Some of you have raised topics on homeloans, interesting package, lock-down/ lock-in period, refinancing, etc.
Purchaser Calvin leong has shared some useful tips on getting the right bank for a suitable package here. Some of you like Ewyong, Sim, wayloon, and perrin share your homeloan experience too. Thanks to you guys.
I find it useful to all other purchasers and potential buyers as a reference. Let me recap what they have shared:-
Calvin Leong said:-
- “As one of the early buyers, my interest is relatively higher compared to what is offered now (-2.2 at least offered by EON). I heard from relative that you could write in to have the bank revise it even before the 5 year lockdown period. I haven’t bothered coz the bank haven’t completely writedown the loan amount. In fact what I am looking for is changing my plan to a flexi mode. It would be great if anyone would be able to share their experience with their bankers.”
- “Usually bank will lockdown your HL for ~5 years. If you break it, you pay the penalty (usually 2-3% of the loan). After 5 years, you can shop for another bank to “refinance” your property and you can probably ask for the market price (not sure if the bank will actually call a realer to rate the market price). The HL these days are now most ZEC.I have plans to restructure my HL to a flexi pay so that I could have the money easily. My rates now are alot higher than what the market is offering but if it means restarting my lockdown period, it is not worth the effort.”
- “I don’t think it is worth while paying the penalty coz 2-3% is a lot of money and I only need to hold on to another 1 year before the lockdown period is over.”
- “I have a few formulas for HL. If you seek the lowest interest rates, look for the smaller banks. EON and Alliance have very good offers. EON advertise -2.3 at one point (whole tenure).I don’t like internationals banks. They are not really competitive.If you opt for fix rate, I doubt you can get good rate.After that look for convenience. Going bank every month can be quite a hassle.
- “Get flexi if possible if you’re planning long. Don’t under estimate how much you can save by holding off your Credit Card bills before the last day.”
- “Don’t forget that you can negotiate with your banker to counter-offer your rate.”
Ewyong said:-
- ” I am on HSBC HomeLoan. I have actually started the installment since last year because based on the agreement that I signed with them, the installment will start no matter what after 3 years. I did not realize that until the bank inform me because the as usual, these clause are written so small and you won’t notice until you face them.”
- “Anyway, about revising, you should try to write to the bank and request for that. My wife and I manage to request for revision but it is still not as good as those that is in the market now because the rate that we sign for was during 2005 time.”
Sim said:-
- “We signed our bank loan agreement somewhere in 2005 with BLR +0.25% but I managed to get interest revision after official write-in early of this year to the bank (CIMB). Now my rate is BLR -1.5% without switching to another bank.Not the best but still good deal for us without paying penalty.”
- “You may also write -in to request full monthly installment as mentioned by Ewyong to reduce the principal. With the full installment, next step is withdrawal money from EPF. Now I still waiting my bank statement for the EPF withdrawal application.”
- “For me, they “restart” the lockdown period, another 5 years.”
- “Refinancing will save a lots in long-term even we pay the penalty. If you plan to settle the loan faster(ie ,5-7 years), the saving will be reduced. So, it soley depends your plan.”
- “You can roughly evaluate the package using Excel. I will opt for the flexi loan package if available during 2005…”
wayloon said:-
- “I’m using semi-flexi from public bank. that banker telling me if wanted to start house installment, i need to straight pay the amount for the installment only. there is no anything or registration require.”
perrin said:-
- “i’ve called up several banks today
ambank –> blr – 2.00%
uob –> blr – 2.00% (for the first 5 yrs) and blr – 2.40% (from the 6th yrs onwards)
ocbc –> a bit lupa, but macam blr – 2.20%
public bank –> also a bit lupa, but macam blr – 2.15%”
- “the sales agent told me if i were to get international bank, there are more changes that they have to do (which they should, since i’m buying a property from them!) and hinted that i might have to pay the lawyer fees for S&P.”
