OWNING a real-estate property nowadays has become a lot easier to jump-start and sustain as customers enjoy a greater freedom and flexibility in terms of pursuing their desired investments.
Developers and their financial partners—the government and private institutions, alike—have created an investor- and credit-friendly environment where young professionals can establish a strong, stable financial identity. This, in turn, helps them focus their assets into valuable endeavors such as purchasing or investing in real-estate properties.
Our economy was hardened by the Asian economic crisis at the right time, and even Pag-ibig has forced developers to be more creative, more flexible in terms of drawing up financing schemes for its clientele. This, too, has become very instrumental in helping developers become more creative and more innovative in terms of the marketing strategies that they employ to sustain the interest of local buyers.
With this, it now appears that local real-estate companies and buyers have evolved to become more financing-sensitive and more economically resilient to stay relevant in today’s market.
Helping build capacity for buyers
“The robust economic growth, which the Philippines continues to experience, is keeping the real-estate market buoyant. In particular, the OFW [overseas Filipino worker] market—increasingly the white-collar work force—and the business-process outsourcing segment are driving strong demand for housing whether it be vertical [condominiums] or horizontal [house and lots],” said Gigi Pio de Roda, head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management for HSBC Philippines.” However, getting a new property entails out of pocket expenses in addition to significant monthly payments if you do not buy the property outright.”
Buying a house and taking out a mortgage are some of the biggest and most critical financial decisions that most young professionals are seeing themselves taking nowadays, de Roda added. While the entire real-estate sector, including support groups that help build capacity for buyers, are continuing to grow at a more defined pace, de Roda said that it is highly important to ensure that people who are taking out a loan can evidence true capacity to pay, rather than lending on the strength of the security alone.
“This is exactly the reason we, as a company, are bent on making sure our customers take on solutions that match their needs and risk appetite and are able to service their loans while meeting their other financial,” de Roda said. “As a company, we believe in fulfilling our customer’s hopes and dreams, and as such, we know that a home purchase can be one of the biggest investment decisions any person can make in his or her lifetime.”
Preparation is key
For companies like HSBC, sustaining the interest of the buyers and helping them become more open to making key investments is a critical part of the entire marketing process.
“The [financing] policies are there for a reason: to ensure stability in the market and to protect the interests of borrowers, financial institutions and the industry as a whole. Our aim is to understand and meet the needs of our clients while complying with these policies, laws and regulations,” de Roda explained.
This commitment is reflected by HSBC’s Home Loan packages, for example. “The objective of this package is to ‘lighten your loan’ and focus on affordability with additional fee waivers to make it easy on the family’s household finances,” de Roda shared. “Apart from this, HSBC Advance and HSBC Premier customers also get preferential pricing when the home loan is due for repricing.”
Aside from this, another critical factor that plays a big role in helping buyers pursue an educated decision is a healthy relationship with a financial manager or banker who can provide key insights about the entire investment climate, strategy and overall investment outlook.
“Preparation is key when looking for a home loan and speaking to banks. One has to have a clear idea of the purpose of the purchase: Is it for investment, an upgrade, or a new home? Or are they looking to refinance an existing home loan?” de Roda added. “Also, people looking to buy properties must first think about their ideal type of purchase—apartment, condominium, or house and lot—and the location: Is the market saturated or is there still potential growth in the area?”
“Consider affordability and ask themselves if they can take out a loan and continue to handle overall finances comfortably. This includes being aware of miscellaneous costs such as taxes, stamp duty, among others, and other requirements to ensure their protection, such as insurance.”
Indeed, property investments should always be considered as a critical step that will help sustain the momentum of one’s financial progress. “We believe in fulfilling our customer’s hopes and dreams, and as such, we know that a home purchase can be one of the biggest investment decisions any person can make in his or her lifetime,” de Roda concluded. “We intend to help our clients meet their needs and goals by providing the right solutions that suit their preferences, as well as the ideal experience to make property investment a very rewarding endeavor.”
/ source http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/lending-a-hand-real-estate-financing-as-a-way-to-promote-property-ownership/
