You’ve put your HDB flat on the open market and found a buyer. A price was agreed on and the OTP issued. All documents had been submitted carefully and completely to the HDB via the HDB resale portal. What happens now?
It is time to complete the sale of the flat, and for the buyers, time to move into the flat and start a new journey while you, the seller will probably be moving to another unit as well, be it another HDB flat or private property.
For the resale completion, both the buyer and seller will need to attend only 1 resale appointment at the HDB building. The resale completion appointment is about 8 weeks from the date of HDB's acceptance of the resale application. Both parties will be notified via SMS on the actual date and time of the resale completion once it is scheduled. If unsure, the appointment information can also be found at the HDB Resale Portal. If either party have engaged private solicitors, the solicitor representative can/will attend the resale completion appointment on your behalf.
Unable to Attend the Resale Completion Appointment
In the event that you are not able to attend the Resale Completion appointment on the scheduled date, due to whatever reasons i.e you are overseas, you can prepare a Power of Attorney to appoint another person to act on your behalf and attend the resale completion. To do this, certified true copies of the Power of Attorney have to be submitted to the HDB before the appointment. Alternatively, if both buyer and seller agree, you may request for a later Resale Completion date. This request can be made via MyRequest@HDB.
Before the Resale Completion Appointment
There are several things you need to do before attending the resale completion appointment. The first thing is to conduct an inspection of the flat. You can arrange with the buyer a date and time to ensure that the flat is in order and is vacant for takeover. The seller must not leave behind any unwanted or broken furnitures.
If the seller is taking a housing loan from the HDB, he/she is required to buy a fire insurance policy from HDB's appointed insurer, FWD Singapore Pte Ltd (FWD).
This can be done online at FWD’s website. The Certificate of Insurance must be printed out and produced during the resale completion appointment. For more details about the HDB Fire Insurance, you can call FWD's enquiry line @6820-8888 or visit the website.
The balance of the purchase price (less the option money and downpayment) must be paid together with the outstanding stamp fees (if any) to complete the transaction. Payment can be made via AXS Machine or via a Cashier’s Order (made payable to HDB). Once the payment is done, hand over the payment receipt or Cashier’s Order to the HDB’s Customer Relations Executive (CRE) when you attend the resale completion. For those who have engaged private solicitors, the solicitors will advise you on the payment and other completion requirements.
During the Resale Completion
When HDB send you the resale completion appointment letter, they will also inform you of the documents to bring and also things that you need to do.
Documents to bring to the appointment include:
· Identity cards
· Original Option to Purchase form
· Payment receipts and/ or Cashier's Order
· Certificate of Insurance (for fire insurance, if applicable)
At the resale completion appointment, the buyer will sign the mortgage document/ agreement (if they are taking an HDB housing loan), acknowledge the receipt of the keys to the flat, apportion the payment of the property tax with the buyers and indicate on the payment method of the service and conservancy fees.
Once that is done, the resale transaction is completed and the buyer is now officially the new owner of the flat. The buyer is now liable for payments such as housing loan repayment, monthly service and conservancy charges, annual property tax, etc.
Temporary Extension of Stay
You, the seller is required to move out of the flat by the resale completion date. In the event that you are not able to do so and require more time to move out, you can arrange with the buyer for a temporary extension of stay. The temporary extension is only up to a maximum of 3 months after the resale completion.
If both parties are agreeable with the extension arrangement, a request for the extension of stay has to be submitted with the resale application. The extension of stay will take effect from the day the seller takes over the flat as the new owner, which is the resale completion date.
The extension of stay will be terminated automatically at the end of 3 months and there will be no further extension beyond the 3 months. In the event that the extension is terminated before the 3 months, the new owners must inform the HDB Branch managing the flat via My HDBPage. This is important because the computation of the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) for the new owners will commence after the extension of stay is terminated.
Bear in mind that the temporary extension of stay is regarded as a private arrangement between the sellers and buyers. Any monetary compensation to be paid is between the buyer and the seller and this agreement need not be shown to HDB. HDB will not mediate if there is any dispute; buyers and sellers have to indemnify HDB against any actions or claims for allowing their private arrangement for the temporary extension of stay by the sellers.
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