In order to obtain cash liquidity without having to sell your property, you would need to own a private property that has appreciated in value. Whether the property is unencumbered or has a current outstanding loan with a relatively low debt-to-asset ratio / loan-to-valuation, you would be able to apply for an additional equity loan on that property (also known as gearing up term loan or cashing out).

One option would be to approach your existing financier for the equity loan, or to refinance the current loan plus the equity loan over to another financier. The current housing loan market is a highly competitive one and with financial institutions dishing out the goodies to entice you to make the switch, now would be a good time to explore and consider refinancing to cash out some welcomed extra cash to meet other personal needs.The main point to note is that you have to seek the gear up from the same financier as the housing loan.

The interest rate charged on the equity loan would normally incur the same interest rate as the housing loan.When determining the quantum required for the cash out, you would need to take into consideration the amount that has been utilized from your CPF OA for financial institutions would only grant loans up to a certain percentage of the  prevailing value of your property. This limit would be the sum of your outstanding loan, utilized CPF OA funds, and the equity loan required. While interest rates are at an all time low since 2004, you might consider this approach to cash out some cash to give you the required liquidity.

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If you are going through a bad patch and are unable to keep up with your monthly housing loan repayments, it would be a good idea to speak to your financier immediately to seek assistance. For genuine distress cases, most Financial Institutions (FIs) would be prepared to consider on a case-to-case basis requests for some form of indulgence like interest servicing, reducing the monthly installments for a limited time so that you can have time to make alternative financial arrangements to meet the full repayment once the full monthly installment is reinstated, or loan restructuring to stretch the loan tenure so as to lower monthly repayments.

Do not skip on your repayments and end up being delinquent for it would affect your credit rating adversely. The effects of such a delinquent act would have long lasting irreversible and negative impact on you.The Credit Bureau (Singapore) Pte Ltd (CBS), maintains a record of an individual’s credit history with participating FIs. It is through CBS that all participating FIs share crucial information that is used when approving any application for financing and credit facility. 

Information on CBS is as follows: