Derrick LiewPrivate Property GPS

The GPS Framework

Goals, Property, Strategy. A method for private property planning in Singapore.

Three parts, taken in a fixed order. Reversing the order is the single most common reason a property purchase quietly stops serving the household that made it.

G

Goals

Where are you heading

"The property is actually a vehicle that brings you from where you are to reaching your endpoint. A lot of buyers will say their goal is, 'I want to have a condo. I want to have a landed.' But that is not a goal. That is a transaction. When you say that you want a goal, it must be something that's tangible. For example, by 45, I want to be mortgage-free."

A usable goal survives being written down. It has a year, a figure, and a consequence if it is missed. Anything vaguer than that cannot be tested against a property, which means it cannot rule anything out either.

Watch: why buyers get their own goals wrong

P

Property

What you buy, and why it comes second

"When we flip that around, now you're amending your goal to fit into the property that you're interested in. You're falling in love with the property and then you're changing the end goals that you have in mind so that you are able to justify yourself buying that property. The property should be a variable that can be changed but your end goal should not be changing along the way."

Once the goal is fixed, the property becomes an engineering question: unit type, quantum, location, tenure, holding period. Every one of those is negotiable. The goal is not.

Watch: what changes when you flip the order

S

Strategy

How you get there

"This is the how are you going to get there. You are very clear of what is your entry price, what is your exit strategy, who will be the buyers that will buy from you in the future, where would they come from, how would their affordability like. Even before you make the purchase today."

Strategy is also where the constraints get named out loud: ABSD exposure, loan-to-value limits, CPF usage rules, MOP timing, and the order in which a sale and a purchase have to happen. Named early, they shape the plan. Discovered late, they break it.

Every plan ends with a review rhythm. Quarterly GPS reports track your property position and what the market has done to it, for as long as Derrick is your advisor.

Book a GPS consultation

The framework is easier to judge once you have heard it applied. Twenty recorded answers cover timing, upgrading, eligibility and market noise.

Watch the GPS series