Liz2013

Also, are there any expats on this site with a flat you'd like to let? Well regarded MNC would be the lessee.

Good commuting distance to Jurong West, high floor, 2+ bedrooms (prefer 3 as my husband would like an office), near a food centre. Prefer utilities included for ease. Plan to bring our own furniture/tellys.

Message me with details - am hesitant to put a rental amount on the public forum, nothing exorbitant please. Not on a full expat package.

Thanks,
Liz

ex reg

We were renting our 2 bed condo unit, about 1400sq ft for S$6000 per month.

We've since sold it and I think prices are still around that figure.
It wasn't top of the range but it was good, Italian marble and wood flooring walk in wardrobes, granite work tops in kitchen, marble tops and walls in bathrooms, nice big balcony, large private area outside the front door. I sound like I'm trying to rent it out all over again but I left all that to the missus, she was much better at it.
Very good facilities and in a good area.

Jurong West will be a lot less expensive.

Be aware that a MNC lessee is a big plus. We would only rent to MNCs.

Woodygold

Question to Ex Reg..

What is - 'Be aware that a MNC lessee is a big plus. We would only rent to MNCs.?'
Could you explain it more?

We are going to look for a property to rent when we arrive, so any information about houses, condos, locations, landlords, agents and so on is very much needed and appreciated.

Thanks

RedDragon2008

I may need to stand corrected but think they refer to [M] Multi [N] National [C] Company.

ex reg

In the good old days here most MNCs rented accom for their staff from landlords and the MNC signed the lease. So if the MNC staff left or moved before the lease expired it was the MNC who had to pay for the remaining period of the lease.
There were some private rentals and now and again people would do runners leaving the landlord holding the baby with no recourse.
Over time as 'local contacts' began to predominate over the old 'ex pat full contact' more and more people did runners for whatever reason.
We would only rent out our property to MNCs and it got more difficult to find this sort of contract, so we gave up and sold our condo unit.

Landlords in general would rather rent out to MNCs owing to the fact that this is so much more secure, so imo you will have more bargaining power over what you pay and the furniture and decoration you might require.

The property you look for will depend on many things:
-how much is your budget being the prime

Property rentals are very expensive here.
A landed property could easily cost yo S$15,000 pcm upwards to eye watering amounts.
A terraced property with a garden might easily cost S$10,000 pcm.
Three bedroom condos will vary considerably depending on location, standard of finish, facilities available and floor area. It is impossible to generalise.

If you have children you really want to decide on a school first and find a property as close to the school as possible.
If no children then as close to the husband's/wife's job as possible bearing in mind if the wife isn't working she has to be able to get to super markets and meet friends.
The further from the city the less cost the property.

There are good landlords and very bad landlords.
Of course we thought we were great landlords but my missus took a long time finding the right tenant and we never had a complaint and once in our property the tenant always stayed until their contact in Singapore was over.
My wife also was a property agent, she passed the Singapore property agent's most difficult exam. Not all agents bother and many are just after the fast buck.
Two years is the normal lease period.
The agent will normally charge one months rental fee for doing their job but this is normally paid by the landlord/owner so don't get conned into paying it.
Stamp duty is paid by the tenant iirc, can't remember exactly but it's not a great amount.

Negotiate over rent they will drop it but not by much and sometime this might be off set by upgrades in furniture or redecorartion before you move in.

Examine the lease in detail and make sure the MNC does as well because landlords and agents will try to slip stuff into the contract which you might not want.

Not sure if it's a buyers or sellers market here at the moment but the fact you will have a MNC signing the contract is definitely your edge. Akchewlee judging by the number of people moving out of Singapore to move into accommodation in Nusajaya ( see the Malaysia forum ) it must be a sellers market still.

Woodygold

Thanks, Ex reg. Very useful information.

We will rent but without MNC option, as it seems many and many companies are oping out from it. I guess the MNC system was the reason that the rent were becoming high in Singapore. And, now companies just do not wish pay anymore these extraordinary prices.
So, perhaps there is a hope - lesser rental cost.

I understood that your wife does not work as a property agent, but if she still does, then let me know. Finding a good agent can be as hard as finding a good tenant and a good landlord. We heard that a reliable agent can help to future tenants a great deal.