Jo'An Tan

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7 qualities that make a good property agent in Singapore

There have been several cases of property agents going rogue over the years; perhaps you might know a victim of these scams. Even with the establishment of the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), property swindles are unavoidable due to how lucrative the industry is. Hence, the onus is on you, as home buyer/owner, to properly vet estate agents before engaging them.   Fret not, we have compiled 7 essential qualities that make a good property agent. 1.     Ambitious No deal

Real Estate 101: Your guide to Decoupling

Decoupling – this term has always been perceived as a negative act in real estate terms, due to its association with divorces. However, this is not always the case. Decoupling is, in fact, one method of ensuring a cost effective manner of paying taxes for your property! Here are some quick facts to know about decoupling: Decoupling aka Fractional purchase Decoupling can be simply defined as a disengagement or separation from something else. However, in real estate terms, it can

2 Major trends that will reshape the world of real estate in 2018 and beyond

With the advancement in technology and Singapore’s rapid transformation over the last few decades, the real estate industry has matured and evolved from being just brick-and-mortar to a globalised capital market — but it certainly doesn’t stop here and there is still enormous growth potential. Today, the emergence of technological disruption is expected to have a significant impact on the property market in 2018 and beyond; this includes the possibility of changing the way in which real estate assets are