SA Home Loans

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gripen

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Right, I'm busy buying my first property. The bond originator is about to do her work and contact the 4 banks in order to get the best interest rate for me. Usual story..

Thing is, why does everyone (agents included) advise against SA Home Loans? Is it because the originators do not get a cut? Are there interest rates much lower?

I'm probably going to apply to SAHL as well but any reason why I shouldn't? Only thing I can think of is not having the flexibility of an "access bond" or having my bond as an account on my Internet banking etc.

Thoughts on SA home loans? Stories to tell maybe? I have heard mixed things from them - customers seem happy, agents etc not so much.. why?
 
Excellent question, the public's general perception is also a bad one - I always wondered why.
 
greedyflyza : Your best bet is to try and get a sampling of their customers and find out how happy/unhappy they are with SAHL. Ignore the agents, they obviously are losing out or something....

I've always thought the public perception of SAHL was pretty good myself.
 
SA Homeloans are excellent. And the originators will never advise you to go for them as they get a percentage of your loan as an origination fee from the big 4 banks. The only caveat with SA Homeloans is you will need to have some equity in your bond ie they don't give 100% bonds.
 
Don't care, it is time for me (personal reasons) - buying a home to live in, not only as an investment. I can absord 0.5% at the moment so that doesn't impact me too much. That is as long as I can get prime - 1.5% (or better) which apparently shouldn't be a problem. Nope, no deposit.
 
So how did your house buying end up?
 
I went SA Homeloans in the the same buying period as the original poster. SA Homeloans could give me the R490 000 over 20 years at prime - 1.7.

ABSA could give me the same but only over 30 years and prime - 1.1.

Nedbank would not give the full amount.

Other 2 banks weren't interested.
 
Nothing wrong with SAHL.

I've got a 1 bar 20-year bond at prime -2 from them.

Also very helpful one month when I had an emergency and could not cover the bond. Simply phoned them and they said no problem - we'll add it on at the end.
 
def said:
So how did your house buying end up?
Click to expand...

SAHL definitely did not come to the table with a good deal. In the end I went with ABSA at P-1.8%.

Not even Virgin "we will give you a better interest rate than your banks" Home Loans (P-1.3%) could beat ABSA.

IIRC SAHL's offer was not even competitive in my case.. they don't seem to favour first time buyers
 
I also got a house a year ago - also should have gotten it years and years ago as it would have been half the price but sometimes you just gotta put a peg in the ground and go for it - no looking back. A house is a majot thing to buy no matter what the market is like.

I also used one of those agencies - afaik they didn't even consider sahl. I think it was absa, fnb, standard and someone else. I got P-2% at FNB
 
If you can, avoid getting your bond through an originator.

Some banks will give you a better rate, or even money back if you DONT go through an MO. The problem is, and the reason for the existence of MO's is the fact that Bank's have a bad record in the homeloans service area. Sometimes you can apply to a bank over a week and get refused, but when you go to an MO, they get your bond granted in less than a day. Weigh it up carefully, ask them to get and pass on to you, quotes from ALL the banks!

Some banks have arrangements where their staff get commission on any homeloans they bring in. If you know someone working at a bank, ask them if the employer has such a program. If it does, work out a deal with them.
 
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I used to have a bond with SAHL, worst couple of months in my life. First off, they are as professional as wet paint.

On the first month, they did not do any deductions. I had to inform them of this, and of course, according to them it was my mistake. I pointed it out to them, that I still had the original forms I filled in, and my bank account details was 100% correct. So they deducted the money a bit later

The following month, they decided to just deduct two payments all at once. When I phoned them about it, they came back, oh sorry, but dont worry, we'll refund you at the end of the month.

Oh and dont even let me get started on the process from the start. I bought the house from my parents, but the bank did not know this in the beginning, so they send over one of the evaluators to come and inspect the property. And the inspector asked my dad, what he is selling the place for, my dad told him and the guy almost collapsed, telling them that the property si worth five times more than that and blah blah blah. Ha!! Then SAHL phoned me, and told me, ok, they will take the bond, but unfortunately the will have to increase my interest rate because "the house i not worth as much as they thought"
 
Gothan said:
Oh and dont even let me get started on the process from the start. I bought the house from my parents, but the bank did not know this in the beginning, so they send over one of the evaluators to come and inspect the property. And the inspector asked my dad, what he is selling the place for, my dad told him and the guy almost collapsed, telling them that the property si worth five times more than that and blah blah blah. Ha!! Then SAHL phoned me, and told me, ok, they will take the bond, but unfortunately the will have to increase my interest rate because "the house i not worth as much as they thought"
Click to expand...

Sounds about right!! You have to remember that you are the BANK'S client, not SAHL's! All SAHL do is to get one of their rocket scientists to fill in the application for you! AND for that they get about 2% and sometimes even recurring payments!!! :eek:Also, sometimes they are incentivised to give you as small a concession as possible. Thus, the b)ll***** story they gave you! But let me not get started about Mortgage Originators!:mad::mad:
 
Not recommended - Great advertsiing but terrible service - and greedy to boot

Stay away from them. In my experience, their rate is cleverly disguised as based on JIBAR, but you end up paying a lot more than what the banks charge you as interest. The call-centre staff have no interest in assisting your queries and are offensively rude and patronising. I managed to escalate a query, after several months, to the General Manager of customer service - and she berated me for complaining bad service. Essentially it appears integrity is way low in their list of priorities.

They penalize you for being a client. Existing clients get charged higher interest rates than new business with no options to pay equity and reduce interest like the banks. Besides, most importantly they do not offer ACCESS BOND facility!!!! This alone should disqualify them.

I hear they also do not finance renovations to a property - unlike banks that like to see value added to their investment.

I now see them as a private wannabe player in the financial sector - not recommended. Stay with banks.
 
josgeorge said:
Stay away from them. In my experience, their rate is cleverly disguised as based on JIBAR,
Click to expand...


That's exactly why i won't use them either.

What else are they hiding?

No thanks. Use a real bank.
 
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