I was attending training at Lion Team Advisors on the topic of loan mortgage outsourcing the last Thursday. There is a young beautiful trainer from OCBC bank flew all the way from Kuala Lumpur to give us mortgage training at LTA head quarter. There are some points I got during the training that worth sharing here. There are some ways to actually settle our home loans earlier than the original tenure. I am sure that you are practicing some of them. However, I am going to share with you more in depth here. Basically there are three ways to settle your loan earlier:
1. Refinancing
I covered refinancing in my earlier post. Now is actually a good time to refinance because this is what happened in the recent years:
You will find that the loan packages offered nowadays are better than ever. With the lower interest rate offered for new customer, it might be worth it still if you refinance your existing home loan by paying the early settlement penalty. But before you do so, please seek professional advice to calculate how much you can actually save. If you won’t feel bad bothering me, I always welcome your email asking for help or analysis.
2. Lump sum payments using EPF funds
EPF allows you to withdraw your money from Account II to reduce your housing loan. If you don’t care about reducing your retirement fund receivable from EPF in the future, it might be a wise move to withdraw it to settle some debt.
3. Paying extra
Extra payment means you pay more than the required installment. From the training, I got to know that there are actually two kinds of extra payment acceptable if you are servicing home loan at OCBC bank.
Advance Payment (AP)
Let’s assume your installment is RM1000 per month. If you have extra money, maybe from your mid year bonus or other savings, you pay RM1500 on that particular month. The extra RM500 will be treated as advance payment. It will be used to reduce the principle outstanding loan amount. You will immediately save the interest charged due to the daily rest interest calculation. Let’s say you did this 3 times consecutively so you actually made an extra payment of RM1500 in total. On the next payment due date, you suddenly run out of money because of some emergency. OCBC bank will deduct RM1000 from your extra payment and treat it as your regular installment. So your record is clean. Nothing will be submitted to CCRIS or CTOS. But if you need to withdraw that RM1500 extra for emergency use, that is not allowable.
So I conclude the feature of advance payment as:
- automatically offset due installment if it is not paid on time
- no withdraw facility
- for extra payment of less than RM1000, it will be automatically treated as advance payment
Oh … then what happens if you pay extra more than RM1000. In this case, let’s say you pay RM3000 that month, the extra RM2000 will be treated as Capital Repayment instead. This lead us to the next form of extra payment: Capital Repayment.
Bear in mind that you can actually opt for advance payment instead for the extra RM2000.
Capital Repayment (CR)
As explained above, when extra payment is more than RM1000, it will be treated by default as capital repayment unless you opt for the advance payment option. CR is similar to AP, they both reduce the principle part of your outstanding loan. But the features is opposite:
- when you are unable to pay installment in the future, CR won’t be used to offset the installment, unlike the AP
- in case of emergency, you have the flexibility to withdraw the CR. The process is simple, just call OCBC’s customer service center and they will prepare the check or bank in to your account in OCBC. Processing fees is RM10 per withdrawal.
- extra payment must be more than RM1000 to be treated as capital repayment.
Mortgage is still the cheapest loan I know up to date. It is the cheapest in the sense of lowest interest charges to the borrower. What do you think?
142 replies to "How to Settle Your Loans Earlier"
I just bought a house since April 2022, i keep paying extra everymonth, which is PBE got redraw facilities. How can i use the redraw to reduce the loan insterest? There is 4.05% homeloan rate. 30year, i try to settle in 10year….
Wish to hear you soon.
Thanks
Hi,
My house A balance is 582,473.55 MYR with interest rate 4.25%. Recently, I sold house B for 375,000 MYR.
My question is, now i am paying monthly 2858.00MYR for house A with 31 years left in mortgage. I would like to pump in house B’s money into house A mortgage principle and reduce my monthly payment instead.
Is it possible and how should i go about it?
Technically, to reduce the monthly installment of House A, you need to refinance it to a lower outstanding loan.
You can use the proceed of RM375k, refinance the mortgage of House A to become RM208k (RM583k – 375).
I have a house which i want to settle in full. Total outstanding is 218K. If i settle in full will the outstanding amount reduce?
To settle the mortgage, you will need to pay the outstanding 218k in full.
Hi,
I have 2 housing loan. I’m trying to reduce the loan principal by using EPF account 2.
Need your advice to pay which loan is the best. Thanks.
1 ) Housing Loan Re-Draw
Interest Rate : 3.75%
Loan balance : RM 563K ( Balance 350 months )
Installment : RM 2570.00
2 ) Islamic Equity Home
Interest Rate : 3.95%
Loan balance : RM 128K ( Balance 324 months )
Installment : RM 627.00
If you want to clear off your mortgage soonest, do it with the Mortgage #2 because:
– interest is higher
– it helps with your DSR as it is easier to settle because of its lower outstanding loan amount.
Hi KcLau,
I would like to ask, will the bank charge any additional cost for the situation below?
My outstanding balance is 330K, selling the property for 410K.
The loan was taken 10 years ago so there is no early settlement penalty.
In this scenario, will the bank charge me any further interest? or will I get 410-330 = 80?
The property lawyer says bank will charge more than the outstanding shown in the account summary. Unable to reach bank cs.
The bank will calculate the interest till the day they receive the full payment from your buyer.
