Thomas Chew

Thomas takes pride in helping people with their financing needs. Before joining Redbrick, he enjoyed a celebrated career in the local banking scene, acquiring numerous sales and service awards to his name. Many years on in banking, Thomas takes his experience and now specializes in mortgage advisory. Exuding confidence in his work, he believes that every client should be prepared to be wowed by his award winning service.

Is your property agent any good?

We have all heard horror stories of property agents (such as the story of the agent who embezzled $830k from his overly trusting client), each with varying degrees of awfulness. We have also heard of good experiences with property agents, whether it be from our relatives or friends, who have had smooth transactions because of these agents. In the agent world, there is definitely the good, the bad and the ugly. The question is, which does your property agent belong

Thomas Chew September 21, 2018

Increasing mortgage rates: Keeping up with the market

Singapore’s residential property market has indeed shown rapid signs of recovery so far this year (2018). However, the bullish performance of the market as well as the economy has sparked concerns of an ever-increasing interest rate. Currently, interest rates have risen substantially and thus, although not at a rate where there is a source of alarm, homeowners are paying more for their mortgages. As such, in anticipation of rising mortgage rates, now may be a good time to think of

Thomas Chew August 30, 2018

What exactly affects real estate prices?

The real estate market in Singapore has shown significant signs of recovery so far this year from a slump over the past years. Prices are on the rise, and market sentiments are extremely bullish currently, with many investors even deeming Singapore to offer better opportunities than Hong Kong. Nevertheless, what are the factors that affect property prices? We’ve uncovered some important factors affecting the housing market, both on a macro and micro basis, that will almost certainly impact the price

Thomas Chew July 19, 2018

Should you decouple to buy another property? Here’s what you should know about it

There are many definitions to decoupling. In plain English, the Cambridge dictionary defines it as “a situation in which two or more activities are separated, or do not develop in the same way”. Thus, investors use this term to describe a situation whereby returns on asset classes diverge from the expected or normal pattern of correlation. However, when looking at Singapore properties, it means to divide the shared ownership of a property – especially that of a couple, hence the

Thomas Chew July 3, 2018

Dos and Don’ts: Living in strata-titled properties

For those living in apartments and condominiums, do you know what are your duties and responsibilities living in strata-titled properties? Have you heard of some of the by-laws on the use and enjoyment of common property as stipulated in the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA)? Last year, you might have come across news on the golden stairway on the 20th storey of a HDB flat in Balestier that sparked debate over whether it is art or vandalism. Ms.

Thomas Chew June 21, 2018

Why the craze over en bloc sales?

If you were to flip through any newspaper, or to scroll through any newsfeed on your devices, there is a high chance of you coming across some kind of news about en-bloc sales in Singapore. With all the en-bloc craze and your friends going on and on about their hopes for their homes to go on en-bloc, what exactly is en-bloc? What kind of developments are sold in en-bloc sales? Sale of the entire strata development Sale of entire property

Thomas Chew May 30, 2018

Singapore Private Residential Market: Going Forward in 2018

Coming off a rather intriguing year where the private residential market seemed to pick up momentum at the end of 2017, this year is poised to be one that embraces the whole impact of the recovery phase. The aforesaid momentum gained last year can be said to be rather unprecedented, with rapid en bloc sales as well as increase in demand across all private residential property types. In this article, we will identify the underlying factors that are likely to

Thomas Chew April 6, 2018

3 amenities that can boost your property’s value

With the government offering a variety of housing grants to first-timer and second-timer applicants of Build-to-Order (BTO) as well as the availability resale flats, you may already be on the lookout for a flat to purchase. With that, a crucial question you might ask yourself is “where should my house be located?”. In real estate, one would be familiar with the saying “location, location, location”; which suggests that when purchasing or investing in properties, more focus should be on location

Thomas Chew March 27, 2018