Renting House or Apartment in Singapore : Some tips!

If you are renting a apartment or house in Singapore, you would find this post useful..hopefully! ..Also by writing this post I want to attract more readers to share their experience while renting flat in Singapore. By doing this many people who are new to Singapore will get to understand how the flat rental process works in Singapore.

• In most of the cases you have to find a good Agent(Individual or Company)
• Try to reach to your friends or colleagues to get reference for a good Agent/Broker to find a flat for you.
• Decide in advance about the Rent you are comfortable to pay for a flat in Singapore. Keep 5-10% tolerance in case you find something too good!
• Be clear in your mind about HDB, Condo and Landed Property facilities. This helps you narrow down your search. There is no point in searching both HDB and Condo.
• Only rent an approved unit with stamped agreement in place.
• Have frank and open discussions with your agent to avoid any trouble later during finalization of the deal for rent.
• Use Google Map and narrow down on the area in which you would like to rent a flat. Anything between 45-60 mins of commute is normal in Singapore!
• Look for these facilities near to your flat:
• MRT Station should not be more than 3-4 bus stops away
• Bus Stop should be near by
• If you have kids make sure that school is not too far - Specially you are planning to put your kid in Indian International School, you need to make choice of school first and then decide in which area you would like the flat to be.
• Make sure that you view at least 5-6 flats in the same area before you make a final decision.
• Do not make hasty attempt to finalize something just in case Agent/Broker is pressurizing that this the Best you can get!
• There are ample flats(both HDB and Condo) in Singapore and no need to hurry.
• Make sure that you understand the terms and conditions in the contract. If any doubt take your time and take help of someone who understands the contract.
• General guideline is that if you are doing 6 months contract you need to pay 6 months rent in advance. If 12 months contract, 1 month rent in advance. You need to pay 2 months of rent in advance to owner if you are going for 2 years contract.
• Please check all the details(furniture, lighting, electronics, fittings, fridge, TV etc) before you finalize the deal and contract. Make sure to click a photograph of the flat in detail for your and owners records.
• As far as possible do not pay any money to either owner or agent in cash. Use Cheque (if you have a savings account, you can always order Cashier's Order from Bank) or Bank Transfer.
• Do not pay more rent in advance than it is normally given. e.g. if you are renting for 12 months, pay only 1 month rent as advance deposit. Do not pay more than that even if the owner is ready to lower the monthly rent. If you feel that you are being cheated or asked for more money just back out from the deal and look out for another flat.

I can't think of anything else at this point. Hopefully my readers will add some more points. I will add some more if I think through.

enjoy
Sandeep


Search Words : Singapore flat rental , Singapore house rental , Tips for renting flat in Singapore , House rental in Singapore , Information about renting house in Singapore

Suze Orman's New Book : 2009 Action Plan : Available for FREE download! ..Hurry!

I just read on the Blog My Wealth Builder whom I have been following since he started blogging. I have read Suze Orman's book earlier and they are great. I have only read one book of her : Th e Road to Wealth.

I believe that she has good advice for all kind of people. But as everybody says one needs to follow extra caution before exercising any action plan given by anybody. Please consult your financial adviser before taking decision on your financial matters.

2009 Action Plan sounds good heading and timely book on Personal Finance :) Once I read it I will post my opinion about it.

Please do hurry as the offer to download the book is till January 15th 2009 only!

Happy New Year 2009!

I wish a very Happy New Year 2009! to all my readers. 2008 was wonderful and eventful year. It was great blogging in 2008 and will continue to do so in 2009 to help my readers. In 2008 I did more posts than I did in 2007!.

In 2008 I started responding to the questions of readers with my "Readers Mailbag" series. It was good experience for me to try that and I hope I will continue to do so in this year too. There are many more posts are pending from my side which I though I will write in last 1 month, but did not get ample time to start with!.

So my resolution or wish list of this year is to write more frequently and try to write on more subjects which will help people around the world!. So watch out for my first post in 2009 soon!

Appreciate your comments as always. Please let me know if you need any specific information about Cost of living in Singapore, Jobs, Travel, Attractions etc..I will always try to provide my opinion to help others.

cheers and enjoy 2009!
-Sandeep