Financial Move Opinions?

dwr says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:03:

b

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guacharaca says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:22:

What did you do....borrow on your credit card? Don't expect the exchange rate to improve until Obama gets in and the US is out of Iraq.

Colombianos: Las armas os han dado independencia, las leyes os daran libertad. (Santander)

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dwr says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:24:

Credit Card rates in Colombia are more like 28%. Mortgage rates are 18-20%

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viajero123 says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:29:

Why not hedge your risks and have half of the loan in pesos and half in dollars until you see where the dollar market is going better?

By the way, the dollar is hitting 1711 COP right now.

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dwr says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:46:

That's kind of what I'm thinking Rubito. A 15,000 dollar loan could turn into a 25,000 loan easy. Colombian mortgage is similar to loan sharking.

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snaiks says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:51:

DWR, can you give me how much is ur monthly paymen, im thinknig of something that might help.
also if you tell me how much would u have to pay the guy that lends u the money at 5%.??
thanks

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guacharaca says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:59:

Wow...I did not realize the cost of capital was so high here. Now I understand why I see all the "se vende" signs around this city. If you do not have your own capital, you will be haemorrhaging from the wallet.

Colombianos: Las armas os han dado independencia, las leyes os daran libertad. (Santander)

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dwr says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:06:

Monthly payment is around 560,000 pesos for the 10 year loan of 30,000,000. a 17,000 dollar loan at 5% for 5 years would produce a monthly payment of 320 dollar a month.

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Tinto (Moderator) says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:12:

18%! Even if it's a relatively short five or ten-year term, that's painful.

What happened to Bancolombia's 10% or 12% mortgages for good credit risks? Have they moved in lockstep with an increase in Colombia's short term interest rates?

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viajero123 says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:20:

Yes, those 12%s disappeared as soon as Banco de la Republica rose their rates. And since then they have been increasing slowly. Actually, 18% is a good deal right now. Credit cards are charging 32% at the moment! And more is expected since the inflation seems to be rising right now. dwr, is your Colombian mortagage in pesos or UVR? Is the rate fixed or attached to DTF?

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snaiks says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:25:

well, first of all. 320$ would be the same payment as you pay now but in half the time.
i am thinking that having a US loan is better for you at the moment, and in case the peso go up, u wont have to pay more.
also you wont have to give ur colombian house as a collateral
another thing to consider is that colombian DTF(the bank of the republic interest) has been rising in the past few months, and most loans in Colombia are calculated at DTF x%, so if you are in a plan like this and DTF goes up 1% ull end up paying 1% more, in the us, interest rates have been decreseasing. and there's always a bank happy to "buy" your debt with a cheaper interest rate.

in your position i'd find out, if the bank that u have the loan right now charges you to cancel the mortgage ahead of time, how are you going to get the 17k to Colombia, and where are you going to change the dollars to Peso's, and get the loan only in the us.




ps. there's a good way to invest money like that, you take a loan in the US at 5%, lets say 10000 usd for only a year, if you bring it to colombia, and put it in a CDT(time deposit) for a year at 11% and win the spread between the cost of money(5%) 1%(fluctuations in the dollar) so youll end up winning 5% yearly

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viajero123 says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:38:

snaiks, what CDT here gives you 11%?

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sloopskipper says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:57:

viajero123 says on Jun 5, 2008, 08:20: flag

"Yes, those 12%s disappeared as soon as Banco de la Republica rose their rates. And since then they have been increasing slowly. Actually, 18% is a good deal right now. Credit cards are charging 32% at the moment! And more is expected since the inflation seems to be rising right now. dwr, is your Colombian mortagage in pesos or UVR? Is the rate fixed or attached to DTF?"

Time for Jesus to chase the money lenders out of the temple again?

Seems those rates should be defined as usury, almost like the loan sharks on the street. Do they break your arm or shoot your dog if you don't pay?

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sloopskipper says on Jun 5, 2008, 09:03:

The edit is again disappearing in a few minutes, Less than 4 minutes. But the hour changed in the meantime.

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snaiks says on Jun 5, 2008, 09:11:

viejoro123: if its a good amount of money for a year, talk to me, i can get that or better. send me a pm thru here,if you're interested

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harris3499 says on Jun 5, 2008, 10:43:

Since Colombian banks are charging a mortgage rate of 18%, has this opened up a market for private mortgage lenders? It would seem to me that a private lender would be able to charge 15% and have a line-up outside his door. 15% would be a dam good ROR, don't you think? Is anyone doing this in Columbia these days?

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sloopskipper says on Jun 5, 2008, 17:26:

snaiks, you are Banco General?

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Robert Jorge says on Jun 5, 2008, 20:19:

There are plenty of "private lenders" in Colombia. I wouldn't try to get into this business. I imagine it is paraco or mafioso controlled in most areas.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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pedro says on Jun 5, 2008, 21:40:

It's quite common for private individuals to lend short-term at rates much higher than the banks. 10% per month is a typical market rate on the coast, I believe. We are talking informal, unsecured loans.

I'm not sure what rates BanParaco would give you. No less than 10% per month, I imagine.

I don't know if there are any non-bank lenders doing secured mortgages here in Colombia. If anyone knows, I'd be curious.

que nota!

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viajero123 says on Jun 6, 2008, 03:51:

Some banks even think those rates are not high enough and argue that's the reason they don't lend money in smaller amounts.
They even said rates should be around 50% if it weren't for the 33% usury level set by the government.
Is it better to have lower rates and few people accessing the market or higher rates and credit being available to a lot more people? Is that even true? I think it is more the lack of real competition and the small size of the Colombian market which the banks refuse to grow.
http://www.eltiempo.com/economia/2008-06-06/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR...

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snaiks says on Jun 6, 2008, 16:31:

sloopskipper, nope, multibank, it used to be multicredit bank

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snaiks says on Jun 6, 2008, 16:37:

viajero123, i;d think that if colombia doesnt have usury interest rates would go down, because i'd force people into free competence, something that doesnt exist here. Banks set their interest rate based on usury - x amount of points.

back in the day Panama had usury to, when they removed usury, rates increased for 6 months then it started to decrease to what we have now at 6-9%.

what i know about the news u posted is that loans are more expensive now, because they have a lot more people working and minimum wage has been on the rise. i dont have the numbers here, but i do know is that ie. bancolombia has to many people working and they are not as effective as financial institutions in the rest of the world. This has been a major problem for me/company where i work, because we are used to being more efficient, and not having all the comites, etc, etc. I know that in the foreseable future we are going to get more efficient people and would make the ROI even bigger of what it is today.

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twmcm says on Jun 7, 2008, 00:01:

Insofar as the original question, if I were you, I'd get a lower rate peso-denominated loan here in Colombia

http://www.carteligentglobal.com/

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