5 Less-Known Factors Which Affect Your Property’s Value

In a previous article, 4 Important Factors That Can Affect Your Property’s Value we wrote about broad factors that could affect a property’s value.

Broad factors like government policies, the world economy and interest rates etc, which is basically beyond our control.

Today, we will look at other less-known factors that could affect your property’s value.

1. - Remaining Lease and Condition

In Singapore, a lot of the properties, be it HDB flats or private properties, come with a 99-year lease.

Only a small percentage of properties here are freehold status. So the remaining lease will affect the property value, especially for HDB flats.

Once a HDB flat is more than 40 years old (59 years left), the value drops off significantly.

As your property age, so will the condition of the home. There will be crack lines on the walls, stains and dirty patches everywhere. Not to mention faulty fixtures and water leakage.

An owner that does not take care of and upkeep the property will find that the value decreases gradually. It is advisable to do minor renovation and maintenance to keep your property in decent condition and maintain the value.

2. - Size of the Property

As the saying goes - size does matter. But in the property market, it only matters when it is what the buyer is looking for.

A studio apartment differs greatly from a penthouse apartment in terms of sheer size and space.

But if the buyer is a young couple with no plans to start a family, they certainly would not value the largeness of the property.

In the HDB resale market, 4 room flats are the most sought after and popular among buyers.

Given Singapore’s declining population, most families here are either with only one child or at most two. So, 4 room flats (with 3 bedrooms) are most ideal.

Multi-generation families would of course value 5 room flats or executive flats more.

3. - Home Improvements

Too much of a good thing will become overkill. Home improvements only increase the value of your property but only if the buyer likes your theme, design and want to retain them.

More often than not, simple renovations seem to be popular with house hunters. The new owners can then add on to the simple designs and not have to spend too much to create their own dream home. Having too many fixtures would mean costing the new owners money to remove them.

Buyers also do not like properties with walls knocked down. Every family’s situation is different and having knocked down walls to create a huge living room or master bedroom means one room short.

4. - Superstitions

Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-cultural country with ethnic Chinese making up about 75% of the citizen population. So it is not surprising that properties with auspicious numbers are more popular.

5. - Nightmare Neighbours

Every now and then, you would have read in the dailies or seen on the Internet, nightmare stories about bad neighbours.

If you happen to be staying in a block with such neighbours, chances are that your property would not be in high demand.

There was a story reported in the Straits Times about a HDB block in Punggol that had 6 households on the same floor, moving out over a 2-year period because of one particular person. Dubbed the neighbour from hell, the person was accused of splashing oil at the neighbouring front doors, playing loud music and stomping on the floor. One neighbour even claimed that a bloody pig's ear was left on their shoe rack.

Source

According to the HDB, such disputes are private matters and households are encouraged to communicate and settle disputes amicably.

Have A Question? Feel Free To Comment Below.

If you're thinking to upgrade or sell your property? Let Mogul.sg helps you with it.