According to the Managing Director of Superior Homes, Ian Henderson, this buying option will be available to people buying from their ongoing Greenpark Cluster Five Project/FILE
Dubbed ‘Buy Over Long Term’, (BOLT) home buyers will be able to pick the house they desire to own and decide on the payment methods they will use with the real estate developers.
According to the Managing Director of Superior Homes, Ian Henderson, this buying option will be available to people buying from their ongoing Greenpark Cluster Five Project.
“Superior Homes was among the pioneers of developers gated communities when we brought Greenpark. We want to continue in the same spirit by ensuring that more people are able to afford buying homes with flexible means.”
Buyers who take up BOLT also stand to benefit in that in case they are not able to finish paying for their houses due to different reasons, Superior Homes guarantees to refund the whole amount without deducting any penalties.
“We understand that things change and along the way a person may want to back out. A study even proves that thirty percent of the people who sign up for home buying may change their minds. We shall therefore repay their money without deducting any penalties,” said Superior Homes’ Marketing Manager Angelica Wambui.
Disrupting the industry
The launch of this home buying plan is set to disrupt the real estate industry that is largely dominated by cash payments which are referred to mortgages. On one hand, no everyone can afford paying for a house in cash. On the other hand, taking up a mortgage plan is considered expensive due to aspects such as high interest rates.
“The interest rate of mortgages in Kenya is too high. You find that when you were signing up for a house, the rate was at 14 percent, then after some time, you are called by the agents to inform you that the rates have gone to 20 percent. This is one of the reasons why mortgages are not very popular in Kenya unlike in other developed countries such as the US or the UK,” Wambui explains.
Apart from high interest rates, the mortgage industry is also dominated by variable interest rates, heavy penalties in case someone cancels buying the house along the way and demand for high qualifications before signing up among others.
“These are the reasons why we have come up with this plan that will see more people included in home ownership,” Henderson said.
Going forward, Henderson said that although the product is exclusive to Greenpark’s cluster five home buyers, it will be available to its other future projects.