It’s tough, but definitely doable.
Creating your dream home involves many considerations: searching for a suitable location, finding renovation inspiration online… and, of course, planning your finances. After all, purchasing a home is perhaps one of the biggest expenses Singaporeans face.
The most straightforward option to finance your home is, of course, to use the funds in your CPF Ordinary Account (OA). But when these funds are also part of your retirement nest egg, the question is: how do you strike a balance between the two?
In this piece, three homeowners who’ve purchased their own home share their experiences with us – including important budgeting considerations, key decisions they took, and words of advice for future homeowners.
Hafiz (30) & Atiqah (32), first time homeowners of a Sale of Balance flat in Yishun
About themselves and their home:
Hafiz (left) and Atiqah (right)
Hafiz: Everything happened quite fast. After we got engaged in October 2020, we applied for a Sale of Balance Flat (SBF) in November 2020. We thought [an SBF flat] was the best option for us, since we were looking for an option that was fast, yet still affordable. Waiting for a BTO flat will take years, and resale flats are more expensive.
One and a half months after our SBF application, we were told that we were successful. We then got married in late 2021, and in 2022, we welcomed our first child. As a lot of things were happening at the same time, we had to be careful in budgeting for our house purchase and renovation.
As you can imagine, it was quite hectic. We haven’t even had the time to go on our honeymoon!
Financing their house purchase and renovation:
Hafiz: My home ownership experience was a little complicated. Before purchasing this house, I