Ten things every home buyer should know

 

Buying a home is most likely the biggest investment you will ever make, yet most people do more research about the features and specifications of the new mobile phone or car they want to buy, than buying a home. Yet, faced with a mortgage loan that may take 20 years to pay off, they also do little to prepare themselves for a home loan application and know how to negotiate the best interest rates possible.

My Ten Top Tips for Home Buyers are as follows:

• Become and expert yourself before you buy
  • Spend time to go through all the property listings and compare prices and what are to offer. Get a CMA – comparative market analysis to compare the price you are to pay with other prices in the neighbourhood go to www.lightstone.co.za   for such report.
• Check out your credit profile and repair or improve it before you apply for a home loan
  • Do you have a “thick” or a “thin” credit profile ? – it means a profile with little or sufficient credit behaviour information – used to “score” your home loan application.
  • A low credit score may increase the home loan interest rate and cost you up to 30 % more in home loan repayments
• What is your affordability to raise a home loan?
  • Check out your credit profile and home loan affordability before your buy – for a free online home loan pre-qualification – go to www.mybondfitness.co.za
  • Work out your personal budget in advance – replace your rental with the new home loan repayment and ‘check” if you can still balance your budget. Make use free budget tracking tools such as www.mobile2budget.com
• How are you employed?
  • Self-employed or commission based home buyers have more “red tape” to overcome for a home loan approval – contact a home loans consultant first to get the home loan requirements – before you buy.
• Did you consider a Government Subsidy as first time home buyer?
  • Go to www.flisp.co.za and look at the terms and conditions
• Do you have a specialist or expert on your side?
  • Line up the best property attorney, also called a conveyancer, to scrutinize your Offer to Purchase before you sign
• Voetstoots
  • Do not buy the house “voetstoots” ( as is) without having a home inspection consultant checking out the house before you finally accept the condition of the property www.inspectahome.co.za
• Shop around
  • Strange as it may seem – the bank that you have been supporting all your life – may not offer you the best home loan available
• Plan ahead
  • How soon must the home loan be approved?– give yourself enough time.
  • Is your deposit – if required – available on call and will it be invested on an interest bearing account for your benefit?
  • What is your date of occupation? – agree on a fixed date in advance – it is difficult to plan move if there is no fixed date
  • Do you have enough money to pay for (legal) the transfer, bond registration costs, bank raising fee, removal of your furniture?
    • Do your calculations with easy to use online calculators www.avidfirefly.com
  • What are the financial affairs and rules and regulations of the body corporate – if you are to buy into a sectional title complex?
• Be creative
  • If you do not qualify for a home loan right away – make use of alternative and innovative ways to secure your home with a rent to buy or Instalment Sale transaction go to www.irent2buy.co.za or www.propsolve.co.za

Meyer de Waal is a property lawyer, (conveyancer) and public notary and practice in Cape Town and director of the law firms Oosthuizen and Co Meyer de Waal Inc and a member of the Wills Estates and Trust committee of the Western Cape Law Society. He regularly lectures on property structures, estate planning, affordable housing projects, access to government subsidies for first time home buyers, home loan education (appointed by a leading bank for their “borrowers education” product), and assist home buyers with innovative solutions to buy their own homes and most recent developed an unique online process to assist home buyers to pre-qualify themselves for a home loan.

021 – 461 0065 meyer@oostco.co.za

www.oostco.co.za

www.irent2buy.co.za

www.mobile2budget.com

www.flisp.co.za

www.mybondfitness.co.za

www.consumerhousingeducation.co.za

 

Stop Wasting Your Time, Get With My Bond Fitness Pre-Qualification For Your Home Loan

Stop Wasting Your Time, Get With My Bond Fitness Pre-Qualification For Your Home Loan

“Disrupt and disturb,” Meyer de Waal, a conveyancing lawyer with 28 years of experience in the property industry said.

“We set out with the idea that we needed to change how things were done; to make them better for everyone – and My Bond Fitness was the result.”

My Bond Fitness is not your average loan aggregator. Not only is the entire process limited to as few steps as possible, but it taps into you real-time data and Credit Bureau Record to create the most accurate pre-qualification home loan certificate possible.

While there might be a few competitors out there, none operate in the way My Bond Fitness does.

The major difference is that all other products need you to declare your own income and expenses, which makes such assessments unreliable. My Bond Fitness takes the hassle out of the process by using your actual, live bank and credit data to make a more accurate prediction without requiring endless paperwork and guessing, on your behalf.

“By automating everything we have been able to cut down on the time it takes for you to receive your pre-qualification,” Meyer explained. “Our process takes around 5 minutes total, with a few extra minutes if your bank is a little slow. Our competitors’ process can end up over 45 minutes as they make you complete the entire home loan application process. This means if you want to apply at two or three different financial institutions you’re looking at a serious chunk of your time.”

My Bond Fitness is entirely independent, allowing you the freedom to approach whoever you want for the actual loan after the pre-qualification process. Once you are ready to do so, the MBF Team can simply step in and submit the application on your behalf to the bank or mortgage originator of your choice.

Behind the scenes, My Bond Fitness incorporates the Limitless Technology Group API. The API not only authenticates the applicant’s identity and aggregates their credit and live bank data, but is also fully POPI compliant to offer the highest security possible.

“We wanted to keep the process as streamlined and quick as possible, while keeping to the National Credit Act requirements,” Meyer explained. “Partnering with Limitless Tech, an innovative and forwarding-thinking company, has helped us create the application we know will change how people pre-qualify and obtain home loans.”

Once the pre-qualification affordability and credit profile information has been completed, prospective buyers are offered the chance to indicate the area and type of property they are looking to buy. With this information, the My Bond Fitness team can help the applicant find a home through their network of contacts in the property industry, as well as assist in the final step of applying for a home loan through the bank of their choice.

“We know property buying can be a daunting task,” Meyer said. “The My Bond Fitness team are there to assist you every step of the way. We offer a full support service for home buyers who need access to the government FLISP subsidy, as well as a full educational package for those who are wanting to, or already, own property.”

My Bond Fitness not only aims to revolutionise the home loan process but how we buy property in general. For more information visit www.mybondfitness.co.za or contact Meyer de Waal on: 021- 461 0065 – 083 653 6975

Meyer@mybondfitness.co.za

www.flisp.co.za

www.consumerhousingeducation.co.za

021- 461 0065 – 083 653 6975