How can I decouple by selling one property and buying two properties

I appreciate your question, but I need to clarify what decoupling involves, as it doesn't work the way you've described.

Decoupling in Singapore property context refers to removing one co-owner's name from a property you already own together. This involves one co-owner transferring their ownership share to the other co-owner. Once decoupled, the exiting party becomes a first-time buyer for their next property purchase, which helps them avoid or reduce ABSD.

Here's how the typical decoupling process works:

If you and your spouse own a property together, one of you can sell your ownership stake (sometimes as little as 0.1% or 1%) to the other. The person who exits the property is then considered a first-time home buyer when purchasing their next property, avoiding ABSD entirely (or paying only 5% if you're a Permanent Resident).

You cannot decouple to buy two properties simultaneously. Decoupling is a sequential process:

1. You decouple from the existing property (one person exits)
2. The exiting party then buys a new property as a first-time buyer

The key costs and considerations include:
- Two conveyancing law firms are required (taking approximately 4-6 weeks and costing S$5,000-6,000)
- You must have sufficient cash or CPF to return the exiting party's CPF contributions plus accrued interest
- The exiting party can begin purchasing their new property without waiting for decoupling to complete

If you're looking to expand your property portfolio while managing ABSD, decoupling followed by sequential purchases is the strategy, rather than buying two properties at once.