As part of efforts to assist the general public in making the right choice in purchasing property HFC recently organized the first ever HFC Home Expo Fair, at their Baatsona Branch. Speaking at the launch of the HFC Home Expo Fair, General Manager in charge of Mortgage and Consumer Loans, Mr. Charles Bonsu said HFC Bank saw it prudent to organize the HFC Home Expo Fair to create awareness and educate the general public on how to make good choice when purchasing a home. He indicated that, a lot of Ghanaians own homes but has so many complaints and do not know where to go to seek good advice. He noted that this expo would provide home owners the opportunity to have access to loans to assist them build or improve their homes. According to him, the Bank also wishes to give the general public the platform to meet with real estate developers to make all the necessary enquiries concerning purchasing a home from them and meet the best home advisers of HFC. The President of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Dr. Alexander B. Tweneboa who launched the programme advised developers not to see themselves as competitors but people with good homes. He also thanked HFC Bank for instituting this form of expo for real estate developers to have the opportunity to iteract with the general public to inform them of their products and services. It was disclosed at the fair that the government of Ghana in collaboration with HFC Bank is providing the public sector workers with a scheme that will enable them purchase homes. The public sector scheme initiated by government is to assist public sector workers to buy homes at a maximum of GHC 25,000 depending on the person’s age and income with no down payments. Some of the exhibitors GPP spoke to, expressed their profound gratitude to HFC Bank for introducing this expo fair which will assist them meet with both their clients and the general public at large. The exhibitors at the fair included HFC Bank, Regimanuel Gray Limited, Damax Construction Company Limited, Coastal Estates, Parakuo Estates, Blue Rose Construction Limited, Kuottam, T&T Properties, Devtraco and Palm Valley. The following are excerpts from the presentation made by HFC as part of the Expo. MORTGAGE BACKGROUND HFC Bank as part of its effort to enable individuals purchase and own their own homes offers mortgage loans to qualifying individuals. They also have special packages available for recognized groups, association and institutions to meet the home ownership goals of their employees and members. VISION To become a leading Universal Banking institution in the West Africa sub-region providing world class financial services. MISSION At HFC, we are committed to creating wealth and a better life for our customers. MORTGAGE BANKING HFC Bank provides a comprehensive range of mortgage financing. The mortgage products include Home Improvement Mortgage (HIM), Home Equity Mortgage (HEM) and Home Purchase Mortgage (HPM). HOME IMPROVEMENT MORTGAGE The Home Improvement Mortgage is a product designed to assist applicants to undertake renovation and extension works on their existing home owners and companies with properties. The maximum term for this facility is 15 years for both cedi and foreign currency loans. The applicant is to provide clear and undisputed title to the property, which must be duly registered. HOME EQUITY MORTGAGE The facility is designed to enable applicants who own homes or may have already invested in residential properties to release the equity in those properties to improve their liquidity position. The targets for this product are existing homeowners and companies wit properties. Loans are not to exceed a maximum of 80% of the forced sale value (FSV) of property. The applicant has 15years to repay the money both cedi and foreign currency loans. There must be clear and undisputed title to the property. Also the title must be duly registered. HOME PURCHASE MORTGAGE The HFC Home Purchase Mortgage is designed to assist individuals and companies to purchase residential properties for their own use or for investment purpose. The maximum term for this facility is 20 years for both flexible repayments loan and standard conventional reducing balance loans. BUY BUILD OWN A HOME (BBOH) This facility is designed to enable applicants who for usually low income can only acquire homes by buying land now and developing it overtime. There are two features of this product. The “BUY” land portion and then “BUILD” and “OWN” portion of the product. Beneficiaries will contribute 10% of the cost of the land. The maximum amount for the “BUY” portion of the loan is USD 15,000 or the cedi equivalent. After 50% payment on the initial loan, the customer qualifies for the “BUY and OWN” portion product. The customer selects one out of six designs from bank from the Bank to build. The maximum loan amount for the “BUILD and OWN” (construction is USD 35,000 or the cedi equivalent. The maximum term for each portion of the facility is 10years making a total of 20years. There must be clear and undisputed title to the land which must be clear and undisputed title to the land which must be duly registered. Development permit, Building permit and approved building plans are necessary requirements. BY ANGELA AFOTEY