The Costs Assocated With A Bond: Cant I Afford It?
Buying property is always a questionable decision. For starters, land is becoming harder and harder to purchase. There are also the questions of “what will you do with it?” and “do I really need it?” Buying property can come in the form of a bond, which will finance the property for the long-term.
The reason for this anomaly is that the costs associated with buying a property and especially of taking out a bond or home loan are high. Owning a property is for the long term, and the short terms cost can be very high. Both directly and indirectly.
The actual costs of taking out a bond in relation to the total costs of buying a property are not that high.
There are a total of five different bond related charges that will be incurred every time that you buy a property, from conveyancing fees, registration fees, Value Added Tax as well as the initiation fee to apply for a bond.
These fees need to be covered, although they should represent no more than 3% of the total cost of the property when it was purchased. If the property appreciates in value as it should, this cost will be recovered with in the first year or so.
However many people do not consider the minor details and purchase property on instinct. If they sell back within five years they lose a lot of money because you spend the first third of the bond paying back interest and not principal. The result is a lot of money still due.
For example, if I was to sell my house after five years, I would only pay $30,000 out of a total of a $600,000 bond; I would still owe $570,000 plus interest. Not a good investment at all. Never sell early unless the owner stands to make a considerable profit that justifies the short term loss.
Like the client borrows from the bank, the small bank also borrows from the primary bank. If the bank falls into hardships, they may request some help from the central bank. The central bank can assist by only demanding principal and no interest for the time being. The central bank defines this as a “grace” period. However the sympathy does not come without justice. The bank still needs to recover the money and will issue penalties that can add up quick.
If you are thinking about purchasing property make sure you think about it thoroughly. This should never be a spur of the moment type of purchase. Bonds are great for the long-run, but horrible for short investments.