Hi.. need your wise advise. We bought a house rm610000 back in 2010,took 35 years loan. Already paid for 10 years.we always paid extra and also used the amount from epf 2nd account to pay off the principal. Latest statement showed we have outstanding amount of rm 230000k or have balance of 108 months.. If we plan to do early settlement,roughly how much rebate we will get or how much we will need to pay the principal only.
Mortgage loan is counted on the principal owed. So it reduces whenever you pay.
There is no early settlement rebate.
Do all banks charge a pre-payment penalty for loan pre-closures in Malaysia? Are there banks that don’t?
Hi KC,
I have a housing loan from Public bank. I am thinking if I should opt out of deferment program. I will continue to pay the loan whether I opt out of the program. If I am not opt out of the program, the payment goes to principal. Could you advise if I should opt out of the program? Which will helps me to pay less for the loan?
Opt in for the moratorium, and pay too if you want to do that.
Make sure you talk to Public bank officer, ensuring your payment is to reduce principal and not the advance payment.
Hi KC. just to share my experience in paying off a housing loan for RM120K for 30 yrs. I pay off in 5 yrs. I found out the following.
1. You must pay exactly on the due date. Then only the bank will deduct their interest and reduce the principal. If you pay a day earlier or a day later, the bank will deduct their interest only & your principal remain not reduced.
2. Any amount you pay excess of exact amount will be transferred to a advance payment account and the amount is kept dormant there until you personally write to bank and request them to pay off the principal.
3. In the event you pay extra earlier and hoping that bank will use that to offset any of your unpaid monthly installment in future is not happening. If you fail to pay installment on due date, it is considered fail to serve loan and updated into CITOS. A black dot for you.
nowadays the bank become super smart to twist and con customer the smartest way possible and within permitted law.
Its WE as the customers should scrutinize each and every transaction with each bank to unveil the actual happening behind the numbers.
Cheers.
Good pointers. Thanks for sharing
Hi Sir, can i contact you. my email venmathi35@gmail.com
May i know if point 1 is really valid? That means we are not supposed to pay before the due date? Im taking maybank islamic housing loan..
You can pay on the due date or before. A few days won’t make much difference.
I have to=wo housing loans.
first one I bought it for investment.
later on, I wan in the situation the take the second loan as for living purpose.
the fist loan amount-rm 385k
the second loan amount -480k
and I f extra of rm50k.
both I took Flexi loans.
in which loans acc she I deposit my 50k…
and which I she concentrate to pay off first.
as the investment unit is a studio unit and difficult to sell but lucky I im getting the rental repayment of rm 1000monthly,
pls advice.
im also a government staff.
she I convert the staying purpose loan to gov loan in future ,pls advice. thank u .. appreciate it
For your rental unit – you can deduct the interest as expense, and file lower taxes on your rental income.
For your own stay unit – there is no deduction on the interest for mortgage.
In this case, you will be better off by paying off the mortgage of your own-stay property.
thank u and appreciate ut reply.
meaning to say – I have to concentrate to pay more on my own staying property?
hi KC,
my house loan still remaining RM 150K ++
Currently some bank offer personal loan up to 3.x% interest.
Is that possible to apply personal loan settle all RM 150k house loan?
Thanks,
The calculation of the 3.x% interest on personal loan is flat rate – unlike the mortgage loan.
If you see 3%, it is more likely 2x-3x (6%-9%) effective rate.
So don’t be fooled.
Hi KC,
Sorry I know it’s not fair to ask you such questions but just wondering if you have a quick answer to it.
Using HSBC HomeSmart and I need some explanation in layman term about the statements.
************ SUMMARY *************
Credit Limit = RM452025
Balance(DR=Debit) = RM448967.99DR
************ DETAILS STATEMENT *************
Balance brought forward = RM450352.71 DR
Deposit = RM1000 | Balance = RM449352.71 DR
Withdrawal SVC FEE = RM10 | Balance = RM449362.71 DR
Withdrawal DEBIT INTEREST = RM1605.28 | Balance = RM450967.99 DR
Deposit = RM2000 | Balance = RM448967.99 DR
Monthly Repayment = RM2485.40
Monthly Service Fee = RM10
Available Balance = RM3057.31
************ FROM STATEMENT *************
1) Why is my monthly repayment is RM2485.4 but HSBC only deduct debit interest RM1605.28? Why is that they don’t deduct the repayment amount? Repayment amount = Principal + Interest?
2) What is the Available Balance RM3057.31 referrring to? It seems whatever I deposit into the account and HSBC deducted, the balance is not what is show in the Available Balance section. Is always different.
3) Can I put in RM300,000 into the account just to lower down the monthly interest but take it out as and when I want to? I have a “sponsor” that are willing to temporary place the amount just to help lower down the interest but not sure if that’s wise.
Please advise. Thank you.
1. I think they deduct the repayment amount RM2485.40 from your current account. But in loan statement, they will show the debit interest RM1605.28 for the month.
2. I am not sure about the available balance – better ask the banker to explain to you
3. Technically, that’s how it works. You put more money to offset the interest cost.
Thanks KC.
I should be able to ask them the right question now.
Hi KC
i have home loan 159 with 4.45% & 35 years intallement, i had paid around 7 month of the loan..
can you teach me how to pay the loan finish asap?
To pay it down fast, just pay extra.
