Soalan Lazim

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General

We offer secured and unsecured loans. 

Most of our secured loans are mortgage loans, which are short term loans secured by properties. As a lender, we will have the first legal mortgage on the subject property.  The borrower may later choose to refinance the property with long term conventional financing or to sell the property in order to pay off the secured loan.

Alternative financiers like us are able to approve and fund a loan much more quickly than a bank and do not require as much documentation. Approval and funding from us can be completed within a week or two.  A loan from a bank will take at least 30 to 45 days.

We are primarily concerned with the value of the real estate that will serve as collateral for the loan and the loan to value (“LTV”) ratio, while the banks focus on the borrower’s credit rating and income.

  • The application process is quick and easy.
  • The loan can be funded very quickly, usually within 14 working days (for unencumbered properties).
  • A buyer can still obtain secured financing from us even if they have issues such as low credit scores, insufficient income history, recent short sales or foreclosures or even bankruptcy history.
  • The borrower doesn’t want to go through the lengthy application process at a bank.
  • A bank has already denied the borrower’s request for a loan.
  • The borrower needs funding quickly.
  • The borrower has issues with their credit, income, a recent short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy.
  • The interest rates on loans from alternative financiers are usually higher than conventional bank loans.
  • Our secured financing facility is usually meant for short-term use.

After contacting us, the prospective borrower must complete a loan application with their personal information and information about the subject property. We will quickly review this information and determine if the loan is feasible.

The credit of the borrower is of some importance but the most important factor is the loan to value (LTV) ratio based on the propertyto be mortgaged to us. The subject property will then be appraised by a independentvaluer. Once this is completed, we will move forward in processing the loan and funding can be delivered in a matter of days once the necessary paperwork is done by the lawyer.

When a borrower defaults on a hard money loan they are in danger of being foreclosed upon and losing the property or properties which they used as collateral to secure the loan. Foreclosure is not the desired course of action for us, as we would much rather prefer to be paid back in full for the balance of the loan without any additional hassle. When a borrower begins to miss payments, we will reach out to them and try to work out a mutually acceptable solution. Foreclosure is the absolute last resort.

We operate under the rules and regulations of the Singapore Moneylenders’ Act.

Our loan can be funded within two weeks.  This is a huge benefit to using alternative financiers like us as banks could take 30 days or longer to fund the same loan request.

Banks hold money from their depositors and pay them an extremely low interest rate. The bank can thus afford to lend at a  lower interest rate. We get funds from private investors (or fund the loans ourselves) who expect a higher interest rate due to the increased risk taken on by the lender.

Unlike the banks or other conventional financing institutions, we are much less concerned with a borrower’s credit and Credit Bureau (CBS) scores. We instead focus on the value of the property being purchased or refinanced. Credit scores alone should not prevent a borrower with bad credit from obtaining a loan from us.

Our secured loan facility may or may not have a prepayment penalty depending on the specific loan scenario.  It is always a prudent practice to check with us upfront on the prepayment penalty is if any when making the initial enquires.

The following table summarizes the key differences in terms of mortgage loan features between a conventional bank and us.

Scroll right to view this table

 BanksVM Credit
Basis for loan approvalIncome, credit score, credit history etcValue of Real Estate
Minimum credit ratingBBuse credit rating for reference only
DocumentationSignificantMinimal
Property TypesTypically residential and commercial (depending on trades)All except HDB and JTC properties
Loan Tenure & Repayment StructureRigidFlexible
Approval ProcessA few weeksWithin 2 weeks
Loan Disbursement3 months from approvalWithin 2 weeks from approval

Process / Loan Submission

There are no upfront fees prior to issuing a commitment. All we require is our secured loan application form as well as the required documents.

  • NRIC / passport copies of mortgagors / borrowers
  • Latest Notice of Assessment
  • Credit Bureau Report
  • Latest CPF statement for property usage
  • Latest outstanding bank loan statement
  • Copy of Title Deed (for unencumbered property)
  • Tenancy Agreement, if applicable

You can contact our office directly to initiate the application process once you have the application form and required documents ready.

Loan Program Details

We can lend on any type of property such as private residential condos, landed properties, land parcels, industrial, retail and office buildings with exception of HDB and JTC properties.

We lend from $500k to $5 million.  In certain markets on select properties we will go as low as $200k. Please call with your specific scenario.

60% of the value of the property as determined by us and/or our panel of professional property valuers (see how we determine value).

Based on the current market value (“CMV”) that we determine, we will cap our maximum exposure at60% of CMV in most instances; for example if we placed the value on a property of 1 million, our maximum loan limit will be capped at $600,000.

We offer fully amortizing loans (up to 15-year terms) as well as interest-servicing options. 

Our secured loan term is typically 12 to 24 months, but longer terms of up to 15 years are also available depending on the specific situation and borrower.The loan structure will be determined based on the unique situations of each transaction.

There is no formal rate matrix since each deal is so unique. We price each deal aggressively based on the individual needs of the client.

We can handle transactions where the borrower is in foreclosure as long as they have enough equity in their property to pay off the first lender to enable us to receive a clean first mortgage.

Unfortunately we only do first mortgages.

Yes, we have done many loans for foreign nationals.

Closing

Typically we close on the deal anywhere from 2-3 weeks, however sometimes even sooner based on the needs of the client.

Most lenders impose a lockout or a very steep pre-pay (defeasance) that makes it impossible to refinance the loan in the first several years of the transaction. We never impose a lockout or utilize defeasance. Each of our transactions is structured to fit the needs of the particular borrower.