Buy First or Sell First? Upgrade Financing Strategies with Homejourney

If you want a fast overview, here is how most Singapore owners (especially HDB upgraders in towns like Punggol, Sengkang, Tampines and Yishun) usually compare their options in practice:

• Buy First (Concurrent Purchase) – You secure your next home before selling the current one. Pros: less disruption, you can stay in your flat/condo while new home completes, better chance of finding the “right” unit (e.g. high-floor Jurong East condo near JEM/Westgate). Cons: need more cash, may incur ABSD temporarily, higher stress on Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR).
• Sell First – You complete the sale of your existing property (e.g. a 4-room HDB in Bishan) before committing to the next one. Pros: no ABSD (for most), clearer budget, less risk of being over-leveraged. Cons: may need interim accommodation or extension of stay, risk of price movement if market rises before you buy.

The best strategy depends on your equity (proceeds), loan eligibility, ABSD exposure, risk tolerance and family needs. Homejourney helps you model these scenarios with its mortgage eligibility calculator and multi-bank application on the bank rates page: Bank Rates and Mortgage Rates .

Key Singapore regulations that shape your upgrade strategy

In Singapore, deciding whether to buy first or sell first is not just about convenience—it is tightly linked to MAS and HDB rules like Loan-to-Value (LTV), Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR), Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), and usage of CPF OA savings.

As of 2025, the broad framework is:

• LTV limits: For a bank loan on a residential property where you have no outstanding home loan, maximum LTV is typically 75% (subject to age and tenure limits). For a second property loan, LTV usually falls to 45% or lower, which affects buy-first strategies.
• TDSR: Your total monthly debt obligations (including new mortgage, car loan, credit cards) generally cannot exceed 55% of your gross monthly income under MAS rules. This is crucial if you are carrying two mortgages during a concurrent purchase.
• ABSD: Singapore Citizens pay 0% ABSD on their first residential property, but 20% on the second and 30% on the third or subsequent. For many upgraders, buying first technically makes you an owner of two properties for a period, triggering ABSD unless you qualify under remission rules.
• CPF usage: HDB and CPF rules limit how much OA you can use for second properties, especially if you have not set aside your Basic Retirement Sum.

Because these rules can change, Homejourney always encourages users to cross-check details against official MAS and HDB resources and to treat article content as educational, not personalised financial advice.

Scenario 1: Buy first with bridging loan (concurrent purchase)

A bridging loan upgrade is a common option if you want to secure your dream unit before selling your existing home, especially for popular resale condos around MRT nodes like Bishan, Buona Vista, Tampines and Tanjong Pagar.

How a bridging loan works for upgraders

A bridging loan is a short-term bank facility (usually up to 6 months) that helps you cover the shortfall between the purchase of your new property and the sale proceeds from your existing one.

Typical use cases:

• You have an Option to Purchase (OTP) granted on your current HDB in Punggol for S$700,000 but completion is 12 weeks away.
• You find a new S$1.3 million resale condo in Seng Kang that requires a 25% downpayment and Buyer’s Stamp Duty upfront.
• Your CPF and cash on hand are not enough for the full downpayment until your sale completes.

The bank can advance part of your expected sale proceeds (based on the OTP and valuation), which is then repaid in a lump sum when your existing property sale completes.

Typical numbers (illustrative)

Assume:

• Existing HDB sale price: S$700,000
• Outstanding loan: S$250,000
• Estimated net cash/CPF proceeds after legal/agent fees: ~S$430,000–S$440,000
• New condo purchase: S$1,300,000
• Max LTV (first loan): 75% = S$975,000
• Required downpayment: 25% = S$325,000 (min 5% cash = S$65,000)

If you only have S$150,000 immediately available and the rest of your funds are locked in your current flat, a bridging loan can cover the temporary shortfall until the sale completes.

When buy-first + bridging loan makes sense

• You need certainty of school or location (e.g. buying within 1km of a primary school in Bukit Timah, Bishan or Marine Parade).
• Your TDSR supports two loans temporarily.
• You have a confirmed buyer (OTP signed) for your current property.
• You can accept temporary ABSD payable upfront (if applicable) and claim remission later if you sell within the stipulated timeline, subject to IRAS rules.

Risks and how Homejourney helps manage them

The main risk in a bridging loan upgrade is overestimating your sale price or underestimating the time to sell. In slower markets, even flats in popular HDB towns like Yishun or Sengkang can take months to move if priced above market.

Homejourney reduces this risk by:

• Helping you estimate realistic sale proceeds using market data from Projects and Projects Directory .
• Letting you stress-test your loan using the mortgage eligibility and affordability calculator: .
• Showing rates from multiple banks (DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Maybank, CIMB, RHB and more) in one place so you can model monthly instalments and interest sensitivity: Bank Rates .

Scenario 2: Sell first, then buy — safer cash flow, slower upgrade

Choosing to sell first is the more conservative property upgrade strategy for many HDB and mass-market condo owners, especially families concerned about job security or those with higher existing debts.

Key advantages of selling first

• Clear budget: After your sale completes, you know your exact CPF refund, cash proceeds and outstanding liabilities. This makes it easy to decide between, say, a S$1.1 million resale EC in Punggol vs a S$1.25 million RCR condo in Potong Pasir.
• No ABSD for most Singapore Citizens upgrading from first to second property (subject to IRAS rules). You sell your first property first, then buy the next—so you never own two at once.
• Stronger loan profile: When you redeem your existing loan, your TDSR headroom improves, which often increases your eligible loan amount for the next purchase.

Common pain points