Conveyancing

You first need an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter, then the seller grants you an Option to Purchase on HDB's prescribed form. You exercise it within the option period, both sides submit the resale application on HDB's portal, and the sale completes at an HDB appointment once HDB has approved it.

The seller grants an Option to Purchase, the buyer exercises it by paying a further deposit, and the exercised option becomes the binding contract. The buyer's lawyer then checks the title, deals with stamp duty, the bank and CPF, and on completion pays the balance in exchange for the transfer of ownership and the keys.

An Option to Purchase gives a buyer the exclusive right to buy a property at an agreed price within a set period, in return for an option fee. If the buyer does not exercise it in time, the option lapses, the fee is generally forfeited to the seller, and the seller is free to sell to someone else.

Buyers pay Buyer's Stamp Duty on almost every purchase, and may also pay Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty depending on their residency status and how many homes they already own. Sellers of residential property may pay Seller's Stamp Duty if they sell within the holding period. Duty is generally due within 14 days of signing.

You do not usually need to clear the loan before selling. On completion, your lawyer uses the sale proceeds to redeem the mortgage, refund the CPF money used for the property with accrued interest, and pay the sale expenses; what remains is paid to you.

If your loan is from a bank, yes. Refinancing means discharging the existing mortgage and registering a new one, and paying off a bank loan means discharging its mortgage, both of which are legal steps lodged with the Singapore Land Authority. HDB can usually handle the discharge of its own loans.

A conveyancing lawyer handles the legal side of a property transaction: checking the title, managing deposits and completion money, dealing with stamp duty, CPF and the mortgage, and registering the transfer. If you are borrowing from a bank, the bank will want a law firm on its approved panel to act on the mortgage, and a firm on that panel can often act for both you and the bank.

Joint tenants own the whole property together without separate shares, and when one dies the survivor automatically takes the whole. Tenants in common each own a defined share, such as 50:50 or 70:30, which passes under their will or the intestacy rules on death.