What U Need To Know Before Buying A House?

                                                                                    Courtesy of Sundaytimes

Buying a house is one of the biggest and most expensive purchases everyone will ever make in his/her lifetime, so it is important to do your homework beforehand.

Some key points that are summarised from the illustrated article:

1. Prepare in Advance

- You need to pay at least 1 percent of the purchase price in exchange for an option to purchase.
- Next, you will have 14 days to decide whether to proceed with the purchase. If you are ok, you will need to pay the remaining 9% (for completed property) or 4%(for under construction property)
- Following that, you will need to engage a mortgage specialist on financing and the whole process will take about 10 to 12 weeks.

So apply early.

2. Selection of loan tenure

Generally, the maximum loan tenure is 35 years, but it depends on the borrower's age.

3. Choose the right home loan package to your needs

Most banks offer 3 kinds of home loan packages, namely

a) Fixed Rate: Suitable for those who want to have a peace of mind as during this period, there will be no rate volatility. Note: Penalties will be imposed if you wish to have early settlement

b) Variable Rate: This is a package that pegged the rates against bank's reference or board rate.

c) Market-pegged

4. Get mortgage insurance for protection

This is to covers the home loan balance in the event that the borrower dies or is totally and permanently disabled. Although not compulsory, it is strongly recommended.

Note: Buying a HDB flat will require you to get a HPS (Home Protection Scheme), it is a MUST.

Read more in the article for more details.