Buying a Singapore private property at $1.5 million is not just a housing decision — it is a capital allocation of between $375,000 and $525,000 in upfront cash (down payment, BSD, ABSD, legal fees, and renovation), plus a monthly loan commitment of $5,500–$7,000 over 25 years. At that scale, the difference between a well-structured scenario and a poorly stress-tested one can easily exceed $300,000 in final net proceeds. Yet most buyers make the decision after reading one agent-prepared comparison sheet that shows a single rosy outcome.
The number this calculator exists to surface is Internal Rate of Return (IRR) — not gross yield, not capital gain, not rental income. IRR is the annualised return on every dollar of your own cash deployed, taking into account the precise timing of each cash outflow (down payment, stamp duties, monthly loan top-ups) and each inflow (rental receipts, net sale proceeds). A property showing a headline 4% gross yield can deliver an IRR of 7% with 75% LTV financing, or barely 3% on an all-cash purchase. That gap is the entire argument for — and against — leverage, and only IRR captures it cleanly.
The most common mistake buyers make is running a single-point projection: one price, one appreciation rate, one rental assumption. The result looks precise but is actually meaningless, because every input is uncertain. A 1% difference in annual appreciation on a $1.5M property compounds to a $218,000 swing in exit value over ten years. A 0.5% rise in interest rates adds roughly $150 per month to a $1.1M loan — which is tolerable, but a 1.5% rise adds $450 per month and can turn a cash-flow-positive investment into a monthly drain of $800–$1,200. Modelling best-case, base-case, and worst-case simultaneously lets you see the full distribution of outcomes before you commit.
Once you have run your scenarios here, use the Cash Flow Calculator to project month-by-month net position across your holding period, and cross-check stamp duty costs with the Stamp Duty Calculator before finalising which scenario to pursue.