Following the leadership transfer from CVN 5th Executive Committee, the 6th Executive Committee would, firstly,

like to implement a househunting forum which we hope will provide you with the necessary information on the recommended procedures for said objective.

The information presented in this journal comes from personal experience, and is not meant to be a model answer for all househunting woes. Rather, it serves as a basic guideline on what should be done/avoided the rest is up to ones own discretion.

Assumptions: -You are on a low budget. -You dislike excessive travelling. -You prefer as much room space as possible.

These assumptions are similar to Economics Impossible Trinity, in the sense that its hardly possible to find a place that fulfills all the aforementioned requirements. Before you start your househunt, evaluate your priorities. Which two are the most important to you? After youve decided, gear your search towards the chosen criteria.

A good starter is the VNC forum Ngi tm nh, nh tm ngi. There, you can find (mostly) reliable housing deals, but the forum is demographically limited to Vietnamese patrons. However, I am pretty certain most national groups in Singapore will have their own housing forums.

Or if you are risk-averse and have capital to spare, look for property agents. The following section will be divided according to which route you choose.

Method 1: Making use of property agents. The thing about agents is that they charge really high prices (mostly a months worth of rent) which usually are unjustified. However, going for cheaper agents also poses risks. Some may even lure you to rent an illegal unit (for example, 1-room units, which cannot be legally rented out).

Therefore, settle for established companies (such as HSR) with a reputation to lose. Specify your desired region (East, West, Central, specific MRT stations); most likely they will have deals for you. Once the assigned agent has shown you a unit which is to your liking, exercise caution when he/she quotes the service fee. 1 months rental is mostly for them to earn big profits, and not legally required. Although company policy may specify standard service fees of such an amount, some agents do possess flexibility. My suggestion is as follows: show great interest in the unit, but try to drag the negotiation process. Insist on half-month, and play hard to get, maybe the agent will concede. The rationale is that, although agents always tell us that the housing market is very tight and units can be snapped up in a moments notice, the truth is that they too are desperate for sales due to the industrys market saturation. This strategy may work for units in more remote areas (Ang Mo Kio, for example), but definitely not those in high-demand ones (TPY).

You may think it is too much trouble to haggle, but the standard rent for a unit is normally 2.5-3k/month now. 1 months rent fee adds an extra 2.5-3k to your expenses, and along with the deposit and first month rental, the total will come up to be 7.5-9k just for the first month.

Anyway, ask for a copy of the stamp duty from the agents. I will explain why later.

Method 2: Househunting based on forum deals. http://forum.vncnus.net/viewforum.php?f=163 My go-to destination for cheap housing deals, courtesy of VNCNUS (big thanks to them). The price range greatly varies: you can get room for <300 as well as >500/person. There is usually no agent fee either since most units have seen many generations of tenants.

There are rarely units for rent though. Most deals are room-specific, so best find a few friends who dont mind sharing a room.

Inquire about the rooms as you wish, but always ask for photos. That way, you can filter out rooms you dont like without having to scout. Visit those you like.

One benefit of this method is that it is relatively flexible as there are usually no formal contracts. The following sections thus apply more for people who choose the first method.

House visit: The first thing youd want to do is pay attention to the nuances in the places you visit. Ignore the sales talk, and instead look for the undesirable. It is normal that first-time househunters are rather optimistic and confident in their ability to work things out when there is an internal dispute, but you will be living there for the duration of the contract anyway, so there is no harm in scrutinizing. Things you may want to look out for: -Are there in-house landlords? -If there are, is there anything they are hiding, besides the expectedly enthusiastic advertising? Do they seem like pleasant people underneath? Look for clues. -Do they smoke? Avoid landlords who smoke. -Are they rich? If they are rich, chances are they will be much less demanding. Avoid poor landlords as best as you can. -Are the housemates easy to get along with? Even if they are not, are they at least sufferable (i.e they dont make too much noise/party all the time/leave their mess uncleaned)? This can be seen from the general state of the house at the time of visit. Some would clean up before you pay them a visit, but if they have been lazy for the past many months, you can expect a shoddy job at best.

