Upgrading from an HDB flat
Before you upgrade, get your real numbers.
Most upgrade plans fall apart on arithmetic, not ambition — the sale proceeds land lower than expected, or the loan lands smaller. I'd rather you saw both figures now, on this page, for free, than find out after you've signed something.
David Ng Chun Fai
Your salesperson, start to finish
CEA Reg. R011998BFour things I'll tell you not to do
- Don't sell if staying put serves you better. Some flats are worth holding. If your loan is nearly cleared, your commute works and the sums only move you sideways, I'll say so — and you'll have cost me a deal, not the other way round.
- Don't stretch past what the stress-test rate allows. Your bank sizes your loan on a rate higher than the one you'll pay. Plan against that number, not against today's promotional rate, or the home you can 'just about' afford becomes the home you can't.
- Don't budget on a price no buyer will pay. An asking price is not evidence. What sold around your block in the last year is. If your whole plan needs a record-breaking sale to work, it isn't a plan yet.
- Don't forget the duties come out of the same pot. Buyer's stamp duty, the outstanding loan, the CPF refund with accrued interest — all of it is paid before a single dollar reaches your next home. The figure that matters is what's left, not what the flat sold for.
Two questions, both answered before you talk to anyone
Start with what your flat is worth, then run that figure through the second tool. Neither asks you to sign up, and neither holds the answer back until you leave your email.
What could yours fetch?
The real sales around your block — lowest, median and highest — from HDB and URA records. No estimate, no model, no sign-up.
See the sales near youWhat can you reach?
The full sell-then-buy plan: proceeds waterfall, loan budget, stamp duties and which areas land inside it. The whole breakdown is on screen, ungated.
Plan the moveThe Next Move Session
When the tools have done their part: thirty minutes on your actual figures — the sale range you just looked up, your outstanding loan, your CPF refund, and the two or three areas you're weighing. You leave with a plan or with a reason not to move yet. Both are useful.
Book the Next Move SessionFAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Partly, and I'd rather say so than pretend otherwise. The difference is the order: the two tools above give you your numbers first, in full, without asking for anything. If those numbers say staying put is the better move, that's a perfectly good outcome and you owe me nothing.
A fixed fee per transaction plus GST, set by property type and by whether I'm representing you selling or buying — and payable only when the transaction completes. The current figures are listed in the fee table on our homepage rather than here, so you're always reading the live ones.
To sell an HDB flat, yes — the 5-year Minimum Occupation Period has to be served before it can go on the market. You don't need to have cleared it to plan, though. Knowing your proceeds and your budget a year out is exactly when the planning is worth doing, and the MOP checker will tell you when your block gets there.
Then that's the answer, and it's the one I'll give you. A move that leaves you with a tighter monthly commitment and no real gain in space or location isn't an upgrade, whatever the brochure says. Nothing on this page charges you for finding that out.
Me — David Ng Chun Fai, CEA Reg. R011998B, registered under Huttons Asia Pte Ltd, CEA Licence No. L3008899K. You can check that registration on the CEA Public Register. There's no call centre and no handover to someone else once you've signed.
