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Good day to you.

The HDB Enhanced Contra Facility is specifically designed for homeowners whose current property is either fully paid off or financed through an HDB loan, and who plan to fund their new property purchase in full. To utilize this facility effectively, it is essential that the completion dates for both the sale of your current unit and the purchase of your new unit coincide. This requires meticulous planning and cooperation between all parties involved—namely, the buyers of your current unit and the sellers of the new unit you wish to acquire.

Alternatively, you may consider securing a bridging loan. This option allows you to purchase your new home before selling your current one. In this scenario, it is paramount to work closely with your bank, as they will conduct necessary credit assessments and provide prior approval for the loan. It's vital to be aware that you will incur administrative charges and interest fees on the borrowed amount, which can affect your overall financial planning.

Additionally, communication with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board is crucial. You will need to ensure that the CPF refund you receive from the sale of your current property does not get automatically transferred into your Retirement Account (RA). Instead, it should be redirected for use in your upcoming property purchase.

Let’s collaborate closely to navigate these processes and make this transition as smooth as possible. Your success is my priority!

Navigating a property transaction can be complex, especially with major life events. As a seasoned property consultant with 15 years of experience, I provide informed guidance on complex property matters.

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Yes you should be able to, and I can help you with that.

Happy to support you in the transition! I will be able to work out the numbers for you, and show you how everything might pan our financially, while also showing you the potential 4-room resales you can move into.

I'm a Harvard graduated real estate agent with a degree in economics, and I have a decade of experience working on Singapore public policy. I would love to schedule a free consultation to guide you through and work out the plans together with you and your partner.

Feel free to reach out via whatsapp or email as per my contact below:

Kay Cloud
The Harvard Educated Agent
Propnex Realty Pte Ltd
cloud@propnex.com
Tel: (+6.5.) 8.5.6.7.4.5.8.5
Whatsapp -> https://wa.me/6585674585 Read More

Hi

The temporary loan facility is only for BTO buyers. For your case since you are buying resale flat, and selling resale flat as well, the Enhanced Contra Facility is more useful to you, as it allows you to port over your sale proceeds and part of CPF refund towards the purchase of the next flat, and have both sale & purchase completions scheduled on the same date, for a smoother transition. However there are eligibility conditions to fulfill, one of which will be no bank loan must be involved. Is your house already fully paid?

The other thing will be your cpf refund, upon sale, have to go towards your RA first to meet the FRS requirements, before any excess can go towards CPF OA to be able to use for your next housing. So I will need to know how much each of you already have in your individual CPF RA so to be able to calculate exactly how much CPF you can use for the next flat, and determine your budget.

I have worked on similar cases before with seniors and am happy to do a detailed calculation for you so you have the full picture before you take any next action step.

Hope the above clarifies. I am well-versed with HDB and private property transactions, having helped more than 100 homeowners transit smoothly with their housing plans. Please reach out to me at 97432395  for a more in-depth discussion :)

May I have more info on your requirements so as to make better recommendations? Thanks and looking forward to chat more

Warm Regards,

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-- HDB Executive Maisonette Sellers, Mr & Mrs Yeo --

Before contacting Ivan Ng, our Property Realtor, we were quite apprehensive about our Contra-deal ( concurrent resale & purchase of HDB flats) as at that time the outlook of the resale property market was quite sluggish & pessimistic. But surprisingly our property realtor, Ivan , was able to put us at ease with his professional competence, astute work experience & friendly nature . He was able to consummate our contra-deal within one month of our HDB application. Now we are convinced by his promise that (in Ivan's own words) ... "A contra-deal is where the sale & purchase transactions are done concurrently and completed on the same day. This results in a seamless transition of the funds from your sale proceeds and CPF proceeds towards your purchase price." More importantly Ivan has also managed to clinch a good deal for our contra-deal. We'll certainly recommend him to our kins & friends. Thank you very much, Ivan. We are definitely your satisfied customers!

-- HDB Toa Payoh 5-RM Sellers of Million-Dollar HDB, Mr. & Mrs Leong

We were fortunate to have met Ivan Ng. He was thorough in going through what the complicated home-selling process required of us and more so in understanding what we would like to achieve from the sale of our unit. His responsiveness and assurance, was a trait that we really appreciate. We managed to secure a sale that exceeded our expectation with Ivan’s advises. The offered price for our unit was a record set for the flats in the neighborhood. This was definitely supported by the fact that I Read More

Hi there, thanks for sharing your situation. Quite a common one for seniors right-sizing these days, so you are not alone.

Let me break it down in plain terms.

Can you use Contra or Temporary Loan Scheme?

Yes, both are possible for your case, because you are selling an HDB and buying another HDB.

HDB Contra Facility
If your buyer uses CPF, the CPF refund from your sale can be used to pay for your next flat directly, which eases cash flow. Good if timing is tight. Works only if both flats are HDB flats and your buyer is not taking a bank loan.

HDB Temporary Loan Scheme
If you need to pay the sellers before your own sale completes, HDB can give a temporary bridging loan. Then when your sale completes, the proceeds will repay HDB. This is useful if your purchase completes first.

Retirement Account / FRS concern

For seniors selling to buy another HDB, CPF rules kick in. If you are below 65 at the time of completion, the refund to CPF OA from your sale will first go toward topping up RA up to FRS.

If you are already 65 or above, CPF requires your sale proceeds to top up RA up to the Basic Retirement Sum if you pledge the property. So still some RA requirement, but less strict than FRS.

If after topping up RA, you still have remaining CPF OA funds, you may use that for your purchase as normal.

Good to note: many seniors do not hit FRS, so do not panic. CPF will take whatever OA refund comes back, up to your required amount. It is not a separate cash top-up out of pocket unless you voluntarily choose to.

What alternatives do you have?

Options usually look like:

• Buy smaller flat (3 or 4 room) to free up proceeds
• Use Contra or HDB Temporary Loan Scheme to manage cash flow
• Consider 2-room Flexi if lifestyle suits, although you prefer 4 room, so keep this as a backup idea
• Cash on hand buffer for moving, reno, stamp duty etc

Since your current unit value is around 950k and your target is 700k, the right-sizing still works quite comfortably as long as your RA rules are observed.

What flats you are eligible for

As Singaporean seniors buying HDB to live in, you can still purchase up to a 4-room resale flat, no issue. Read More