Investing April 3, 2026 0 Comments

Unlock the Hidden Formula Behind Your Sanctuary Home That Could Skyrocket Your Peace and Profit—Are You Missing It?

Ever wondered what happens when you mix the quiet hunt for a $20 monitor arm with the passionate pursuit of the perfect home view? It’s not just about striking a deal or snapping up a bargain; it’s about uncovering those sweet spots where personal priorities meet real-world trade-offs. Take Li Yi’s story, for instance—a freelancer with a budget and a vision, who chose a 51-year-old HDB flat that she might very well outlive. While many questioned her choices, her journey highlights a crucial truth: life—and property—is never about ticking every box. Sometimes, you pay a premium for your non-negotiables, and sometimes, you have to embrace the quirks of your unique sweet spot, whether that’s a scenic view that justifies a longer commute or a budget that shapes your renovation dreams. So, what’s your sweet spot when it comes to home and investment? Are you more about the perfect location, the price, or the perfect fit for your life’s blueprint?

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Readers of Investment Moats long enough would know my tale with second hand monitors.

I went to this guy’s home to buy a twin arm monitor arm that came up to $20. Most owners would prefer to deal with their seller below their flat. But this guy just moved in a few days ago and just want me to go up to his place because it is still early.

I commented that his view overlooking the vast trees, water and bridges was so nice. He proceed to spend the next half an hour explaining to me that he was very selective to live here. He has been living in Sengkang for a while and was looking for a place with such a view.

“This isn’t the best HDB block. The better block is this one, the one you see to the left. If you stay there, you can get a better view.”

“If you have the budget, you can consider this block to the right. It can offer also the same view.”

One of the reasons I kept finding these second hand monitor deals is because I got used to searching and the relatively “good deals” were there for the taking. I probably have too many of them.

But I don’t deny there is this curiosity about the whole purchase experience. Be it finding a seller who really cared about his color calibrated monitor living in Reflections by the Bay but also conversations like this.

I understand that where you buy your flat depends not just on price, or close to a major transportation hub. But this gentleman’s passion about how he paid attention to the flats drove home to me that there is a sweet spot to what we can accept.

His place is not like 10 minutes or 5 minutes from Sengkang MRT.

But that place is so unique to him that he can accept transport trade-offs.

Channel News Asia did a 7-min video profiling Li Yi’s resale HDB home. They set it up that she bought a home that she might outlive.

Li Yi said that a lot of people questioned her decision to get this flat.

You can view the video here:

For those who do not wish to watch, here are some details of Li Yi’s purchases:

Li Yi is currently 40 years old.
She has a budget of S$460,000 but she wanted to live in the Holland Village area. 2-bedroom condo in the area sells for S$1.5 million.
Since she is a freelancer in the creative field, income can be unstable. She felt that this is a reasonable sum which will leave her with adequate cushion if something were to happen to her job.
She waited for BTO flat since she was 35 years old and currently doesn’t want to wait any longer. They were also not located in areas that she wants.
Her HDB flat is 51 years old with 48 years of lease left. This means by the time the lease end she would be 88 years old.
She finally got the HDB flat for S$425,000.
HDB controls the amount of loan that you could borrow if your flat is older than 5 years your age. The HDB 95-year-old rule, in effect since May 2019, dictates that for maximum Central Provident Fund (CPF) usage and HDB loan eligibility, the remaining lease of a flat must cover the youngest buyer until they turn 95. If this condition isn’t met, CPF usage is prorated, and HDB loans are restricted. To cover the maximum loan, Li Yi cannot get a flat older than 45 years or must have longer than 54 year of lease.
If the flat is within 5 years of her age, her cash outlay would have been S$70,550. Since her flat is 11 years older than her, her eventual cash outlay was S$125,800. But due to the higher cash outlay, her mortgage is also relatively smaller at S$1,200 monthly instead of S$1,475 monthly.
She had to cut back her renovation budget from S$50,000 to S$30,000.
She saw her unit (or similar to her unit) get snapped up very quickly. The moment she saw the unit come back up, she made the offer even without second viewing.
Li Yi has to accept some realities
- A flat with shorter lease would make financing harder for potential buyers next time. This will shrink the potential pool of buyers.

This video reminds me that if you are person who have many non-negotiables, you will have to pay for a non-negotiable premium. the more non-negotiables you have, the higher of a premium you have to pay.

And not everyone understood that.

They will complain about this place not good because don’t have this and don’t have that.

Then for those places that have, they will say so expensive.

If you can afford, you may want to shut up and just buy don’t complain so much.

If not recognize that you are not the only one that has to make trade-offs.

Li Yi has some non-negotiables:

Spend within a budget.
Live in a place she prefer.
Get a place

Then that means she has to be flexible over a few other things:

The size of her place
How much she can spend on renovation
Accepting a shorter lease place that is harder to sell.

I have friends who tell me that the kids nowadays find it difficult to get a flat.

Perhaps I don’t understand well, but I think that may not be it.

They might have gotten a place in Yishun that is actually closer to Orchid Country Club and so far from the MRT, that they need to take a longer bus and makes work inconvenient.

It is not like there is no place for them but it is less than ideal.

There is going to be trade-offs but it is not like our generation we don’t have trade offs. Would it surprise you if we tell you that we also felt our flat prices were expensive, don’t like our option, and also have doubts if we can successful pay off our mortgage?

What my cloud many of our minds is that we missed the “golden years” where things were easy. The flat prices just go up after we got it cheap.

The newsflash is that those who may have “benefited” were unhappy because they wish they could have gotten their second property, their condo cheaper.

In a way it never ends.

But if you are more introspective you might be able to find your sweet spot.

After I celebrated my 35th birthday, I never wanted to move out of my parent’s place but if I wanted to, it would be the 3-room HDB in Yishun. Many could not understand why, and felt there are better value in property that has longer leases and bigger because I could rent them out.

But how many are thinking about by non-negotiables?

There is always going to be some trade-offs and non-negotiable. If you have too many non-negotiable, its not an easy life to live.

Anyway I got curious about where Li Yi will buy and how nice the place is so I gather some data:

I used to take a feeder bus from Science Park 1 when I work close to this place. I think it is a pretty hip place. The pink lines marked where the old HDB flats are.

There weren’t many transactions in the past 2 years:

There are only 3 room flats that is below $450,000 and if you want to live in these few blocks, there may not be a lot of transactions that comes onto the market:

Holland Close. Click to view larger chart

Holland Drive. Click to view larger chart

There were two transactions that are $365,000 and $375,000 lol.

Do you have a sweet spot of where you would live? Or are you currently living in such a place? Leave a comment and let me know.

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Kyith is the Owner and Sole Writer behind Investment Moats. Readers tune in to Investment Moats to learn and build stronger, firmer wealth foundations, how to have a Passive investment strategy, know more about investing in REITs and the nuts and bolts of Active Investing.

Readers also follow Kyith to learn how to plan well for Financial Security and Financial Independence.

Kyith worked as an IT operations engineer from 2004 to 2019. Currently, he works as a Senior Solutions Specialist in Fee-only Wealth Advisory Firm Providend. All opinions on Investment Moats are his own and does not represent the views of Providend.

You can view Kyith’s current portfolio here, which uses his Free Google Stock Portfolio Tracker.

His investment broker of choice is Interactive Brokers, which allows him to invest in securities from different exchanges all over the world, at very low commission rates, without custodian fees, near spot currency rates.

You can read more about Kyith here.