Renovation Bro Alvin Knowledge Chief Been in reno industry 15 years, tell you honestly which ID markup crazy and where to save on your BTO reno.
2,332 Knowledge points
18 Answer
421 Likes earned
8 Best Answer
Specialty topics Cars & COE 3
Money & CPF 3
Side Hustle & Business 2
HDB, Condo & Rent 1
Parenting & Family 1
Travel & Local 1
Featured Work The most-approved answers
HDB, Condo & Rent
We were in your exact spot and chose resale specifically because living with in-laws was straining our marriage, and no flat is worth your relationship. Here's the honest breakdown. BTO: cheaper, more grants (Enhanced CPF Housing Grant can be substantial for your income), but 4-5 year wait and you might not get your preferred location after multiple ballots. Resale: move in within months, pick your exact area, but you pay market price plus possibly COV (cash over valuation, which is back now in hot estates). We did resale in a mature estate, paid some COV, but got our own space immediately and our marriage is much healthier for it. If in-law tension is real, resale. If you can genuinely wait and want to maximise grants, BTO. Also apply for BTO anyway as a backup ballot even while looking at resale, options don't hurt. Just know once you take the resale you can't also take a BTO.
All answers (18) Two separate issues, tax and employment. Tax: yes, freelance income is taxable and you must declare it to IRAS as trade or self-em…
I bought a car right after my first kid was born and honestly for a young family it changed our lives, but let me be clear about t…
Two kids through PSLE, opposite experiences taught me this: tuition is a tool, not a default. My elder was coping fine in school s…
Regular JB-goer, it's worth it IF you play the timing and logistics right, otherwise the jam eats all your savings in wasted hours…
The OA-to-SA transfer is genuinely powerful because of compounding, but the word "irreversible" is doing a lot of work in your que…
Sole breadwinner here too, so I hold more than the textbook 3 to 6 months, I keep 9 to 12 months of expenses because if I lose inc…
Helped my parents choose and studied it hard for myself, so here's the plain-English version. All three pay you for life, the diff…
Yes SCT is exactly for this, and no lawyers allowed so it stays affordable. Filing is online and cheap. But check the claim amount…
Yes you must declare, it is self-employment income and taxable regardless of amount. The good news is you are taxed on profit, so …
People always compare to Grab but forget the middle option, car sharing like GetGo or BlueSG. We use GetGo for our IKEA runs and w…
We went car-lite and honestly no regrets. Grab, occasional car rental for weekend Malaysia trips or IKEA runs, and public transpor…
My honest advice as someone who struggled a bit at first. Prepare your body AND set your expectations low for comfort. I went in u…
Go to the school open houses, cannot judge from forum only. Two schools with the same cut-off can feel totally different once you'…
Family Service Centres near you offer subsidised counselling and a lot of people genuinely don't know this exists, they picture FS…
Use your CHAS card at a participating GP, you get subsidies there too without the polyclinic queue. Many people don't realise CHAS…
Supportgowhere is genuinely the answer to your exact question, you just log in with Singpass and it lists out what you can get bas…
Practise on a platform that mimics the real interview environment, and always speak your thought process aloud. I failed my first …