My new BTO flat has gone from $4 to $7?

 

The new HDB letter boxes are the type where we can lock the holes, if we so wish, so that we can't receive spam leaflets and brochures.

But I'm impressed with one real estate agent - she literally mails her leaflet in a proper letter addressed to my flat!?

And imagine doing this to all flats in my estate?

She definitely does not subscribe to Save More. Wink.

Nothing new. 

Didn't our 5,000 years of Chinese wisdom teach us that to attract big money, we need to spend small money as bait?

She knows her marketing or Jedi mind control trick well - the moment I open the letter, in big bold fonts, your home is estimated to worth $738,000 jumps right out at me.

Ah!

She even customizes her sales spin for different flat types! 

HDB 2 rooms, 4 rooms, and 5 rooms will have different valuations on the cover letters I presume! 

Impressive.

I got my keys to my Dawson flat on Dec 2020. The direct purchase HDB valuation was $398,000. 

In 22 months, now it is worth around $700K in the open market?

Alert regular readers will know I did a sleight-of-hand just now.

Hello, my SERS journey started around June 2014 lah!

The compensated SERS replacement flats prices were "frozen" at that point for us. 

Therefore, it's more correct to say that my new BTO flat has gone up from $4 to $7 in 8 years, not in 22 months. Wink.

Don't laugh. 

Many years back, I was poking all the (innocent or knowingly) shenanigans when people were calculating their ROI or XIRR of their portfolios with weird bombastic returns in percentages!?

The percentage return from $4 to $7 over 22 months is different from over 8 years!!!

The same trick is used during seminars or courses. You'll be surprised how many tertiary educated people fall for it!

Hmm...

If Lady Luck were to continue to smile on me in 10 years' time, I may even get my $4 (and more) back from big daddy.

Then again, even I feel the prices has gone up a little too fast, too quick....

I not greedy. If price were to just jump just $1 more over the next 10 years to $8, confirm I will get my $4 back - now that's a low bar or what?

One thing is clear. 

For those who have put money in Singapore properties over the past 8 years, especially if you have bought direct from HDB, your returns are a lot better than equities. No?

Even more alert regular readers will probably point out I didn't "buy" my HDB Dawson flat at $4...

I bought my Tanglin Halt SERS flat at the resale price of $1.25 in 2003.

I better stop. 

In percentages, it's even more ridiculous...