Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa December/ January 2018/2019 | Page 29

it will reduce the “LTV”. Pugin explains that “LTV” means
“loan to value” and this is why a home buyer with a deposit can
usually negotiate a lower interest rate for a home loan. 
“We are excited that the new Flisp subsidy will put the power
of negotiation for better home loan terms and interest rates back
in the hands of the first time buyer”, says Pugin.
Buying in a new property development or from
a private seller
Many new home owners are unaware that they can make use of
Flisp to assist them to buy any type of property and that they
are not restricted to a specific “Flisp pre-approved” property
development, but can also buy a property from a private seller,
says Pugin.
Using the Flisp subsidy for legal fees and costs
The Flisp subsidy can now also be used to pay for property
transfers costs such a transfer fees and bond registration fees. 
Many home buyers do qualify for a 100% home loan, but
then for a R600 000 property as example do not have the extra
R32  000 to pay over to attorneys for the transfer and bond
registration fees and costs, says Meyer de Waal, a Cape Town
property attorney who developed the Flisp Home Buyers
assistance service with Pugin.
“We realised some four years ago that the general public,
being first time buyers, estate agents, property developers, home
loan consultants and even financial institutions either know
little or nothing about the availabilities of these Flisp subsidies
and that is why we established the Flisp Assistance service.
Debt and affordability service added
On top of the Flisp service to provide subsidy information
and assistance for a first time buyer, we also added a debt and
affordability improvement service. We realised that sometimes
minor debt impairment issues can prevent an aspiring first time
buyer from raising a home loan, the most important hurdle to
get access to a Flisp subsidy.
Education for home buyers
As 50 % of all homer buyers are buying a home for the first
time, we then developed online and educational videos for first
time home buyers. These educational materials had already been
developed for the employees of African Bank, a leader in the
corporate environment to provide educational assistance and
tools for their employees to own their own homes.
To reach out and distribute the Flisp information to reach
more first time home buyers, a FLISP episode was also featured
on DStv Home Channel – All About Property, earlier in 2018.
The follow-up episode will be screened on the second season of
All About Property in January 2019.
“Our aim is that every estate agent and property attorney in
South African must be able to inform, educate and assist a first
time buyer on Flisp subsidies”, says De Waal.
Check of you are ready to qualify for a home
loan
Many first time buyers do not know if they will qualify for a
home loan as do not know where to start the home buying
process.
Many first time home buyers will ask  “Do I first find a
property and sign all the legal documents to secure the property,
and then find out if I can qualify for a home loan and a FLISP
subsidy?”
This looks like a very complicated process and may scare away
many first time home buyers. We have simplified the process.
We start at the “back” – (which actually ought to be the first
step for any home buyer) explains De Waal:
“Most home buyers first find a property and then the “worry”
starts – “How much will I qualify for?”  - We first look at the
financial side – and only then find a property that matches your
budget.”
This is how it works:
Step 1 – Do you qualify for a Flisp Subsidy and how much?
Step 2 – What home loan do you qualify for (amount)?
Step 3  – Establish your buying power – now that you know
how much your Flisp subsidy is and the home loan you qualify
for
Step 4 – Find the house of your dreams.
Do it online:
An online home loan affordability calculator is available on the
Flisp website. 
One leading mortgage group that makes use of online
bond indicator tools recently announced that it improved their
success rate from an already high 75 % approval rate for home
loans to almost 90 %.
SOURCE www.flisp.co.za
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019
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