A firm well known for real estate innovation in the Middle
East, JustProperty.com, is launching a major online platform for property
shoppers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that will help make it easier to get a breadth of
information about mortgage borrowing.
A Nov. 2 press release announced the arrival of
JustProperty.com’s “Mortgage Calculator” portal, developed in collaboration
with Home Matters Mortgage Consultants as a sort of virtual information forum
about property purchases in the UAE.
Users will be able to use the Mortgage Calculator toolkit to
research purchase fees, mortgage costs and payment structures. Amortization
charts and other tools will help first-time buyers and others to navigate a
process that’s inherently complicated and detailed, whether it’s happening in
the U.S., the UAE or any other nation.
In a press statement, JustProperty.com said the tool will
help real estate agents and their clients drill down into the details to get
more market confidence and enhance the process of purchasing a property in the
UAE.
Gulf News Journal spoke with JustProperty.com CEO Alex
Nicholas Friday.
“Many end buyers have to consider whether they can qualify
for a mortgage when they look at a property, it’s always in the back of their
minds,” Nicholas said, explaining the inspiration for the program. “By
providing real time information, we give users pre-qualification that will
remove this stress and allow them to continue their search for their perfect
home.”
It is an innovation that Nicholas believes will take a
significant hurdle out of the shopping process.
“To date, there has not been an integrated product on a UAE
property portal that allows property purchasers to search for listings and at
the same time get pre-qualified for a mortgage for that property,” he said. “We are essentially removing an extra step in the home searching process
and allowing people for the first time in the UAE to search for properties and
get pre-approved for a mortgage, all on the same platform.”
Nicholas said end users will put in basic financial
information, including income and debt amounts, to see if they pre-qualify
for a mortgage and how much they could borrow.
“Their contact details will then be passed onto a Home
Matters mortgage consultant who will contact the applicant directly to discuss
the next steps,” he said.
Nicholas also talked about the firm’s long-term outlook on
UAE real estate.
“We’ve been running JustProperty.com as a leading source of
real estate listings and information since 2010, and our long-term outlook for
the UAE industry remains very positive,” Nicholas said. “Whilst the UAE is
subject to greater market fluctuations than in more mature real estate markets,
we see the long-term outlook for UAE real estate to be very positive. The
country continues to develop at a fast rate, and the clear vision of the
government, in our opinion, makes for a very attractive investment opportunity.”
