Singapore landlords · your options

Four ways to let your own place in Singapore

A Singapore landlord letting their own property has four routes: do it yourself with no tools, do it yourself with software, appoint a CEA-licensed property agent, or appoint an agent and keep software for the tenancy year. They are not four grades of the same thing. They differ in who performs the letting job (finding, showing and negotiating), and who carries the tenancy job afterwards: stamping, the IRAS notification, rent records and renewal.

Two jobs, with a signature between them

Letting a property is two jobs with a signature between them. The letting job ends when a tenant signs: pricing the unit, advertising it, showing it, negotiating terms. The tenancy job starts there and runs for the whole lease: stamp duty within 14 days, notifying IRAS within 15 days, rent recorded month by month, a renewal decision before the end date. A CEA-licensed property agent is appointed to do the letting job for you. Renvae is software you run yourself, and it does not perform the letting job at all: it does the typing and the tracking around the tenancy job. Choosing between them means asking which job you want off your hands, not which one is better.

The four routes

What each one does for you, and what it leaves with you

Same prominence, same basis, and every route gets an honest answer about who it suits, including the two that are not us.

Yourself, no tools

You do the letting job and the tenancy job, in the apps you already use.

What it costs: S$0; Nothing to start, nothing to cancel.
Who it suits: Landlords who have let before, already hit every deadline, and have a system that works. If that is you, you do not need a product to prove it.

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Yourself, with software

You still do the letting job. Software does the typing and watches the clocks.

What it costs: Free to start · S$15 once, per letting · S$15 a month, billed annually for the tenancy year; The letting checklist and the published rent figures stay free whether or not you ever pay.
Who it suits: Landlords who are content to run their own viewings but do not want to be the one remembering a stamping deadline, a rent receipt or a renewal date.

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A property agent

You appoint a CEA-licensed professional to do the letting job for you.

What it costs: Convention, negotiable: 0.5–1 months of rent for a one-year lease; There is no legally fixed commission rate in Singapore. CEA does not set one. What follows is market convention, and it is negotiable.
Who it suits: Landlords who want the letting job off their hands entirely, who are overseas or time-poor, who are letting for the first time and would rather be advised, or whose unit needs pricing judgement rather than a published median.

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An agent, then software

The agent does the letting job. Software keeps the tenancy year after they hand over.

What it costs: Commission as above, then S$15 a month, billed annually; An agency appointment usually ends at the signature. The tenancy runs for years after it.
Who it suits: Landlords who value an agent for the letting and then find themselves alone with the stamping, the rent log and the renewal clock once the tenant has moved in.

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How much someone else carries

The two jobs, drawn to scale

Counted from the matrix below rather than asserted. Figures last verified 2026-08-17.

The letting job: 7 jobs

Everything up to the signature. Regulated work when someone does it for you.

Carried for you, of 7

Yourself, no tools
0 of 7
Yourself, with software
1 of 7
A property agent
7 of 7
An agent, then software
7 of 7

The tenancy job: 5 jobs

Everything after it, for as long as the lease runs.

Carried for you, of 5

Yourself, no tools
0 of 5
Yourself, with software
4 of 5
A property agent
0.5 of 5
An agent, then software
4 of 5

Neither direction is a recommendation. A tall letting bar means someone else does that work and charges for it. A short one means you keep it, and keep the fee.

Counted from the table below, not asserted: one point where the job is carried for you, half a point where it is shared or only partly carried, nothing where it stays yours. Half points are the honest part: most of what software does on the letting side is partial, and rounding it up would flatter the product on exactly the rows where it does least.

Side by side

Who performs each job

14 jobs, asked of all four routes. Neither direction is a recommendation.

Which one is you?

Pick one and the matching column is highlighted below. Three of the six point at a licensed property agent, because the honest answer is not always the paid one.

