Daily Briefing: 3 things to do before buying your first home; SPH sets up freelance services venture

And here's what you need to know to improve your credit score.

From MoneySmart via Yahoo!: All buyers, whether Singaporean, PR or otherwise, must pay Buyer’s Stamp Duty on their property purchases. You pay 1% for your first $180,000, 2% on the next $180,000 and 3% on the remaining amount. So for a flat costing $400,000, you’d pay BSD of $6,600. If you are a couple consisting of two PRs buying a resale flat, you will also be forced to pay a hefty Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD). That same $400,000 flat would thus attract $6,600 of BSD and ABSD of $20,000. Read more here.

From Tech in Asia: Media company Singapore Press Holdings announced today that its subsidiary, Singapore Press Holdings Interactive (SPHI), has entered in a joint venture with China-based Chongqing Zhubajie. The Chinese company is a crowdsourcing website offering a range of freelance services. The deal between the two results in a new company called ZBJ-SPH. SPHI holds 2 million shares in the venture, for a 40% stake. According to the announcement, ZBJ-SPH will operate “an online B2B creative services marketplace which connects freelance/small-medium enterprise service providers with buyers of services such as website design, brand/logo design and translation.” Read more here.

From Zuu Online Singapore: Your credit score can play a crucial role in determining whether you will be able to obtain a new credit card or a loan from a bank. While the score is definitely not the only factor that will be considered in the lender’s decision-making process, a poor score is likely to delay approval and prompt the lender to ask more questions. Some people get a low score from the credit rating agency because they have genuine financial problems and have been unable to meet their financial commitments. Read more here.