Looking to sell your HDB flat on your own but completely clueless how to?
Besides the admin paperwork you have to prepare, the #1 daunting question faced by first-time HDB flat sellers would be, how do you even find potential buyers for your home?
Chin up! After reading this article, you’ll know how easy it is to sell your home on your own with (almost) everything made accessible on the internet these days.
This comprehensive yet simple to follow-through guide will bring you through the HDB Resale Process in just a couple of simple steps (and save you that 2% commission fee!).
How to sell your resale HDB flat as a direct owner?
- Register your intent to sell via the HDB Resale Portal
- Put your flat up for sale online
- Grant your buyer the HDB Option to Purchase (OTP)
- Submit a resale application to HDB
- Endorse the resale documents via the HDB Resale Portal
- Pay resale fees online
- Attend your HDB resale completion appointment after receiving your approval letter
Pre-sale checks for homeowners
Minimum Occupancy Period (MOP)
Hang on… Before you even consider the sale, remember to do a pre-sale check. HDB flat owners need to fulfil a minimum occupancy period (MOP) of 5 years before selling your flat.
This period is calculated right from the day you collect the keys to your flat, excluding any period of non-occupancy, rental or infringement of flat lease.
You can request for a confirmation of your eligibility to sell your HDB flat via the HDB website.
Also, take a look at your Outstanding HDB Loans / Payments and Resale Levy information for fees that you might have incurred before you start the resale process.
1. Register your intent to sell
HDB advisses that you should register your Intent to Sell before you start marketing your HDB flat for sale.
To register, send in your application by logging into the HDB Resale Portal. (If there are joint owners, only one of you will need to register.)
Once registered, you will be able to get more information about the Ethnic Integration Policy and see your flat’s Singapore Permanent Resident Quota:
- Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP): The proportion of the buyer’s ethnic group has to be within the prescribed block and neighborhood limits
- Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) Quota: The proportion of non-Malaysian Permanent Residents has to be within the prescribed block and neighborhood limits. The SPR Quota is 5% at neighborhood level and 8% at block level.
This will help you to determine which buyers are eligible to buy your flat. You can check it here.
Also, take note if your flat is affected by any Upgrading or Estate Renewal Programme as the owner of the flat will be liable to pay for upgrading costs.
If you prefer direct clarification, you can also visit your nearest HDB branch (check the locations here).
HDB Seller’s Quick Checklist
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2. Put your HDB flat up for sale online
HDB will notify you of your eligibility of sale within 7 days of your sale intent registration. If all goes well, you’re now ready to get a buyer!
When you sell without an agent, you’ve got all the freedom to make your own decisions. Put it up for sale on various online platforms such as Carousell or any other sites you deem fit.
How to attract buyers with your HDB listing on Carousell
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Take #homegoal photos
Pictures speak a thousand words so make sure to take the best ones of your home when you list it.
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Price your flat fairly
Now, in deciding the critical question of how much you should sell your flat for, you can get a gauge from the latest HDB Median Resale Prices in your neighbourhood, or get HDB’s stats on individual resale flat prices according to flat type and HDB town/ street name/ block number.
There are also several ways you can acquire a valuation of your home. For a more tailored and comprehensive home valuation, you can hire a professional Property Valuer from HDB.
As for the budget-friendly people who just want to get a rough gauge, you can try this automated tool from Urban Zoom (created by a team of data scientists and real estate gurus!).
With your photos checked and selling price decided, the last thing to do before attracting a sale is to craft a strong description! This will give potential buyers a good idea of everything your home and estate has to offer.
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Write a convincing description
Lucky for you, if you’re using the Carousell app, you won’t have to type out every minute detail yourself in free text.
Simply follow the built-in fields to indicate the right attributes for your home. You can include information like nearby amenities and tenure period, right down to details like the decor. Click, choose, and you’re on your way to creating a listing that tells potential buyers exactly what you have to offer.
Note that the fields marked with the dark red tab on the left are compulsory – you’ll have to fill them up before you can successfully upload your property listing.
