Life Insurance is not always a requirement, but on most loans below R1000 000.00 banks often include a condition for life insurance to be taken out.

Yes, HOC is always a condition. When you buy a unit in a sectional title development the insurance is normally included in the levy and the body corporate will provide proof of cover to the attorneys prior to registration. If you buy a free standing property, the bank will quote you on HOC. The bank normally gives you the option to accept an annual premium or a monthly premium. You can however also secure your own HOC, but will need to ensure that you present a Full Policy Schedule, where the banks interest as the bond holder is noted and that the property is insured for the full replacement value, as determined by the banks valuator. The policy needs to provide detail in terms of what cover it includes (eg does it include mudslides, boundary walls, paving, etc.).

HOC covers damage to the property due to floods, fire etc, but not the household contents. Household contents will need to be insured separately.

Yes, you can always pay in more and by doing so reduce the loan term and interest charged.

The banks offer different loan terms and although some banks prefer 20 year loan terms, other may consider 25 and 30 year loan terms. A longer loan term will make affordability slightly easier and assist in a slightly lower monthly repayment, however the extra 10 years, will result in substantially higher interest charged.

Some of the banks may consider this. You will need to provide a formal quotation for the intended renovations. If your credit score and affordability allowed a 100% bond as well as the extra money for the renovations, they will pay the full purchase price out on registration of the bond, but the money for the renovations will be held back on retention and only paid out, once the work had been concluded.

The banks valuators will take into consideration the comparable selling prices of other properties in the same area, to determine if the intended renovations will add value to the property or whether the intended renovations are purely cosmetic. The banks are very careful not to over capitalize on properties.

With any new purchase there are Transfer Fees and Bond Registration Fees. Most banks prefer the transferring attorney and bond attorney to be different attorneys, but even if both the transfer and bond registration is handled by the same firm, there will be two departments dealing with the transaction, which means there will still be a separate account for the transfer and a separate account for the bond registration. The Attorney costs are set by the Law Society.

In addition to the attorney costs, the banks also charge Initiation Fees.

The bank will only use income from a sideline business, if you can present Financial Statements for the business for 2 – 3 years. You will also need to provide your most recent 6 months non-internet bank statements, where the business income reflects. It is therefor important to understand the importance of banking all your cash earnings, as the bank will only consider income, which they can verify in the bank as well as on the Financials Statements.

Yes, you can. You will need to obtain a Comprehensive Life Policy, which will need to be presented to the bank for approval. Different banks have different procedures in place and in some cases it may be easier to change the Life Cover after registration.

An access bond (also referred to as a flexi bond) is a facility on your home loan, that will allow you to pay extra payments (over and above the minimum amount required) into your bond and still have access to withdraw the funds again when needed. While the extra funds are lying in your access bond, your interest will be calculated on the lower outstanding balance, which means you will also reduce the loan term.

Yes!! To give you an idea – a bond repayment on a R500 000.00 home loan on 10.25% interest rate over a 20 year loan term will be R4908.22. (Excluding insurance and admin fees). By paying in an extra R500.00 per month, you will reduce the loan term to 15.25 years and save R186 538.00 in interest over the total term.

You can settle your bond in full, without any penalties. Only if you plan to formally close the bond, you will need to give the bank 90 days notice of your intention to close your bond. You can therefor pay in as much extra as you can and leave a small outstanding balance without any penalties charged.

The interest charged on vehicle finance is calculated upfront for the total loan term and added to the initial loan amount. This causes the loan amount normally being higher than the value of the vehicle for the first few years. With a home loan, you interest is not calculated upfront, but on the daily outstanding balance, which means the more you pay in extra into your bond, the quicker your outstanding loan balance and the interest calculated hereon will drop.

There are only two banks at this stage than can consider adding the costs to the loan – FNB and Standard Bank (**Specific Conditions apply)

FNB: You need to adhere to the affordable housing conditions and earn below R25 000.00, the property should not be more than R650 000.00 and you should be a first time buyer.

Standard Bank: The purchase price and the costs added, should not exceed a R1 million and you should be a first-time buyer.

The other banks do not offer a costs inclusive product.

There are 2 Calculations:

1. The general rule is that they will use 30% of your Gross Income (Not Cost to Company) with any additional income, which you can prove with supporting documents, other than bank statements to determine the potential amount, you can qualify for on all property exposure together. (This includes your investment properties as well as your main property, that you live in)
2. In addition, they will check all contractual commitments from the various credit bureaus as well as living expenses. This will be deducted from the nett income paid into your bank account, after salary deductions, to determine that you have sufficient income available to service a new homeloan.
   

The bank will use rental income, if we can show the rental income in your bank account for the past 6 months and supply a supporting lease agreement, which is still valid for at least another 6 months. All the banks have different criteria regarding the use of rental income and most banks will only use a percentage of the rental income.