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Cost of rent in Singapore for 4-6 months?

Cost of rent in Singapore for 4-6 months?

Old Feb 21, 2017, 12:31 am
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Cost of rent in Singapore for 4-6 months?

Currently living in So Cal and considering living in Singapore for 4-6 purely for leisure. I've visited the country twice and done my some research into the cost of living in Singapore, but would appreciate the advice from people more familiar with living in the country.

How much should I budget for rent? Rent seems quite expensive compared to Los Angeles. Is that a fair assessment? I figured Orchard Rd area, say Somerset, was the best place for someone staying in Singapore for leisure. Are there better recommended areas? Not looking for luxury, but furnished is best. Guarded is also a plus.
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Old Feb 21, 2017, 9:07 am
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Originally Posted by flyerred
Currently living in So Cal and considering living in Singapore for 4-6 purely for leisure. I've visited the country twice and done my some research into the cost of living in Singapore, but would appreciate the advice from people more familiar with living in the country.

How much should I budget for rent? Rent seems quite expensive compared to Los Angeles. Is that a fair assessment? I figured Orchard Rd area, say Somerset, was the best place for someone staying in Singapore for leisure. Are there better recommended areas? Not looking for luxury, but furnished is best. Guarded is also a plus.
Well, first of all you are not able to rent an apartment because you don't have long term visa. So Airbnb and/or hotels are your only choices. At the same time Airbnb does not allow to rent a place for more than 30 days so you have to move from place to place. The same applies to hotels.

For sommerset/orchard are you need to budget SGD $7000-$8000 per month. That's for a room, not for an apartment.
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Old Feb 21, 2017, 10:50 am
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Originally Posted by invisible
Well, first of all you are not able to rent an apartment because you don't have long term visa. So Airbnb and/or hotels are your only choices. At the same time Airbnb does not allow to rent a place for more than 30 days so you have to move from place to place. The same applies to hotels.

For sommerset/orchard are you need to budget SGD $7000-$8000 per month. That's for a room, not for an apartment.
You could look into serviced apartments. Fraser operates two, at least, one in Robertson Quay and the other on Riverside. Can rent monthly, and do a visa run merely by crossing the bridge to JB or taking the ferry to Bintan. I'm not current on rates, but it is likely lower than the $7-8k SGD referenced, and includes furnished apartment with kitchen, utilities, broadband, maid service, and maybe a simple breakfast.
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Old Feb 21, 2017, 10:54 am
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Originally Posted by flyerred
Currently living in So Cal and considering living in Singapore for 4-6 purely for leisure. I've visited the country twice and done my some research into the cost of living in Singapore, but would appreciate the advice from people more familiar with living in the country.

How much should I budget for rent? Rent seems quite expensive compared to Los Angeles. Is that a fair assessment? I figured Orchard Rd area, say Somerset, was the best place for someone staying in Singapore for leisure. Are there better recommended areas? Not looking for luxury, but furnished is best. Guarded is also a plus.
4-6 months in SIN is quite a long time for leisure and sightseeing. Might want to break it up and rotate to various SE Asian locales. Singapore, BKK, Manila, Bali come to mind. You might be able to get decent longer term rates via AirBnB.
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Old Feb 21, 2017, 7:46 pm
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4-6 months in Spore. Please do 30 days first and decide from there. I will do as JHattery suggested, do couple weeks on other SE Asian cities.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 2:39 pm
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You can also get 30 days hotel room at most of the 5-star majors for SGD 6000 but that won't have a kitchen, however hawker food is as cheap as cooking yourself. Advantage is slightly better location and amenities than most serviced apartments or airbnb would have, plus FF points. As stated accom in Singapore is much more expensive than LA unless you are a resident/citizen.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 7:57 pm
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Originally Posted by number_6
You can also get 30 days hotel room at most of the 5-star majors for SGD 6000 but that won't have a kitchen, however hawker food is as cheap as cooking yourself. Advantage is slightly better location and amenities than most serviced apartments or airbnb would have, plus FF points.
I am not sure that serviced apartments are available for more than 30 days period unless one has long term stay visa.

Originally Posted by number_6
As stated accom in Singapore is much more expensive than LA unless you are a resident/citizen.
If the goal is to stay as close as Singapore as possible, than Johor would be an alternative with 1/3 of rental prices, but getting in and out daily to Singapore will be a pain. Plus after a week border officials on both sides may start asking questions.

If the goal is to see SEA countries, KL offers better price/performance in terms of minimizing lodging expenses.

