Home loans Lagos Nigeria - More and more people in Lagos Nigeria are beginning to discover the value of a home loan. They are beginning to realize that it takes an awful lot of time to save enough money to build their own home or to buy an already built home.
The alternative open to them is to take a construction loan or a mortgage loan.
Well, this option has always been open to people all over Nigeria but most have declined to accept bank loans because of fear of the interest rates
associated with bank loans and the risk of bank foreclosure in the event that they are unable to meet the loan repayment obligations.
Let me say this.
There are risks associated with home loans as mentioned above. But then, there are risks associated with virtually everything humans do. Even the
simple task of moving from your office to your home has risks. There could be an auto crash.
But does this risk prevent you from going to work via your personal car or through public transportation?
Of course, not.
Why?
It's pretty simple. If you don't go to work you won't earn a salary at the end of the month. And if you don't earn a salary, you won't have money
to care for your needs.
The same goes with home loans. There are obvious risks like bank foreclosure if you don't meet your obligations. But then there are also benefits.
A property loan helps you buy now what you don't have money to buy. It covers the cost of owning a home . . . NOW.
Consequently, with a real estate loan, you are able to start enjoying the property now instead of five years from now. That means you stop worrying
about paying rent to some other landlord because you are now a landlord yourself.
Besides, you may not lose your job and hence, the banks may not take over your home through a foreclosure.
Securing home loans for the purpose of investing in Lagos Nigeria real estate is pretty easy if you have good standing with your bank.
In Nigeria, banks offer customers loans with repayment amount not exceeding one-third of the income of the customer. What that means is this.
When you have an account with a Nigerian bank and you have run that account continuously for six months, the bank is willing to give you a loan. The loan is given faster if your source of income is consistent.
For example, if you work for a large firm or company with reputation in the community, you could get a sizeable loan for real estate investing in
about a week. So, when you find a property you desire, you can actually close the deal within two weeks.
So, the key is proof of income.
Second, the requirement that the bank cannot give customers home loans with repayment amount exceeding one-third of what they earn is actually a
protection.
How?
Well, when you desperately need money, you tend to ask for more than you can chew . . . loans with repayment amount that may take over 50 percent of
your income. If the banks allow that to happen, they actually help you jeopardize your ability to meet your family obligations. And you could get into serious financial crisis with the loan becoming a huge burden that won't go away.
Managing loans is not rocket science. Yet not everyone has managed their loans as well as they should.
For example, many folks collect loans from several banks in the name of investing massively to guarantee they get massive return on their investment. They do this to by-pass the bank rule that the bank cannot give the customer a loan with repayment amount greater than one-third of what they earn.
Since the Nigerian electronic world is not fully integrated yet, banks are not able to view what other banks have issued as loans to their customer.
And so they give these highly indebted customers even more loans to sink them further in debt.
The result?
Serious problems.
The truth is . . . it is easy to collect loans but difficult to pay back.
My advice?
Ensure that all loans form all sources does not exceed 50 percent of what you earn. Beyond that, you stretch yourself and your family unnecessarily.
And you could end up with stress problems, shortened lifespan, and financial crisis.