– pay extra each installment (say required RM800, you pay RM1000)
– use your bonuses income to pay
– pay more frequently, e.g. when required 12 installments a year, you pay 14 times.
– pay earlier, e.g. if due 20th day of the month, you pay on 10th.
but before you do that, check with your bankers about advance payment for mortgage, and principal extra payment. You want to make sure your extra payment is towards setting the principal loan.
Hi KC,
I came across your site when Googling OCBC Capital Repayment.
With no financial knowledge/interest rates background, we just religiously pay and pay monthly housing loan to OCBC.
My case is this: OCBC Housing Loan: Loan amount: RM700,000 back in 2010 for 30 or 35yrs tenure. We started off repayment RM3440/mth. Recently, from say a year ago, the repayment has risen to RM3770/mth. After repaying for 9years (2010 to 2019), the total remaining owed is still a whopping RM630,000! WTH! That’s the alarm trigger point that I would like to try settle the housing loan with some spare $$.
If say, I pledge RM150,000 cash into OCBC Capital Repayment account method, I will still need to continue with my monthly instalments.
Q1: Will the instalment amount be lower or will it be the same as RM3770?
Q2: How much shorter will the repayment term be?
Q3: Is this better than Advance Payment, considering the cash available may be needed for emergency?
Q4: How does OCBC’s Capital Repayment differ from Flexi-Loans offered by some banks?
Appreciate your advice very much.
Thank you!
Tq KC I received lots information from this page.
Hi KC,
I recently used my inheritance to pay half the principal amount of my mortgage, in one lump sum.
Will my monthly instalment automatically reduce by half, or will the number of monthly payments be reduced instead?
Please advise.
The monthly installment will not automatically decrease. Your commitment still stay the same. But it will end a lot earlier than the orginal term.
Hi KC and fellow readers, I was trying to perform principal settlement with my conventional housing loan with Public Bank, with principal amount about RM 634K, with Loan Repayment/Financing option in their PBEBank site. I have experimented with a few approaches and will hereby share my experience:
1. My monthly installment amounts to RM3174 monthly.
2. I tried online payment with an extra RM2000 after the monthly deduction from my CASA last December, the transaction code was 614, while the monthly installment transaction code was 619. The next month however, the monthly installment deducted from my CASA became RM 1174 instead of RM 3174.
3. Then I tried to transfer an extra RM 3174 (exact installment amount), transaction code was still 614.
4. With another RM 2000 I transferred again on some other days after the transaction on step 3, I found that the transaction code became 668 instead.
5. On the day after loan interest was added to the principal again by the bank before the monthly installment deduction, I transferred a small amount again and found that the transaction code became 614 again.
Summarizing my observation from this experiment, for Public Bank:
1. If you want to reduce your loan principal via e-banking site, you will always have to make a full installment payment (exact amount) first, follow by your additional payment.
2. Do not get deceived by the reduced figure shown on the Loan Details screen, as that is merely a trick to make you feel happy.
thanks for the sharing.
Hi Daniel Tho,
Refer to your statement #1
1. If you want to reduce your loan principal via e-banking site, you will always have to make a full installment payment (exact amount) first, follow by your additional payment.
Is this the correct flow if using e-PBB to reduce the principal?
RM3174 (619) –> RM3174 (614) –> RMxxxx (668)
hello KC,
I am planning to use HSBC refinancing to perform full settlement for my AmBank Housing loan. Lock in period is already over. Is it necessary for me to write a one-month notice to Ambank? If yes, what kind of content should I include? Thanks in advance yo!
Hi KC,
I agree about your point for refinancing. For those who is searching for a suitable loan for them or if they want to calculate how much they should save up to pay for their debts, i suggest they could use this website’s calculator cause it’s really helpful. It managed to help me put aside a certain amount every month so that I won’t go into a financial loss.
https://loanstreet.com.my/calculator/car-and-personal-loan-settlement-calculator
Hi KC
Can i check with you, when I finished paying off my loan, i should proceed to discharge the mortgage right? Can i handle all these by myself? Like going to LHDN etc.. without a lawyer?
Thks
Hi KC
I have a question on my RHB house loan. I have a balance of RM29k to settle. If I do so today – my bank tells me that I have settled all interest and now its on daily rest interest. I thought if I go for early settlement – there would be some reduction or rebate – is that not the case?
Thanks so much for your advice.
For housing loan, the interest is only charged on your outstanding loan. If you settle the outstanding, which is the RM29k, then you will not pay any interest onwards since the loan is settled. If you don’t, but keep paying the installment, you will pay more than RM29k in total because of the interest.
So there is no reduction or rebate, unlike car loan which is using a different interest calculation.
Hi KC,
Im Loges, how r u? hope u doing great. I jus wanna know, is that possible to reduce installment tenure which is mine 35Years, to lesser Years? Will bank will agree, if im willing to pay the monthly installment difference.
It is simple. You just need to pay extra every month.
For example, if your monthly committed installment is RM1500, you can buy extra say RM500 and make it RM2000.
However, different banks treat the extra RM500 differently. Some as prepayment – which is meant for future installment. In this case, it will not reduce your principal. Some may use it to offset interest, and you can save interest instantly.
How to go about this? I suggest that you talk to your mortgage officer. Get the details of what is the best way to do this with their bank.
In short, there is no need to restructure your loan to pay off early. It is just a matter changing payment habit.
