When our BTO flat reached its 5-year minimum occupation period (MOP), there was no shortage of agents wanting to sell our flat for us. There were the parents’ agent-cum-long-time family friend, the sister’s friendly acquaintance, the random and sometimes pleasant showroom agents, and the agents who were literally knocking on our door day and night, appearing with big warm smiles on their faces proudly proclaiming “CONGRATULATIONS, your flat has just reached MOP!!!”

Being first-time property sellers, we met the agents with open hearts and genuinely liked most of them. They all had different personalities of course, but what came across most commonly was the earnest way they seemed to really want to help us. Help us sell our flat at the best price. Help us plan ahead for our next home. Help us buy a 2nd property in the future. Help us buy two properties right now. Because, why wait? Every moment spent waiting is money not being earned from renting out your next property, from the loss in value of your HDB, from the current lull in the property market.

The message was clear.

Now is the time to SELL.

As first time home sellers, we had no clue how to actually go about the selling process, let alone the ​best​ way to go about doing this. We knew we had to place our faith in property agents. The first step for us was to choose one. And as most people would, we reached out to people who happened to know an agent. Funny how in this day and age, the good old grapevine is what most of us still reach out to.

We settled on an agent whom we had met during a family member’s viewing of a prospective unit. Based on said family member’s limited feedback on the agent, we contacted him. And just like that, we soon had our very first meeting with a property agent. Gulp.

This experience may or may not be familiar to a first time property seller, but I’m sure most of us can relate to that very first encounter with an agent. In articles to come, we will explore in depth the journey that every home seller takes from an angle that is not at all well documented.

● The author of this blog is NOT a property agent. However, he has done extensive (obsessive) research in the field. As such, this blog is written purely from a NON-agent perspective.
● It aims to educate first time home sellers to be better informed in the selling and buying process so that you can be confident when speaking with your property agent of choice.
● If you’re reading this blog, you are most probably someone who is looking to sell their first HDB flat and realizes that selling your flat (and buying your next property) is totally different from buying a BTO flat.

So welcome to The Next Nest! We hope you find the information on this blog useful