Owning a home at a young age may a distant dream for many in Singapore.
But for Ong Yiting, also known as the Hokkien Girl, it is a milestone she managed to achieve when she was 24.
Yiting, who turns 26 this year, has been living in her two-bedroom apartment for the past two years.
In an episode of Kaypoh Room Tours episode that aired on Wednesday (Oct 7), the local content creator opened up about her home ownership journey as a young Singaporean.
While Yiting previously shared on social media that she had decided to leave her family home, she had never gone into much detail.
“I would say it’s because of certain family circumstances,” she told the Kaypoh Room Tours host.
The content creator shared that she was “given an ultimatum” to either stay home and accept the family situation as it was, or move out and live her own life.
“I chose the latter,” she said.
Last July, Yiting shared in a social media post that she had left the nest for some time.
Before buying her own house, she had spent the past year either renting a place or staying over at her friends’ and relative’s.
When AsiaOne contacted her, Yiting declined to share further details about her home due to privacy reasons.
Homeowner at 24
While moving out may be a dream for many young Singaporeans, being able to afford a place of their own is another matter.
So how did Yiting make that happen?
Addressing speculations that she received financial help from her family, the content creator revealed that this was far from the case.
“My family is actually quite poor,” she said, adding that she has three siblings.
Yiting started working when she was just 14 years old and managed to “save up a lot”.
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After graduating from National University of Singapore, she juggled two jobs — a full-time role in strategy consulting and a side hustle in content creation.
Recalling that period, Yiting admitted that she barely had time to do anything else as she focused on earning money.
“I wasn’t living my life. I was just a money-making machine,” she said.
And while she appears to be enjoying the fruits of her labour now, Yiting would not encourage other young adults to follow in her footsteps.
“I wouldn’t recommend this to normal people in their 20s,” said Yiting.
“If you tell me that you are 23, ‘Should I move out?’, I would say [do it] at your means, at your own timeline.”
And instead of occupying the master bedroom herself, Yiting rents it out to her hairstylist and his wife.
The rental income, she added, covers “the bulk of” the house’s mortgage.
Lessons from moving out
While owning her own space has given Yiting more freedom, the experience has also come with its own set of challenges.
“One thing I learned about living alone is I need to accept the fact that not everything can be done by myself,” she said.
Listing some examples, the young homeowner shared that she had to call her brother for help after she was unable to fix leaking pipes or change water dispenser filters herself.
She also admitted that she had underestimated the cost of furnishing and renovating a house.
Although she had set aside $120,000, the final bill exceeded that amount.
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“This is a brand new space, so everything such as your toilet bowl, even basic stuff like racks here and there, everything is money,” she said.
“These invisible costs add up.”
When asked what advice she would give young home-seekers, Yiting shared that speaking to people familiar with the property market helped her understand her options better.
In her case, she had many conversations with her aunt and father, both of whom had experience as property agents.
And while Yiting has already achieved the milestone of owning her own place at 24, she has an even bigger goal in mind.
“I don’t mind staying in this space [but] I want to get a penthouse by 30 years old. That’s my goal,” she said.
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carol.ong@asiaone.com
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