When Should You Switch Your Home Loan?

Lately several financial entities and banks have been fighting to gain supremacy in the real estate property market. The competition is turning out to be beneficial to the customers and people who are thinking of investing in real estate. Most entities have opportunities such as bridging finance, surety-ship and switching alongside reducing their rate of interest to stay ahead of the competition.

What are we talking about here? You may wonder, why would this be of any advantage to me? When moving a mortgage from one financial institution to a different one, your interest rate on the loan may be significantly lower.

Even a half a percent lowering of the rate can be helpful, as it could save you tens of thousands or more. It’s easy to recognize that this is a wise move. You might also switch because you need a bigger loan, and the new lender may give you this if your property value is high enough.

Even though, too many elements may compel you to switch your home loan, you have to consider some important factors in this regard. The bank, from where you avail a loan, will make provisions for penalty conditions, while you execute an agreement with the bank. In the case of premature closing of the loan, you have to pay a penal interest at the rate of 90 days, or three month interest. Sometimes, you have to remit an exorbitant amount for that.

Despite the fact that there are many costs attributed to this process, such as bond cancellation costs, registration fees for a new bond, attorney’s fees, valuation fees, and administrative fees for registering new home loans, it is still a gainful choice to make the switch. Several financial institutions in South Africa are providing incentives to their customers, like dropping the valuation and administrative fees altogether. They even are ready to pay for a certain part of the registration process to get an upper hand on their rivals companies. In order to save an additional cost, you need to make sure that your financing company accepts cancellation of home loans after a notice period in regards to the three month penalty interests mentioned above.

When you want to refinance your home loan, you need to give the lender the pertinent information, such as proof of income, bank statements, id, and whatever else they require to test your qualifications to repay.

Choosing to switch your home loan might be an opportunity for you to save money, as there are lenders who will lower your interest by 2 percent. With such big savings, that becomes an easy choice.