Thinking of Selling? Start With the Numbers.

Not with a listing. Not with a valuation guess. With three figures: what your home is worth, what it costs you to sell, and where you’d go next.

The question behind the question

When someone tells me they’re thinking of selling, the real question is almost never “what’s my home worth?”.

It’s usually one of these:

Can we afford to upgrade if we sell?
Are we sitting on too much in one property?
Is this the right time, or should we wait?
We’ve outgrown this place — what are our actual options?

Those are better questions, and they have real answers. But none of them can be answered until you know your numbers. So that’s where we start.

What you’re actually deciding

What it’s worth. An estimated market value based on what has genuinely transacted around you — not asking prices, which are opinions.

What selling costs. Commission, legal fees, and — this is the one people forget — Seller’s Stamp Duty, which is payable if you sell within the holding period of your purchase. It is a real number and it changes the arithmetic.

What you walk away with. Sale price, less the outstanding loan, less CPF used plus accrued interest, less costs. This is the figure that decides everything else.

Where you go next. Whether that’s an upgrade, a right-size, or nothing at all.

Seller’s Stamp Duty — check this first

If you bought recently, SSD may apply, and it is not small. For homes purchased on or after 4 July 2025 it runs for four years:

Holding period	SSD rate
Up to 1 year	16%
More than 1 to 2 years	12%
More than 2 to 3 years	8%
More than 3 to 4 years	4%

It is charged on the higher of the selling price or market value, and the holding period starts from the date you accepted the Option to Purchase.

Two things follow from that. First, if you’re inside the window, the question isn’t “should I sell?” — it’s “does selling still make sense after SSD?”. Sometimes it does. Often it doesn’t. Second, if you’re a few months short of the window closing, waiting can be worth more than any negotiation.

I’ll work this out properly before we do anything else.

The mistake that costs sellers the most

Overpricing.

It feels safe. It isn’t. A listing that starts too high goes stale, and stale listings attract exactly the wrong kind of attention — buyers who assume something is wrong with it, and lowball offers that use your own time on market against you.

The first few weeks of a listing get the most attention it will ever get. Spending them on a price nobody will pay is the most expensive decision available to a seller.

The alternative isn’t pricing low. It’s pricing where the evidence says the market is, and then negotiating from there.

What I actually do

Clarity — why are you moving? Upgrade, right-size, investment, or a change in family circumstances. This shapes everything downstream, including whether you should sell at all.
Calculation — your numbers, in plain words. Estimated market value, SSD if it applies, commission, legal costs, CPF and loan position. Your net proceeds, on one page.
Comparison — your options side by side. Sell and buy. Sell and rent. Sell and wait. Hold and buy a second one. Including the option of doing nothing, which is frequently the right answer and the one nobody sells you.
Conclusion — a straight recommendation. Buy, sell, or wait. Then it’s yours to decide.

What selling with me looks like

Positioning. What makes your home worth what it’s worth, and who the buyer actually is.

Presentation. Photography, floor plan, copy. Most buyers decide in the first two seconds of the first photo.

Reaching the right audience. Not the widest one — the right one. Your buyer is a specific profile, and marketing aimed at everyone converts worst.

Negotiation. Where the fee earns its keep. I’ve closed sales at record prices in my clients’ areas by holding a position the evidence supported and knowing when to stop pushing.

Sequence. If you’re selling and buying, the order matters and the timing matters. Get it wrong and you’re either homeless for three months or carrying two loans.

“We were especially impressed when they sold our home at a record price in our area and helped us secure our next condo.”
— Mr & Mrs Ling, Woodlands HDB → Panorama

“He skilfully positioned the pricing and effectively managed the buyer interactions.”
— Mr & Mrs Kel Tan, Shunfu HDB → Mezzo Condo → Union Square Residences

“He successfully sold our property at a record price and impressed us with his negotiation skills.”
— Desmond & Candy, 3-Room Resale HDB → BTO 5-Room

START WITH CLARITY. NOT A PROPERTY.

Find Out What Your Home Is Worth

One conversation. You’ll know your estimated market value, what selling would cost you, and what you’d walk away with. If the answer is “not yet”, that’s a perfectly good answer.

Perry Siow · CEA Registration No. R006056B
Salesperson with PropNex Realty Pte Ltd · Estate Agent Licence No. L3008022J
+65 9455 6807

Before you buy a property, build a strategy. Property strategy, insights and advisory for Singapore homeowners.

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