Hey Janyuan,
Your post really strikes a chord with me. I've been looking for resale flat for the past months. Decided not to waste my time balloting for BTOs. Tried for 2 years, our ridiculously long Q-no always never fail to kick us out of the race. I'm already in my early 30s and can't afford to wait. I've always been thinking, why can't there be more priorities for 1st-timers who are above a certain age group such as 30-33, more chances as the age group increases, who are trying to get married and have kids? I feel public housing is no longer affordable as they used to be. Whenever I view flats, most sellers are upgrading to condo. It's the sellers' market now and they try to earn as much cash as possible while the iron is still hot. I recently come across a 4-rm flat in a ulu part of Singapore asking for 50K cov, when the house condition is not that fantastic to start with! It's so difficult to own our 1st HDB home. I remembered our minister Mah ever said, if the cov is high, you can always walk away from the deal. But every seller is quoting a high COV, even a 2nd floor unit is asking for at least 5-digit figure. I am contemplating whether to start looking for a 3-rm resale flat instead, perhaps there's a chance of lower cov? Or should I seriously consider cramming together with my bf, his sister and both parents in their 3-rm flat. At least we will have a room to ourselves as his sister is occupying the utility room. Same here, there had been numerous quarrels with my other half over housing issues. Sometimes, I feel frustrated and find that getting married is such a chore...