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● Sometime last year, my family and I moved  . As we were about to engage a property agent for our HDB flat purchase, I met a friend and told him about our plans. This was a turning point, as my friend strongly advised us to buy an HDB flat without an agent and save on the . Although one per cent may not seem like a lot, hear me out. To get an idea of how much you can save, I took the average of the in all the towns for Q1 2024. which means that you will save about in property agent commission fees. Imagine Intrigued by his proposition, I researched the whole process and found that I was not alone. According to or buying and selling their HDB without property agents. This upward trend will likely continue with the launch of the . However, fair warning: You will have to put a lot of time and energy into this process. If you are still not deterred, here is a beginner-friendly step-by-step guide to buying an HDB resale flat without a property agent! regulate or set guidelines for commission rates. This allows the market to drive competitive pricing in the industry. The fee you pay property agents is a percentage of the transaction price of the flat for their services. For HDB resale flats, the usually pays about to the agent while the When you decide to forgo a property agent, you will forfeit the services a good agent provides: Without further ado, let’s dive into the process! Your journey to buying an HDB resale flat without a wizened property agent’s help starts with applying for an letter on to comprehensively understand your housing and financing options before starting your home-buying journey. This letter will provide upfront information about your eligibility to purchase a new or resale flat and the CPF housing grants and HDB housing loan amounts you qualify for. You can also request an In-Principle Approval (IPA) from participating financial institutions when you apply for the HFE letter. Applicant(s) need to fulfil the following criteria: But, the most straightforward way to check this is to apply for an HFE letter Once registration is complete, you can see if you are eligible to buy an HDB resale flat, which grants you can get, or whether you can apply for an HDB concessionary housing loan. The processing time for the HFE letter is approximately one month after HDB receives all the necessary information and documents. Due to high application volumes, processing may take longer before and during a sales launch month. You will receive an SMS notification once the outcome is available. If you plan to purchase a flat, applying for the HFE letter early is advisable. In addition, Your registered Intent to Buy is  . The next step is to determine what kind of and budget accordingly: You will also need to consider: You must use cash for the following payments: Please note that if you take a second HDB loan to buy a resale flat, you must use part of the cash proceeds from selling your current or previous flat. This amount will be deducted from your second HDB loan. Additionally, you will need cash for other expenses, such as furnishings, renovations, and various costs and fees, including: Your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) savings can be utilised for: However, there is a cap on the total amount of CPF savings you can use for your flat purchase. Once this limit is reached, you must pay the remaining amount in cash. If you opt for an HDB loan, you have the option to retain up to $20,000 in your OA. The rest of the CPF OA balance must be used for the flat purchase before securing the HDB loan. As of and/or monthly mortgage instalments depends on whether the remaining lease of the flat can cover the youngest buyer until they reach the age of 95: The amount of CPF that can be used depends on whether the remaining lease can cover the youngest buyer until age 95: This change will help buyers set aside CPF savings for their housing needs during retirement (e.g. a replacement property). With the update,  can be used if the property’s  . If you want to find out how much CPF savings you can use for your resale flat, check out this ! Once you have nailed down your budget, you can look for the flat of your dreams. You can find property listings from the numerous online property portals like: Also, the best part about buying a resale flat (compared to a BTO flat) is the freedom. You can choose from any flat on the island — within your budget of course. Here are some things you need to consider: For this step, your time will be spent doing property viewings. When inspecting the resale flat, you will need to look out for things like: You must also inform your seller that an agent does not represent you. Generally, the prices you see on Singapore property listings are negotiable, so do not be afraid to bargain armed with the recent  in the location you are keen on. These prices reflect the market conditions at the time of the transactions. You may refer to them to set your offer price. Once you and the seller agree on the price, you can make an offer to the seller, who will offer you an : The OTP is a legally binding contract between you and the seller which guarantees your right to purchase the HDB flat at the agreed-upon price. For the next 21 days, the seller cannot sell the unit to anyone else. You can then sign the Option to Purchase (OTP), which the seller should print out. You must also pay the option fee to ‘book’ the flat. The  Do note that once you have paid the option fee, you are obliged to exercise the OTP within 21 days, as the if the OTP is not exercised. If you do not exercise the OTP, the seller can sell the flat to anyone else after 21 days. The next step would be to submit a request for value of the flat you are buying online on the You should do this one working day after the Option Date (found on the OTP). Do note that the whole home valuation process will take five to seven working days after submitting the Request For Value. However, you can skip this step if you are not utilising your CPF savings or any housing loan to finance the flat purchase. The next step would be to exercise the OTP and pay the exercise fee which should not be more than . Note: If you applied for an IPA for your bank home loan while requesting the HFE letter, you can convert the IPA into an LO at this stage before exercising the OTP during the Option Period. The next step is for both parties to . This is a contractual agreement between you and the seller. The timeframe can be extended with mutual consent. According to HDB, both buyers and sellers will need to: This is a contractual term between you and the sellers. Any variation requires the mutual agreement of both parties A resale application is considered complete only when the HDB receives both the buyers’ and sellers’ parts of the resale application along with the required supporting documents. If not, the application will expire, requiring both parties to start over and pay the application fees again. These fees are non-refundable. You are almost there! Upon receiving a complete resale application along with all supporting documents from both the buyers and sellers, HDB will verify the eligibility of both parties and accept the resale application within 28 working days. HDB will then prepare the necessary documents for endorsement by both parties, which will be ready approximately three weeks after the application is accepted. Both the buyers and sellers must acknowledge and endorse the resale documents and pay the required fees. Once the documents are endorsed and the fees are paid, HDB will grant an for the resale transaction. The resale completion typically occurs around 8 weeks from the date HDB accepts the resale application, which is the earliest possible completion date. If you need to delay the completion, discuss this with the sellers and provide written confirmation (signed by both parties) via MyRequest@HDB. After this, HDB will arrange a . Both buyers and sellers will receive SMS notifications regarding the appointment, and the details can also be accessed by logging into My Flat Dashboard. The seller will then hand over the keys to the flat. And there you have it, you have successfully bought an HDB flat all by yourself. Congratulations! 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