Property Roundtable

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Your condo made you $500,000. Most people would say great property, keep it. Harvey asks something different: if you had the money today, would you buy the same condo again at today's price?

In this episode of The Resale Room, Harvey Chia asks whether yesterday's winner is still tomorrow's winner. A $500K gain tells you about the past. The better questions are about the next five years. Will demand in the project and the area stay strong? Is the development ageing well? What competing supply is coming up nearby? Has the neighbourhood improved? And have your own needs changed?

Harvey lays out the real reasons to hold: a strong location close to family and schools, healthy resale demand in the project, a layout that still fits the family, a comfortable mortgage, a future catalyst on the horizon, and no clearly better place for the money. He also covers when selling makes sense: weaker future upside, a product that can't stand up to new competition nearby, an ageing asset, changing family needs, a location that no longer suits you, or a lot of equity tied up that could be working harder elsewhere. He also explains how unit size quietly caps your next gain. On a 1,000 sq ft unit, another $500K means another $500 PSF.

Then he reframes what upgrading means. It doesn't have to mean spending more. It can mean a better location, a better layout, stronger connectivity, a newer lease, a lifestyle closer to the people who matter, or even lower financial stress. A more expensive property isn't always an upgrade. A better-positioned one is.

The throughline: "I made $500K" and "I have somewhere better for this money" are two very different statements. Before you look at the next condo, understand what you already own and what you want your equity to do next.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests. The discussion is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. While the insights shared are based on personal perspectives and experiences, they should not be taken as professional or financial advice.

A team from SRI Pte Ltd

Agency Registration Number: L3010738A

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

For most Singaporeans, landed is the end goal: HDB, then condo, then eventually landed. But once you've lived in landed for years, should you hold it forever? Or is there a point where selling and moving back into a condo is the right move for your family? In this solo episode, Harvey tackles the question landed agents rarely raise: when does it actually make sense to leave landed?

He starts with space. The kids have moved out, some overseas for good, and many owners find themselves using maybe half the house while still paying for the maintenance, repairs, gardening and housekeeping on all of it. The house hasn't changed, but your life may have. Then there's the wealth trapped inside it. Instead of asking how much your home has appreciated, ask how much capital you'd actually unlock if you sold today, and what that capital could do: fund a replacement condo or even an HDB, build passive income for retirement, help your children with education, a first property or a business, or simply give you more liquidity to enjoy what you've worked so hard for.

The third point is about the next ten years of your life, not which asset appreciates more. Do you still want to climb stairs, maintain a garden, act as your own one-man security team and drive everywhere? Or would single-level living, condo facilities, lock-and-go convenience and being closer to transport serve you better? Fourth is timing. If you do intend to exit, plan it on your own terms, not when you're forced to. Look at the home's condition, its redevelopment potential, buyer demand and what replacement properties cost. And don't price off what your neighbour sold for, because land shape, frontage, orientation and redevelopment potential can make two houses on the same street worth very different amounts.

Harvey closes on the fear that keeps many owners holding: land is scarce, and once you exit landed, getting back in may be hard. His view is that landed shouldn't be an emotional badge you can never give up. The question isn't whether landed is better than a condo. It's whether your landed home still serves the life you're living today.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

The views and opinions expressed in this episode are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or property advice. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any property decision.

Brought to you under SRI Pte Ltd (Agency Registration Number: L3010738A).

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

$2,500 per square foot for a new launch. $1,700 per square foot for a resale condo nearby. That's an $800 PSF gap. So what exactly are you getting for the extra $800?

The Resale Room is back, now hosted solo by Harvey Chia. In this episode, Harvey asks whether Singapore buyers are overlooking value that's already sitting in the resale market.

He starts with the case for new launch: a brand new product with modern design and facilities, a progressive payment structure that spreads payments across the build, a fresh lease with a longer runway, and the emotional pull of walking into a show flat. Then he flips it. Resale can give you substantially more space for the same budget, an established location, and a unit you can physically inspect, with the views, sun direction, road noise, neighbours and transaction history all out in the open. For investors, it also means immediate occupation, or a tenant helping to pay down the mortgage sooner.

