The Buy-Checker

• The old non-residential BSD table. The "4% above $1 million" schedule ended on 14 Feb 2023. Since 15 Feb 2023 the tiers are 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, then 5% on everything above $1.5 million. (IRAS BSD page.)
• Zoning can make a factory or shop site residential. These zones count as a home for ABSD: Residential; Residential with Commercial at first storey; Commercial & Residential; Residential/Institution; White. This is true even if a shop or factory will be built there. IRAS may remit on application, case by case. (IRAS ABSD page.)
• The 60/40 split is floor area, not price. For Commercial & Residential land, IRAS deems 60% of the gross floor area residential and 40% non-residential, but a valuer values each part. In IRAS's own example a $22,000,000 site was split $9,000,000 and $13,000,000. (IRAS BSD page, Example 2.)
• HDB shop with living quarters. ABSD is payable only on the apportioned value of the living quarters, and a valuer can value it. The BSD rates for residential and non-residential apply to their own parts. The unit also counts as one of your residential properties for your next purchase. (IRAS ABSD and BSD pages.)
• A temporary permission is not a permanent one. If a shop use is only temporary, the property still counts as a home for stamp duty. A strata shop permitted by a Written Permission for more than 10 years does not pay ABSD. Ask for the Written Permission and read its term. (IRAS ABSD and BSD FAQs.)
• GST is not claimable just because you are a company. You must be GST-registered. The unit must be used in your business to make GST sales. The tax invoice must be in your name. A company that makes no GST sales cannot claim the GST on its purchase. It can choose to register for GST if it makes, or really plans to make, GST sales. Renting out the unit is one example. After you register, you must stay registered for at least 2 years. You must also start making GST sales within 2 years. (IRAS conditions for claiming input tax; IRAS e-Tax Guide, Conditions for GST Voluntary Registration.)
• Industrial Seller's Stamp Duty is not a lock-in. You can sell within 3 years. You pay 15%, 10% or 5% of the higher of the selling price or market value, and nothing after 3 years. The date of sale is usually the date the option is accepted or the sale and purchase agreement. (IRAS industrial SSD page.)

Some units in a building have one door, some two, and a rare few have three. In my experience a unit with several doors could attract more than one tenant, and so more rental. That is a way to see why one unit stands out. It is not a promise: more doors do not guarantee more tenants.

How I do it

• Take a photo of the floor plan in each lobby. Mark how many doors each unit has.
• Count the doors on each unit.
• Tally how many units have one, two and three doors, so you know how rare yours is.
• Note the on-site amenities the building has, so you can speak to the whole picture and not just the unit.

Before you rely on it, check

• Can you rent to more than one tenant? Check the building's by-laws, the lease or title rules, and what the authorities allow.
• Where each door opens: its own space, or the same space?
• Whether the extra door was part of the original approved plan.

The method and the line "subject to the building's by-laws and the authorities' approval" are my own practice. The checks are questions to ask, not rules I am quoting.

• Find the Master Plan zoning of the land first. It decides the BSD rates and whether ABSD applies.
• Ask the seller for the Written Permission or written approval for the CURRENT use, with its term. A verbal answer is not enough.
• Match your intended use to the approved use. If they differ, you need approval for the change of use.
• If the use has a Temporary Permission, you must apply to renew it in the 3 months before it ends. URA says it "may be approved or disapproved". (URA, Renewal of Use.)
• Shophouses: URA lists locations where no additional eating houses are allowed. (URA circular DC23-08, 2 Oct 2023.)
• Industrial buildings: ask if it is a JTC or a strata building, how many years of lease are left, and whether the use or renting to more than one tenant is limited.

• Write down your size and must-haves first. Then view, not the other way round.
• Compare with recent sales in the same building, by size and floor, with the source.
• Ask why it is for sale, and for how long.
• Ask what makes this unit different from the others in the same building, and count it, do not guess.
• Find out who else can buy it: direct buyers, other agents' investors.
• Be told early if a place is out of reach, such as some government-related premises, and how long the process can take.

These come from how I have worked on commercial and industrial deals. They are my habits, not rules.