Related Articles
Top Stories
May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 27 2012 11:49
The country's 200 000-odd Tupperware agents are angry about the counterfeit products being sold as the real McCoy.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
Johannesburg - Once you've found the property of your dreams, a home loan originator could help you find a mortgage at the best rate.
According to PA Group MD Deon Lessing, bond originators help speed up the home loan process as they provide banks with the exact information they need to register and process a bond. This ensures that the banks' terms and conditions are applied and adhered to.
"Bond originators motivate and highlight why a client qualifies for a specific bond. They know the banks' home loan application processes in and out, which can save banks time and money," said Lessing. They are also not biased towards any specific bank.
Other benefits are that originators have "the ability to approach all four South African banks simultaneously" to choose the best deal offered.
About 70% of new home loans in South Africa are acquired through originators.
"For the applicant, originators' services are free," said Carine Fraser, a former originator. "Payment is in the form of commission on the mortgage amount the originator secures and is received from the bank."
According to Fraser, originators work with the four big banks only and do not provide a service for private bank home loans.
Lessing said "there are no drawbacks" for both the applicant and bank.
He said: "All four [major] banks in South Africa have just renegotiated deals with bond originators, confirming that they are committed to using bond originating services."
According to Lessing, commission rates were reduced by about 40% this year.
Standard Bank only just renewed its originator contracts with the PA Group - which includes Betterbond and Mortgage Alliance - as well as Bond Choice and Multinet. The bank is still in negotiations with ooba.
A Johannesburg resident who used an originator recently said the process was moderately frustrating because it took longer to lodge the loan request, and that the originator often did not get back to him when he was supposed to.
However, he said it "removed a layer of stress" because originators know how to work banks, and you simply hand them a single set of documents to lodge your application.
Fraser said: "An applicant can get a final go-ahead within five days, but banks are a lot stricter now and it could take up to 10 days with complicated applications."
- Fin24.com