# A nostalgic bet: How an investor transformed a 1948 Joo Chiat landed property into a shophouse dream - **Source:** EdgeProp Singapore - **Published:** 2026-07-29T06:30:00.000Z - **Author:** Fiona Lam - **Original:** https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/nostalgic-bet-how-investor-transformed-1948-joo-chiat-landed-property-shophouse-dream - **Topics:** Private Residential, Commercial & Industrial, Government & Policy ## Featured rationale The fully occupied project signals demand for differentiated co-living accommodation, though its unexpected $80,000 structural works highlight renovation risks associated with ageing properties. ## AI summary An investor spent about $350,000 converting a 1948 Joo Chiat terraced house into five rental rooms, achieving over $10,000 monthly rent and above 4% gross yield. ## Original article A two-storey terraced house in Joo Chiat catches the eye with a façade inspired by the neighbourhood’s iconic heritage shophouses. Clarissa Tan, who has lived in Singapore’s east all her life, bought the freehold property in 2024 as an investment. At the time, it was still operating as an office, with an ageing exterior, and interiors that had seen little change for decades. Read also: What's moving the market: Singapore's biggest property deals and hottest searches (July 24) She redesigned the façade with cues from the conservation buildings she has admired since childhood. Inside, she gutted and reconfigured the space, carving out five bedrooms for rent. The transformation — more extensive than expected — cost about $350,000 and took nearly nine months. The purchase also capped a year-long search for a property that combined architectural character with investment potential. "I’ve always wanted to buy a conservation shophouse," Clarissa tells EdgeProp Singapore. "And I believe that many people would also love to live in one, or at least a landed home that looks like one." Close to her heart Much of Clarissa's life has been centred around the east. Her parents live near Bedok while she attended school and enrichment classes nearby. Many of the friends she grew up with still live in the area. Along the way, the distinctive architecture of Katong and Joo Chiat’s shophouses also left a lasting impression, with some of her fondest memories tied to the streetscape. Read also: How cross-border real estate financing is evolving between Hong Kong and Singapore She still remembers waiting for the bus along East Coast Road after piano lessons. Back then, the bus stop was marked simply by a roadside signpost — which still stands there today, decades later. "It’s the unsheltered kind with just the pole," Clarissa says. Just behind the bus stop, a fruit seller did brisk business from a shophouse. "Everyone bought fruits from the uncle because it was hot while we waited for the bus," she recalls. The two-storey building now houses a bakery. "All these traditional shophouses evoke childhood memories for me. That’s the emotional part," she adds. "The core, the soul — it’s still there, mainly because the buildings remain the same, even though the tenant mix has evolved." Searching for the right buy In 2023, Clarissa reckoned she was financially ready to purchase a shophouse. Thus began her search. She first explored heritage buildings zoned for full commercial use. A freehold land tenure and a good location were also key. But prices of such properties had surged dramatically during the pandemic. "I realised I had missed the boat for 'real' commercial shophouses," she says. "The prices shot up a lot and were a bit out of my range, and I didn't want to stretch [my finances] some more." Read also: Uptick in shophouses sold but fewer rented in 2Q2026: Huttons Instead, she turned to terraced houses in Joo Chiat — looking out for similar features such as a narrow frontage, sheltered "five-foot way" pedestrian walkway, deep floor plate, pitched clay tile roof, as well as pilasters and columns with classical moulding. Over the next year, she viewed just a handful of residential properties. But negotiations often stretched on as she had to "court" some owners over months, Clarissa says. Such properties, including conservation shophouses, tend to be tightly held, passed down through generations, and with several family members involved in the decision-making. In some cases, the owners reconsidered selling after talks were already underway. In others, the parties could not agree on a price. Deals that slipped away Clarissa recalls one instance in which a part-owner wanted to sell the house in its existing condition, but another preferred to redevelop it instead. As a result, "the goalposts kept moving", she notes. She initially offered the guide price of $2.8 million. When she was told that one of the joint owners was seeking a higher price, she raised her offer to $2.9 million. The asking price was increased again, to $3.1 million. "I felt very silly because it was like bidding against myself," she says with a laugh. "There were no other interested buyers bidding at the time." Another property turned into a drawn-out pursuit. It had been inherited by a few siblings and was put up for sale, only to be withdrawn after Clarissa viewed it. Three months later, it reappeared on the market and she submitted an offer. Before long, however, the listing was taken off again when one sibling was not ready to sell. About a month later, the property resurfaced once more — this time through a different real estate agent engaged by another family member. By then, the search had the makings of a wild goose chase. "Many of these conservation shophouses are inherited by multiple owners, so it’s very hard to buy them if there’s no consensus to sell," Clarissa says. She returned to the house for a final viewing. It was then that the agent suggested she also check out another listing in the vicinity. That detour led her to the terraced house she would eventually buy. The house, too, had been inherited by several individuals. But in this case, the owners were aligned and even willing to accept an offer slightly below market value. "I lucked out, really," she says. "I realised it's about luck too. Sometimes, you may come across owners who are so friendly and on good terms that they can agree to sell." Renovating an ageing house Clarissa could immediately see the property’s potential on the first visit. "It has very good bones," she notes. "I could already envision the layout." She also viewed it with her contractor to assess whether five reasonably sized rooms with en suite bathrooms could be created across the two storeys, considering the structural walls. But when the carpet and office furniture were removed, the renovation team uncovered issues that expanded the scope of works. Parts of the existing timber flooring on the second storey required repair and steel reinforcement, which had to be supported by new structural columns with excavated footings on the ground floor. Tests were carried out to make sure the party walls could safely bear the additional load. She thus engaged a professional engineer, qualified person (QP) and builder for the additions and alterations (A&A). In particular, there were no historical structural plans available, as the house was originally constructed in 1948 and most recently renovated in the 1980s. That was shortly before Singapore tightened construction regulations and required an authority or independent checker to validate the structural design and safety of a building. "We didn’t have the structural plan, so the professional engineer redid all the calculations from scratch," Clarissa says. The unforeseen A&A works — including the excavation, reinforcement, as well as