FAQ: Which bank is the BEST? (Residential property mortgage) -- Episode 1

There are approximately 10~11 financial institutions active in the mortgage business. Major players are the three local banks and 7 ~ 8 foreign bank with retail business, eg., ANZ, Citibank, RHB, CIMB, Maybank, SCB, HSBC, BOC, SBI, Hong Leong Finance, Singapura Finance, etc.

According to my years of observation and experience, there is no bank always offers the best or most competitive package. It will change from time to time. It is all depending on the bank appetite, market situation or business portfolio.

Especially at the beginning of this year, SIBOR and SOR spiked to higher level, those "unpopular" fixed rate package suddenly sold like hot cakes.

Refinancing applicants rushed to grab the fixed rate package. DBS, Maybank, RHB, CIMB and BOC, were offering good fixed rate package. However, due to the overwhelming application, a lot of applicants were rejected by banks or being offered with less attractive package.

This is not difficult to understand. Mortgage package also like any consumer products we buy in daily life. There is always a limited volume available for the applicants, eg. $50mil, and it is always on first come first serve basis. Once bank receives enough business, means the package is "FULLY SOLD OUT".

"Sold-out" means sold out - NO more for you. The bank won't accept application for the package, even you carry a priority banking or premier banking account status or 20 years saving account holder. Most of the time, you don't have a room to negotiate for a better deal after the promotion.

Well, if you are wealthy private banking client, with AUM (asset-under-management) multiple millions dollars in your account, you always have the chance to get better deal than the consumer banking. It is another segment of banking. I will share more on future blog.

In a nutshell, we should not underestimate the speed of banks sell their mortgage, especially on promotional items. A few days of consideration or delay in consolidating documents, potentially for you to miss a good opportunity in cost saving. The cost saving can be 5 figure per year, depending on your mortgage size.

As mortgage broker, MxRICH always aware of good deal in the market. Please visit my website www.mx-rich.com for your mortgage needs. All your info & documents will be handled with absolute P&C.