Who is guilt y? - Letaba Herald

PAGE 8 LETABA HERALD - Friday 23 May 2008 PROMOTIONS
Eisteddfod datum skuif
DIE Tzaneen Eisteddfod se datum vir
die Afrikaanse afdeling het verskuif
as gevolg van ‘n botsing van die
vorige datum en wintersport.
Die sluitingsdatum vir inskrywings
is nou op 18 Junie.
Inskrywingsgeld beloop R30 per
deelnemer vir individuele items en
R20 per deelnemer aan groepsitems.
Deelname vind op 21, 22 en 23 Julie
plaas.
Graad R-leerlinge neem by die
saal van SAVF Kleuterskool deel.
Graad 1 tot 12 neem by die saal
van Hoërskool Merensky deel.
Skakel Annelie Dreyer by 083 585
5490 vir meer inigting.
Agentskap tops in land
AIDA eiendomsagentskap is op hulle jaarlikse kongres opgegradeer in hul kategorie as "Rural and Coastal" na "Urban".
Die kantoor het ook op hulle onlangse prysuitdelings funksie weggestap met die toekenning vir "Top Office-Urban
Commision" in Suid-Afrika, asook ‘n silwer toekenning vir "Top Office Urban Units ". Volgens die prinsipaal, Mnr. C.H.
Kruger is die geheim van hierdie agentskap se wen resep, die positiewe gesindheid van die bestuur en agente. Vlnr: Tarryn
Buyst, Conrad Kruger, Iris Thornhill, Steph Baker, Cornelia Breed. Agter: Ruth Gil, Dan Mholongo, Regina Ingram,
Hannes Theunissen, Frieda Theunissen, Daleen Trollip, Ansa Fereira en Natasha Brancon. Inlas: Jan de Lang.
Switch to 30-year loans
AIDA shares an interesting article
from Real Estate website Property
24:
Time to switch to 30-year
loans?
Cash-strapped homeowners
should consider extending their
mortgage repayment period from
the conventional 20 to 30 years, a
move that could translate into a
R620/month saving on an R1m
loan.
Banks and mortgage originators
have in recent weeks started to
encourage homeowners to take
this route before they start falling
into arrears and potentially lose
their homes.
New entrants to the housing
market will also qualify for a bigger
loan if they opt for a 30-year
repayment term from the outset.
Lefevre notes that extending the
repayment period does have a
cost implication
because
homeowners
are
adding
another
10 years
of interestrepayments
onto the
loan. However, Lefevre says it is
seldom that homeowners would
retain a mortgage for as long as 30
years. She notes that the average
life span of a home loan in SA is
seven years.
The size of the potential
monthly saving on a 30-year repayment
term depends on the loan
amount and discount to the prime
interest rate that a homeowner
would qualify for. For instance, the
repayment on a R1m mortgage
over 20 years at 13,5% (1,5%
below prime) amounts to R12
070/month. If the term on the
same loan is extended to 30 years
the repayment drops to R11
450/month.
Lefevre maintains that banks
have become increasingly flexible
in renegotiating mortgage repayment
terms, as most want to avoid
as far as possible being forced to
go the repossession route.
Ronell Killian, head of bond
origination at developer Amdec,
says in recent months the group
has seen a significant rise in applications
for 30-year repayment
periods among new homebuyers
who want to soften the blow of
higher interest rates.
Says Killian: ``Even though most
mortgage applicants intend paying
the instalments which would
apply to a 20-year repayment
term, many apply for a 30-year
period as a buffer to
ensure bond repayments
remain affordable
should rates increase
further``.
Absa Home Loans
managing executive
Gavin Opperman
confirms that the
bank is keen to discuss
an extension of
the repayment term to
help financially
stressed homeowners
to weather the higher
interest rate cycle.
Opperman says
there is no doubt that
SA consumers are
battling to meet increased
debt servicing
costs. Absa,
SA's biggest mortgage
lender with a
home loan book
worth R204bn, has
seen a 35% rise in
Continued on p.9