Hello KC. I don’t quite understand this part –> “Some may use it to offset interest, and you can save interest instantly.” If additional payment is used to offset an interest that you have to pay, how is that a savings? Additional RM100 offset with RM100 interest = RM0. I might have misunderstood it… Hope to get some clarification. Thanks!
hi kclau?if refinance home?cash out ?loan legal fee need to pay?S&P need to do again for new S&P?
S&P agreement is for the property transaction. You don’t need a new one when refinancing.
Hello KC!
I’m an avid reader of your website and would like to seek your kind advice on my situation:
For an overseas property purchase, I have the option of either:
A. MYR loan – loan margin 70%, interest of 5.3%, tenure of 30 years
B. SGD loan – loan margin 60%, interest of 3.3%, tenure of 16 years
Despite SGD loan having much lower interest costs, the monthly repayment of both loans are almost similar due to it having to be repaid in lower number of years. SGD loan also has the exposure to forex fluctuations.
The loan margin difference of 10% amounts to quite a large sum. With the extra 10% cash on hand by opting for MYR loan, I could opt to put it into Capital Repayment Account, which lowers the effective interest rate by around 1% (although MYR loan still has higher interest ~4.3% than SGD).
In your experience, which loan will appeal to you more?
Cash flow management is the key in property investment. I will go with predictable commitment due to no currency fluctuation, which has more flexibility with extra cash on hand – Option A.
Dear KC, I am currently paying abt RM1200 p/mth for my hse loan, auto deduct from my savings acct i.e. salary. Am considering using EPF to pay for the monthly instalment instead so in a way i hv extra cash in hand for my monthly expenses. Friends advised against it as EPF is for our retirement. But i have a different opinion. Besides, the bank only allow max 2 years each time from EPF. After 2 years, either I re-apply for another 2 years from EPF or the bank resort back to original deduction from my personal account. In summary, there is no difference right…just a matter of extra cash to spend now or more savings in EPF. Pls advise.
When you can generate better return than EPF (~6%), then you can opt to have it paying your mortgage. So you will have extra RM1200 to invest to generate >6%. But when you have that extra cash flow, but spend it, or just put in FD ~3%, of course it is better left untouched in EPF.
Dear KC
Is it wise to obtain a glc personal loan fixed rate 200k 3.85% (effective rate about 6%) to offset a housing loan 650k with interest rate 4.35%
As per calculation, i need to pay extra 77k as interest for the personal loan over a 10 year period. Amounting to about rm2308 per month. However, if i were to take tis 200k and park it in my housing loan to offset my principle, i may be paying able to pay more of my principle and less of my interest each month
I did some calculations, it seems like it is worth it, however, i m not too certain about my own calculation
Hi Wayne,
1. I don’t think it is wise to pay a lower interest rate loan with a higher one.
2. It is about time value of money. To do a direct comparison, it is the Effective Rate you talked about 6% vs. 4.35%. The logic is that the RM100k 20 years later is much less than the RM100k right now.
Hi KC, I got some 100k on equity paying out steadily 5% dividen over the years. Now i got a housing loan 400K 4.5% interest for 35 years. should i cash out from equity and pay out part of the housing loan principal? I do not have lock in period for the housing loan.
I know that in the early years of paying the housing loan we pay more on interest vs principal. While i have the monthly amortization table with me. I just could not understand which choice is better to make. Please help.
Personally, I would keep the equity. Cash in our own hand is worth more if we can put to better investment, instead of paying low interest loan.
if we pay capital repayment to reduce half of the principle loan amount, does that mean our monthly installment amount will also lower down or we continue to serve same installment amount but shorter settlement period? thanks.
The instalment amount still follows, unless you request the bank to adjust. I don’t know if they will entertain your request. If not, the loan will be paid off earlier since there is less interest charges.
hi KC
do all the banks treat extra payment as CR the same way?
I don’t think so. You need to check with your bank to verify.
what is the difference between reducing interest and reducing principle?
as a buyer, we want to reduce principle, correct? then interest will reduce in tandem
Yes. Reducing principle will automatically reduce the interest.
A semi-flexi bank loan accepts prepayment but this prepayment is only can cater for reducing interest not outstanding balance. e.g let say monthly installment is 3k. 1k for principal and 2k for interest. i put 10k as prepayment. The given interest reduction is 4.3% which is same as offered ELR loan rate.
Actually how this reducing interest work? How is the calculation to be? What are the consequences to my next monthly installment?
I my name is Thresa.
I want to ask some details. I take loan for housing loan for rm 84000.
Monthly rm 590. I took loan for 30 yrs. 12 yrs paid eddy . Now the balance Rm 62000.
If I settle full amount how much the rebate can I get. .pls update.
Thanks
Hi Thresa, there is no “rebate” in settling your mortgage.
The reason is that the interest is calculated daily, based on your outstanding loan amount which is reducing every month.
Since you still have balance of RM62,000, you will need to pay that full amount.
Hi KC,
I have 2 home loan. First Hse which has abt 100k in principal to finish paying. Abt another 10yr @rm13xx pm and a new loan @4000 (round up) pm from Aug 2014.
If I take epf and withdraw say 100k which should it go to? How do I maximize my savings? Both Hse are not for investment
Please advise
If you withdraw as a lump sum from EPF, it will be paid directly to the bank to reduce your principle loan.