Harvey also takes on the "isn't a new launch safer?" argument, explains why the cheaper number isn't automatically the better value, and shows how newer resale projects can out-compete older ones in the same sub-market. Then he walks through the checklist he runs on himself before paying a new launch premium: superior location, master plan transformation, product strength against competing supply, scarcity, future demand, exit audience, and a clear catalyst.

The throughline: don't tell me it's worth $2,500 PSF just because it's new. Tell me why the next buyer will pay more than that. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests. The discussion is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. While the insights shared are based on personal perspectives and experiences, they should not be taken as professional or financial advice.

A team from SRI Pte Ltd

Agency Registration Number: L3010738A

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

"I have money, I should buy another property." But when should a successful family actually stop? In this solo episode, Harvey, drawing on close to 19 years in property and a background in wealth management and banking, asks the question most agents won't: what is another property really going to do for you?

He starts with concentration. If you already own a landed home, an investment condo, and a rental, does property number four make sense, or should that cash stay somewhere you can access easily? Owning a lot doesn't mean you have a lot of usable cash. The second question is whether another property makes you financially tight, constantly watching interest rates, leaning on rental income, and facing renovation capex as the asset ages. Drawing on a recent symposium on retirement and loss of income, Harvey reframes it: does your property own you, or do you own the property?

The third point is for families already financially secure, where the current home is largely paid off and retirement and children's education are handled. At that juncture, is another property about the family, or about ego and a bigger balance sheet? Fourth is concentration risk: two people worth $10 million are in very different positions if one holds $8 million in property and the other holds a balanced mix. Fifth, past performance doesn't equal future results, especially as taxes, interest rates, and your own life stage change.

Harvey closes on the shift from building wealth to preserving it, and the one question worth sitting with before your next move.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

The views and opinions expressed in this episode are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or property advice. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any property decision.

Brought to you under SRI Pte Ltd (Agency Registration Number: L3010738A).

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

If two landed homes both cost $5 million today, would you know which one becomes worth $6 million? In this solo episode, Harvey breaks down the five things he looks at to spot the difference, none of which are the marble, the kitchen layout, or the pool most buyers fixate on.

First is the land. Harvey separates every property into land and house from day one, and asks a simple question: if you demolished the house tomorrow, what would you still own? Land size, plot shape, frontage, depth, and redevelopment potential carry an embedded premium most buyers can't see. Second is the next buyer's option to do better. A regular plot with strong rebuilding potential gives the future owner the right to create tomorrow's home, and that optionality is worth paying for.

Third is scarcity. When only 30 or 40 comparable homes genuinely compete for the same buyer in a micro-cluster, and the alternatives around are inferior, your property commands a premium because it deserves it. Fourth is livability: a house already configured for the next affluent family, five bedrooms, a lift, a helper's room, parking for two, so the next buyer doesn't have to spend $800,000 and 18 months rebuilding. Fifth, and hardest, is buying it correctly, because the best time to create value isn't after you buy, it's when you buy.

Harvey closes with the framework itself, and why $5 million plus a $1 million renovation doesn't automatically equal $6 million.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

The views and opinions expressed in this episode are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or property advice. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any property decision.

Brought to you under SRI Pte Ltd (Agency Registration Number: L3010738A).

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

What are the five biggest mistakes people make when buying a landed home in Singapore? In this solo episode, Harvey draws on 18 years in the market to break down the errors he sees buyers make again and again, most of them before they've even started viewing houses.

Two of the mistakes are about numbers you can manage. Over-budgeting for renovation is the first: setting aside $500,000 or more for works before you've even found a house, when that money could have gone into acquiring more land. Renovation depreciates, and over-budgeting for it can leave you in a non-starter position where you can't even get the journey going. The other numbers mistake is paying too much premium for one factor alone, like proximity to a good school, when that single feature doesn't guarantee the outcome you're paying for.

