When thinking about financing a new home purchase, homebuyers will typically pay detailed attention to the property price, as well as how much they can afford for the downpayment and the monthly instalments to be made. They may also focus on other non-financial aspects of their purchase such as the property’s location, view and condition.
Thinking about the home loan you need to secure can sometimes be seen as a secondary consideration. The general assumption is that the bank will lend the money required to home buyers as long as they are willing to take the loan. This, however, is not always true.
Similarly, homeowners who are already living in their homes for a while may not realise that refinancing their home loan may lead to a cheaper home loan. Here’s an overview of the article, click to jump ahead:
- Why Choosing a Better Home Loan Package Can Make a Big Difference
- Challenge 1: Too Many Home Loan Options in The Market
- Challenge 2: Difficulties Checking On Application Status After Application
- Challenge 3: Home Loan Application Process Takes Too Long
Why Choosing a Better Home Loan Package Can Make a Big Difference
The truth is that a home loan, whether it’s securing a new loan or refinancing your existing loan, is a major component of your property purchase journey. In Singapore, home financing typically goes into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, and span two to three decades. This means saving even a small percentage on your home loan’s interest rate can lead to substantial savings over time.
For example, if you can save just 0.1% per annum on your home loan rate. A $1 million home loan will cost you $1,000 less each year. This is easily the cost of a yearly holiday to Bali (or staycation) for the family.
If you can get a better rate over the span of your 25 years home loan, your savings will add up to a lot of money.
Singaporeans Are Paying Attention To Bank Home Loan Rates When Buying A Property
PropertyGuru’s Singapore Consumer Sentiment Study H1 2021 found that 79% of new homebuyers prefer taking a bank home loan. Bank home loans are typically more flexible and open to buyers of both HDB flats and private properties.
While the majority of those in the study were aiming to get bank loans for their property purchases, many still found it a challenging task. We asked them what the hardest thing was when they were trying to get their bank home loan and received three main responses.
1. Too Many Home Loan Options in The Market
More than 40% of the respondents cited that there were too many home loan packages to compare.
There are more than 10 banks you can get a home loan package from and each offers both fixed and flexible home loan packages, and sometimes more than one within each category. This means there are potentially several dozen home loan packages that homebuyers can compare, either when buying a new property or refinancing their existing loan.
A common outcome is analysis paralysis – where consumers become overwhelmed with choices and ultimately may not make the most ideal decision.
Furthermore, apart from your home loan, there are easily dozens of other decisions that you will have to make when buying a new home, including choosing a home after viewing many properties, getting an interior designer to help you with renovation works, and buying the right furniture to spruce up your dream home.
For consumers, having more options is never a bad thing. When there are more options to choose our home loans from, it keeps interest rates competitive and service at a high level.
Solution to Having Too Many Choices
To circumvent this problem, use online mortgage comparison tools to review home loans across major banks with the latest interest rates, and assess the best mortgage plan for your prospective property.
This way, the online comparison tools can do the heavy lifting by helping you compare the best rates across major banks.
2. Difficulties Checking On Application Status After Application
About 20% of respondents indicated that it was troublesome to check on the status of their application once they had applied for their home loan. This is a real problem as homebuyers may want to close the deal as quickly as possible, while sellers can sell to someone else who comes with a better offer or ability to close more quickly.
As there is quite a bit of paperwork involved during the application phase, it is trickier to check on the status of your application. When you want to check on your applications, you also have to spend time on the bank hotline or go through various representatives before being told that “your application is still being processed”, without really knowing why.
Solution to Difficulties in Checking Application Status
You can also choose to work with an experienced and trusted mortgage professional. They would be able to advise you on the necessary paperwork required for submission to smoothen and expedite the application process.
Having years of experience in the industry and managing such applications on a daily basis, they could potentially provide you with insights on whether your home loan application is a straightforward one or might require more time due to certain circumstances.
3. Home Loan Application Process Takes Too Long
16% of respondents on our Consumer Sentiments Study H1 2021 said that one of the most difficult things about applying for a home loan was the waiting time.
As mentioned, home loan applications can be tricky. There is a fair bit of paperwork involved and the bank, whose loan you are applying for, will have to assess the paperwork you have submitted. If there is any missing information or additional information required, you may find the bank coming back to you with further questions/requirements, which will only lengthen the process.
Solution To Shortening The Application Process
There’s no shortcut to this. A home loan application needs to be processed by the bank and it can take some time.
What is in your hands is preparing your paperwork early and ensuring they are all in order. Once again, leaning on the experience of a mortgage professional could speed up the process.
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