Not worrying about mortgages in our new home
(credit: mortgage)
When I decide to purchase a home to form a family with my wife, I am very excited. Not only am I embarking on a new lifestyle, I am also taking the first step in owning a valuable asset. But like every newly wed, we do not have the means to buy out the whole house, so mortgages are our only choice.
Actually, for Singaporeans, there are no cheap mortgages. All our public housing is controlled by the authority of Housing Development Board (HDB). For new owners, we pay a highly subsidized price for the newly built house (called “flat” in Singapore). We are also not allow to rent out this first flat due to the highly subsidized nature. So buy to let mortgages does not apply here. Buy to let is a booming property investment in the UK.
Another unique point for Singapore regarding housing is that if you and your wife have work for a few years before buying a home, most probably you would have build up enough Central Provident Fund (CPF) to pay for your mortgages. Now as long as I have my day job, our monthly mortgage will be paid in the background by our CPF.
This leaves us less time to worry about our mortgages and more time to enjoy our life in the new home.