East West Bank offers affordable housing loans

By nature, Filipinos are family-oriented and they also like to stay at home with the family when there’s nothing else to do. Filipinos would stop at nothing in aspiring for a dream house.

One bank that is as passionate in helping Filipinos acquire their own home is East West Bank, now on its 10th year of steady growth and stability offering its Home Suite Loan. With its borrower-friendly terms, the bank raises the bar of housing loans to a higher level.

East West Bank has an ongoing promo until July 31, 2004 to make its Home Suite Loan, now more than ever, within easy reach of middle-income Filipinos.

The bank promises loan processing in five days. "The five-day soft approval is counted from the day the applicant completes all the loan documentation and information requirements," states Alex Ilagan, East West Bank senior vice president and retail credit head. The five-day target is met by processing the loan even before property appraisal and title verification are completed. Relegating these two to outsourced parties, the bank is able to eliminate the delay in releasing the loan to borrowers.

Ilagan says the promo is also available to all property development projects of Filinvest Land, Inc., both in the middle and upscale market segments.

Minimum Requirements

Although East West Bank has set minimum requirements for borrowers under this promo, the terms still depend on the capacity of the borrower. "The income requirement depends on the amount and the tenor (number of years to pay)," Ilagan points out. "But since the minimum amount for a housing loan is P400,0000 for 15 years, we will require an income of at least P20,000 a month," he added.

Once the borrower has met the minimum income requisite, and as long as he has a clean credit record and the appraised value of the property meets the standard limits, he can easily qualify for a Home Suite Loan housing loan.

Ilagan says the promo is born of the objective to bolster the popularity and attractiveness of the bank’s housing loan product in the market. According to him, Eaast West Bank is determined to book close to a billion in new housing loans this year, and this promo is expected to help meet the target.

Turning The Dream Into Reality

But more than that, the bank is offering the promo to give the Filipino a hand in securing their own shelter. "If we consider the current prices of house and lot vis-a-vis the average income of middle-class Filipino consumers, there is no way average middle-class families can expect to save enough to buy a home for themselves unless they work abroad for many years and earn in foreign currency. In fact, even overseas contract workers can now acquire a house and lot in a much shorter time provided they have saved enough for the usual 30-40 percent down payment," Ilagan states.

However,with Home Suite Loan, middle-class Filipino families get the chance to have funding for their new house.

Consumer-Friendly Terms

Apart from the promo, Home Suite Loan is known in the industry for its consumer-friendly terms. Applicants enjoy a competitive interest rate on the first year. And as a first for the bank, fixed housing loan rates for two, three, four and five years are being offered at very competitive prices.

Home Suite Loan also offers flexible payment schemes. Under the Deferred Payment Scheme, borrowers are followed to pay only the loan’s interest during the first year of the term. In addition, the bank provides qualified borrowers additional assistance for equity financing. Applicants who want to buy a house and lot or a vacant lot are given an additional 10 percent clean line to help them recover the down payment from the development or the property seller.

On top of these, borrowers get the chance to win valuable home appliances in the HSL Appliance Raffle.

Varied Loan Programs

Home Suite Loan is available in a variety of packages to suit the borrowers’ specific needs. LotAcquire is designed for lot buyers; while HomeAcquire, HomeConstruct, and HomeImprove are meant for purchase of housing property, building a house, and renovating one, respectively.

Moreover, there’s the HomeFlex program for clients who borrow for their business or other multi-purpose uses.

Indeed, East West Bank’s Home Suite Loan is able to address the need of its market with its flexible and varied programs. With a promo that makes it more affordable, there is sufficient reason to avail of a housing loan right now.

For inquiries on Home Suite Loan, call East West Bank at 8-ACCESS (822-2377) or toll-free 1-800-10-8-ACCESS for provincial areas or log on to www.eastwest-banker.com.