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Single package for home costs

UAE mortgage firm Tamweel is banking on luring customers with added extras
After years of saving for a deposit, months of viewing properties, and days of checking the small print in the contract, it's not surprising that homebuyers often believe that collecting the keys to their property marks a welcome end to their expenditure.

In fact, as many have found to their cost, it is often just the beginning of further outlays, which can include everything from property charges, relocation costs and the expense of purchasing furniture for a new pad.

Forking out more money so soon after the substantial outlay of buying a home can be frustrating - and it was with this in mind that Tamweel , the UAE's Islamic mortgage firm, this month launched its new Home Finance Plus - which it bills as "the most complete home finance ever".

The newly launched product will provide customers with a wide range of additional services - each valuable to the new homeowner - at no extra cost.

The idea stems from the firm's research into the needs of its customers, Tamweel 's acting chief executive Varun Sood tells 7DAYS.

"We wanted to think of ideas to enrich homeownership beyond just focusing on product rates and tenors," he says.
The result is what the firm calls a "bouquet" of products designed to meet the needs of homeowners - including free relocation services, a free property evaluation, furniture discounts and help with property registration charges.

"You have a heavy outflow of cash when you buy a property, and so we have devised features focusing on various additional costs like registration fees and the expense of relocating," Sood explains.

It's a new approach for the UAE market, and something Sood says has the attention of customer and competitor alike.

So, are we likely to see mortgage firms try to differentiate themselves from each other using more than just their latest rate? Sood thinks so.

"I think the Home Finance Plus-style product is here to stay," he says.

After years in which many of the new properties coming to the UAE market were bought by buyers looking purely for an investment return, rather than a home, Sood says the market is showing signs of re-focusing on the end users
of property.

With property prices having fallen significantly in recent years, a new generation of buyer is set to enter the market.

Expat residents unsure that they will be in the UAE for the full term of a 25-year mortgage need not feel precluded from ownership, says Sood, adding that there is a natural "five to seven-year horizon" for many foreign buyers, who enjoy both a home in the UAE, and - in every likelihood - a tidy profit when they move on to pastures new.

But if you are buying a UAE property purely as an investment, Sood has some advice.

Forget the flashier features - fancy fittings, a state-of-the-art gym or a sizeable swimming pool perhaps - and simply look at what rental yield you can expect to make from leasing the property.

Everything else, even location, is actually secondary, he says.

Some of the best investments are in properties that make up for what they lack in glamour with enticing returns. And Tamweel itself has shown it knows how to maximise returns - this week the firm announced its net profits for the first nine months of this year were up 295 per cent on the same period last year - rising form Dhs17.9 million to Dhs70.7 million.

"We believe that our sustained success is a reflection of our customer-centric focus as an organisation," said Sood.
He expects the extras offered by the firm will increase over time.

Soon, getting your hands on the keys really could be your final worry...

© 7Days 2011