'We've done nothing wrong but we just can’t get a loan for a house,' says desperate buyer

SEMENYIH (Feb 20): Housewife Hafiza Abd Rahman, 34, is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after numerous failed attempts to own a home. With the FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme, Hafiza is hoping it could help make her dream of owning a home come true.

Hafiza who was at the launch of the scheme by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin today, broke down as she told the minister about her desperate attempts at getting a loan to buy a home.

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“My husband and I always wanted to own a home after renting for more than 10 years, but we have problems in getting a mortgage loan as we do not have any track record,” she told reporters covering the event.

According to her, she pays everything by cash except for a sedan car of which the loan has already been fully settled many years ago. The couple also does not have any credit cards that could show their credit track record.

Hafiza has been renting for over 10 years in Semenyih, Selangor and over the years, has applied for loans for over 15 houses but none of it was approved.

“We have done nothing wrong, but we just can’t get a loan because we do not have any credit track record,” said the mother of four children.

Hafiza's husband is a self-employed programmer who is earning less than RM3,000 a month.

Although she’s interested in the FundMyHome scheme, forking out the 20% payment for the house price is an issue for her and her husband.

“With the FundMyHome+DepositKu scheme, there’s a chance that I could own a house for me and my family, I really look forward for that day to come,” said Hafiza.

Under FundMyHome, a homebuyer seeking to buy a RM307,000 home is required to pay only 20% of the purchase price or RM61,400 to own the home. The balance 80% (RM245,600) will be funded by institutions. With FundMyHome+DepositKu, the same homebuyer, if eligible, will receive a loan of RM30,000 from the Government to help with the 20% payment. As a result, the homebuyer only needs to pay RM31,400.

If the buyer is eligible for the 7% bumiputera discount (RM21,490), then he or she only needs to pay RM9,910 to own the home.