or your partner for a flat selection date to confirmed. But you can also log in (HDB website) to check for your queue number using your NRIC and the given reference number
• Step4- Please examine your flat location. Mature estates might not get the best prime location, however newer estates there is a higher chances of getting a good location. Do note that the structure of older estates and new estates are different, there might not have a lot of accommodation around.. but same goes in the mature estates 10-15 years back

BTO march 2011

BTO Name of Flat: Fernvale Garden

• CHOOSING YOUR IDEAL BEST UNIT
• 

Application status

Image taken via google search, not the finalised figure.

• Step5- you might not get your dream flats but always prepare a backup plan. if you dont get the highest floor, do consider the design of the flats ( cos some couple wants their kitchen to be enclosed or bigger living room etc), some would prefer where it is facing (dont like to face the morning/afternoon sun or no heavy wind as it was block from other available flats), feng shui does count to some individual, near lifts ( easy to move around), corner area ( quiet, less noise), near refused chute (it might be very smelly when the waste truck come and collect those rubbish especially lower level flats), carpark ( it might be very noisy if those car alarms went off), near playgrounds, near grocery store or LRT or Bustops etc…

we didn’t get our ideal unit.. but our queue number was 171 and we have about 44 flats left to choose from despite our number being the second last, (171/172 *note there are 1401 applicants that applied the same BTO as ours) but we find that a particular unit #17-171, attracts us the most as it is similar to our queue number… finally we choose it on top of considering everything else mention above. (we tried to get someone to buy 4D on that day but it only came out consolation price on the following day..missed it!)

BTO interior design

• Step 6- DONT BE CHOOSY!  first time buyers only given 2 times to reject their offer, after which they have to wait another 1 yr to  be able to apply again.
• Step 7- Once you are over and done with step 5, its all about the money matters.
• Step 8- PLEASE prepare $2,000 cash or cheque or Nets once you finalised your flat selection. Payments are made ON THE VERY SAME DAY YOU SELECT YOUR FLATS! WHICH MEAN, ONCE YOU APPLIED YOUR BTO ONLINE, WITHIN THE GRACE PERIOD WHILE WAITING FOR YOUR QUEUE NUMBER, PLEASE STANDBY THE MONEY. MONEY NO RETURNS IF LATER YOU REJECT! ITS CALL OPTION FEE. Payment to be done at level 3 HDB Toa Payoh Hub.
• Step 9- the Housing officer will validate all your documents and necessary letters before they can even process it. If you are qualify to apply the Additional Grant, they will need your past pay slip, employment letter, CPF statement from the past 1year; at the same time, application for the Housing loan will also be carried together. (note: only application, not final approval!)
• if both couple exceed the gross salary $4000, the most you can get is only$5000 additional grant. But you have to declare everything since they will check entirely.
• within 2 weeks, you need to submit those missing documents that the officer requires you to produce and to drop it at the HDB Toa Payoh Hub near Taxi Stand drop-bin chute  for application to the Sales Department. NOT SINGPOST! usually the HLE form and the Additional housing grant form.

• Step 10- the waiting game, after 4-5 months, they will call back to let you and your partner sign the Agreement Lease. A letter will be sent to your stated current address informing the date, do note that they will give you a 2 week grace period if any chance the original date you are unable to attend. Failure to do so will result to lost of your slot. They will also mailed separately the approved additional grant.

In which it will be transferred directly to your CPF account. You’ll never see those monies physically. Plus, once signed, they will returned back the option fee monies (ours was $2000) which will be credited to your bank account therefore must bring your bank book on the day you signed your AOL! this will take about 4 weeks, actually we got it less than that, 3 weeks to be exact. NOTE:  You’ll get it cash only if the applicant CPF is enough to deduct 5% or 10% for THE FIRST down payment. ELSE THEY WILL CREDITED THOSE AMOUNT DIRECTLY TO YOUR CPF ACCOUNT TO OFFSET TOGETHER FOR YOUR DOWN PAYMENTS.

• Step 11- from there.. you just have to wait for 5 years to get the keys, 4 years to see it completed, (in which you need to get ready a copy of your Marriage Certificate to be submitted to the Head office) >> PS, note that those are estimated time, once you meet your officer incharge, during the Signing of the Agreement Lease (AOL), they will mention to you the exact year and month of completion. (which is actual 2.5yrs time for us)

our AOL queue no.

• Upon you collection of keys, do note there’s alot of things to be done… like determine the years of your loan.. ( i suggest 20 years although monthly you’ll be paying more but you save the years from paying those heavy interest, plus in that 20yrs your children will be at the stage where they need heavy financial support for degree, marriage etc. so there’s much to consider.), getting the interior designer, if you didnt sign up for the optional scheme for the door and flooring in the living room to be done it will not be suitable for a walk-in living condition once you get the keys, ooh, you still need to get the kitchen done, wirings and cable connections such as Starhub TV points or telephone lines… gas services.. etc
• for more info you can also check it yourself from the HDB website: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/

BTO flats

So what are you waiting for now? GO AND APPLY NOW! thinking of applying open market? unless you got the amount of money (which is a very large sum to pay upfront) else dont even think about it.

Just go and save for your weddings, and also do a little survey on the type of interior designs that you and partner want for  your future flat.

NOTE:

*  that the design of the flat does not consist of interior flooring for living room and bedroom, as it is optional.

*  that when you google on the location it will not show the current updated map. even via satelite. You need to visit the actually site for yourself to get a good view of how it might look like. and to do a little background checking of the neighbourhood itself.

original site for Fernvale Garden

* that even if your flat or BTO place are abit pricier, it might or might not be the best bet.

* CHECK FACEBOOK GROUP FOR YOUR BTO FLAT, SINCE EVERYONE IS EXCITED AS YOU, TO KNOW WHO IS THEIR FUTURE NEIGHBOUR is. THOSE GROUP ARE SETUP BY THEIR VERY OWN RESIDENT WHO APPLY THE BTO .. IF YOUR BTO HASN’T HAVE ANY, GO AND SET UP ONE. least you know what to expect. Flats selection also available online to know which units have been taken up as well.. so BTO-ian will get a rough idea which floor already has been taken up.

* 3D model and interior design of the flat will be available at the HDB Toa Payoh Hub for viewing once the flat selection process started.

interior layout of the flat

3D model design

So if you just randomly walk and interested on those model flats.. guess what, those flats are already up for grasp.

So Plan early if you havent got any idea on where to choose cos, seriously Singapore has a limited land..so if you missed this month chance, there might not be another chance on the same location especially in a mature estates.

Lastly, get your pen and paper ready, calculator standby! and go click the HDB website to apply: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/

I hope my tips helps to all the newbie out there…. I’ll try to update more if i could …cos seriously right now i think faster than i type.. so i’m out of words already… =/

ooh…there are some who applied so many times but never even got a queue number before.. so if you have.. consider yourself lucky

Have a great weekend to all

and HappyPlanning!!

with Love!

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