Buying a new home is an emotional process and a spreadsheet cannot provide all the answers. Moreover, I am a stocks guy and have almost zero interest in property investing. Hence I am too lazy to research properties. To minimise the thinking process, my criteria was just to get the cheapest Build-to-Order (BTO) flat that is closest to an MRT station. I reckoned that Singapore is a small place and it is convenient to get around so staying near a station could get you anywhere. And BTOs tend to be priced below the market rate, so I am less likely to overpay for them. Quite a good rule of thumb for someone who just wanted a fuss-free roof over my head. Isn’t it? But my wife thought differently. She set her sights on the most expensive BTO project which was easily double the price of the cheapest project. We could have been able to buy the cheapest flat without taking up a loan....