Sennett Residence is set to achieve its TOP later this year. (Photo: Christopher Chitty)
These homeowners bought properties that would soon achieve their TOP, and have not regretted it.
Cheryl Marie Tay
We’ve heard property industry professionals espouse the benefits of buying and owning a TOP unit, but how do real-life experiences measure up to these claims? As these two owners of TOP units shared with us, they do live up to the hype.
Pleasant surprise
Manager MC Choo, 29, purchased a Sennett Residence apartment shortly before the project achieved its TOP, and it ended up being completed earlier than expected. She also had a generally positive experience when house-hunting, and eventually settled on Sennett Residence after being impressed by its “great” showflats; she also describes the buying experience as “wonderful”.
Though she has no complaints regarding her purchase and ownership of a TOP unit, she admits that there are both “pros and cons of buying a unit that is about to achieve (its) TOP”.
For those whose priority in owning a residential property is investment rental yield, she advises that “a resale unit might be a better idea, because the rental income can come as soon as possible”.
On the other hand, those who want to be owner-occupiers and for whom “time is not an issue” would be better off opting for a soon-to-TOP unit.
Ultimately, however, she believes what is most important is the location of the property. “If the location is good, just go for it!”
Having had a smooth ride to property ownership, Choo says, “The adrenaline of being a new property owner is just awesome.”
Prepared for TOP
Sophie Koh, a research manager in her early 30s, bought a unit at Bellewaters, an executive condominium (EC) at Anchorvale Crescent, with its upcoming TOP in mind.
She says, “It was a factor of consideration when deciding on whether we should go ahead with the purchase. However, the landscaping of the development was also very attractive compared to all the other developments we had viewed.
Koh is looking forward to enjoying this particular feature of the development when she finally collects the keys to her unit.
Paying the price
While she did run into several administrative hiccups along the way, such as the full set of documents she had signed taking more than three months to be handed to her, she felt Bellewaters was a good choice, as it is the only EC left in Singapore without a resale levy, so “it is likely there is plenty of interest from potential HDB upgraders”.
She also believes this was probably the underlying reason for her longer than expected wait to receive the full set of documents.
What’s the difference?
Koh has observed certain differences between owning a soon-to-TOP unit and other types of units, in terms of price, location and lease. Regarding price, she says, “The developer was not inclined to give as large a discount as with other newly launched EC units which had a later TOP date.”
She feels her purchase in particular pales in comparison to resale condos in the same price range when it came to location, as the latter tend to be situated in mature estates. However, she acknowledges that “getting the full 99-year leasehold of a soon-to-TOP EC was an important consideration”.
To buy or not to buy?
As for whether Koh would advise other buyers to invest in a soon-to-TOP or TOP project, she says: “It really depends on the reason why they are purchasing the unit. If the purchase is by newlyweds who want their own space, then the TOP date will likely be important.
“An earlier TOP date will mean savings in rental, and not having to stay with in-laws or parents.”
Read the full TOP Special here.
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