PR Home Check · Can you buy a home in Singapore as a PR?

The rules nobody explains

Three numbers every PR must know
before viewing a single home.

3 yrsas a PR before you can buy an HDB resale flat,
if no citizen is buying with you.

5%extra stamp duty on your first home as a PR.
CPF can cover it. On a resale you pay cash first and claim it back.

25%of the price up front, on your first home.
5% must be hard cash. The rest can be CPF.

Most PRs learn these at the viewing, or at the bank.
The check tells you first.

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The three mistakes

Where PRs lose years, and money.

Mistake 1

Renting past the point you could buy.

Many PRs cross the 3-year mark and never notice.
Every month after that is rent you did not need to pay.

Mistake 2

Guessing your budget from the listing price.

The price is not the number.
Your cash, your CPF, the stamp duty and the loan you can get decide it.
Work those out first and the price follows.

Mistake 3

Looking at the wrong type of home.

Some PRs chase condos when an HDB resale flat was open to them.
Others wait for HDB when the rules say they cannot buy one at all.
One question settles it.

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30 seconds. Free.

How Erin does it

The Work-Backwards Method.

Most people start with the home. Erin starts with your numbers.
Three steps, in this order.

1. Eligibility

Which scheme you can buy under.
HDB resale, private, or both.
Based on your status and who is buying with you.

2. Costs first

5% cash. 20% down.
5% extra stamp duty.
Buyer’s Stamp Duty and legal fees.
All added up before you look at a price.

3. Price last

The loan you qualify for at the 4% test rate sets your ceiling.
Now you have a real budget.
Now the shortlist makes sense.

A property advisor working through the numbers with a PR couple

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What you get

Pass the check, and three things unlock.

The PR Home Starter Kit

A step-by-step “what to do first” roadmap.
A budget guide so you do not over-stretch.
A shortlist guide to the right projects and towns for PRs.

Your 3-Home Shortlist

Three homes matched to your numbers, not to a listing site.
Erin keeps 30 more for buyers who are ready to move.

A 60-minute planning session

Zoom or in person.
Your real figures, your options, and the order to do things in.
Free.

A PR family at the door of their first home in Singapore

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A note from Erin

“I didn’t know I was building wealth.”

In 2010 my husband and I just wanted a home.
We bought a three-bedroom condo in Woodlands for $655,000.
We put down 20%, the rule back then. About $131,000.

For the first year and a half we rented it out.
Our tenant paid us $3,200 a month.
We were renting elsewhere for $2,800.

Then we moved in. We raised our family there.
Sixteen years later, that home is worth around $1.2 million.

We did not plan any of it.
Today I help PRs do on purpose what we did by accident.
Starting with one question: what can you actually buy?

Erin

Property advisor, PropNex.
First homes for Singapore PRs.
Homeowner since 2010.

Check If I Can Buy →

30 seconds. Free.

PRs who took the check

What a straight answer looks like.

★★★★★

PR couple, 4 years, Sengkang

We thought we needed $500,000 saved. Erin showed us a 4-room resale was within reach with what we already had in CPF.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

Single PR, 38, Bukit Batok

I had spent two years looking at HDB flats I was never allowed to buy. One check told me that. The session showed me what I could buy instead.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

PR married to a citizen, Tampines

We were told to wait 3 years. We did not have to. Erin knew the rule and we bought that same year.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

PR family, renting 5 years, Woodlands

Our rent was $3,400 a month. Our mortgage now is less. I wish we had done the check in year one.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

Filipino PR couple, 3 years, Punggol

We assumed we had to keep renting. Erin showed us the 4-room we could buy in the same estate. We stopped waiting.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

PR, 2 years, married to a PR, Jurong West

We both cross 3 years next year. The check told us exactly how much CPF to have by then. We are ready.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

PR couple, 4 months from the 3-year mark, Bedok

The check said our numbers already work. Erin has the shortlist ready for the month our window opens.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

PR couple, two condos viewed, Tampines

We had viewed $1.8 million condos. The check said $1.2 million was our comfortable price. Erin found a 3-bedroom at $1.15 million.

Illustrative example.

★★★★★

PR, bought with his citizen wife, Yishun

Everyone said wait 3 years. We bought in month 8 because my wife is a citizen. One rule, one year of rent saved.

Illustrative example.

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30 seconds. Free.

How it works

Three steps. The first takes 30 seconds.

Take the check. 30 seconds.
Your status, who is buying with you, your cash, CPF and income bands.

Get your answer on the spot.
HDB resale, private, or both.
Plus the price you can comfortably buy at.

Book your 60-minute session.
Erin brings your 3-Home Shortlist and the Starter Kit.

Check If I Can Buy →

30 seconds. Free.

Common questions

Before you ask.

Can a PR buy an HDB resale flat?

Yes, as part of a family.
A PR couple needs both of you to have been PR for 3 years.
Married to a citizen? The 3-year wait does not apply.
A PR buying alone cannot buy an HDB flat at any age. Condos and apartments are open to you.

What is the extra 5% stamp duty?

PRs pay 5% Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty on their first home.
On a $700,000 flat that is $35,000.
CPF can cover it. On a resale you pay cash first and claim it back.
A married couple with at least one citizen can apply to have it waived.

I have been PR for under 3 years. Should I still take the check?

Yes. Buying with a citizen? The wait does not apply to you.
Buying with another PR? The check tells you what to have ready for the day your window opens.

Can I use my CPF?

Yes. PRs use CPF Ordinary Account savings the same way citizens do.
For the down payment, the stamp duties and the monthly payments.

Does owning a home help my citizenship application?

Owning a home can show you are putting down roots.
It is not a listed criterion and it is not a guarantee.
Buy because it is right for your family, and let it speak for itself.

What does the session cost?

Nothing. The check is free. The session is free.
You keep the Starter Kit either way.
Erin earns only when you buy a home that fits.

Check If I Can Buy →

30 seconds. Free.

Can you buy a home in Singapore
as a PR?

Three numbers every PR must know
before viewing a single home.

Which one is you?