Muara Teweh!

The Programs Abroad Office will hold its “biggest event” this Wednesday, Sept. 20, when study abroad experts, faculty, American students who have returned from studying abroad and international students set up the fall Study Abroad Fair in the UC Ballroom.

“[At the fair] students will have the opportunity to meet with program providers, UT faculty and — best of all — with students who have participated in many of our summer, semester and year programs,” said Elizabeth Gregor, a programs abroad coordinator who primarily advises students who want to go to the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, as well as French and German-speaking countries. » Read more after the jump →

There is a sweeping change in the mindset of the middle class Indian household.

Families are now mortgaging property to send their child abroad in the hope they will be back with flying colours.

For a mother and daughter pair in Durgapur, there’s a strong sense of relief.

The daughter Priyanka is leaving for the UK to study hotel management, a course that will set them back by Rs 14 lakh. However, she has managed to get an education loan of Rs 10 lakh from the State Bank of India. » Read more after the jump →

Maybank has enhanced its home loan package for foreigners, to be in line with the broad national strategy to attract and retain foreign talent. Under the enhanced package, foreigners can now obtain financing from Maybank for up to 90% of their property valuation. This is the highest in the market, and an increase from the 70% financing previously offered by Maybank.

To take up this new package, foreigners need only place a minimum investment amount of S$50,000 or 10% of loan amount, whichever is lower. This could be in the form of deposits, insurance or other investment products. » Read more after the jump →

Their floors are covered with electrical cords and caulking guns, their fences yet to rise. But within weeks one of the nation’s most interesting new subdivisions will become a place for 11 Sacramento artist families to finally call home. “Everyone here is a first-time buyer,” said Kim Scott, a painter with art hanging in Sacramento City Hall, among other venues. “I’d guess the median age is 50, and we’ve never been homebuyers before.”

Dubbed Surreal Estates, the 11-home residential development is the first locally to accommodate what Scott calls the “notoriously low income” lifestyles of painters, sculptors, musicians and photographers. As they open on 1.3 acres in a Del Paso Boulevard-area » Read more after the jump →

Ameriprise Financial Inc. has opened a banking unit to offer clients mortgages and home-equity loans. Ameriprise Bank FSB will provide loans through the brokerage’s 10,000 financial advisers and offer bank accounts through a Web site, the company said Monday. Minneapolis-based Ameriprise had delivered banking services over the telephone and online through parent American Express Co. until its September 2005 spinoff.

Brokerages such as Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc.’s Smith Barney unit have turned to banking and lending to win a bigger share of the market catering to their clients’ financial-service needs. » Read more after the jump →

The mortgage industry has long been able to adapt to changing market conditions. When interest rates rose to double-digit levels in the late 1970’s, the industry made more adjustable-rate mortgages available. When the savings rate began to drop and Americans had less to put down on homes, the industry made more flexible loan products available that did not require as large a down payment. And now, as immigrants begin to comprise a larger and larger portion of our population, the lending industry is begun to introduce loans that are tailored to an immigrant population that may not have solid credit histories or Social Security numbers. » Read more after the jump →

Mumbai: Don’t let higher interest rates bog you down from buying the dream house you may have always wanted. Builders are coming to the rescue.

Your home loan rate may be as high as 9.5 per cent, but effectively you may end up paying only 8 per cent. Real estate developers are looking at offering interest rate subsidies to clear out their existing stock of flats.

Sources say several builders in the past one month have been approaching banks to offer lower interest rates to new home loan borrowers. » Read more after the jump →