Yen Kai's Idea Cast

This is the story of my encounter with a dodgy home loan salesperson. I am writing this to expose all the ugly tactics she employs (yes i've just intentionally disclosed her gender). In fact, i will expose her name later as i think she deserves to be named and shamed.

This is the 3rd home loan i have signed up for, so by now i am fairly familiar with the process. It should be as easy as deciding on the package you want, providing all the supporting documents, getting the approval and finally signing the agreement. All went well up to the point of signing the agreement.

Along with those apps i have mentioned before, here are more which made it to my must have list:

SOR slid dramatically to 0.258% on Aug 23, arguably the historical low of all times, then sprang up again to above 0.3%. Incidentally, the 3-month USD Libor rate is also at 0.3% and has been falling and staying low. Exchange rate wise, USD/SGD has been stable at around 1.35 and probably did not play a big factor in the action of SOR.

Congratulations! You have already taken the first step by reading this posting! It will probably help if you read some of my other postings too! By landing here, you are probably already thinking that the internet is gong to help you in finding the right home loan package. If you notice, i have a Home Loan Rates link on the top right hand side which is grossly outdated but is still attracting visitors (about 250 visits per month). Let me share with you the website you should go to for the latest home loan rates.

a. Floating rate package (inclusive of SOR or SIBOR pegged loans)

b. Fixed rate package

Answer: b

Why?

News about home loan rates appear in the newspaper very sparingly, and this just happened last Saturday, showing up in the Straits Times with the headline “Cheaper home loans in store”. In a gist, the article says that “KEY interest rates that determine mortgage levels have fallen steeply, promising cheaper home loans but even leaner times for those with bank deposits. … The falling rates have followed the trend of the rates set by the United States Federal Reserve, which continue to be at historic lows. They have also come as the Singdollar has been allowed to strengthen since April.”

You can probably find thousands of “My Android Apps List” postings out there, here’s mine (standard built-in apps excluded):

My previous attempt at reviewing the Samsung Galaxy S/Android ended up being more of commentaries on Android in general. Here’s the follow up real deal, a practical month-old-user review of the Galaxy S.

I have mentioned in my previous post that those of us who have taken up a SOR or SIBOR pegged loan may find ourselves at risk of having to pay a 1.5% penalty when doing a full redemption not on the rate repricing date.