You probably already know this, but property is expensive in Singapore. Homes can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands for HDB flats to millions of dollars for private condos and landed homes. So for many of us, buying a home is our biggest single expense and our home loan (or mortgage) repayments the biggest liability in our lives.
Let’s not talk about the Crazy Rich Asians. Say you’re an Average Joe: Even if you buy a modest under-500k HDB flat - assuming you take 75% to 90% in home loans to finance it - you’re looking at mortgage repayments of at least $1,200 each month (depending on the interest rate and tenure). Considering the median salary of Singaporeans is $4,563 (Ministry of Manpower, 2019), that’s about a quarter of our monthly income!
Most of us take decades to pay off this debt, but not Clara Lim, 34, and her husband, Jon Phay, 37. Yes, it’s not uncommon to hear of couples who pay off their homes by their mid-thirties, but what’s interesting is that unlike couples who marry early in their twenties and live frugally for the next 10 years, Clara and Jon actually only tied the knot and bought their Bishan HDB flat two years ago.
So how did the couple manage this feat at such a young age? After all, Clara and Jon both hold pretty average-earning jobs as a writer and engineer respectively.
Well, first of all, Clara and Jon most definitely didn’t save hundreds of thousands in two years. The saving up took place before they bought the property.
In fact, with their savings combined, they actually had just about enough to pay for their $468,000 resale flat in full at the point of purchase. They only took up a home loan because Jon wanted to utilise his CPF funds while he continued working.
Clara’s savings: $120,000
Jon’s savings: $80,000
Combined CPF OA: $191,000
CPF housing grants: $70,000
Given this, you’d expect that the couple must have spent their entire twenties staying home and eating cup noodles, but that was not the case.
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