Next, ask for ownership documents in case there are landlords, and if there arent, rental contracts and whatever proof there is of legal residence. Take a look at the contract and scan for irregularities. Does the contract cover Public Utilities Bill (PUB)? Normally PUB hovers around 45/person for places with air conditioners, and 20-25/person for places without. Inquire about the term No immoral activities should be carried out within this premise. Ask them to change to illegal. Illegality is easy to define, but how can one qualify immoral?

Once youve asked enough and are satisfied with the place, its time for the deposit. Document the payment if possible. Make sure the person who signs the contract on behalf of everyone is responsible.

Moving in: Borrow a camera with time-stamp features, and take photos of all the damages in the room. Search every nook and cranny, and make sure your photos are time-stamped (e.g 13:45 Sunday 6th October). The reason is, you always have to assume the landlords will defraud you. There are those who will go the extra mile just to rob you of your deposit money, and they will make sure every scratch is accounted for.

Sometimes, they will even try to shove the blame for past damages on you, so in comes time-stamp camera. Do not rule out the possibility of going to court over the deposit. In court, the judge takes evidence seriously. Without time-stamped photos, there is no way for you to disprove such accusations.

While you are staying there, be sure to ask for a receipt every time you pay the rent. Prepare a voice recorder every time you are called out for a house dispute. They will serve as valuable evidence.

If your landlords want to raise the rent for whatever reason, do not accede. That is a good indicator it will happen again in the future. Stick to your contractual terms. They will threaten to discontinue the contract after its duration, but let them be. If you are living with people who blackmail you for money, it is best to just move out once the contract ends.

Thats all you can do for now. Try your best to enjoy the stay.

Towards the end: If you like the place, continue to stay there. But if you intend to move out, make sure that you collect the receipt for the last month. There are landlords who delay giving out the receipt and conveniently make use of the fact that you dont have it to convince the court you have not paid the last months rent. This is to justify them taking the deposit (it is not a rare practice for the landlord to forgo the last months rent and instead make up for it with the deposit money).

As with standard practice, when you return the room, record the ensuing the negotiations that follow. It is not a legal requirement that you must inform the other party of your intent to record. There is a good chance that you will not get back the full amount, or even any of it at all. There are two options: -If the loss is reasonable (100-200$), you should let go. -If the loss is unreasonable (whole deposit, for example), consider suing. The claim lodging fee is only $10 for such cases at the Small Claims Tribunal, Subordinate Court.

However, before suing, weigh the benefits and costs. The benefits are clear, but the costs are worth contemplating, because following through with the case requires determination. The court will likely delay the proceedings as long as it can to encourage amicable settlements of disputes of such nature. Therefore, be prepared to commit.

What happens in court? Remember the house stamp that I mentioned above? You can get that from the house agent. If you use forums, its unlikely that it would be readily available since there are hardly formal contracts in most cases. Only with the stamp duty will your contracts be valid as evidence. If you do not have it, you will have to pay a fee (~$70) to requisition one copy from IRAS (https://estamping.iras.gov.sg/WebForms/Home.aspx). The fee comprises the duty fee and a penalty for late application.

Prepare the necessary documents: (Access http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/Data/ iles/ ile/ I details) 20 it 20( T .pdf for more

-Claim details (get a copy from http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/sct/page.aspx?pageid=4515) and fill in your details) -The original contract. -Transcripts of relevant voice recordings. -Monthly receipts. -Statement of facts -Any other relevant piece of evidence.

The mall laims Tribunals most important objective is cordial resolution of conflicts. Therefore, there will normally be two consultation sessions and a hearing lest an agreement could not be reached. For all these sessions, only the person whose name is on the contract can represent each party; everyone else can only be brought in as witnesses. Therefore, the person who signs the contract has a burden to bear think twice before you decide who does it.

That should be enough information to get you started. We will do our best to update these tips regularly to make sure they are up to par!