2nd Property Plan Check
“Rental will pay for our 2nd property. But what if the tenant leaves?”
Before you start viewings, check this: can each of you pay your own loan, even with no tenant?
Before any viewing, we check 3 things:
The check is free. I reply to every message myself, usually the same day. Or leave your number below.
Why two homes
You both work. Everything you’ve built sits in one home that pays you nothing.
Two salaries, one loan, 25 years. When you’re old, you don’t want your children paying for you. But your money is in the home you live in. The only way to reach it is to sell and move down.
So why don’t more couples buy a second one? Because they own the first one together. A second home in both names means 20% extra stamp duty. On a S$1.2M condo, that’s S$240,000.
The other way: one home each.
- One in his name, one in hers. Each of you buys as a first-time owner, so neither of you pays the 20%.
- Selling your HDB? Then there’s nothing to decouple. Once the sale completes, you each buy one.
- You live in one. Your tenant’s rent pays most of the other one’s loan.
- Start early. The earlier you start, the more of that loan your tenant pays before 65.
- When the market rises, two homes rise with it, not one.
| When you retire | One home, both names | One home each |
|---|---|---|
| What you own | One smaller home | Two homes |
| Where you live | Sell and move down | Stay in your home |
| Retirement money | What’s left after the sale | A second home, paid off |
| Who paid it off | You | Mostly your tenant |
At 65, you choose: keep collecting the rent, sell it for cash, or pass it on to your children.
Since 1990, living costs are 1.9 times what they were. Private home prices are 5.1 times.
Your costs keep rising after you stop work. Over these 36 years, private homes rose faster. But only owners who could hold through the dips got the gain. Your tenant is what lets you hold.
The three big dips, and how long prices took to get back:
See the numbers
| Quarter | Private homes | Cost of living |
|---|
The catch: each of you has to carry your own loan, on your own salary. That’s the first thing the check works out.
Who this is for, and who it isn't
This is for you if
This isn't for you if
How we got S$7,810 to S$9,610: that's what one person needs to pass the bank's salary test for a S$900,000 loan (a S$1.2M condo, the bank lends 75%). The bank tests you at 4%, with no other debts. Bonuses and commission only count partly.
| Age | Loan length | Monthly salary needed |
|---|
What you're probably thinking
A 2nd property is the biggest cheque you'll write after your first home. Here's what most couples ask me first.
They had doubts too, before they messaged
Retiring on property works. Here’s what it took.
One man retired at 51 on his properties. One couple is five years out with two homes and a strong hand. Both built it while their salaries could carry the loans. That window is open for you now.
Couples who've sat at this table
What you risk by messaging: nothing
The Walk-Away Promise
Heikal Shafrudin, PropNex Realty, CEA Reg No. R016820G
Why this check, and not the one at the showflat
Run the 2nd Property Plan Check
The check is free. WhatsApp me, and I'll ask for a few round numbers there. Then on a 30-minute call, with both of you, I show you straight whether the numbers work. The decision is yours. No rush, no pressure.
Run my check on WhatsAppOpens WhatsApp to +65 9270 9040. I reply myself.
Missed the end of the video? Watch it here.
My own decoupling bill
S$5,622.36
Gone for good, before we knew what we'd buy. I sold my 1% of our condo to my wife for S$17,500. Real money, with proof sent to the bank.
What I paid
Money that moved, but is still ours
The CPF that goes back is the CPF you used on the home, plus interest. It goes into your CPF account, not your pocket. You can't use it for the 5% cash, the option fee or renovation.
Bought your condo in the last few years? Selling a share to your spouse may mean Seller's Stamp Duty on top. That's why the form asks when you bought.
After this, it's two homes, two loans, one salary each. Can each of you pay your loan on your own?
Figures from my signed sale and purchase agreement, IRAS stamp certificate, the old bank's redemption statement, and the new bank's letter of offer.
What you top up each month, at today's rate
S$371 a month
The video used 1.5%, so it showed S$305. At today's 1.65%, it's S$371.
Each month
Your first year
Your tenant is your 3rd income. But only while there's a tenant, and only while each of you can cover the gap.
No tenant: S$0 coming in, S$4,071 going out. Every month. On top of the home you live in.
A 30-year loan is for buyers 35 or under. Older means a shorter loan and a higher monthly. At 40, on a 25-year loan: about S$3,663 a month, so you top up about S$863.
The bank approves the loan using a 4% test rate, not what you actually pay. Rent, tax, condo fees and agent fee are the video's example numbers, not quotes.
24 condos, bought around 2019, sold in 2024
2.5x
Resale made about 2.5 times more cash profit than new launch, for about the same price (middle result).
| Resale | New launch | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash profit (middle result) | S$436,171 | S$173,011 |
| Price paid | S$1,034,000 | S$1,001,500 |
| Size | 1,184 sqft | 689 sqft |
| Bedrooms | 3 | 2 |
| Rent collected | S$202,176 | S$43,440 |
| Months with a tenant | 63 | 13 |
Same money, 72% more space. More rooms, more rent, from the first month. The new launch was still being built until year 4.
The new launch that came closest
It's not really old vs new. It's size.
One question to ask at the showflat: for the same price, what can I get on resale?
Middle result of each condo's middle result. Each number is its own middle result, so columns don't add up. Bought Aug 2018 to Dec 2019, S$900,000 to S$1.2M, sold in 2024. 17 resale and 7 new launch, all outside the city centre (OCR). Assumes the bank lends 75% over 30 years, paid out in stages for new launches, using actual rates. After tax, condo fees, months with no tenant, and selling costs. Before extra stamp duty (ABSD). Source: URA caveats via Square Foot Research. Past results don't tell you what will happen next.
What changed after he bought
2011
The year extra stamp duty on a 2nd home started. Before that, there was none.
He didn't beat the rules. He got in before them.
3 ways couples do it today
Way 1Two private properties
Where most 2nd-property plans end up today.
Way 2Keep your HDB, buy overseas
Your flat must be past MOP. You can't use CPF overseas. I only advise on the Singapore side.
Way 3Upgrade together, decouple later
Step by step, not all at once. This is the route we're on. Decoupling cost us S$5,622.36, gone for good. Plus S$10,860.87 that went back to my CPF, not my pocket.
Two kinds of leverage
Leverage works for you. Until the month there's no tenant.
Leverage means using the bank's money to buy more than your own money can.
S$1.2M
What S$300,000 can buy you in a property purchase. In shares and stocks, S$300,000 buys you just S$300,000.
Leverage #2: the tenant. They pay rent, and it pays most of the loan. You build equity.
No tenant? All on you.
So the home must suit two target audiences: a tenant who wants to live there now, and a buyer who wants to buy it from you later.
The loan above assumes 30 years, for buyers 35 or under. Older means a shorter loan and a higher monthly.
I've started this myself. I've decoupled, and we're aiming for our second home in 2027. Decoupling cost us S$5,622.36, paid before we knew what we'd buy.