additional regulatory requirements — added roughly $80,000 to the project and extended the duration to around eight to nine months, from an initial estimate of three to four months. "My advice to people who want to buy old properties is to set aside a buffer budget for these types of unexpected works," Clarissa suggests. Designing for everyday living With the structural challenges accounted for, she set about bringing her vision for the house to life, alongside an interior designer. She reimagined the interior as five bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and an individual pantry. This included dividing a large private office and common area on the upper floor into three bedrooms, while two were created on the ground floor. The transformation also entailed significant plumbing works. As the original property had just one bathroom, the five en suite bathrooms required new water supply and sanitary pipework, waterproofing, tiling and fittings, along with the necessary permits and approvals. Additionally, she relocated the inspection chamber, part of the sewage and wastewater drainage system, from indoors in the kitchen to the open space at the rear court. "The plumbing and A&A works cost the most in the renovation," Clarissa says. In converting the office into rental accommodation, she wanted the finished space to feel like a cosy, relaxing home that tenants would enjoy returning to. The beige carpet, timber floorboards and pale sage-green tiles made way for light oak-look vinyl strip flooring. The brown-carpeted staircase was replaced with an open-riser design in black. Concealed cove lighting, recessed LED downlights and bedside lamps took the place of the office’s cool-white fluorescent batten light fittings — for a warmer, more inviting ambience. Replacing the bulky desks, swivel chairs and floor-to-ceiling mahogany filing cabinets are woven rugs, plush bedding, bouclé upholstery, textured cushions, rattan furniture, timber accents and leafy potted plants. Gentle curves were introduced, including at the arched entryways, to soften the interior lines. Recreating shophouse charm The building's exterior had also changed over the decades. During the last renovation about 40 years ago, details such as the windows, grilles and front door had been updated to reflect the design trends of the time. Clarissa wanted to bring back the aesthetic that had first made her fall in love with traditional shophouses. On the second-floor façade, she did away with the half-height casement windows and vent blocks, enlarging the openings to install full-height, double-leaf French windows with louvre slats and balustrades — all in black-painted timber. Brown grid window grilles on the first floor were changed to black vertical rounded bars. The five-foot way’s flooring was refreshed with geometric tiles in white and dark teal, replacing the previous yellow-and-orange gradient design. The brown-striped awning was also removed. She preserved key heritage architectural features such as the cornices, pilasters and pitched clay tile roof. "I’m so pleased that I made it look like a shophouse," Clarissa says, beaming. "My favourite parts are the windows and the doors." Rental returns and lifestyle appeal As an investment property, the terraced house was meant to be rented out by the room rather than as a single home. Clarissa reckoned this approach could offer stronger rental returns while catering to rental demand from working professionals drawn to the neighbourhood. "I figured that if I were to lease out a newly renovated landed property to, say, an expat family, the entire unit might fetch about $6,000 to $7,000 each month," she says. That works out to less than 3% in gross rental yield. On the other hand, renting out the rooms individually can generate more than $10,000 a month, lifting gross yield to above 4%. The