The other three mistakes are psychological. Being district-focused but not cluster-focused, where you fixate on a district number without realising the profile of homes within it can vary enormously. Holding a rigid mental model of the perfect home, a checklist so long the market offers you very little. And thinking too hard about the exit before you even enter, letting selection bias over a facing or a specific street stop you from buying something that could have worked.

Harvey closes on why the psychological mistakes are the hard ones to navigate, and why the district-versus-cluster call is the one that really takes experience.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

The views and opinions expressed in this episode are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or property advice. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any property decision.

Brought to you under SRI Pte Ltd (Agency Registration Number: L3010738A).

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Is $5 million really the new entry price for landed property in Singapore? In this solo episode, Harvey unpacks what that number actually means on the ground and why it's become the figure everyone keeps quoting.

Harvey breaks down why landed prices are really rising, and it comes down to one thing: seller expectations. As land values across the island climb, sellers benchmark against government land sales, district markers, and neighbouring transactions, and buyers willing to match those expectations are what forms the market.

But $5 million doesn't buy the same house everywhere. The same budget gets you a very different product depending on whether you're in an entry-level district or a prime one, and whether you're buying more house or more land. Harvey walks through the difference between land value and house value, why buying land is both an emotive and a technical decision, and why his own preference leans toward a bigger plot for the exit strategies it opens up.

He also tackles a question most buyers don't ask: can a $5 million house actually be a bad buy? The answer is yes, and it usually comes down to paying a premium for a cosmetic reno dressed up to look like a full rebuild.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

The views and opinions expressed in this episode are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or property advice. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any property decision.

Brought to you under SRI Pte Ltd (Agency Registration Number: L3010738A).

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

A single buyer walked in ready to purchase private. Profile fits, budget's there, the deal looks clean. Then one question changed everything: are you engaged? Turns out her fiancé has an HDB that hasn't cleared MOP — and now they can't keep both. The problem was never the product. It was the package around it.

In this episode of The Resale Room, Harvey Chia is joined by co-hosts Teng Tan and Viv Yeow to unpack the property pitfalls that catch out buyers and sellers who don't know what they don't know. Not hypotheticals — real cases from the team's own recent deals.

The panel works through the traps that hide in plain sight: the engaged buyer who has to give up one home or the other, the unapproved staircase that stalled a deal at inspection, and the road line reserve that quietly eats into a landed home's value. Harvey breaks down why he still bought a house with a road line in front — and how working the numbers backwards made it good value anyway. Teng shares how the 15-month wait-out rule collided with a client's Malaysia property to sink an HDB purchase. And the team gets into why HDB asks so many questions while private buyers get no checklist at all.

The throughline: most people only ask whether a property will make money. They forget that getting to that decision carries a stack of rules, timelines and consequences they've never had to think about. What you don't know rarely stops the deal outright — it just makes it painful. The fix is having someone in your corner who's seen enough case studies to spot the pitfall before you're standing in it.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests. The discussion is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. While the insights shared are based on personal perspectives and experiences, they should not be taken as professional or financial advice.

A team from SRI Pte Ltd

Agency Registration Number: L3010738A

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Two years into living in the landed home he rebuilt, Harvey Chia shares the three things he wishes he'd done differently. Not tips and tricks this time. The real regrets, with the real numbers on what it would have cost to get them right.

The channel has always covered what to spend on after you buy a landed home. This episode flips it: what Harvey actually skipped, why he skipped it, and how his lifestyle changed enough to make him wish he hadn't.

Regret one is solar panels. He walks through the real economics: a 15–20 kWp system at current EMA benchmarks, roughly a five-year payback, and the twist that changed everything. After crossing over to an electric vehicle and charging at home for a fraction of what petrol cost him, the solar savings suddenly justify themselves. Regret two is the smart home he decided wasn't necessary, and why the peace of mind of leaving the house on one tap turns out to be worth the outlay. Regret three is the one almost nobody talks about: an exterior lighting scheme that lets a well-designed home present at its best after dark, not just in daylight.

