Absa Home Loans

As one of South Africa`s largest financial services groups, Absa offers its customers a comprehensive range of financial services, including banking, wealth management and home loan products and services. Absa has also branched out into Africa and currently has shareholdings in banks in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Angola and Mozambique.

ABSA Home Loans offers features to help make your home loan suite your unique needs and home loans of up to 110% of the property value may be granted. Repayment terms is usually 20 years but repayment terms may be structured up to as much as 30 years and loan terms may be increased or decreased at any time.

In order to qualify for an ABSA home loan you will need a monthly income of at least R7 500 - this may be a single or combined salary. Your monthly home loan repayment cannot be in excess of 30% of that total income.

Once the bond has been registered certain fees will be applicable and will be debited to your home loan account:

• Initiation fees which is a once-off fee that is charged for the initiation of the home loan application.
• Administration fees is a monthly fee covering administration costs.
• Assessment or valuation fee is a once-off fee charged for the assessment of the property.

Interest is calculated of the full amount that has been borrowed. You may also opt for a fixed interest rate. This is an agreed upon rate that is fixed for a certain amount of time. When the fixed term is up, the rate will revert back to a variable interest rate, however you do have the option to renew the fixed rate option. Do keep in mind that a fixed rate cannot be terminated before the agreement has expired.

A debit order is the preferred method of payment but there are alternative methods that may be used such as electronic transfers, cash, cheque deposits or stop orders.

Your ABSA home loan agreement lays out the terms of your monthly repayments and recovery procedures are applicable in the case of default.

If FlexiReserve has been set up on your loan account then you may make withdrawals. Transactions may be done via Absa Internet Banking, telephone banking or at ABSA branches.

When applying for your ABSA Home Loan you will need the application forms, completed and signed with a copy of your ID or passport, proof of income, a copy of the Offer to Purchase. If you do not bank with Absa you will need 6 months` bank statements which reflect income for the last 3 months.

Absa Home Loans offers its clients many different home loan options, each designed to meet the specific needs of all South Africans. Below you will find an outline so the Absa Home loan products available.

Absa Home Loan
This is Absa`s core home loan product that can be enhanced with many different options and value-added features in order to suit the lifestyle of the applicant, where the maximum repayment term can be structured up to 30 years.

Absa First-Time Home Loan
As its name suggests, Absa`s First Time Home Loan is designed for first-time home buyers and as such offers a flexible payment structure that allows home buyers to pay off the pre-agreed loan over a period of time of their choice.

Absa MyHome
Absa`s MyHome product is home loan targeting those home buyers who earn between R1500 and R7500 a month as a single or joint income. In addition, Absa MyHome offers support to customers who have no official proof of income by creating an Absa TargetSave account on their behalf.

Absa Building Loan
Again, as its name suggests, Absa Building Loan finances the construction of residential buildings and caters for the purchase of the stand where needed. In essence, an Absa Building Loan is simply a `structured approach` to paying out a Home Loan to the client.

Absa Bridging Finance
Absa`s Bridging Finance facility allows clients to access part of their profit from the sale of their old home. Absa even allows its clients to make use of this facility when taking out their second bond.

Absa Home Loan features and options
Various features and options that allow clients to `tailor-make` their ideal home loan solutions to fit the lifestyle they are currently living. Includes such features as FastForward, FlexiReserve, Readvance, Further Advance, Bridging Finance and MultiPlan.

Absa Home Loan Value-Adds
Absa boasts a selection of value-add services and products that are designed to assist clients in creating the perfect home loan solution for them. Includes House owner`s Comprehensive Insurance, Mortgage Protection Cover and Short-term insurance offerings.

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9/15/2008 10:10:13 AM