Recently, I refinanced my Home Mortgage, also known as Housing Loan here in Malaysia. When I bought the apartment I am currently staying in, I took up an account with Bank A. Due to current deals offered, I decided to refinance and am now having a Home Mortgage with Bank B. It would be a lie if I said I was not enticed by all the sweet talk in the brochures given by Bank B.

What financial institutions don't tell you up-front is this (though it may be contained in those font 8 terms and conditions which run into double-digit pages):-

1. Be prepared to wait for up to 6 months before Bank B will redeem your current loan with Bank A (mine took about 6 months);
2. Be prepared to pay extra in disbursements when Bank A issues a Redemption Statement (to tell Bank B how much you still owe Bank A). A computer print-out Redemption Statement can cost up to RM60.00 or more;
3. Be prepared to pay more up front since the Redemption Statement is forward calculated and instalments, interests and charges are added into your outstanding loan (though you have no history of defaulting);
4. Be prepared to pay a sum of money to open the account with Bank B;
5. Be prepared to pay another sum of money to your developer for their Consent to the transactions (if your property has no individual title or is under a Strata Title).
   

The above is just some of the items which financial institutions might not tell you if you do not ask. Do ask as many questions as you can think of when you are evaluating the different Home Loan Mortgages available.


This is a sponsored post and the facts really happened to me.