Paper 2

Property transactions

Private and HDB sales, leasing, taxes, and the financial calculations on Paper 2. Each numbered row is the official topic. Open the study notes first; practice is on the notes page.

RES exam basicsThe RES exam is two papers taken in the same weekend sitting. Both are 2.5 hours, fully computer-based, and 100% multiple-choice — there has been no fill-in-the-blank or short-answer section since 2023.Study notes

Official topics

4.1Sale of uncompleted private propertiesCU4’s flagship: buying from developers (uncompleted or new) versus buying completed private property on resale — two very different rulebooks on protection, payment and defects.41 QStudy
4.2Sale of completed private propertiesCU4’s flagship: buying from developers (uncompleted or new) versus buying completed private property on resale — two very different rulebooks on protection, payment and defects.41 QStudy
4.3Collective sale of private propertiesEn-bloc: how a majority of subsidiary proprietors can sell the whole strata development over a dissenting minority, and how the money and the process work.10 QStudy
4.4Sale of HDB flatsThe largest Paper 2 block: public housing. Buying and selling HDB flats runs on an eligibility-and-scheme framework — citizenship, income ceilings, family nucleus, minimum occupation periods — that has no private-market equivalent.61 QStudy
4.5Leasing of private propertiesLeasing private property in practice: the tenancy agreement’s essential terms, who stamps it, who bears GST, and the deposit and clause machinery that private-market lettings turn on.14 QStudy
4.6Renting out HDB flats / bedroomsSubletting HDB flats and bedrooms is a privilege tied to ownership status and the minimum occupation period, with caps on who and how many may occupy — the exam tests eligibility more than drafting.9 QStudy
4.7Foreign worker housingSubletting HDB flats and bedrooms is a privilege tied to ownership status and the minimum occupation period, with caps on who and how many may occupy — the exam tests eligibility more than drafting.9 QStudy
4.8Taxes on propertyProperty taxation is a Paper 2 scoring machine: know each duty’s trigger, who pays it, and the rough rate architecture — BSD and ABSD at purchase, SSD on early resale, property tax on ownership, GST and lease duty at the margins.30 QStudy
4.9Property finance and financial calculationsThe numbers section: TDSR, MSR and LTV decide what a buyer can borrow; interest and amortisation decide what they pay. The exam computes — bring the formulas warm.34 QStudy

Paper 2 practiceRun this paper when the notes stick.Syllabus mapBack to both papers and all four units.