The throughline: the advice we give is real, because your lifestyle can change faster than you expect. Build for the home you'll grow into, not just the one you move into.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro: Three Regrets, Two Years In

0:53 Regret 1: Skipping Solar Panels

1:13 What a Landed Solar System Actually Costs

2:29 The Lifestyle That Made Solar Feel Unnecessary

3:03 The EV Twist: Charging at Home Changed the Maths

4:32 How the Petrol Savings Justify Solar on Their Own

6:16 Regret 2: Not Doing a Smart Home

6:45 Why It Felt Skippable During the Build

7:03 The Peace-of-Mind Case for Smart Home

9:21 What Solar Plus Smart Home Costs Together

10:20 Regret 3: The Exterior Lighting Scheme

11:57 Why the Advice We Give Is Real12:59 Over to You: Share Your Own Regrets

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests. The discussion is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. While the insights shared are based on personal perspectives and experiences, they should not be taken as professional or financial advice.

A team from SRI Pte Ltd Agency Registration Number: L3010738A

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

A couple bought a large 4-bedder in one of Singapore's top profit-making projects back in 2019. They paid around $2.2M. Today it's worth about $3.5M — and they never touched their CPF. So now they can afford up to $5.5M for their next move. The question they walked in with: what do we buy next?

In this episode of The Resale Room, Harvey Chia is joined by co-hosts Viv Yeow and Teng Tan for a real case study, not a hypothetical. At $5.5M, do you go for a large-format condo or a landed home? One property, or split it into two? And how much of the decision should be about the money versus how you actually want to live in the place?

The panel works through the real trade-offs: why Harvey leans landed at this age and budget, why a big-quantum condo is harder to pick than it looks, and how the newer buyer thinks differently from the traditional one. Teng argues the strategic long-game case — buy landed now, hold it as an option, and work backwards from the end state. Viv makes the lifestyle case for space, facilities and a home you'd actually enjoy. And Harvey lays out the hard truths of en bloc: freehold over leasehold, why you need 80% to agree, and why you should never buy on en bloc potential alone.

The throughline: with a windfall from an unprecedented 2019–2026 window, the next move is the one that matters. It's less about buying more to make more, and more about form, duration and the life stage you're buying for. There's no one right answer — only the parameters that fit you.

This isn't a podcast of knowledge. It's a podcast of deal-making.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests. The discussion is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. While the insights shared are based on personal perspectives and experiences, they should not be taken as professional or financial advice.

A team from SRI Pte Ltd Agency Registration Number: L3010738A

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro: A Real $5.5 Million Case Study

1:23 The Numbers: $3.5M Sale, $1.4M Cash, No CPF Used

2:06 The Question: Landed or Large-Format Condo?

2:56 Harvey's Case for Landed at $5.5M

3:25 Why the Right Big Condo Is Hard to Pick

4:31 Viv's Take: Space, Facilities and En Bloc Hopes

5:37 Landed for the Cleaning? The Real Reasons People Buy

6:04 If It's Not Your Final Home, Buy Landed

6:44 Do People Actually Use Condo Facilities?

8:02 Who's Buying Landed Now: The New Breed of Buyer

9:55 Why $4M+ Condos Are a Harder Sell

11:36 Harvey's En Bloc Playbook: Freehold Over Leasehold

13:23 Would You Buy a Condo for En Bloc Potential?

15:39 The 80% Problem: Why En Bloc Is So Hard

17:07 What Do You Actually Want to Achieve?

19:29 Why Landed Owners Rarely Sell Within 10 Years

21:27 It's About Living in the Home, Not Just the Profit

23:30 The 2019–2026 Window and the Next Big Decision

25:30 One Property or Two? The Prudent Play

27:41 How Teng Really Thinks: Old Man Mind, Young Runway

29:14 Final Takes: There's No One Right Answer

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A team from SRI Pte Ltd

Agency Registration Number: L3010738A

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