Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

Now that we got the standard fits-all-sizes advice out of the way… let’s talk about how to further filter out the listings you will encounter.

FILTERING OUT SEARCH LISTINGS MORE

1. For PropertyGuru and Rently, there are some crucial basic keywords you should keep an eye on. We’ll discuss some of these with more gnarly details later.

• “Common room” – refers to any bedroom that is not the master bedroom. Usually on HDB flats, there’s the master bedroom – the bigger one – and there’s the common bedrooms. It’s just a room – typical sizes for the common bedrooms in different flats are approximately 10 sqm for 3-room flats, 12 sqm for 4-room flats, and can be larger in 5-room or executive flats.
  
  Note that this is the most frequent term you will see in the apps. Common room for rent, blah blah blah. Costs can range from SGD 1100-1800, depending on size, furnishings and location.
  
• “Master bedroom” – unlike the common room, this one usually is a lot bigger and has access to a private bathroom (toilet, sink and shower). This one costs a pretty penny too – ranging from SGD 1600-2500, depending on overall room size, how much furnishings and amenities are attached, and location. A typical one in HDB flats range from 13-16 sqm (approx. 140-172 sq ft). However, in new private condos, master bedrooms can be smaller, sometimes under 120 sq ft, while newer HDB master bedrooms can be smaller than older ones.
  
• “Staying with owner” – now this one is very important. This one is literal. The landlord/owner (or in some cases, their relatives, their helpers and/or their children) is staying with you, occupying one or more of the rooms and you get to occupy a vacant room. The reverse of this term is “No owner/landlord staying”.
  
  Note that this one I put in as a non-starter on my wishlist because of personal preferences.
  
• “Shared bath” – this means all the tenants in the same unit have to share one or two bathrooms/toilets. For 3-4 room flats, usually it’s one bath and toilet shared for all tenants. For 5-6 room units or two-floor units, usually there’s two shared baths, divided amongst who’s on proximity to what. For example, first-floor tenants share one bath and second-floor tenants share their own bath.
  
• “Fully furnished / Partially furnished / Unfurnished” – this indicates the number of furnishings, appliances and/or items you can use inside and/or outside the room.
  
  “Fully furnished” usually means a room with a bedframe with a mattress, a wardrobe cabinet, a desk/table (sometimes with a lamp) and an aircon. Sometimes you get one with a wall fan on top of the aircon. Some go the extra mile and include wall decorations like paintings or posters. Outside the room, there are the communal utilities – in the kitchen/drying areas, usually there is a washer (sometimes with a dryer), a full-size refrigerator, food cabinets, a toilet seat with a bidet, and more. Sometimes you get things like a kettle, a microwave oven (some have full ovens), stove vents, and maybe some cleaning accessories. On the common living room, usually there’s a TV, couches and a dining table nearby.
  
  “Partially furnished” usually means the room has just the bare basics. A bed (sometimes with a bedframe, sometimes just a damn mattress on the floor), an aircon (sometimes with a wall/stand fan, if you’re lucky), and that’s it. Existence of cabinets are very much optional. Outside the room, it’s a gamble as to what appliance is present. You’re lucky if there’s a washer, a fridge or even a fucking kitchen (I’ve seen listings with no kitchen stoves). I’ve even seen one listing for a solo “partially furnished” studio unit where there’s just a mattress on the floor, an aircon, and a washing sink. Shit is bare AF. Another term for this is “semi-furnished”.
  
  This one, however, has the lowest chance of having any owner/landlord staying in, because places with live-in landlords tend to be fully furnished – unless your landlord is Sheldon Cooper.
  
  “Unfurnished” is literally an empty-ass room. No bed, no mattress, no cabinets, no tables, no appliances, and you’re lucky if there’s even an aircon or a fan. However, this one tends to be cheaper. Slightly cheaper only, as landlords tend to be stingy nowadays. I’ve seen unfurnished listings go for the same rate as some partially furnished units, partially because the agent/landlord valued the location way too high.
  
  One common thing of all three is that the bath/toilet rooms can vary in amenities but the basics are always there – a toilet, a shower (often with a heater installed) and a washing sink. Those three are the necessities in any Singaporean house/unit. Note that these don’t count as “furnishings” as they’re the basics. They’re always present, or else no one is renting those poor sods. Imagine renting a place with no shower installed – that sucks.
  
  Some toilets are in a separate room from the shower in some older 3-room HDB flats. Some toilets don’t have a bidet installed (that counts as a “furnishing”). Some toilets have mirrors and cabinets. Some toilets have wall hooks or bathroom mats or tools like plungers.
  
  Another adjacent term the agents use is “utilities included” – which also can vary. Which utilities? You have to ask directly.
  
• “Can cook / Light cooking only / No cooking” – this means if you’re allowed to cook or not. And if you’re allowed to cook, to what extent? Some listings can be very specific too – I’ve seen some listings for “Can cook – but no pork” and “Light cooking only – instant noodles OK”.
  
  Best-case keyword for cooking privileges is “Cooking allowed” or “Can cook” with no or minimal appended conditions, so the tier here is “Cooking allowed” > “Light cooking” > “No cooking allowed”.
  
• “WiFi included/not included” – this means you get to either have a WiFi postpaid connection that already exists, or you have no WiFi upon moving in and it’s up to you to get one from a local service provider if you need it.
  
• “Ready to move in / Move-in ready” – usually means the literal – once you signed all the documents, paid all the monies stipulated in the contracts, and paid stamp duty, you get to move in right away.
  