location also lent itself to the type of tenants Clarissa had in mind. Within walking distance are Marina Parade MRT Station, malls such as i12 Katong and Katong V, East Coast Park and popular primary schools. An eclectic array of traditional eateries, restaurants, cafes, artisan butcher shops and specialty retailers occupies the myriad shophouses. Clarissa describes it as a "melting pot" of cuisines and cultures. Like its dining scene, the neighbourhood’s lifestyle and fitness amenities are diverse, spanning yoga, barre and pilates studios, as well as muay thai and boxing gyms. "The mix is fantastic. The vibe in Katong and Joo Chiat is just so charming and vibrant," she says. "Forget those cookie-cutter malls and mainstream brands. Here, everything is so special and unique. There’s always something new and surprising every few months." She also noticed several co-living properties in the wider vicinity, which gave her further confidence that there would be healthy rental demand. Her target tenants are young, single women working nearby who would appreciate the lifestyle offerings and convenience. Today, the house is occupied by five women working in fields including aviation, hospitality and architecture. "They all get along well and are very polite and civil," she says. "I feel very blessed to have these tenants." Property, for the long haul A seasoned property investor, Clarissa had focused on private condos before purchasing the Joo Chiat shophouse-inspired terraced house, with capital appreciation as her main objective. She bought her first condo when she was 24, and has since owned units at both resale and new-launch projects, including Bayshore Park, The Sail @ Marina Bay, Caribbean at Keppel Bay, and Parc Riviera. She typically holds each property for four to five years before selling. More broadly, Clarissa continues to favour real estate over other asset classes. "I may have better intuition when it comes to property. I’ve never lost money on property before," she says, though she acknowledges that investing always carries risks. She also likes the flexibility of being able to live in a home before eventually selling it, or borrowing against it through a home equity loan if needed. Her family's District 15 landed home, for instance, is in the process of being sold after years as their primary residence, with expected investment returns surpassing $5 million. "We’ve stayed there throughout the years while we got our children into the right school, played with our pets every day, and slept in the house. And now it can make money for us," she notes. "Plus, it’s not like buying stocks where you have to deal with a lot of volatility and wake up at 3am just to watch the stock market." Looking back on her latest Joo Chiat project, she describes the journey as a rollercoaster ride — from the disappointment of being turned down repeatedly during the search, to the exhilaration of finally securing the property, to the uncertainty of tackling an unexpectedly complex renovation. Today, with the renovation complete and the house fully occupied, those ups and downs have given way to relief. "I’m just very happy. Everything is stable now," Clarissa says. She plans to hold the terraced house for the long term. "If I can hold it for posterity, I will," she says. "Just to hand it down to my kids." Property Diaries is a new series that goes behind the scenes of real estate transactions, featuring homebuyers, investors and renters sharing their search journeys, decisions and lessons learnt. Have a story to share? Write to us at propertyeditor@edgeprop.sg. ## Chinese translation > Translation model: grok_cli ### 怀旧一注：投资者如何将一栋1948年如切有地住宅改造成店屋梦想 历经一年寻屋与复杂翻新，一间办公室化作承载童年记忆的heritage灵感出租住宅 如切一栋两层排屋格外吸睛，立面灵感来自该区标志性的heritage店屋。 自小住在新加坡东部的Clarissa Tan于2024年购入这栋永久地契物业作为投资。 当时它仍作办公用途，外观老化，室内数十年来几乎没有改动。 