Some consideration:
1. You can settle the first loan, so you just end up with one housing loan. Then you have the option to borrow 90% on your next residential purchase. This will be useful for high leverage investment.
2. To save interest in the long run, then you will choose which loan is charging higher interest rate to pay down the RM100k
3. There is another option by EPF to withdraw on monthly basis, as much as the loan installment. In this case, you will have better cash flow position and to take on more investment opportunity if you wish to.
hope this helps.
Hi KC,
My brother and I have signed up Maybank Islamic Housing Loan back in 2007 for RM500K under 30years instalment.
With monthly instalment of RM3K and several advance lump sum payments made to reduce principle amount, we have settled half of the principle amount to RM250K up to date in May 2014.
I am seeking some advices pertaining below:
I) Is there any penalty charges or any hidden cost under Islamic loan if we were to settle the balance principle amount by end of the year under single transaction? Understand from the letter of offer that the lock period is 5 years.
II) I was informed by bank that we need to appoint lawyer to perform the discharge of charge. Is there any concerns either we appoint our own lawyer or using their panel lawyer? What is the estimated cost to peruse?
III) Is there a MRTA refund upon full settlement?
IV) What we needs from the bank after the full settlement? Is there a document or notification from bank to reflect the title transfer of our property.
Thank you for helping as we have lack of experience/information on this.
Regards,
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
I am not so familiar with Islamic loan. So you better check with the bank on the T&C. It has changed a lot too since the day it was first introduced to the market.
HI KC,
My brother and I granted Maybank Islamic housing loan of RM500K back in 2007 for monthly instalment of RM3K for 30 years. We have settled half of the principle amount RM250K up-to-date in May’ 2014. We have intention to settle the balance amount by this year since we have the flexible in cash and to save some interests.
I) Will there be any penalty charges or hidden charges for early settlement anytime from now onwards? (the lock period from the loan contract is 5 years)
II) The bank mentioned that we need to appoint lawyer to facilitate the discharge of charge. Should I get my own lawyer or use the bank panel lawyer? What will be the estimated total cost?
III) What kind of documents or proof we need to obtain from the bank upon full settlement?
Thanks.
Regards,
James
Hi KC
I did a refinance from Bank A to Bank B last year. Following the refinance, housing loan with Bank A was fully settled. With that, the Bank A’s insurance unit sent me a letter saying that my MRTA policy is automatically assigned to my personal name and will be continue to be in force up to the expiry date. May I know what does this means? Should I request for refund of premium?
@Kevin, you have two options in this case:
– leave the MRTA as it is.. but make sure you do the nomination. You will continue to have coverage
– surrender the MRTA – you will be refunded, but normally not much, because it is after commission and cost.
Hi KC,
Recently I’ve sold a house which I bought together with my ex-bf. The S&P was signed under my name and my ex-bf. Now, he demanding the bank balance money (our profit) for more which is 65% and the remaining of 35% for myself. The reason he would like to take 65% are due to he paid more on house downpayment and instalment. Please advise what is the fair action to deal in this case?
Your advice will be highly appreciated.
Hi Michelle,
I think the fair calculation should be based on the percentage of contribution each of you made.
Anyway, everything is negotiable.
Mr Kc
Currently im under flexi home loan package, I want to is it advisable to take up a personal loan for house renovation or should i withdraw from my flexi home loan package, The bank told me the interest rate will be re calculated.
but they couldnt give me the exact interest, they just told me will be a slight increase.
Thanks.
@Lim Yee Keng, the personal loan will incur higher interest if it is being repaid in a longer period (12 months and above). To save interest, getting your equity under flexi home loan is more cost-effective.
Hi KC,
The interest of My housing loan is 4.7% , Now I have extra saving. So shall I put the extra money in housing loan account or my saving account because my the FD rate is only 3.15%
Best Regards
@Tang,
For better saving, housing loan is a better choice in this case.
Hi KC,
10years bk my uncle booked a house & the loan was approved. some how the project was stopped due to the contractor not able to continue the project. Now another contractor completed the project. The house is ready. But the bank hold the loan saying my uncle now 52years old and low income. So, what can we do to get the loan. EPF very small amt. Not enough. The house price only rm50k. His monthly income RM1000.00.Pls advise.
Hi Camile, it is best to talk to the banker to see how your uncle can qualify. What does he need to get the loan going? I think most probably the bank will ask for a joint-borrower who has higher income and younger age.
Mr Kc,
Just to check i have a house under loan with bank
and join name with my bro and sis, Recently my bro have an idea to withdraw his name from joint account. Solely to purchase his next house.
So that leave me and my sis, will withdrawal of the name have significance impact between the agreeement with the bank.
As what I understand, technically you will need to refinance the loan. But on the refinancing, use only you and your sister’s name only. So a new loan agreement is needed. There will be legal fee involved and that depends on the banks’s offer.
I am currently taking a RM18000 personal loan now. Is it wise to take another personal loan with the same amount but with lower interest rate to settle the first loan?
Personal loan is unlike the money you owe on credit card, which early settlement might not necessary save you a lot of interest charges.
Hi, May i know where can i find the agency in Johor for loans consolidation in lower rate to pay my debt to several banks, instead of file for bankruptcy.
