HOME for Simon Ang’s family of seven, spanning three generations, is a three storey terrace house along Jalan Rindu near Bartley MRT station. Simon and his wife paid S$1.82 million for the property in August 2017, with close to 75 years left on the property’s 99- year lease.
1) Affordability and Size (Price Difference between 99 years and freehold)
He paid S$1.82m for the Jalan Rindu property to house his family of seven. Ang estimates that a comparable property across the road with a similar site area, but freehold tenure, would have cost about S$2.6 million at the time.
Rather than spring a fortune for a freehold property, the couple decided they could overcome the “stigma” relating to lease decay for 99-year landed properties.
“We would have loved to have a freehold home, but my immediate concerns were more about affordability and size. We needed a lot of bedrooms,” Ang said. “For the same budget, we could have bought a freehold house with a much smaller land size – maybe 1,600 square feet (sq ft)- but that would not have catered to our space requirements.”
“My most important consideration was that I did not want to overstretch myself by taking a massive mortgage and having difficulty paying it off. We are now seeing the dangers of this amid rising interest rates.”
Today, the Jalan Rindu house with a balance lease of 69.5 years under his wife’s name.
2) Challenges of Lease Decay for a 99-year Landed
The couple is open to selling the property if they can get a reasonable price. Still, Ang is cognisant of the challenges facing potential buyers: “The loan quan tum that a bank would grant for this pur chase may not be that big due to the shorter balance lease; so a buyer would.
3) Renovations
The couple spent nearly S$100,000 renovating the property, including replacing all the toilets.
Renovation cost Varies depending on the family’s needs.
The couple took advantage of the relatively large site area of 2,174 sq ft of the intermediate terrace house to boost the property’s count of five bedrooms by creating a granny room.
4) Location Upside Potential
“Paya Lebar Airbase is nearby. When it relocated in the 2030s, I believe the plot ratio in the surrounding areas, including Jalan Rindu, may be adjusted upwards accordingly,”
5) Rent Out as a Co-living Space. (Or Multi-Generation House)
“What is beautiful about co-living, as a landlord, is that you enjoy a higher rate of return than renting out the whole house to one family. I know the market for co-living, and this location has its plus points.”
The Jalan Rindu house is about 250 metres from Bartley station, which is one stop from Serangoon station, where Nex mall is.
6) Will they be able to sell the Property in Future?
“Even though a 99-year landed residential property may not be so saleable as the lease runs down, one can spruce it up and rent it out to generate passive income. In a way, this helps to recoup what you have paid for the house,” said Ang, 56, a forex trader.
Ang said the couple are “happy” to keep the house if they cannot sell it.
“Our three children are in their 20s in 10 years. Hopefully, they
would be out on their own, getting their flats. And I won’t need such a big house after that. My wife and I could move into an apartment, and then we would probably rent out this entire three-storey house as a co-living offering.
7) Collective Sale of Stretch of 99-Year Landed Tenure.
Not Ruling out the possibilities, There is still possibilty the potential for a collective sale for the stretch of 99-year leasehold terrace houses.
The land price will also depend on the URA land zoning and plot ratio, whether it is a two-storey Mix Zone or 3 Storey Mix Zone.
Of course, URA would need the consent of all owners for an en bloc sale involving a row of landed properties. And there is no certainty the state would agree to top up the combined site’s land lease to 99 years for a developer keen on redeveloping the site.
“It’s not a guarantee that URA can make an en bloc sale here, but this is a possibility that all the owners can come together to explore.”
Lastly, for home buyers looking for the landed estates which is 99 year here are some choices.
Villa Verde ( 99 years from 1997)
Poh Huat Terrace ( 99 years from1996)
Almond Crescent. ( 99 years from1994)
Presenting Our Home Tour at Almond Crescent
Reference: _BT_Simon says – ‘Here’s why I bought a 99-year terrace house
