— Felicia cautioned me .. HDB rental demand from foreigners could fluctuate in the long run. In the U.S. rental market, half the tenants are local Americans. Singapore rental market is more dependent on foreigners (high home ownership rate), so she sees more risk in my HDB rental model.

Why hold on so tight even after relocation to U.S.?
* low maintenance
* valuation volatility managed by PAP

When I explained to her why I won’t sell my HDB even while I’m settled in the U.S., I realized my deep bias and sky-high confidence in the PAP and SG economy. Over the long term, my confidence would be put to the test. Compared to China, U.S. and SEAsia, I still feel far more confident about SG HDB property. This is a heavy bias, not based on enough data. Once I live through and understand U.S. rental property risks, I might conclude that SG rental market is low maintenance but low yield and not-so-stable.

— Sheng.Zeng’s views:

• The entire SG economy has traditionally relied on foreign workers. If you worry about HDB rental demand till 2064 (age 90), then you have bigger things to worry about, including SGD strength, CPI inflation, medical inflation, cpfLife… all of which are more impactful than HDB rental yield.
• Q1: Why must you keep the HDB flat? Legacy? I now feel leasehold is not the best form.
• Q2: What do you need the rental income for, exactly? If for a modest retirement [CRBR $3k] you don’t need this income, then no real worries about “decline”! If the decline represents a sub-optimal return, then there are many sub-optimal returns in my career.
• Now I think 50/50 chance I would treasure this “extra” disposable income. In that case we can consider various ways to cash out. Lease buy-back or downgrade to a smaller home
• Jolt: So taking a step back, the preoccupation with HDB rental yield is perhaps a self-imposed, /hallucinatory/ dependency. My retirement doesn’t depend on it .. Zeng’s wisdom.