2018 is the much-awaited year for me and my husband because it’s finally the time when we’ll be moving to our very first apartment. We are very excited for this major step of our life!
With everything so expensive, buying an HDB flat is inarguably the most affordable way to get a house in Singapore. However, getting one is no easy process. There is a long list of preparations, requirements, paperworks, and waiting time that we need to undertake in order to get our HDB flat.
We choose to buy through Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) because the waiting time is significantly shorter than buying through Build-To-Order (BTO). Instead of waiting for 3 years, we only need about 9 months from submitting the application to the day of collecting our key. As the consequences, we have fewer choices when it comes to choosing the flat than if we go through BTO, but it really doesn’t bother us. This is because the units are usually the leftover from the unsold units from BTO. Buying through SBF also means that we can’t choose the flooring or other complimentary finishing as it is already built.
The Timeline
Looking back, here’s the detailed timeline of how we get our HDB flat:
18 May 2017 – Submitted application
We applied to buy through SBF in HDB’s Sales Launch – May 2017. We had been constantly checking HDB website and Facebook page long beforehand to seek out as much information as possible about buying SBF.
The first thing we did was applying for an HDB Loan Eligibility (HLE) letter. It’s basically to submit our financial documents to HDB in order to check if we are eligible for housing loan.
After that, we prepared ourselves with other necessary documents and keep ourselves alerted to any updates from HDB. Most people who are interested in buying SBF had been anticipating the update as well so when HDB finally announced about this sales launch, we immediately went to their website and submitted our application right away.
When applying for SBF, we got to choose the type of our flat and the desired location, ours is 4-room flat.
11 July 2017 – Received notice about the application
After waited for about 2 months, we received a notice from HDB about the application through a letter. It mentioned that our application is now up for balloting process.
In the back of the letter, there is also information about the benefits that we can get as a first-timer applicant, the eligibility and the priority given for applying under the Married Child Priority Scheme (MPCS).
11 September 2017 – Received queue number
In another 2 months time, we received our queuing number via email. This queue number is the result of the balloting process.
In the email, they also told us that we will be noticed for our appointment date to select the flat in October.
10 October 2017 – Received notice on appointment date to select flat
After about a month, we received an email about appointment date and time to select the flat. Our appointment was scheduled on 16 November 2017.
We were also asked to login into their system to retrieve our appointment letter and some PDF files. The PDFs contain information about the available units that we can select, what documents to bring along, and also some forms to sign.
During this timing, we started flat-hunting. We made a list of our potential future flats and kept track on their availability until the day for us to select the flat came.
16 November 2017 – Selected the flat
And finally, on Thursday, 16 November 2017, we went to HDB Hub at Toa Payoh to choose our flat. Since we applied SBF under the MPCS (by choosing the flat near my husband’s parents’ home), we were required to bring parents along to present their original Identity Card (IC), marriage certificate, my husband’s birthday certificate and also to sign the declaration document.
Upon selecting the flats, we were told to wait within the next 4 months for another appointment to collect the key. We also received copies of our floor plan with the dimension details.
20 February 2018 – Key Collection
This is the time when we, at last, collect our key. It is also the time when we need to sign agreements, pay service and conservancy charges, activation water and electrical account. Basically, from this date, we can already live in our brand new flat. But since we plan to have a full renovation, we will need to wait for a few more months before we can move in, depending on when the renovation is completed.