Who performs each job, on each route. The same jobs are asked of all four columns.
The job	Yourself, no tools	Yourself, with software	A property agent	An agent, then software
The letting jobEverything up to the signature. Regulated work when someone does it for you.
Deciding the asking rent. Who decides the asking rent when you let your own property in Singapore?	You read the HDB and URA releases and decide.	You decide. The rent estimate shows published medians for the town and flat type, with the period and the source.	Your agent advises on a figure and you approve it.	Your agent advises. You can check it against the published medians.
Writing and placing the advertisement. Can a Singapore landlord advertise their own property for rent without an agent?	You write each ad and post it to every channel yourself.	Let writes ready-to-post copy sized for each channel. You post it from your own account.	Your agent lists it, including on the agent-gated portals.	Your agent lists it.
Showing the property. Who conducts viewings if you rent out your flat yourself?	You agree times in chat and meet people at the door.	You still show the property. A scheduler collects slot requests for you to approve or decline, and warns you before you double-book yourself.	Your agent conducts the viewings.	Your agent conducts the viewings.
Negotiating rent and terms. Who negotiates the rent if a Singapore landlord lets their own property?	You negotiate directly with the tenant.	You negotiate. This is a regulated act and the software takes no part in it. It never replies on price or terms.	Your agent negotiates on your behalf.	Your agent negotiates on your behalf.
Having the letting job done for you. Can software replace a property agent for a Singapore landlord?	No. The work is yours.	No. Software is not a substitute for licensed agency work. If you want it done for you, appoint an agent.	Yes. This is what you are appointing an agent to do.	Yes, for the letting job.
Judgement on an unusual unit. When is a property agent worth it for a Singapore landlord?	Your own read of the market.	Published medians describe typical units. They cannot price an atypical one. A licensed professional who has shown that street this month can.	Local, current judgement is a substantial part of what the fee buys.	Local, current judgement from your agent.
Letting while you are overseas. How can an overseas landlord rent out a property in Singapore?	Difficult. Someone has to open the door.	Software does not solve this. Someone still has to be at the property, and it is not us.	Solved. Your agent attends in person.	Solved. Your agent attends in person.
The tenancy jobEverything after it, for as long as the lease runs.
Stamp duty, within 14 days. How many days do you have to stamp a tenancy agreement in Singapore?	You file it on IRAS and remember the date yourself.	You file it. The deadline is on a compliance calendar from the day the lease is signed, and a duty calculator returns the figure.	Commonly prepared by the agent during the letting. Confirm with yours.	Prepared during the letting; the date is still tracked afterwards.
Notifying IRAS, within 15 days. Do you have to tell IRAS when you rent out your property in Singapore?	Yours to remember. The clock starts at the letting.	You notify. The deadline is tracked and flagged before it lapses.	Yours. An agency appointment for the letting does not usually cover it.	Yours to file, tracked and flagged.
Rent recorded month by month. How should a Singapore landlord keep a rent payment record?	A spreadsheet, or the bank app, or memory.	A ledger: due, paid, outstanding, late by how many days, with receipts you send yourself.	Yours, once the tenant has moved in.	A ledger from the day the agent hands over.
The renewal decision, before the end date. When should a Singapore landlord start a tenancy renewal?	You watch the date.	Flagged ahead of the lease end date, with the rent history in front of you.	Yours, unless you appoint again. A renewal commission is common in the market.	Flagged, so the choice to re-appoint is yours and not the calendar’s.
Documents kept with the tenancy. What records should a Singapore landlord keep during a tenancy?	Wherever you already keep them.	Held against the tenancy they belong to, and exportable at any time.	Handed to you at the end of the letting. Storage is yours.	The handover pack, then held against the tenancy.
What you commit toWhat it costs to begin, and what it takes to stop.
Cost to start. Does it cost anything to list your own property for rent in Singapore?	S$0. Nothing to sign up for.	Free to start. S$15 once, per letting when you want the letting machinery.	Typically nothing until the property is let, then commission falls due.	Commission at the letting, then a subscription for the year.
Stopping. Can you cancel landlord software or an agency agreement in Singapore?	Nothing to unwind.	Cancel the subscription. Your record exports and stays readable.	An estate agency agreement has a term. Read it: CEA prescribes the form, not the terms inside it.	Both, on their own terms.

When to appoint a property agent

If you want the letting job done for you, with someone to price the unit, run the viewings and negotiate on your behalf, appoint a CEA-licensed property agent. That is work this software does not perform and is not a substitute for. Renvae never contacts a tenant, never shows a property, never negotiates a rent and never introduces anyone to anyone. Those are regulated acts and they belong to a licensed professional or to you.

Questions Singapore landlords ask

Choosing between the four routes

Which is the best way to rent out your own property in Singapore?

It depends which of the two jobs you want to keep. If you are happy to run your own viewings and negotiate your own rent, doing it yourself works, and software only removes the administrative half. If you want the letting done for you, or you are overseas, or the unit is hard to price, appoint a CEA-licensed property agent. The two are not alternatives on the same axis: an agent performs regulated work that software does not perform at all.

Do Singapore landlords need both a property agent and landlord software?

Many landlords do use both, in sequence rather than at once. An agency appointment typically ends at the signature, and the tenancy runs for years after that: the stamping, the IRAS notification within 15 days, the rent record and the renewal decision all land back with the landlord. Software for the tenancy year does not compete with the agent who let the property; it starts where that appointment stops.

What is the cheapest way to rent out a property in Singapore?

Letting it yourself with no tools costs S$0 and is how many Singapore landlords already operate. Beyond that, the routes are priced on different bases and a single ranking would be misleading: agent commission is a negotiable convention quoted in months of rent (around 0.5–1 months of rent for a one-year lease), while Renvae is a flat S$15 once, per letting and S$15 a month, billed annually for the tenancy year. There is no legally fixed commission rate in Singapore and CEA does not set one, so compare your own quoted figure, not a market average.

Is Renvae a property agent?

No, and not a lighter version of one. Renvae is software a landlord runs themselves. It never contacts a tenant, shows a property, negotiates a rent, screens or ranks an applicant, or introduces anyone to anyone. Those are regulated acts under the Estate Agents Act and they belong to a licensed professional or to the landlord. What the software does is the paperwork, the scheduling and the clocks.

Figures last verified 2026-08-17.

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