Hi there,
I am thinking of making advance payment to my housing loan. I asked the bank, they said need to write in letter. May i know how am i going to write the letter? Thanks
@Alvin, it should be a very simple formal letter address to the bank. Or you can simply ask the banker for a template.
Hi KC,
I am currently serving housing loan 200K with OCBC. I have loans monthly installment 1. 390 for another 18 months, left 7k to settle 2. 454 for another 3.5 years, left 14k to settle. My cash flow is really tight and I would like to use my EPF to pay off (RM 30k) my housing loan and treat it as Capital Repayment and use this money to clear all my debts.
Is this workable ? or any other ways ?
Thanks,
Alex
Hi KC,
I’m in the process applying for house loan when the bank called saying i can only qualify 70% instead of 90% as this is deemed as 3rd house. The 1st house is under me, the 2nd house was supposed to be under my husband’s when we refinance for 100k 3 years ago. Apparantly The bank capture this under joint account and we were foolish not to check properly as were informed i am only guarantor.
Question: can we request The bank to amend loan document just like that or need to reapply for single name, would that incur any significant cost? Since we were misinformed, can we ask for waiver for any cost to be incurred? Or, should we take personal loan, pay the housing loan and only serve the personal loan ? How long will this process take? Which one is faster process and would incurr less cost? How long? Any suggestion which bank offer best rate on personal loan? Please advise.. Tqvm
Hi KC,
Is it better to use extra funds for AP or CR?
Or there is no difference?
That depends on how you want to manage your cash flow. To reduce your principal payment effectively, use CR. I would say most of the time you would want to use CR.
Thanks for your reply KC, but in terms of the % of interest that I am able to save, is it the same?
Or I need to refer to my loan agreement?
that depends on each bank’s policy. Better confirm with your bank.
Hi KC
I have a Rm50k+ housing loan left at 3% interest rate. Is it advisable to use savings from Fixed Deposit to reduce/settle the housing loan? The current Fixed Deposit rate offered by banks are also 3%. I plan to use the savings from monthly housing loan replayment amount to clear off credit card debt. Please advice, thank you.
Hi KC,
I pay deposit for a house and immediately sign the S&P. Is there is any risk or liability if i need to cancell the purchase if i fail to get the loan.
What if the developer has started sending 1st billing, and i decided to cancell after that?
thanks in advance
The condition is stated in your S&P. It is better to ask your lawyer about this issue.
Hi KC,
Perhaps you could share your advice with me on the scenario below:
1) My frend intend to buy a house @ rm150k but unfortunately his salary are not suffiecient enough to get bank approval.
2) so he decided to joint name with his wife but unfortunately she is blacklisted by ccris. this has been solved but to wait until 6 months to get her name cleared.
3) so he intended to use other name by borrowing his frend name for loan approval BUT in S&P agreement he wanted to used 1 name only. he promise to refinnace that house after 6 months to clear the 2nd name and bring back his wife name into the bank loans.
4) my question is that
a) can he do this approach.
b) can this guaranteed to settle on 6 months period.
c) what is the impact to the person that lend his name as a second name on the bank loan.
d) any others risk
thank you for sharing with me.
3)
Hi Chima
regarding your quesitons:
a) that is possible depending on banks. Some banks do allow borrower who are not a purchaser to joint-loan.
b) refinancing is possible after six months but you will need to pay early settlement penalty which incur high cost in such a short time.
c) if the purchaser don’t pay the mortgage on time, the bank expect the joint-borrower to have the same liability.
d) I wouldn’t suggest people to do that since the 2nd person has no interest in that deal except to lend a helping hand.
Currently I have housing loan monthly instalment RM 1022 but I pay RM 500 extra ( which is RM 1500/ month) started May 2010 . I plan to buy another unit for rental. Can I know how is the bank decide how much of loan they can approved.
Did bank take into account my insurance monthly instalment or other investment before they consider my loan ?
Hi KC,
Currently im having housing loan with Citibank with BLR(-1.0). My remaining loan amount is 141k. Recently i approached OCBC bank for their housing refinancing scheme and the offer is BLR(-2.05). I started my existing housing loan with Citibank in january 2007 and the lockin period is 5 years. I planning to do refinancing with OCBC by january. Will i get any discount on loan amount( RM 141K) with citibank if i do refinancing with OCBC?
Hi KC,
Is your third point(paying extra) on ” How to settle your loan earlier” still applicable now??
How to make a decision whether to pay extra on housing loan or use it for investment ? e.g. my monthly housing loan is RM 1000 and I have xtra RM 1000 after saving and all the expenses. I should use it for housing instalment or investment e.g. unit trust?
If you are confident to make more return compare to the rate you pay for mortgage, go ahead and invest.
@Rajagopal
1. Read your Letter Offer, if not sure, you can scan and forward me.
2. Normally yes. There will be a surrender value. Again, check the policy, if not sure, you can scan and forward me.
3. Depends the legal status of the property, you may feel free to check with your loan lawyer.
4. Original SPA and the Deed of Assignment (since no title issue yet). Best to keep all bills related to the property.
Hi all,
Just wanted to check with peoeple here – I’m doing an early settlement of my homeloan (5 years now, original tenure is 20 years) but would like to cross-check a few points:
1. Are there any legal fees required for early settlement of the homeloan? There is no lock in period, so I’m not subjected to any early settlement penalty. Are there any other charges that you know of for early settlement?
