As we await the commencement of operations by the Guarantee Trust Bank anytime now, the latest bank to open in The Gambia, a company has begun the first mortgage loans scheme in our country. Culled from The Point, please read on.
Have a good day, Gassa.
Company Introduces First Mortgage Loans In The Gambia
Early this year Home Finance Company of the Gambia LTD a new venture in the Country has introduced the first ever mortgage loan services in The Gambia with the aim of involving people in wealth creation. At a press briefing at the headquarters of the company on the 2nd floor Trust Bank Building, Westfield junction, Mr. Emmanuel Asamoah, Managing Director of the company, explained that HFC was out to help the Gambian people. “Because we want people to have the pride of ownership,” he said.
Mr. Asamoah said that this his company has four different types of mortgage products, He explained that the four products were Home Equity Mortgage Loan, Home Completion Mortgage Loan, Home Purchase Mortgage Loan and Home Improvement Mortgage Loan, underling HFC as a mortgage company is the first of its kind in the Gambia. “Our services is aimed at wealth creation and the opportunity is not only for resident Gambians but also for non Gambians,” said HFC’s Managing Director. Mr. Ahmed Denton the General Manager, Home Finance Company articulated that HFC is here to help hard working Gambians to realise their dreams by helping them to become homeowners.
Mr. Denton stressed that they are a different breed of bankers specialised in mortgage lending. He said, ”we give loans to hard working individuals to purchase home, complete their uncompleted building, improve on their existing building as well as providing them with Home Equity Loans to enable them use the equity built up in their properties for other meaningful purposes. When we do our loan assessment, we take into account the applicant’s age, income from all sources hence the income must be sustainable and verifiable. With regards to the Home Completion and Home Improvement when we approve the loan we will make sure that the loan amount is enough to complete the building.
The Home Equity loan is very exciting; it gives people another avenue to re-use the money they have already invested in that big house. Most people are house rich and cash poor; what we want is to make them both cash rich and house rich by giving them Home Equity loan for them to do what they want. They can use the available cash to send their kids to school, buy another house, take an ecstatic vacation or what ever their heart desire” said HFC’s General Manager. According to the brochure distributed to the press, the HFC’s Home Improvement Mortgage (HIM) is designed to assist applicants with financing to do improvements or renovations existing houses.
The brochure further indicated that the facility is only available for applicants with verifiable incomes, and the ability to pay the loan within a specific term. The Home Purchase Mortgage Loan (HPM) is a mortgage financing facility to assist interested individuals and companies to purchase residential properties. It’s flexible and can be tailored to the applicants needs, the brochure further explained. It further explained that applicants under HPM may be Gambians or non-Gambians or corporate customers, with sustainable monthly incomes sufficient to repay the loan within a specified term.
The maximum term for this facility is 20 years for resident Gambians and 10 years for non Gambians or equivalent of the applicant’s residual working life, whichever is lesser. Corporate loans usually are for period of 5 to 10 years, adding that joint application between spouses, parent/child siblings are permitted. For the Home Completion Mortgage Loan (HCM), the brochure explains that it’s designed to assist applicants with financing to complete construction of their houses. Finally the Home Equity Mortgage Loan (HEM) is introduced to help homeowners release the equity built up in their homes for other meaningful purposes.
The brochure also indicated that HFC will lend to qualified homeowners up to 80 percent (of the sale value) or $50,000 equivalent loan on the properties. HFC would seek to consolidate them with the expected loan advance where possible to become the first and only lien holder. The brochure also specified that the property must be situated at an economically viable location, must have basic infrastructure including roads, water electricity and drainage. The management of HFC promised that the company’s door open for all and sundry, the press in particular.