Rangarirai

I've been reading through Stanbic's current diaspora mortgage offering. Haaa malow low. The Stanbic deal on a $100k house with a $75k loan: 1. Total cost: you pay about $184k for a $100k house, roughly 1.84x the price. 2. Interest rate: 15% is about 2.3x the current US 10-year fixed (~6.5%). It's above typical credit card promo rates and close to average long-run stock market returns. 3. Interest bill: about $70k in interest on a $75k loan, almost as much as you borrowed, in just 10 years. 4. Cash to start: about $39k on day one (25% deposit plus about 14% in fees and taxes). You need nearly 40% of the price in cash just to borrow the rest. 5. Fees stacked on the loan: a 3% establishment fee, about 4% bond registration, up to 1% valuation, a $300 application fee, and mandatory insurance. Most of these exist only because you're borrowing. 6. Payment burden: $1,210/month means you need about $3,025/month in net USD income just to qualify under the 40% cap. 7. What you're actually buying: owning about 4 years sooner than saving and paying cash. That costs about $75k extra, around $1,500/month, or roughly 18% a year. Rent or appreciation in USD is very unlikely to cover it. a) Risk sits with you: the bank needs 10 years of steady USD income but only checks 9 months of job tenure. There's no HELOC-style backstop, and default is handled in Zimbabwe through your proxy. b) Insurance gap: "loan protection" typically covers death or disability, not job loss. The most likely risk for a US worker may not be covered. c)Exit options: equity release is capped at 45% of value. You can't easily tap or refinance your way out later the way US homeowners can. d) Age cap: you must be 60 or younger at maturity, which can squeeze the term and push payments even higher.