Upgrading your HDB: How to Plan Your Timeline

Upgrading from your HDB flat to a condo or Executive Condominium (EC) is a major milestone, but it can also become a financial headache if you don’t plan your cash flow and timeline carefully. Many homeowners make the mistake of focusing on the price of the next property without thinking through the sequence of payments, CPF refunds, and temporary housing arrangements. This article breaks it down clearly so you can upgrade with confidence with no unforeseen panics!

1. Know Your Upgrade Path

There are a few typical routes HDB owners take:

• HDB to HDB (resale) - Common for families who simply need more space or want to move to a better location.

• HDB to EC (new launch) - Popular upgrade as its more affordable than private and also offers deferred payment.

• HDB to Private Condo (resale) - Quicker timeline, but requires full downpayment upfront upon completion.

• HDB to Private Condo (new launch) - Longer wait time, but can be higher potential appreciation

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Each path has different implications for your CPF usage, cash requirements, and loan eligibility.

2. Sell First or Buy First?

This is the most crucial decision, and the answer depends on your financial situation and risk appetite.

Option 1: Sell First, Then Buy

In this way, you essentially first conduct your sale viewings, and once you have an acceptable offer you issue the buyer the OTP, wait for them to exercise and only enter into any purchase once it has been completed.

Technically you could still get the purchase OTP after your selling OTP has been exercised as it is a legal binding contract for both parties, but there can still be worse case scenarios where hiccups still could happen before the completion.

You could definitely still view houses between the exercise till completion, but you only enter any contracts after your sale is officially completed. Of course with this way, you will need to find alternate temporal housing, be it renting or staying with other family.

This option is great for people who are DIY-ing the whole process, it is very beginner friendly as there is very minimal area for major errors. But the huge downside is definitely needing to find a temporal place to stay and moving multiple times.

Pros:

• Very beginner friendly, straight forward process

• Your sale process and price negotiation will not be affected by the pressure of time if you found a unit you want to purchase.

Cons:

• Will need to rent or stay with other family temporarily, causing alot of disruption and hassle to move here and there.

  
  

Option 2: Buy First, Then Sell

Don't want to look for temporal housing but still want to keep things straightforward and simple? This is another option you can opt for.

Some people also choose this option as they dont like their purchase to be subjected under pressure, and they will only start selling once they found the perfect unit and the purchase has went through.

Same as the above, but just reversed, you take your time to find a unit, and once you purchased and completed, then you proceed with issuing the OTP for your sale.

Of course, with this way you will need to have the money to pay the ABSD first, but this sum can be remitted once you sell off your current flat within 6 months from your purchase.

Pros:

• No disruption to your living situation

• Sale timeline is very flexible for prospective buyers, don't require extension, enlarging the pool of suitable buyers.

Cons:

• Need to come up with downpayment and stamp duty before selling

• Have to pay ABSD first, if matrimonial home, can be remitted after selling within 6 months from purchase

• Loan for 2nd property is capped at 45% only

Option 3: Sell and Buy Concurrently (Most common case)

Now, this is usually the most common way that people opt for, as its the smoothest and fastest transition, without having to pay ABSD or find an temporal housing.

Essentially you start marketing and looking for housing concurrently, and you try to time it perfectly, where you issue your sell OTP slightly earlier than getting your purchase OTP. Your sale will have to be subjected to extension of stay after completion to bridge the slight gap, but usually this is not a major issue.

This way you also time your CPF refund from you sale properly, as they take ~ 2 to 3 weeks to be transferred into your account. This eliminates the need to take any form of bridging loan as your funds will be ready by the time you need to fund the purchase.

Pros:

• Smooth transition with minimal or no interim housing needed

• No need to pay ABSD, and no need to find temporal housing

• Allows you to coordinate timelines to minimise cashflow gaps

• Condenses and shortens the entire sale and purchase timeline, can move in to new place quicker

Cons:

• Requires excellent timing and coordination with both buyer and seller

• One mistake in the timeline can have serious consequences

• Increased pressure to commit to both transactions quickly

  
  

🧠 In our experience, option 3 is usually the best and most suitable for many people, but it really requires extensive detailed planning. The above chart shows the PERFECT scenario, and in many cases there are bound to be hiccups and changes along the way. For people who go for this option, always be ready to adapt to changes, or make sure your agent is well versed in the timeline planning for a back to back sale and purchase.

The above are just a few examples, and the timeline will look different based on the product you are selling / buying.

If you need help in this aspect, always feel free to reach out to us to have a discussion!

3. Should You Use a Bridging Loan?

Bridging loans are a short term loan to help you pay the downpayment of your new place while waiting for your sales proceeds. E.g. you have bought a condo for $1.5M and taking a $1.125M loan, your net sales proceeds is $600k. However, you have not received the sales proceeds but you need to pay the downpayment for the purchase. In this case, you can take a bridging loan to bridge the gap after lessing off the bank loan and initial cash downpayment.

In the above example, that would be:

• $1.5M - $75k(5% cash downpayment) = $1.425M

• $1.425M - $1.125M(bank loan) = $300k

So in this case, you can loan $300k first, and once your sales proceeds are in you can repay the loan. This can help ease the sale and purchase timeline stress in certain scenarios.

But they come with:

• Interest (typically 5–6%)

• Short repayment window (6 months)

"It’s not just about affording the next property — it’s about timing every payment right so you don’t get caught between any complications."

Plan your exit and entry carefully, and always work backwards to see if your timeline makes sense

Contact us if you’d like a personalised upgrade roadmap based on your current flat and financials

Upgrading can be smooth, strategic, and stress-free, but only if you prepare for both the property and the process.