Last edited by invisible; Feb 22, 2017 at 8:03 pm
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 8:39 pm
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Originally Posted by invisible
If the goal is to see SEA countries, KL offers better price/performance in terms of minimizing lodging expenses.
Seconded. Also, from KUL, many cheap flights to other SE Asian countries would be available via AirAsia. Bangkok, for that matter, too.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 8:44 pm
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Originally Posted by invisible
I am not sure that serviced apartments are available for more than 30 days period unless one has long term stay visa.



If the goal is to stay as close as Singapore as possible, than Johor would be an alternative with 1/3 of rental prices, but getting in and out daily to Singapore will be a pain. Plus after a week border officials on both sides may start asking questions.

If the goal is to see SEA countries, KL offers better price/performance in terms of minimizing lodging expenses.
I was actually intending to possibly begin living in Singapore a few months of the year, year after year. Was considering the idea of putting down roots in the country. The people seem my type and the prevalence of english makes it appealing to me.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 10:39 pm
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Originally Posted by flyerred
I was actually intending to possibly begin living in Singapore a few months of the year, year after year. Was considering the idea of putting down roots in the country. The people seem my type and the prevalence of english makes it appealing to me.
Well... in that case there's some difference living in private housing (e.g. condos) vs public housing which 80% of the population lives in. In the former, residents tend to be from a certain socio-economic class whereas in the latter you have much more opportunities to rub shoulders with those from a wider range of socio-economic classes (most of whom are below the condo crowd).

Mind you, even if you are able to rent or purchase public housing, that still could be more than US$2000/month rental or as much as US$600,000 or more to purchase depending on age of property, location and size.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 11:03 pm
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Originally Posted by flyerred
I was actually intending to possibly begin living in Singapore a few months of the year, year after year. Was considering the idea of putting down roots in the country. The people seem my type and the prevalence of english makes it appealing to me.
Officially, landlords aren't allowed to do rentals shorter than 6 months (both for public and private housing).

https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/buy-prope...sidential.aspx
https://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/Topics/P...ers-guide.aspx

If you're OK with the 6 month minimum, rentals would range from ~usd300-350 for a 'common room' (local parlance for a room without its own bathroom), to ~usd2000 for a 3-bedroom private condo in the island's outskirts, to ~usd3200 for a 2-bedroom private condo in the central region.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 11:52 pm
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Officially, landlords aren't allowed to do rentals shorter than 6 months (both for public and private housing).

https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/buy-prope...sidential.aspx
https://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/Topics/P...ers-guide.aspx

If you're OK with the 6 month minimum, rentals would range from ~usd300-350 for a 'common room' (local parlance for a room without its own bathroom), to ~usd2000 for a 3-bedroom private condo in the island's outskirts, to ~usd3200 for a 2-bedroom private condo in the central region.
How funky do things get with a 'common room'? Are the bathrooms well maintained and survivable? or is it a horrifying experience like using a bathroom in a local public park that's hardly ever maintained?
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 3:40 am
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Originally Posted by flyerred
How funky do things get with a 'common room'? Are the bathrooms well maintained and survivable? or is it a horrifying experience like using a bathroom in a local public park that's hardly ever maintained?
It depends who you're sharing the apartment with. Years ago, I had the misfortune of sharing an apartment in Israel with a bunch of American college kids who were bloody animals - non-existent hygiene. After that episode, I think I could have become a janitor for a metro station toilet. I saw once an apartment in Paris inhabited by normally fastidious (or at least according to stereotype) Japanese that would make a POW veteran puke. Guess you can never tell.

Almost all condo toilets in S'pore tend to be of the western bowl type (certainly those of built around/after the turn of the century) but some older public housing flats have the traditional Asian squat type for the "common" toilet.
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 10:36 am
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Originally Posted by flyerred
I was actually intending to possibly begin living in Singapore a few months of the year, year after year. Was considering the idea of putting down roots in the country. The people seem my type and the prevalence of english makes it appealing to me.
Best look into SIN's rules and expectations for admitting you as a Employment Passholder and potential Permanent Resident. Unlike the USA, they are picky and actually work to enforce it (nothing's perfect). And, if you're old enough, they won't want you. But, if you have a significant wad of cash to invest in SIN, they'll consider you regardless of age. Other route is to have employment lined up willing to sponsor your EP.
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 10:46 am
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Just don't expect to ever acquire Singaporean citizenship, regardless of how long you live there, whether you marry a local, etc.

BTW, US$3200 per month seems low for a large private apartment near Orchard Road.

You can get some idea of prices for where you might live initially by looking at websites for serviced apartments. Many of these are located in very nice areas.
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