Posted by
dimac4
19 yrs ago
Have just been told that banks will only lend 60% on a village house...when did this change from 70% and why are village houses treated differently to other property?
Some banks don't even lend on village houses.
Is this based on some old notion of what a village house is - that it was built by the village elders out of corrogated iron with poor building materials??
Can anyone answer these questions....or it is one of those questions that don't have an answer like so many things in HK?
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I tried to buy a village house in Shek O a long time ago, and I discovered that only HSBC (out of the 33 banks operating in HK, I think) would lend anything at all; and HSBC would lend only 60%. Village houses are simply less liquid.
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I have gone to a bank in Sai kung, the property is a managed property ($1900 a month in management fees for sweeping, taking away the garbage and the pool cleaning), it is not part of a village and village people do not own any part of the land - it is a developed complex that happens to use village houses as the type of structure.
Fubon bank (??) will loan the 70% on a village house for anyone else interested - about the only one who will.
It just seems that money comes too easy to these banks and everything is made difficult for the average joe just trying to get a toe in the property market. I am about ready to chuck the whole thing in as it is becoming increasing difficult, time consuming and unpleasant to deal with.
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Desperately frustrating for you.
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Thanks Burgundy for this perspective - still doesn't help me much, as far as I can see this is a pretty straight forward purchase - no legal problems, nothing out of the ordinary,.... BTW- Fubon bank rang me at 7:45pm to discuss how they could help me....obviously they are happy to have the business!
(Where are they based by the way and are they stable?? - just wouldn't want a bank to collapse after all this effort!)
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deed verification is not an issue.
Collapse of the bank - yes well could mean don't have to pay it back but it could also mean the creditors of the bank come kincking trying to get their money out of us by selling our property for us.
Re the Fubon bank - never of heard of them until yesterday but now I see they advertise on TV and sponsor the show 24 - obvioulsy I don't pay attention to TV advertising very much!
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To answer my own question -
Fubon Bank has been named Fubon bank in April 2006 - it used to be International bank of Asia (IBA) it is Taiwan based and was set up by the Sun Hung Kai Corporation....so with that sort of backing and business kudos I am now feeling a little more confident and explains why I had never heard of them before....
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elane
19 yrs ago
dimac4 - We are also looking in the Saikung area. I'm curious about he managed "village home like" property you were able to get a 70% loan for. Do you mind sharing the name of the property? Also, do you think Fubon would give 70% loan for a traditional village home? Thanks.
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elane, There are a number of these managed villlage house communities in Sai Kung - Greenpeak villa, Greenfield villa, Greenview, Jade villa, Springfield villa, and country villas (this one isn't managed) (all have been developed by a company called Utahloy - Dorothy Wong being the name of the director of the company.) They tend to be 'cleaner' more organised, usually with a communal pool and the houses are a better design than most village houses, and most will have some form of a garden - they were set up specifically for the expat market, and are now becoming popular with non expats with a bit of money who want a bit more space. They tend to fetch a hiher price than a traditional village house for their environment.
I don't know what Fubon bank will lend for or not as I was ony looking in our situation. I contacted mreferral (a mortgage broker)(mreferral.com) who found fubon bank for us to fit in with our needs. Macky Fung was the name of the person who helped us. Good luck - I think I looked at about 30 houses since July last year - slim pickings at the moment for what I could afford to pay - but you may be lucky - if you have loads of money to spend or you find a vendor who isn't too greedy! I used Ricacorp Sai Kung to help in the search - Michelle has looked after us very well.
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elane
19 yrs ago
Thank you dimac4. I will look into these village house communities. Also, thanks for the recommendations on mortgage broker and property agent!
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