10/24/2013

Studio flats versus 2 rm flats

The big price gap between these two types of flats came up for questioning in Parliament. Boon Wan rightly said that one cannot compare apples with lemons. This really sums up what were at stake and the perceived unsatisfactory pricing. Some felt that the oldies were ripped off by paying so much for their studio flats and with so many strings attached. But then they should be happy that they were getting apples instead of lemons. Those getting lemons should not complain as the pricing was just right for lemons.
 

Putting this aside, the best thing coming out from the discussion is the kind of profits that studio flats could generate for HDB. In the first place the pricing for the first owner was already very high compared to the 2 rm flats. I think HDB must be making a big loss from such a sale. My apologies for the contradiction.
 

After 30 years, HDB would have to repossess the flat, upgrade and refurbish it, and sell it at what kind of price, you can make your guess. It is going to make another big loss I think, if the same way of reasoning applies. And the same flat would have another round to go, to be upgraded, refurbished and sold a third time to another oldie at even higher price, due to inflation and of course upgrading. And of course, HDB is going to lose another huge sum of money for reselling it a third time.
 

For whatever reasoning and whatever sum of huge losses, I wish that I could be the developer to build and sell these flats with the same terms. I don’t mind making all the huge losses for the good of the people.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

RB, haha you are quite sarcastic leh but you have not approach the level of singapore note yet. That one very funny lor and I enjoy reading his article too. By the way, any one knows whether lucky tan is still alive or he has followed fish and immigrated?

Anonymous said...

I wish that I could be the developer...
RB

I wish you rather join the opposition and contest the next election lah.

One step for RB, a giant step for the opposition. HAHAHAHAHA.

Anonymous said...

Oldies who are stupid enough to vote PAP.
Also deserve to "buy" studio flats from the PAP gahmen.

Anonymous said...


I think the article in ER EMERITUS "NS stands for National Slavery" may interest you all....happy reading ........

Anonymous said...

anonymous 10.52 am...

sorry....should be TR EMERITUS not ER.......

Anonymous said...

Wah lan, one flat sold 3 times makes 3 times profit and every time bigger profit. Damn clever!

Anonymous said...

One suggestion is for some charitable rich men or organisation or foundations to jv to develop such a project ..for so long the aim is to help n not for profit it should work ..
Also can cater something like 6-men or 8-men type of rooms ..economical n also more people look after each others ..

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

redbean,

Please lah. Other than having a place to live, the only other thing good about HDB is discovering ways to make personal profit from this CPF-Ponzi-funded game.

As a Singaporean, your job is to find "lobangs" and exploit the motherfuckers, in the hope that you make plenty money. Those who got into the HDB game earlier managed to find lobangs and wheeled and dealed themselves to nice profits, by upgrading when prices were low, and downgrading when prices were high -- for example. There are other ways to exploit the game for greedy, personal, self-serving profit, I've only illustrated one.

I fear that the younger generation of Singaporeans have grown up too comfortably -- they do not have the "hungry street dog" savvy of previous generations -- who were quick off the mark to discover and take advantage of a lobang the govt left open, or the free kick the government deliberately gave. For e.g. going to JB to shop and pump gas -- which is around RM2-3 per litre.

b said...

LKY hated his father because he is a gambler but he turned every other fathers in this country into a gambler. Look at everything around here from HDB, COE, Toto, 4D, casinos etc. His motive - to sow family discord and break up the country eventually.

$168k for a studio flat can buy a nice house in jb if LKY did not break us up. Why should the seniors pay for his mistake?

Virgo 49 said...

KBW comparison of apples to lemons and many others using this analogy is simple just an excuse to curtail any further argument.

The HDB knew that the most oldies brought their first flat on the cheap cheep cheep.

Minimum also a three room flat and now after staying in for over thirty to forty years for free can sell them at at least twenty to thirty times profits.

So oldies who brought studio flats had to pay a premium to the HDB for doing so.

Also, they do not have to pay a levy fior their sale of their old flats. Some of us even pocketed six to seven hundred thousands after selling our five room/executive flats.

So in order to "Tax" these oldies, the studio flats are priced higher than the two room flats.

Beside this, they have to top into their medisave account of twenty over thousand so ad nit to be a liability to the govt after selling their flat.

Those who met the minium sum and also have adequate medisave savings could e en buy overseas condos or apartments and still got extra cash to spend.

So KBW has to squeeze some monies out of them. Those who brought the first few batches of studio flats also brought them on the cheap, cheep

Only the single oldies who got no flats to exchange will feel the brunt of the price.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

When the intent is wrong everything will be wrong.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

redbean:

>> When the intent is wrong everything will be wrong. <

It always goes wrong when the state is involved: public housing, public education, public healthcare, public transport. Always got some bullshit which the "victims" end up paying even more. Cannot sue the government, actually in theory can...but try and see how? :-0

Go private. Got problems? SUE. You win, you take their stuff :-)

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Matilah, you and your sweeping comments. A govt can be good or bad, not necessary one way. We used to have good govt for many years. They are matters and institutions that need govt or collective responsibility.

You are right on one aspect, too much govt and govt for the sake of govt and vested self interests.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

redbean:

Here's more of my sweeping comments:

The Heartlanders Get The HDB They Deserve.

Similarly, the public patients get the MoH they deserve, the SBS/ SMRT Ezy Riders get the Liu Tuckan You they deserve, the public school students and teachers get the MoH they deserve.

Which is why I choose to go private...whenever possible, because I have come to the conclusion that I deserve to be treated better for what I am prepared to pay ;-)