My experience will be useful for those of you who need to rent a condominium for the short term. I need to renovate my entire flat, so I was looking to rent a condominium for three months. In case you didn’t know, three months is the minimum period prospective tenants need to rent a condo unit for.
PropertyGuru has become synonymous with the buying and renting of properties in Singapore. But there are actually other platforms like 99.co. My first step was to download both apps.
I had expected housing agents to list their landlords’ properties on both platforms. My assumption was right. However, it was worth the while to use both apps because some properties were listed on one platform but not the other. It was a numbers game at this point, so it’s best to be thorough and not miss out on any leads.
You could indicate your preferences and narrow your search. Here, I wish to share how ignorance is bliss. You see, I didn’t notice the Lease field and proceeded to WhatsApp every single housing agent had listed a condo on that platform.
The experienced veterans among you should be able to anticipate the outcome. I have never faced so much rejection before. I thought that we are facing a dearth of job opportunities in Singapore and that my fellow men would welcome the passive income. I was DEAD WRONG. Almost every agent declined my request, stating that their tenant was looking for a minimum one-year lease. To say that I was disheartened was an understatement.
Nonetheless, I made the right move by messaging all the housing agents. This was because one housing agent asked me if I would be willing to pay more. Here’s something I have learnt since my search: if you are looking to rent a condo for the short term, you must be prepared to pay an additional 20-30%.
Well, I was willing to pay more because beggars can’t be choosers, right? So, she went to discuss with her tenant. Her landlord relented, provided that I meet the following conditions:
I have never been so grateful that I am a non-smoker. Quickly arranged for a house viewing the following weekend.
In the end, I secured one viewing from PropertyGuru and another viewing from 99.co.
To sum up, here’s a couple of things I have learnt due to the condo search:
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I intend to move into the condo in May, so I thought setting aside 1.5 months would be too rushed. However, more than one housing agent mentioned that May is quite a long way from mid-March. I never expected the rental market to move so fast. This meant that I had to adjust my expectation and be comfortable with the idea of renting a condo in early April - one month earlier than my initial plan.
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If you are looking to rent a condo for the short term, you actually don’t have a lot of options. But perhaps doggedly following up on all the leads will help you succeed. You just need one tenant to say yes.
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It’s worth it to practise due diligence because the housing agent who listed the condo at 99.co didn’t do so at PropetyGuru. So, ya cast your net wide.
Hope this helps in your condo search!