Hi David, I'm about to get my BTO flat next year. How should I start to invest in a 2nd property with such a high ABSD?

Hi Matthew, it is very commendable to be planning your future at such an early stage.

Should you decide that your next big investment is a 2nd property, there are a few ways to go about it.

Assumptions made - your BTO is with your spouse

Scenario 1

• Sale your BTO, buy another HDB but put one of you as the occupier and then 5 years later the occupier can buy the next property avoiding ABSD

Scenario 2

• Sell your BTO after 5 years and buy 1 private under a single name, save up somemore and buy your second private under the other party's name, avoiding ABSD

Scenario 3

• Just pay the ABSD. It should be about 4-5 years rental income anyway. In the grand scheme of things not the worst deal.

Of course the preparation starts now, and if you and your spouse will have to be very dilligently saving money to get that next pot of gold for this huge investment.

Please do note in all the scenarios 1 and 2, you only can use 1 person's CPF for each property, so make sure you save enough cash!​​​