SA Home loans are one of the most popular home loans companies in the country. They’re known for helping millions of South Africans purchase their dream homes. The finance company was founded over 20 years ago in Durban. They offer credit approval through registration and loan servicing.
What is SA Home Loans
SA Home Loans are mortgage specialists who offer home financing alternatives. They put the needs of their clients before anything else. The company goes out to see its clients and helps assist in providing the best product options. They also offer homeowners cover and bond protection cover to protect their client’s interests.
Finance options provided by SA Home Loans
SA home loans are very innovative at what they do. They have a product known as “switching”, which is actually quite brilliant.
Switching allows property owners to switch their current home loan to another loan provider. This is often done to put the client in a better financial position. The reason that clients opt for “switching” is simple; they can get a better interest rate. Furthermore, switching can improve equity on a mortgage and reduce risk simultaneously.
The other service SA Home loans provide is actual home loans. They provide finance to clients to buy their dream homes.
Review on the finance options provided:
In a nutshell, SA Home loans are indeed very innovative with the finance options they provide. “Switching” might just be the best thing that the company has to offer. Not only can this help clients financially but it might just be able to give them more bang for their buck.
Home Loan Terms
SA Home loans offer their clients the standard terms that most loan institutions provide. They give clients the option to choose between 20-year home loans, 30 year home loans and Edge home loans.
20-Year home loans
This is pretty much a standard home loan that has flexible terms and variable interest rates. With this option, interest rates are dependent on the client’s risk profiles. If a client has a good credit history they will be provided with a better interest rate.
This option is available to clients who are buying a new home, refinancing a current property or switching an existing home loan. They also have further lending options which allow access to surplus funds.
Lastly, clients can also opt for insurance options to protect their investments. This insurance option is done in-house through SA Home Loans.
30-Year Home loans
The 30 year home loan is best suited for newer buyers. This long-term bond offers lower instalments with tailored interest rates. Once again, interest rates are completely determined by the buyer’s credit score and other variables.
This option allows clients to purchase their property over 30 years. Essentially, the longer term allows for a lower repayment on the monthly instalment.
Clients can enjoy the perks of not paying any transfer duties if they take out a 30-year loan.
Edge home loan
Edge home loan allows clients to first pay off the interest for the first three years. Thereafter, the home loan is reverted to a standard 20-year home loan.
One of the benefits of choosing this option is that installments will be lowered. The reason being that interest is paid off in the first 36 months of the loan. There also will not be any capital repayments at the end of the term as the house will be paid off.
Review: Home Loan Terms
The home loan terms are almost identical to that of other financial institutions. However, the Edge Home Loan option is by far one of the better options. It allows people to get all the interest out of the way and then continue with the remaining 20-year loan process.
SA Home Loans Application process
The application process with SA Home loans is simple. Clients can see if they’re eligible for a home loan by calculating loan installments. This is done by using the SA home loan calculator available on the website- www.sahomeloans.com. The calculation gives an approximate amount that will be payable each month.
Once clients know more or less what their monthly installment will be they can fill out an application. This entire process takes around 15 minutes to complete.
If buyers are married in community of property then both partners must be applicants. However, if buyers are traditionally married this is optional. If only one spouse is applying then the other spouse needs to give consent that they do not wish to apply.
Application process review
The application process is simple and quick to complete. SA Home Loans does require quite a bit of information from clients, but that’s completely understandable. The process takes a few days due to ITC checks and approval from the company.
SA Home Loans Insurance
SA Home Loans also offer insurance services to their clients. They have the following three services available:
- Bond protection cover- This will cover your bond in the event of death or disability
- CAP- This covers clients from rising interest rates. CAP is great in the event of rising interest rates. Clients can choose between 1% and 2% above their interest rate. If the national interest rate decreases so will the buyer’s rate decrease.
- Home owners cover- This will cover fixtures to the building, swimming pools, outbuildings to the property and more.
In conclusion
After some avid research about SA Home Loans, it’s clear that they have some great services. However, after digging deeper we came across some reviews on HelloPeter. Unfortunately, SA Home Loans has quite a low rating.
Out of 693 reviews they managed to score 2.02 out of 10 by existing clients. This rating might be unfair as it is from a really small percentage of their actual clientele. Most clients complained about poor service from the insurance department of the company. However, most customers who applied for home loans seemed satisfied with the service they received.
In conclusion, SA Home Loans is a great option for those looking for home loans. However, taking out insurance with them might be questionable.
