Singapore PR family moves to JB for 3x more space while saving 80% on rent

SINGAPORE: The soaring condominium rent in Singapore forced a family to move to Johor Bahru where they enjoy about 80% of savings on rental for three times more space.

This is the story of Michelle Hon who shared on her Instagram, @thechillmom, that they left the little red dot after their rent nearly doubled. She said this happened just as her son was about to enter primary school.

She said that while “Singapore is incredible…it’s also a pressure cooker” and they had to decide when reality hit.

With the currency exchange still high, it is clear that the Singapore dollar stretches further across the Causeway, but for the mother and entrepreneur who moved with her whole family to Johor Bahru, the rent difference was still hard to wrap her head around.

Their rent in Singapore had been S$4,500 for a 2,000 sq ft condo. When their landlord raised it to nearly double — a whopping S$8,000 a month, that was their “enough” moment, the moment they told themselves “What if we just move?”

Today, they live in a three-story, 6,000 sq ft semi-detached house in Johor Bahru, with a garden, paying just around RM5,000 (S$1,600) a month. That’s three times more space while saving roughly 80% on rent. (note: the figure quoted here is from three years ago and since then the rental prices have gone up in JB). However, there are still many affordable houses and condo units in Johor Bahru. 

“The numbers still make me do a double-take,” Ms Hon wrote in her business website.

Part of what made the move possible was her work, as she runs most of her business online, giving her the flexibility to live where it makes the most sense financially without much disruption in her career.

Last year, The Independent Singapore reported on Singaporeans who had the privilege of working from home and took advantage of earning in SGD while spending in Malaysian ringgit, saving up to 50% on their cost of living.

A Singaporean commended Ms Hon for the “smart move” saying “If only I work from home, I would love to do that. We go over to JB often every month. It is safe despite what some say.”

Meanwhile another expected that with the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link set to begin passenger service by the end of the year, more people will move there. “JB has changed so much in the past decade that it is attracting a lot of young people to spend their weekends there,” he said. /TISG

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