Everyone's journey to home ownership in Singapore is different, and recently, a couple shared how they managed to buy a four-room resale flat in their early twenties.

In a TikTok video uploaded by user Venus on Wednesday (Jan 10), the 21-year-old shared her and her 22-year-old husband's experience in getting their home without financial help from their families.

At the start of her video, she mentioned: "Disclaimer: My experience might not be applicable to everyone because it's a very specific set of circumstances that allowed us to be in this position."

After trying and failing to get a flat from SBF (Sale of Balance Flat) sales launches, the couple turned to resale flats. They got their resale completion appointment at HDB in May 2022, started renovating in August that year and moved into their new home in October.

Maximise the grants provided

At the time of their application, Venus and her husband were aged 21 earning a lower income, giving them an "advantage" of maximising their housing grants and "forcing" them to take the smaller loan amount from HDB.

The couple shared how timing played a part as they didn't want to wait any longer to apply for the grants due to how it can affect the size of the loan.

"If we waited any longer and applied now, for example, the grants we could take would be significantly less and we'll be forced to take a bigger loan to finance our house!"

She added that this was the reason why they wanted to get their flat before any pay increments and work promotions. 

When their salaries later increased, there isn't a need to fork out any cash for their monthly CPF loan repayments anymore as their CPF contributions are enough to cover the payments.

Venus said she worked part-time from the age of 16, before moving to full-time work after getting her diploma at Ngee Ann Polytechnic at age 19. This meant she had a "small amount" in her CPF Ordinary Account to tap on. 

Her husband attended school at ITE for two years at age 16, enlisted from age 18 to 20 and started working full-time after completing his National Service.

Having a stable income at the time of application, they managed to provide the necessary documents for their Home Loan Eligibility and HDB grants.

Venus said they received $90,000 in housing grants and they had $20,000 in their CPF accounts. The flat cost around $435,000.

Saving money

As they started work at a young age, Venus and her husband managed to save up money which they used for their home renovations.

"When my husband started working, he literally saved like half of his take-home pay." She added that within one to two years, they managed to save a substantial amount.

Venus shared that another way they managed to save money was to stay with her in-laws during the first year of their marriage.

The "cherry on top" was when their wedding cost no more than $10,000 with half of the cost covered by her parents. They then spent their one-week honeymoon at a staycation due to the then Covid-19 restriction where no travelling was allowed, allowing them to save money.

While their journey may not be applicable to everyone, netizens were quick to praise the couple for achieving home ownership at such a young age. One netizen also praised her for sharing her journey on the platform for others to learn.

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crystal.tan@asiaone.com

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