Daily Hong Kong

I believe every people who don't have their own shelter would not feel rooted.

When I was teenager, I didn't care about my own future and lived wherever I can manage to stay. However, now I realized I really need my own property.

Recently, I purchased a cozy flat in North Point, Hong Kong, and I would like to share my own experience in buying a property here as it was not easy for me and very confusing.

So I(you) made a decision to buy a house. What should I do?

I would say that the first thing you have to consider is to figure out how much you can afford monthly either fornightly.

If you are paying rents then that would be the amount which you can afford. If you are staying with your parents, your minimum savings could be something you can afford.

However, this is only what we can get a self estimation or let's say 'guessing' of your budget. For the bank, there are lot of considerations such as income, DTI blah blah anyway,what I think important is get your own idea of HK$ which you can mandatory invest monthly without any trouble.

I say your 'guessing' is a 'minimum budget'.

What the heck is 'minimum budget'? What next? Maximum?


Yes, HSBC offering a neat tool which you can quote a 'maximum budget' and with this tool, your can coordinate yourself between your dream house and your affordable house. {FYI, most bank are offering around 3.25pa (p-2%) so you can start with 3.25pa~4pa}

After figuring out these two values ('minimum budget' and 'maximum budget'), we would be able to move to
the next step - House Hunting

HOW MUCH CAN I BORROW?

Use the Mortgage Planner below to calculate how much you can afford with your income.
The additional initial cost you may need to consider including solicitor fee (such as sales and purchase agreement, assignment deed and mortgage deed), government fee (including stamps duty) and property agent fee.

Monthly household income (HK$)
Interest rate (% per annum)
Loan period (years)

Your maximum loan amount is: HK$

Find out what your property is worth

Repayments and other costs

Having enough money put away for the down payment and additional initial costs is as important as paying back the repayments. The additional initial cost you may need to consider including solicitor fee (such as sales and purchase agreement, assignment deed and mortgage deed), government fee (including stamps duty) and property agent fee.

With the maximum loan amount you can afford, you can minimize your down payment by borrowing up to the maximum loan ratio, i.e. 95%* for High Advance Mortgage, or 70% for an ordinary mortgage loan.

* The maximum mortgage loan amount is capped at 95% (subject to mortgage loan type) of the property purchase price or property valuation (whichever is lower) provided that mortgage insurance cover for those over 70% (of up to 25%) is made available by The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited.

Monthly and fortnightly repayments

The above information is for reference only.

Notes:
(1) Interest is calculated on a daily basis.
(2) It is assumed that the starting date in calculating the interest shall be the month in which the mortgage planner is being used by customers commencing from the 1st day of the month.