STEPHEN CRANSTON: Home loans with a twist
Sentinel is coming into the market at a time when some banks show little interest in home loans
There are a large number of otherwise creditworthy people who do not qualify for home loans. They could be self-employed, freelancers or simply foreigners without local IDs. Most frustrating of all is people who do not have credit records because they have never taken out debt. This is the target market of the new Sentinel Homes. It employs the instalment sales finance method — used for cars, yachts and other moveable properties. Loans of up to 95% of the purchase price are granted. It has been possible to get instalment finance on homes before, but mainly from developers for specific properties only. But CEO Renier Kriek advises those people who can get conventional bank finance to go that route. Sentinel will typically charge 1.5% to 3% above prime — it does not have access to the bank’s cheap finance. And in line with other forms of instalment finance Sentinel remains the registered owner — like that old bumper sticker, "My car belongs to WesBank." It gives Sentinel more power to...
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