Here are some of the pieces of information you can include:
- What’s in your neighbourhood
Some users prefer to talk about your neighbourhood secrets, such as “Awesome Wanton Mee just a 5 minute walk away!” Where else can you find such uniquely local info, right?
- Nearby amenities
How about the most popular wet market in your estate that sells the freshest fish in the vicinity? Let them know!
- MRTs near you
Besides convenience, buyers might search for homes that are near specific MRTs to look for something near their parents. It’s normal, people want to qualify for the Proximity Housing Grant.
- Your home layout
You can purchase your residential floor plan from HDB here, it will definitely help you in selling your home!
Check out how fellow homeowners are listing their own homes for sale – similarly, your completed listing will look something like theirs!
3. Grant your buyer the HDB Option to Purchase (OTP)
After agreeing on the sale price, the next step would be to grant him/her an official HDB Option-to-Purchase (OTP).
Log in to the HDB Resale Portal to download and print out the HDB Option-to-Purchase (OTP) form and sign it.
Your buyer should pay you an Option Fee in exchange for your signed OTP.
We recommend $1000 as the Option Fee to ensure adequate commitment from the buyer.
Once you grant the HDB OTP, it will be valid for 21 days. The buyer has to confirm his/her decision. During this period, a second OTP cannot be granted to someone else.
Then, two scenarios might happen:
- If the buyer does not exercise the OTP before the deadline, you can keep the option fee.
- If the buyer exercises the OTP, he/she will proceed to pay you a deposit called the Option Exercise Fee before signing on the OTP Form.
Tip: This amount is negotiable, but the total sum of the Option Exercise Fee and the Option Fee cannot exceed $5000.
These fees will be reimbursed to the buyer via the downpayment of the flat or via CPF following a successful sale.
The HDB OTP form is the ONLY contract between you and your buyer that’s legally valid. The Housing and Development Act considers any third-party contracts/agreements invalid.
Good news, your transaction is now 80% completed!
4. Submit resale application to HDB
The OTP contract is done and dusted!
Next, a resale application document should be submitted online to the HDB Resale Portal by both the seller and buyer, within 7 days once either party has handed it in.
These are the documents you have to include in the application:
- OTP contract details
- Seller Particulars
- Buyer Particulars
- Existing loans with HDB / Financial Institutions
- Declarations of Purchase
5. Endorse your resale documents via the HDB Resale Portal
After you send in the resale documents for verification, HDB will once again evaluate them to match resale conditions with buyer & seller eligibility before giving the final stamp of approval.
6. Pay resale fees online
Also, you have to pay a resale application administration fee for this process – $40 for a 1 or 2-room flat, and $80 for a 3-room or bigger flat.
7. Attend HDB Resale Completion Appointment
The final document you will be waiting for is that precious approval letter after HDB reviews the documents you sent in for endorsement.
Once received, that’s the cue that you can seal the deal!
Schedule an appointment with HDB that accommodates both you, and the buyer.
Lastly, put pen to paper at the HDB Hub. Hand over the keys and complete your resale transaction!
HDB Hub
480 Lor 6 Toa Payoh
Singapore 310480
Mon-Fri: 8.30AM – 5PM
Sat: 8.30AM – 1PM
Sun: Closed
Tip: Apply for a Temporary Extension of Stay if you’re unable to move out immediately. View the conditions here.
Selling your HDB flat
That’s really all to the direct home sale journey!
It may sound intimidating at first, but once you follow through with the steps above, you’ll realise that it’s no feat.
Considering your flat sells for S$500,000, an agent will cost you $10,000 to $20,000 based on the average commission fee (2 to 4%).
Why not park this money with a bank, make some investments or even spend it on the renovation? All you have to do is take some time to go through this guide, and I promise it will be worth it.
Enjoy the process, and we are confident that you will find a new owner to take over your precious home real soon.
Begin your direct home resale journey HERE (or check out how other HDB homeowners are listing their flats for sale), and remember to share this article to benefit your fellow peers looking to resell their HDB flats!