另读：推动市场的因素：新加坡最大宗物业成交与最热搜索（7月24日） 她参考自幼钦慕的保育建筑，重新设计立面。室内则全面拆除并重新规划空间，划出五间可出租卧室。 改造规模超乎预期，耗资约35万新元，历时近九个月。 这笔交易也为一场历时一年的寻屋画上句点——她要找的是兼具建筑特色与投资潜力的物业。 “我一直想买一栋保育店屋，”Clarissa告诉EdgeProp Singapore。 “我也相信很多人会想住在店屋里，或者至少住在一栋看起来像店屋的有地住宅。” 贴近她心的地方 Clarissa大半生都围绕东部展开。父母住在勿洛附近，她也在附近上学、上补习班。许多一起长大的朋友仍住在这一带。 一路走来，加东与如切店屋独特的建筑也留下深刻印象，她许多最美好的记忆都与街景相连。 另读：跨境房地产融资如何在香港与新加坡之间演变 她仍记得钢琴课结束后，在东海岸路等巴士。那时巴士站只是路边一根路牌——几十年后的今天它仍在。“就是那种没有遮棚、只有一根杆子的，”Clarissa说。 巴士站后方，一位水果小贩在店屋里生意兴隆。“大家都会向那位叔叔买水果，因为等车时很热，”她回忆。那栋两层楼如今成了面包店。 “这些传统店屋都会唤起我的童年记忆。那是情感的部分，”她补充道。 “核心、灵魂——都还在，主要是因为建筑依旧，尽管租户组合已随时代改变。” 寻找合适标的 2023年，Clarissa认为自己已具备购入店屋的财务条件，于是开始寻屋。 她先看完全商业用途分区的heritage建筑。永久地契与好地段也是关键条件。 但这类物业在疫情期间价格大幅飙升。 “我意识到自己已经错过了‘真正的’商业店屋，”她说。“价格涨了很多，有点超出我的预算，我不想再过度拉伸（财务）。” 另读：2026年第二季店屋成交回升但出租减少：豪登 她转而关注如切的排屋——寻找相似特征：窄面宽、有遮盖的“五脚基”行人走道、进深大的楼板、斜坡黏土瓦屋顶，以及带古典线脚的壁柱与柱子。 接下来一年，她只看了少数几栋住宅。但谈判往往拖得很长，她说自己得“追求”一些业主长达数月。 这类物业，包括保育店屋，往往被牢牢持有、代代相传，决策还涉及多名家庭成员。 有些情况下，谈判已启动，业主又重新考虑不卖；另一些则双方无法谈拢价格。 失之交臂的交易 Clarissa回忆有一次，一名共有人想按现状出售，另一人却更倾向重新开发。结果“目标不断移动”，她指出。 她最初按指导价280万新元出价。得知其中一名联名业主想要更高价后，她把出价提高到290万新元。要价随后又被抬到310万新元。 “我觉得自己很傻，好像在跟自己竞价，”她笑着说。“当时并没有其他有兴趣的买家在出价。” 另一处物业则成了漫长追逐。它由几名兄弟姐妹继承并挂牌出售，却在Clarissa看过后被撤回。 三个月后重新上架，她提交了出价。但不久后，因其中一名兄弟姐妹尚未准备好出售，挂牌再度下架。 大约一个月后，物业再次现身——这次是通过另一名家庭成员委托的不同房产经纪。 至此，寻屋已有些像徒劳的追逐。 “很多保育店屋由多名业主继承，如果没有共识要卖，就很难买到，”Clarissa说。 她回去做了最后一次看房。那时经纪建议她也去看看附近另一处挂牌。 那次绕道，让她找到了最终购入的那栋排屋。 这栋屋同样由多人继承。但这一次，业主意见一致，甚至愿意接受略低于市价的出价。 “我真的很幸运，”她说。“我意识到这也要看运气。有时你会遇到彼此很友好、关系好的业主，他们就能同意出售。” 翻新旧屋 第一次看房，Clarissa立刻看到这栋物业的潜力。 “它骨架很好，”她指出。“我已经能想象布局。” 她还与承包商一起视察，评估在考虑结构墙的情况下，能否在两层楼内做出五间面积合理、各带独立卫浴的房间。 但地毯与办公家具拆除后，装修团队发现了扩大工程范围的问题。 二楼部分原有木地板需要维修与钢结构加固，并须由地面层新设结构柱与开挖基础来支撑。还进行了测试，以确保共墙能安全承受额外荷载。 她因此聘请了专业工程师、合资格人士（QP）与建筑商，进行加建与改建（A&A）。 尤其是，没有历史结构图纸可查——房屋最初建于1948年，最近一次翻新约在1980年代。那是在新加坡收紧建筑法规、要求当局或独立审查员核验结构设计与安全之前不久。 “我们没有结构图，所以专业工程师从头重新做了所有计算，”Clarissa说。 这些未预见的A&A工程——包括开挖、加固以及额外监管要求——使项目成本增加了约8万新元，工期也从原先估计的三到四个月延长到约八到九个月。 “我对想买旧物业的人的建议是，为这类意外工程预留缓冲预算，”Clarissa建议。 为日常居住而设计 结构挑战理清后，她与室内设计师一起着手实现屋内愿景。 她将室内重新构想为五间卧室，每间配有独立卫浴与独立茶水间。包括把楼上一个大型私人办公室与公共区隔成三间卧室，楼下再做两间。 改造也涉及大量水管工程。原物业只有一间浴室，五间套房卫浴需要新的供水与排污管线、防水、铺砖与洁具，以及相应许可证与审批。 此外，她把属于污水与废水排水系统一部分的检查井，从室内厨房迁至后庭露天空间。 “水管与A&A工程是翻新中花费最多的，”Clarissa说。 把办公室改成出租居所时，她希望成品空间像一处温馨、放松的家，让租户乐意归来。 米色地毯、木地板与浅鼠尾草绿瓷砖，换成了浅橡木色条状乙烯基地板。棕色地毯楼梯则换成黑色开放式踏板设计。 隐蔽灯槽、嵌入式LED筒灯与床头灯取代了办公室冷白荧光灯管——营造更温暖、更有家的氛围。 取代笨重书桌、转椅与通高红木档案柜的，是编织地毯、柔软寝具、毛圈面料软装、纹理靠垫、藤制家具、木质点缀与绿意盆栽。 柔和曲线也被引入，包括拱形入口，以软化室内线条。 重现店屋魅力 建筑外观数十年来也有改变。约40年前上一次翻新时，窗户、铁花与正门等细节已按当时潮流更新。 Clarissa想找回最初让她爱上传统店屋的美学。 二楼立面，她去掉半高平开窗与通风砖，扩大开口，安装通高、双扇法式窗，配百叶条与栏杆——全部为黑漆木材。 一楼棕色网格窗花改成黑色垂直圆杆。 五脚基地面换成白与深青色几何花砖，取代原先黄橙渐变设计。棕色条纹遮阳篷也被拆除。 她保留了檐口、壁柱与斜坡黏土瓦屋顶等关键heritage建筑特征。 “我很高兴自己把它做得像店屋，”Clarissa满脸笑容地说。“我最喜欢的是窗户和门。” 租金回报与生活吸引力 作为投资物业，这栋排屋打算按房间出租，而非整栋出租。 Clarissa认为这样既能带来更强租金回报，也能满足被该区吸引的职场人士的租住需求。 “我算过，如果把一栋刚翻新的有地住宅整租给比如一个外国家庭，整单元每月大概能拿到约6,000至7,000新元，”她说。毛租金收益率不到3%。 另一方面，分房出租每月可带来超过1万新元，把毛收益率推高到4%以上。 地段也契合她心目中的租户类型。 步行可达滨海广场地铁站、i12 Katong与Katong V等商场、东海岸公园以及热门小学。 各式传统食阁、餐厅、咖啡馆、精品肉铺与特色零售店占据众多店屋。 Clarissa形容这里是美食与文化的“大熔炉”。 与餐饮一样，社区的生活与健身设施也很多元，涵盖瑜伽、芭蕾塑形与普拉提工作室，以及泰拳与拳击馆。 “组合非常棒。加东与如切的氛围就是这么迷人又有活力，”她说。 “忘掉那些千篇一律的商场和主流品牌吧。这里每样东西都很特别、很独特。每隔几个月总有新意和惊喜。” 她也注意到更大范围内有多处共居物业，这让她更有信心租金需求会健康。 她的目标租户是在附近工作、会欣赏生活配套与便利的年轻单身女性。 如今，屋内住着五位分别在航空、酒店与建筑等领域工作的女性。 “她们相处融洽，很有礼貌、很文明，”她说。“我觉得很幸运能有这些租户。” 物业，作长远持有 作为经验丰富的物业投资者，Clarissa在购入这栋如切店屋风排屋之前，主要投资私人公寓，目标以资本增值为主。 她24岁买下第一套公寓，此后在转售与新盘项目中都持有过单位，包括Bayshore Park、The Sail @ Marina Bay、Caribbean at Keppel Bay与Parc Riviera。她通常每处持有四到五年再出售。 更广泛而言，Clarissa仍偏好地产多于其他资产类别。 “在物业上我可能直觉更好。我从未在物业上亏过钱，”她说，不过也承认投资总有风险。 她也喜欢可先自住再最终出售的灵活性，或在需要时以房屋净值贷款作抵押。 例如，她家在第15区的有地住宅，在作为主要居所多年后，现正出售中，预期投资回报超过500万新元。 “这些年我们一直住在那里，把孩子送进合适的学校，每天和宠物玩，在房子里睡觉。现在它还能为我们赚钱，”她指出。 “而且，也不像买股票那样要面对很多波动，还要凌晨三点起来盯股市。” 回顾最新的如切项目，她形容这段旅程像过山车——从寻屋时一再被拒的失落，到终于拿下物业的兴奋，再到应对意外复杂翻新的不确定。 如今，翻新完成、房屋满租，那些起落已化作如释重负。 “我就是很开心。现在一切都稳定了，”Clarissa说。 她计划长期持有这栋排屋。“如果能传给后代，我会的，”她说。“就是留给孩子们。” Property Diaries是全新系列，深入房地产交易幕后，由购房者、投资者与租户分享寻屋历程、决策与经验教训。 有故事想分享？请电邮propertyeditor@edgeprop.sg联系我们。