2. My homeloan came with a mandatory MRTA for 20 years, would there be any rebates on this since I’m ‘cancelling’ the MRTA?
3. After settling the homeloan, what are the legal documents (other than original S&P) which will proof that I am the legal owner of the property with no caveats/claims from the bank?
4. What are the documents required in the event that I want to sell/bequeath/refinance this property? Just the original S&P? My home is a medium cost appartment (strata title, not yet issued by the developer).
I’m contacting the bank to initiate this, but I wanted an independent source of info on this. Can’t trust the bank totally
Thanks in advanced!
Your topic here is on settling debts and reducing loan amounts. I have a question on home loan refinancing. Property investors are just doing the opposite…
How does increase leverage ( borrow more and more money from the banks) makes the property investor richer? Isn’t the investor moving into greater debt and tightening the noose round his/ her neck?
There are few additional information that is important.
1. KWSP withdrawal are up to 3 house for lump sum withdrawal and the 3rd house withdrawal is no longer lump sum, it will be withdrawal to pay monthly instalments only allowed. So if we are using KWSP to reduce our housing loan from the first 2 houses, it helps to reduce immediately the loan amount, but for the 3rd house, KWSP only allows monthly installment. So plan out wisely if we own more properties.
2. When banks announce Zero Moving Cost, make sure they are not putting it back into our repayment, than it is not zero moving cost.
3. When talking about loans it is not about the repayment in $$ value but look at the % interest rates. If we want to know whether we should settle full amount or partial, look into the % interest paid against the % ROI, make decision base on that.
Thank you.
hi,
I have a personal loan with bank rakyat RM160, 000 for 240 months. RM 1367 monthly payment. I bought few lands with this money . I want to move my business to this new place.I am planning to settle down my loan in 7years.I just want to know if I pay this payment in lump sum is there any benefit or rebate that the bank will give to me? If have, do you know how much the rebate if I settle the loan earlier? Or do you have any advice in settling the loan payment earlier with lower interest rate?
Hello there brother…can a financial institution uses my efp money to cover up my housing loan interest rather than reducing the principal amount obtained? thanks
Now EPF allows withdrawal to pay housing loan installment
Hi… I am currently under AKPK program and I am comfortable with the propose monthly repayment. The issues is that it’s too long to clear it as it it set for 10 years repayment with that rate and I wanted to get lower rate so that I can clear it in less time as I can’t get any loan while I am still with AKPK. I wanted to own a house in 5 yrs time. I am wondering if I can do any re-financing with any bank or institution? Current AKPK rate is about 10% but I understand that there is quite a number with repayment with less than 6%. I read one with MBSB currently which they are giving only for Goverment sector and I also didn’t ask if those under AKPK is applicable or not. Pls advice.. TQ!
try this.
real estate.com.my.net
the forum on property financing.- informative.
what is MT and HBT stand for?
anyone know how much is the BLR set by Bank Negara for 2010?Thanks.
The housing loans are all standardised now at BLR-1.8%, with No ZEC.
Totally unattractive, unlike the period before 1st.dec 2009.
Only 2 or 3 banks offer ZEC. but they come with higher interest.
HUH…should ‘ve make the loan last year then. Thanks Rob. Mind if you can give good links on housing loan, preferably some latest blog on their loan experience?Thanks again.
mine mentioning those banks? thanks..
All the comments here were back in early 2009. What are the trend of housing loan now?I had read the blog link you posted either..and it is also in 2008. Need your opinion on the current home loan package. Thanks.
DEAR SIRS
CAN I CHECK WITH U REGARDS MY HUSBAND HAD UNDER AKPK PROGRAM NOW THE PROBLEM IS HE FACING A CASH FLOW AND WHAT THE BEST SUGGEST BESIDE BANKRUPTCY
I believe AKPK can help you on this issue.
Hi KC
1st I have one personal loan with bank rakyat amount 100,000. This money i still hold in my bank account. i get this money in August 2008. intrest rate is 5.9–Islamic. monthly payment RM 1060 for 15 years.
2nd i have one house loan. Loan amount is 153000. Payment start on Sep 2007, RM 1271 amonth for 15 years.
The question is
With some xtra money that i have and with RM 100000 from pERSONAL LOAN, can i do full settelement on my housing loan? So that i only keep pay personal loan RM 1060 a month for 15 year. Is this good idea?
Please help me..
Thanks
Hi,
I don’t really understand why did you take up the Personal loan since you don’t really need it for anything at the first place?
There is another variation to Option 2 but it is only useful if your loan is a flexi type with linked account and daily rest calculation. Best time to use this strategy is when the loan interest is higher than EPF dividend
The strategy is do a housing loan monthly instalment withdrawal from EPF Account 2 and instructs EPF to deposit the monthly withdrawal into the linked account.
It helps to reduce the loan outstanding amount and interest, as well as shorten the loan tenure. Best of all you can “keep” your EPF money for your future investment in the linked account. Linked account allows you to withdraw anytime but it will defeat the original purpose if you do it before the loan is completely settled.
Some may argue that the money should be used to invest in investment vehicle that generates higher return than the loan interest. I agree with that argument provided that the return is guaranteed. Let me know if you can find any investment that gurantee the return.
Just my 2 cents idea. Thanks.
@ JC,
Thanks for your insights.
