Updated 21 Sep 2026. Selling an HDB flat and buying your next home are two linked transactions with different payment dates. A high sale price does not tell you how much cash you can spend, or when your CPF refund will be available. Work out those amounts before granting an Option to Purchase (OTP).
This guide follows an ordinary HDB resale by its owners. A divorce, deceased owner’s estate, bankruptcy, part-share transfer or exceptional early sale needs case-specific handling. Start with your actual HDB eligibility record and financial statements, rather than a generic five-year anniversary.
Before marketing: establish the next-home budget
HDB’s selling guidance asks owners to plan their next housing before committing to a sale. Check your minimum occupation period and sale eligibility in MyHDB Page. Work out where everyone will live between handover and the next home’s readiness: children, an elderly parent, pets, furniture and temporary storage all belong in the plan.
Obtain the loan redemption amount, including any contractual charges, and each owner’s CPF refund figure. Then list selling expenses and next-home costs separately. Do not treat the next purchase’s stamp duties, renovation and emergency reserve as money available to bid up its price.
Compare completed transactions for similar flats, lease lengths and locations when setting an asking price. An asking price is a proposal, not evidence that another household will pay it. Test your budget at a lower sale price too. A family that needs every dollar of an ambitious asking price has little room to negotiate.
The resale sequence and the dates that matter
Under HDB’s prescribed OTP process, the Intent to Sell must have been registered for at least seven days before you grant the OTP. Use HDB’s prescribed form. Negotiate an option fee between S$1 and S$1,000; the option fee and exercise fee together cannot exceed S$5,000. These payments form part of the sale price.
The option expires at 4pm on the 21st calendar day after the option date. Once it is granted, you cannot grant another OTP until it expires. If the buyer lets it lapse, the option fee is forfeited. Once the buyer exercises, there is a binding contract; HDB approval and the contractual obligations still matter. A later financing problem is not a general right to walk away for only the deposit.
| Milestone | What to check |
|---|---|
| Buyer receives OTP | A buyer using CPF or a housing loan must submit the Request for Value by the next working day after the option date, unless otherwise advised by the bank. |
| Buyer exercises OTP | Both parties submit within the timeframe agreed in the OTP; their two application portions must also be within seven calendar days of each other. |
| HDB accepts the application | Completion is about eight weeks after acceptance, not eight weeks after the first viewing or first application submission. |
| Completion and moving | Settle outstanding amounts and arrange vacant possession, unless a qualifying temporary extension has been arranged. |
The valuation request and application requirements above come from HDB’s resale procedures, sections 5 and 7; the completion estimate is in HDB’s completion guidance. Budget for the seller’s application fee: S$40 for a 1- or 2-room flat, or S$80 for a 3-room or larger flat, including GST. The buyer pays a separate application fee. Neither figure is the legal bill.
Sale proceeds: keep cash and CPF separate
CPF Board’s refund rules generally require the CPF principal used and accrued interest to be returned on sale. A relevant retirement-sum property pledge may also require a refund. Use the Home ownership dashboard figure for each owner, including any applicable legacy exception, rather than estimating accrued interest only on the initial downpayment.
For owners below 55, refunds go to the Ordinary Account. For those aged 55 or above, CPF Board explains that refunds first top up the Retirement Account to the Full Retirement Sum, with the balance remaining in OA. Check what you may actually use for the next home. It is unsafe to assume that the entire refund is immediately spendable cash.
The illustration below is a budgeting exercise, not a quotation, valuation or distribution instruction. Assume a market-value sale at S$680,000, S$150,000 loan redemption, S$125,000 total CPF refund and S$15,000 of agreed selling expenses, including any applicable GST. Assume no other deductions or liabilities.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price, including deposit | S$680,000 |
| Less loan redemption | S$150,000 |
| Less CPF refund | S$125,000 |
| Less assumed selling expenses | S$15,000 |
| Cash remaining after these items | S$390,000 |
If S$5,000 was already received as the deposit, it is inside the S$680,000. Do not add it again. If that S$5,000 has already been spent, the remaining cash from this illustration is S$385,000 after the listed items. The lawyer or HDB’s actual statement controls the payment route and final amounts.
Commission is negotiable. CEA advises documenting the agreed fee and whether GST is included; there is no compulsory 2% seller’s rate. Keep quoted legal fees, loan charges, upgrading liabilities and moving costs visible instead of hiding them in a percentage of the selling price.
If the sale cannot cover the full CPF refund
A CPF refund shortfall and a mortgage shortfall are different problems. CPF Board states that, where the property is sold at market value and the price cannot cover the outstanding housing loan plus required CPF refund, the CPF refund is limited to the price less the loan, without a cash top-up of that CPF shortfall. Option money already received is part of the price and must be accounted for. This does not forgive a shortfall owed to the lender or other selling expenses. Have the completion figures checked before committing.
Will the money arrive in time for the next home?
HDB’s resale procedures, section 12.5 state that net sale proceeds, if any, are released upon completion and the CPF refund is credited within seven to 14 days of completion. Do not promise the next seller money that is still tied up in this sale. Confirm your own disbursement arrangements, particularly where private solicitors act.
Write down each next-home payment with its due date and funding source. If a deposit falls due before this sale completes, it needs money already available or a separately approved financing arrangement. An expected CPF refund cannot solve an immediate cash deadline.
Selling first makes the realised budget clearer but may mean renting and moving twice. Buying first may provide continuity, but creates financing, tax and timing exposure if this sale is delayed. Compare both using actual quotations and eligibility, not an assumed seamless same-day handover.
An extension of stay is conditional
HDB’s temporary extension of stay can be up to three months after completion. It requires the buyer’s agreement and relevant eligibility, including having committed to buy a completed property in Singapore by the resale application. The seller must not be renting out the whole flat then. Both parties declare the arrangement in their application portions. Waiting for an uncompleted home alone does not satisfy the completed-property condition.
Agree the departure date, expenses and access arrangements before making the move dependent on an extension. The buyer bears ownership costs from completion, including loan instalments, and the extension affects their own move-in and MOP start. Do not treat their agreement as a free extra three months.
Finally, do not assume an HDB sale can never attract Seller’s Stamp Duty. IRAS specifically flags SERS replacement flats that may meet MOP while still within an SSD holding period. Check the acquisition record if relevant.
For the next purchase, use our buyer funding and policy checks alongside the current HFE or bank assessment. A successful move leaves the household with a workable home and a reserve, not just a completed sale.
Primary sources linked above checked 21 September 2026. Figures are hypothetical and do not establish a particular owner’s eligibility, CPF entitlement or tax liability. This is editorial guidance, not a review of your transaction documents.
Featured photograph: Choa Chu Kang HDB blocks, photographed in 2025 by 33Loading, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized; residential context, not a property offered for sale.
