Buying a house through the Internet

The young couple was cruising slowly in the Raffles Hills housing estate. This was an important trip -- for house-hunting -- as they planned to get married in less than a year. Their entire morning and afternoon were spent with an informative personal survey on the brand-new houses in this estate and followed by the other nearby estates in the Cibubur and Cilengsi areas, such as Citra Grand, Kota Wisata and Legenda Wisata. "Both of us are of the same opinion: the houses we've seen are excellent and the location has a healthy environment," said the man, who had the appearance of an executive.

Next question was the price. Having both mid-priced and upmarket houses, the houses in these estates were at least Rp 100 million (US$11,750). Besides their personal savings for the down payment and furniture, the woman was certain that with their current careers they were eligible for loans from any of the reputable banks in the country.

Indeed, today, the country's economic situation has much improved, with the result that banks feel secure in providing loans to both developers and consumers (see Table One).

At least 40 major banks -- both state and private -- are actively providing such loans, including the country's two giants, BCA and Bank Mandiri. Both are currently working in close cooperation with two professional property brokers: BCA with Century-21 and Bank Mandiri with Raine & Horne. This means that loans are provided, not only for purchase of new houses -- the primary market -- but also for the secondary property segment, or secondhand houses.

Another leading bank -- Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) -- which is well-known for its involvement in building a huge number of simple or modest houses around the country -- the RS and RSS types -- has announced that it would allot more of its funds to the property sector. In 2002, this bank dispersed Rp 1.39 trillion for the purchase of 35,000 houses, while this year the bank will provide its customers with more than Rp 2.2 trillion for their housing needs.

Other major banks that have jumped on the bandwagon are Bank Lippo, Bank Mega, Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) spell out what it is, Bank Bumi Putera, Bank Danamon, Bank Niaga and Bank NISP, while real estate analysts estimate that the list of banks will grow longer in the near future.

Bank Niaga, for example, as of September 2002 had provided loans totalling Rp 75 billion and estimates an increase of 30 percent for 2003. Its house loan product, Niaga Specta Graha Kredit, has an 18 percent fixed interest rate for a variety of housing needs, including purchase of a new or secondhand house, shop or even house renovation. The credit term is 15 years.

Meanwhile, as of September 2002, Bank NISP had provided loans totalling Rp 450 billion and this year's plan is a sum of Rp 1.5 trillion. The bank's house loan product, KPR Merdeka, incorporates the latest IT technology and customers can apply online through the Internet using their site: kprmerdeka.com. Their credit term is also 15 years and the money can be used for purchases of low-priced as well as luxury houses that cost Rp 1 billion each. Once a customer fulfills all the prerequisites the credit is approved within five days at the latest.

"This IT-incorporated loan product is our newest innovation that includes a credit simulation allowing the applicant to calculate and find out his or her ceiling of credit. The applicant can also accurately calculate the price range of a house he or she intends to buy based on their ability to make the down payments and the subsequent installments," explained president and CEO of Bank NISP Pramukti Surjaudaja.

So, today, with the availability of sophisticated information technology, purchasing a house -- or to be more precise, getting your loan from almost any major bank -- is just a click away. Switch on your computer, browse the Internet and you can easily find out the entire range of products and features from the bank's website.

-- Ari Darmawan