Only if a person knows what he/she is doing with the money that can generate better return than settling debt, it will be a good form of leverage.
Hello, I am glad you brought up this topic. From what I gather, we have to careful when dealing with the banks. We have to specifically write down what we want them (the banks) to do with the lump sum monies that we deposit. Most banks will put it under AP, which is useless in terms of mortgage reduction.
We should look toward capital repayment.. some call it prepayments? The terminology is confusing. Perhaps KCLau can enlighten us here. Thanks.
@ Rob,
As you said, different banks has different terminology.
Talk to the banker to be certain.
And thanks for bringing this up.
Hi,
Need an advice. Let say I’m refinancing my house loan with another bank. Will I get back some MRTA premium that I’ve paid for my current loan. I’ve been servicing my loan for 4 years plus.
@ Hilal,
Some banks will automatically cancel the MRTA policy assignment and let you nominate or use it for the other bank.
Some let you surrender the policy and get back the surrender value (of course not much).
Hey KC….. need a professional advise. This is my situation: I want to purchase a completed Condo, freehold property in KL rm 190K and do not know where to start as to getting housing loan. Am 39 years old. Earning rm 3500. Hoping to take either 15 or 20 years loan. I might have extra $$$ in future, so can pay extra into my loan payment. Really appreciate the help…
HI Laprug,
You should meet at least 3 bankers from different bank before making up your mind.
Learn about their bank’s offers.
Here is a post to guide you:
https://kclau.com/wealth-management/question-you-should-ask-before-you-sign-the-home-loan-offer-letter/
You can also check relevant info on this page under “Mortgage” category
hey kc… impressive site.. need your advice. am earning less than rm 4000 a month and seeking a home loan which offer the best interest rate inclusive of MRTA and legal fees. What are the lawyer charges from the banks and do i have to have my own lawyer? appreciate the help…
Hi Timothy,
Personally, I would choose the zero moving cost package, where the bank will absorb all legal fees. That saves a lot of trouble and require lower upfront fees.
Normally, bank will charge slightly higher interest rate.
There are some simple strategies you can apply to get a better package:
1. Apply home loan from at least 3 banks – my personal favourite : HSBC, Public Bank, OCBC
2. If all offer about the same, choose the oversea bank (better service and more efficient process)
Look at this forum thread to see the latest competitive package:
http://forum.kclau.com/home-loan-or-mortgage-f17/what-s-the-home-loan-package-available-now-t54.html
KC,
Do you know if there is any maximum limit one can pay as AP and/or CR either per year or the entire tenure ?
One more question: is there a maximum amount one can pay as AP and/or CR either per year or the entire tenure ?
KC, do you know why OCBC offers both Advance Payment (AP) and Capital Repayment (CR), since almost all the benefits (i.e.,except withdrawal) of CR are also offered by AP, and it’s more flexible with AP ? What’s the use of having CR then ?
I think it is just feature wise that they want to give more control and options for customers.
Personally, I prefer those linked account where your home loan is linked to a current account. It allows me to withdraw and transfer anytime.
I don’t need more options. I just need flexibility.
dear kc, i am very impressed with your website. i would like to get your opinion on reducing of housing loan using the EPF fund. is it advisable since we have paid mrta for the loan tenure. don’t you think that it would effect savings for our beneficiary in case of earlier death?
@Ros,
Thanks! Actually, it depends on your personal value & purpose, whether you should withdraw EPF fund to reduce home loan.
In your elaboration, it doesn’t really affect the assets that will be inherited by your beneficiaries. It is because the MRTA still pays the compensation according to the insurance schedule (which is reducing over time). MRTA compensation is not tied to the outstanding home loan at that time. For instance, a person who only owe the bank RM60k, while the MRTA claimable upon death at that time is RM100k, the excess of RM40k will be given to the client’s beneficiaries according to his/her Will.
It is advisable to use EPF money to reduce home loan when the home loan interest rate is higher than the dividend rate of EPF. At present, homeloan rate is about 4.5-7%, depends on your package and loan amount. Normally, home loan rate will be slightly higher than EPF dividend.
Personally, I would use EPF money to reduce home loan. It lets me have more “control” over the money I withdraw from EPF. (note: I don’t have an EPF account, my wife does).
This is what i”m looking for. I check it out, thanks KC.
this is what i”m looking for, faststone. I check it out, thanks.
Ken, I’ve been learning a lot from you at hoobin.com
The softwares I use:
1. Faststone capture v.5.3 (for version above 5.3, it had turned into a shareware cost about US$20. So make sure you use v5.3 which is a freeware) I use this software to capture on screen images
2. Polaroize at rails2u.com – which made your photo tilted a bit and looks like a real photo. It is a free online ware.
Have fun!
Very good post here. KC, i can see you use some very pretty photo post, what software did you use? I’m looking for an easy screen save and auto touch up software.
By the way, the google page ranking will be update very soon. Your blog is really getting better and better everyday, it’s should rank higher:)
I just refinanced mine last year. This year my home loan rate will BLR + 0%, which is pretty high. It still save me money if I refinance now and pay the penalty of early settlement. It even increases my cash flow.
i’m practising method 2 & 3, but for the method 1, i was bonded for the first 5 yrs of my financing period…i agreed that the package for financing nowadays is really much more atrractive then what i can get 3 yrs ago…