You have completed the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP), and your growing family is itching to move into a larger home. You have made up your mind — you are going to sell your current HDB flat in exchange for a bigger and fancier home. But there is just one problem: You are unsure of the expenses to be paid before selling your flat at Tembusu Grand. Tembusu Grand unit each has its own private lift lobby, ensuring that residents can enter and exit their homes discreetly.

One of the most important things you need to settle is your outstanding home loan. On top of that, there are a few other costs that you need to pay before selling off your HDB flat.

1. Resale application administrative fee

When do you pay? 

Both the seller and buyer are required to fork out the administrative fee when they submit their respective portion of the resale application through the HDB Resale Portal.

How much does it cost?

What is the mode of payment?

There are three accepted payment methods for the administrative fee. Via the HDB Resale Portal, you can pay with either

• Credit card (Mastercard or Visa)
• PayNow
• AXS

If you have engaged a licensed property agent, they can help you submit the application using their Estate Agent Toolkit.

2. Legal fees 

When do you pay?

After HDB has received the resale application from both the buyer and seller, you will be asked to endorse the resale documents via the HDB Resale Portal. This is when you need to pay the legal fees.

How much does it cost?

It depends on whether you’re engaging HDB’s solicitor to act for you, or you’re hiring a private lawyer to handle the necessary paperwork.

Hire HDB legal service

If you want to get a quick estimate of the legal fees, you can use HDB’s Legal Fees Enquiry Facility.

Hire private legal service

If you’re hiring a private attorney, the conveyancing fee for the discharge of housing loan is still the same as it will be paid to HDB. But for the rest, it will depend on the lawyer. Thus, you will want to first discuss their fees before appointing one to act on your behalf.

What is the mode of payment?

There are three main accepted payment methods, namely credit card, AXS and PayNow. You can also use your CPF savings to pay for the legal fees portion (i.e. excluding Title Search Fee, Registration fee and Miscellaneous fees).

3. Property tax

When do you pay?

The annual property tax is usually paid in January for the whole year. So you’ll need to submit the tax payment receipt during the flat sale completion appointment.

How much does it cost?

The property tax is calculated by multiplying your flat’s Annual Value (AV) with the applicable tax rate. The AV is your flat’s estimated gross rent for one year if it has been leased out. IRAS determines it based on prevailing market rates.

In 2021, the median AV for a four-room flat is S$10,140.

For owner-occupied homes

These are the tax rates for residential properties where the owner lives in it. In this article, we only include the tax rates for properties with an AV of up to S$30,000 since HDB flats in general have a lower AV.

Here’s the new property tax rate, as of 1 January 2023.

With an AV of S$10,140, this means that the property tax is S$85.60, excluding the 60% one-off rebate for the year 2023.

For non-owner-occupied homes

These are the tax rates for residential properties that you rent out, effective from 1 January 2023.

You can use the IRAS Interactive Property Tax Calculators to find out the property tax you need to pay.

What is the mode of payment?

The preferred method of payment is GIRO. Other acceptable payment modes include:

• PayNow
• AXS
• Internet banking
• SingPost

SELLING YOUR PROPERTY? Would you like to know how much your property is worth? Or maybe you’re considering listing your property for sale? Let us know, and we’ll have a consultant reach out to you!

4. Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC)

When do you pay?

You’ll have to pay your Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) up to the day of resale completion, and you need to settle this before the resale completion appointment.

Any other fees you may need to pay 

On top of the above-mentioned fees, you may have to incur things like the SSD and agent fees.

1. Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) 

The Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) is payable if you sell your property within three years. So for most HDB owners, they don’t have to pay this due to the five-year MOP.

So in the special case that you need to sell your HDB flat within three years, you’ll have to pay for the SSD.

You may also have to pay the SSD if you’re transferring the ownership of your HDB flat within three years.

How much does it cost?

What is the mode of payment?

There are several ways of paying the Seller’s Stamp Duty. This includes:

• GIRO
• PayNow
• AXS
• FAST via DBS/POSB account
• Internet Banking
• SingPost
• Cheque/Cashier’s Order

2. Resale levy

You’ll need to pay the resale levy if you’re buying a second subsidised flat. Here are a few scenarios in which you have to pay it:

When you’ll need to pay for it depends on when you sell off your first subsidised flat. For instance, if you sell your first subsidised flat before getting the keys to your second subsidised flat, you’ll have to pay your resale levy in cash upon getting the keys to your second flat.

On the other hand, if you complete the purchase of your second subsidised flat (i.e. key collection) before selling your first subsidised flat, your resale levy will be deducted from the sale proceeds, with any shortfall to be paid in cash.

Learn more about the resale levy here.

3. Property agent commission 

If you’re using a property agent to sell your HDB flat, you’ll have to pay the agent commission too. While there’s no fixed rate as to how much you need to pay your agent, the common practice is that as a seller, the rate to pay is 2% of the HDB flat selling price.

You can read more about the property agent commission rates here.