Jo'An Tan

Jo’An started her career helping clients with their loan positioning by sharing with them on the macroeconomy outlook. Having performed above and beyond her duties, the advisory role she took on has earned her multiple awards at the local banks. As one of the pioneering advisors with Redbrick Mortgage Advisory, she has personally structured over $900M worth of loans across 900 properties; by no means an easy feat and a strong testament to her ability and achievements.

What you need to know when investing in commercial property in Singapore

At a fundamental level, owning commercial property for investment purposes is much like renting out a residential property – you, the landlord, own a property and rent it out to the tenant for monthly cash flows. In Singapore, there are 2 types of non-residential properties: industrial and commercial properties. Firstly, commercial properties include retail shops, offices, medical suites and shophouses. Secondly, industrial refers to workspaces such as B1 (offices, warehouses) and B2 (factories). If you are considering buying a commercial

Jo'An Tan September 30, 2021

Does DBS Reverse Mortgage Loan Equate To Care-Free Retirement?

On 29 June 2013, the government released the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TSDR) framework in which, borrowers would have to fulfil a strict assessment to obtain their desired loan amount. This meant that the amount an individual could borrow would be limited to his ability to service all their loans within the portfolio, based on monthly income. Now this may not appear as alarming news for employed homeowners who are earning a monthly salary. However, through Singapore’s rising housing prices

Jo'An Tan August 25, 2021

How to pet-proof your home

Pet ownership in Singapore has steadily increased over the past years. A Business Times article states that Singapore’s pet dogs and cats have grown about 19% in 5 years, reaching 196,000 in 2019. The covid-19 pandemic also sees more house owners getting a pet as a companion as there were more time spent at home due to the work from home arrangement. Having a pet is a responsibility not to be taken lightly as it is similar to having

Jo'An Tan June 30, 2021

Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) – Stay home and make your home senior-friendly

Over the past few weeks, several clusters of infections have emerged along with a pattern of local unlinked community cases. Therefore, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce has announced additional measures and restrictions under Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) to minimise transmission of the virus. On 16th May 2021, Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) started so as to reduce the risks of community transmission. Everyone is encouraged to stay indoors and only leave home for essential services such as groceries and food. Based on a

Jo'An Tan May 19, 2021

Light at the end of the tunnel: What a successful COVID-19 vaccine would mean for the real estate market

Countries around the world race to lay hold of a vaccine for the ravaging pandemic that has taken the lives of 1.34 million people at the time of writing, equivalent to nearly one-fifth of Singapore’s population. To date, several promising vaccines have emerged, with prominent ones by Pfizer and BioNTech procuring results of an astounding 95% success rate with few or no recorded side effects. This spells good news for the world after almost an entire year of chaos, lockdowns

Jo'An Tan December 2, 2020

SIBOR Rates Plunge: What Does This Mean for Mortgage Loans?

Back in June 2020, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced that Fed interest rates will drop to ‘near zero’ and maintain that level until at least the end of 2022. The main reason for holding Fed interest rates near zero (0-0.25%) is to stimulate the coronavirus-hit US economy, which is expected to shrink by 6.5% in 2020. Fed interest rates and interest rates in Singapore, termed the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR), are highly correlated. This means that banks who

Jo'An Tan October 28, 2020

Is Singapore’s real estate really pandemic proof?

Since April 2020, it was common of headlines featuring published data of home sales transactions increasing despite the ‘lockdown’ period where all physical viewings were not allowed. This trend was happening for both the private and public housing market. This was contrary to what many believed that an onset of a pandemic would cause poor market sentiments, resulting in an eventual property market slump. Instead, some of the affluent have gone on to acquire bigger and more expensive real estate

Jo'An Tan October 21, 2020

Guide to property valuation: Residual method

When we talk about property valuations, we often think about the valuation of the building or house itself. Often times it’s all about buying or selling the residential apartment or commercial piece of building. However, it is important to not forget about another item which can be purchased as well: land. As such, this article aims to provide you with a basic overview and simple method to derive the value of the land. The residual valuation method – this is

Jo'An Tan September 6, 2018

Guide to property valuation: Income method

If you are an owner (or planning to be one) of an income-producing property, perhaps this article would be extremely useful for you. By income-producing property, we mean real estate assets that collect rental income on a monthly basis – for example, if you own a shophouse, a retail space, or even an office space. As such, this article serves to teach a quick and easy way to calculate the value of your property of the aforementioned type! Firstly, it

Jo'An Tan August 14, 2018

Guide to property valuation: Direct comparison approach

In this article, we will be presenting and providing a quick and easy method of property valuation called the Direct Comparison Approach. This can be said to be one of the easiest and convenient methods of valuation for a specific property. However, some background knowledge is also very important to establish a value as accurate as possible. As the name suggests, the Direct Comparison Approach is based primarily on the Principle of Substitution, where the purchaser would be unwilling to

Jo'An Tan July 17, 2018