The Rawson Property Group’s Kuils River franchise will, in the near future, be arranging ‘buyer education’ classes for anyone interested in learning how to pre-qualify for a bond.
“Training of this kind,” said Noelene Snyder, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Kuils River, “is now essential because ignorance on these matters is leading to far too many potential home buyers being rejected by the banks when they apply for bonds. Many of these then become disheartened and resign themselves to being lifelong tenants, as a result of which later they are unable to bequeath any worthwhile assets to their heirs.”
Many of the media reports on the bond situation, said Snyder, have emphasised the dangers of credit record defaults (such as store accounts), but in the Kuils River district one of the main reasons for bond applicants not being accepted (often not mentioned) is the potential home owner’s tendency to have too high a level of unsecured debt.
“I have a strong feeling that certain banks have been irresponsible in their lending. We have seen prospective home buyers rejected on their bond applications because they had been allowed two, three or even more personal unsecured loans, often for rather trivial purchases such as holidays or cars, and, as a result, they are now rated by the banks as being too highly in debt.”
Snyder said a good agent always welcomes the opportunity to discuss a prospective home owner’s financial position and to advise him or her on how to put matters right.
“A whole process has to be worked through and this can take some time,” she said. “There are, in fact, not that many cases which cannot eventually be put right if one works at it, but this is not the impression that many rejected bond applicants get.”
