Hi sifus,
Recently looking to buy my first house, a PR1MA unit for 250k.
So far I only applied to the 1 of the 2 panel bankers and got a loan offer from Public Bank (Islamic), the other panel Maybank's quota is full for this project.
Approved amount : RM225,000 + MRTT/CI RM11,806 = RM236,806
Interest rate: SBR+1.0 = 4.00%
Tenure: 35 years
Installment: RM1,050
Got a few questions that I would like to as for further advice
1. Islamic vs. Conventional - Based on my research and talking to bankers, other than more expensive documentation fees (due to more documents, but doesn't matter to me currently as the developer will cover this) it's mainly just upsides like no lock in period, capped max interest and no compounding on late payment interest, is that right? Any other pitfalls that I should look out for?
2. Semi vs Full Flexi - Was advised by banker to take semi flexi instead of full flexi due to:
- Full flexi has a monthly fee (RM10 per month)
- Full flexi interest offset is capped at 70% of current account balance while there's no cap for semi flexi (based on my understanding, i.e. I have 100k in the account, can only offset up to 70k worth of the 4% interest)
- Semi flexi withdrawal is now more optimized, don't have to go to counter as can apply online, but RM50 withdrawal fees still apply
I was planning to go for the full flexi at first until I heard about the limitation.
3. I was also told that this is the current best rate (4.0%) for projects under RM300,000, with the condition of taking up their MRTT, is this correct?
4. Any other banks that I should look out for to apply for their mortgage loan?
Since it's a project, there are panel banks appointed by the developer for the project. Ask your SA instead