Banks and insurance companies have been often accused of hiding relevant information from a deserving public. These accusations are not altogether baseless and malicious. In fact, the financial markets that is active in Real Estate Business as a whole have proved in the recent past that they have an inherent tendency to present half truths especially if and when it suits their stance. This is what can more accurately be described as a confidence crisis or a moral crisis.Let us, take a look at the issues that the banks don’t want you to know about when it come to your investment property.

1. Security Over Property and its Realization: Foreclosures have hit nearly every part of the world and Australia is no exception. Peter Overton, a real estate commentator while on a trip in Spanos Park and Brookside Estates observed that the mortgage meltdown will hit and hit hard. The question to ask oneself is whether people fully understand the impact of losing their investment property at the time when they are buying. While a clear answer may not be clear cut to a most people at this point, most bankers know a lot about it but are reluctant to make their knowledge public. With their desire to gain more, banks have failed to inform people about the effective measures they can implement against potential defaulters.

2. High Interest Rates Applied to Mortgages: With the exception of reverse mortgages which are for the protection of senior members of the society, all other mortgages attract very high interest rates. Banks have successfully camouflaged these rates through splitting or clustering them in miscellaneous provisions and sub provisions. The effect of this has been a financial crisis that has hit the whole banking industry and is threatening to tear the global economy. You may be aware that this will be traced to sub prime mortgages.

3. Shifting of Professional Fees to Borrowers: The cost of completing property transactions is usually very high. Banking institutions have effectively designed means of transferring the costs that should otherwise have been borne by them to unsuspecting consumers. Costs that you can look out for include legal, quantity survey and accountancy services. When these are transferred to the borrowers they limit their ability to maximize their investment.

4. Selling of Defective Property: When selling foreclosed property, bankers may never inform the purchasers of the weaknesses that will be part of the property. For example, banks have a higher ability to determine the risks attached to a particular property, especially liquidity risk. A bank will never disclose such information to buyers since it will jeopardize its chance of realizing the security.