• “[X] month/s advance and [Y] month/s deposit” – this is the base terms when it comes to how much monies you have to pony up. The most common one you’ll see is “1 month advance and 1 month deposit”. So for example, your agreed-upon rent per month is SGD 1200 starting December 1, you have to pay for the December month in advance, then you have to give SGD 1200 as the deposit that you can refund upon contract’s end. So in total, you have to fork over SGD 2400. Sometimes this term is in the form of “1m + 1dp” or “one and one”.
  
  Some rooms/units have more needed. I’ve seen master bedrooms and entire 3-bedroom flats go for “1 month advance, 2 months deposit” terms. Some condo units with fancier digs go the full “2 months advance, 2 months deposit” to weed out the applicants.
  
  This one might factor into which rooms you select – not all can pony up that much cash right away.
  
• “No agent fees” – this means you don’t get to pay any agent fee. Sometimes this means the agent gets their fees somewhere from the landlord (e.g. the landlord paid the fees already), or sometimes this means you are talking directly to the landlord anyway. If this is not stipulated right away in a “no landlord staying” listing, chances are you’ll be paying for it.
  
• “Regular aircon servicing” – this means the agent/landlord has arranged for an aircon cleaning company to come in periodically to clean and test all the airconditioners in every room. Usually this is done quarterly, but I’ve heard of listings that have their done every 4 months.
  
• “Full facilities available” – this one is usually only seen on condominium room rental listings. No HDB rental will list this. This means that the condominium’s amenities – swimming pool, gym, tennis courts, 24-7 security – is made available to the tenant as well.
  
• “Visitors not allowed” – this one usually depends on what unit you’re renting and if the landlord is skittish on people sneaking in temporary residents on their dime. Of course, people just visiting may still come during the day (usually out of courtesy you have to let the other tenants know, if you only rent a room) but what they’re wary about are people staying in as “visitors” for one night or two. I suggest if you are renting a room/unit with this wording in the listing, make sure to clarify this with the agent/landlord. But if the listing says “No visitors at all times”, you’ll likely need more moxie.
  
  Opposite wording is “Visitors allowed/welcome”.
  
• “Female only” – this means that the agent/landlord prefers female tenants. This one is a near non-negotiable. Because it’s mostly true that lady tenants tend to be more responsible tenants than male tenants. And if the landlord is a stay-in (especially if they are female too) or the current tenants are all female, this requirement is set in stone.
  
• “Co-living” – it’s just a fancy term. If you rent a room in a three-bedroom HDB flat, landed unit or condominium with no stay-in landlord, that’s co-living already – you get a private room but everything else is communal. But some companies that explicitly specialize in renting out co-living places tend to add a little more to the concept – this may range from weekend games to anime/book clubs and maybe even movie nights. So this term might differ – some agents might be inflating the term use, and some agents genuinely have specialized co-living offers.
  
• “Free cleaning services for common areas” – this means the agent/landlord either hires a cleaning service either weekly or bi-weekly to clean out the living room and communal areas (often including the bathroom), or the landlord does it themselves (some do). That means your room’s cleanliness and upkeep is your own responsibility.
  
• “Utility cost included/excluded” – this usually means how the PUB/utility fees are handled.
  
  For “included”, that means the utility cost is baked into the monthly rent already and you won’t have to “pay” extra (with a caveat – I’ll put in a tip later). Other terms for are “PUB included in rent”, “Utility fees included”.
  
  For “excluded”, the tenants – usually done by a responsible main tenant – have to tally all the utility fees and divide the cost among the unit’s residents to remit to him/her, and they’ll pay for the unit. Other terms are “PUB shared equally” / “PUB split by tenants” / “Utilities paid by tenant/s”.

2. For Facebook Groups, they also tend to use the same language as those in PropertyGuru or Rently, but they also sneak in some things you should know.

• “Looking for couple / single ladies / students” – this is similar to the “female only” keyword, but this one at least has more qualifiers. I noticed that in Facebook Groups listings, posters tend to be more verbose and ranged when it comes to what kind of tenant/s they will ever entertain.
  
• “Solo occupancy” – same as above, this is just for tenancy filtering – it means that they ain’t entertaining couples or friendship bros. Come solo or don’t come at all, huh.
  
• “Please call or WhatsApp [X] / DM me for more details” – this one you should heed. Some posters won’t entertain DMs or replies to post, but they do entertain a call or WhatsApp. Conversely, some posters prefer DMs over calls or WhatsApp.
  
• “Must clean up after cooking / clean as you go” – this means they will only entertain prospective tenants that clean up after themselves.
  
• “Minimum [x] months lease / [x] months lease preferred” – this means they are looking for tenants with a more lengthier stay. I’ve seen this more in FB than the other apps. I actually inquired about this years ago, and it seems some are for alignment of unit due. For example, some HDB flats have one main tenant and two or more co-tenants. The HDB flat is rented for specific number of months – some 24, some 36. If one of the co-tenants leaves 8 months before the entire rent contract ends, the main tenant is incentivized to look for tenants that will occupy at least 8 months. And some are for peace of mind of the agent/landlord. For example, a lot of contracts have the minimum 1 year thing because the agent/landlord prefers to have their ducks in a row.
  
• “No weird rules” – this one can be very, very, very subjective. Will expand later.
  
• “New(ly) contract” – this means either the agent or the main tenant has signed a new contract for the unit a few weeks/months ago, and the prospective tenants can be assured they can rent the room/s for at least 1 full year or more.

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