FNB - and buy to let news

So is buy-to-let the new way to go.

The on-going saga and lack of capital growth in the residential property market has made investment
in residential real estate so unattractive compared to the earlier part of the last years when house price growth were at much higher levels. Yields are also driven down by financially strained tenants and rising costs of maintenance, petrol, home goods etc, further stacking up an argument against investing in residential property unless you have a big daddy.

However, as more young South Africans require housing, there is a constant growth of demand for rental houses and flats. Ownership is not always possible or feasible and for some there will always be strong arguments in favor of renting instead of buying. This is aggravated further by challenges that banks face in granting credit - you better stay squeeky clean. These poor folk often have no other choice but to enter the rental market.

Should the SA reserve bank’s repo rate, and in turn the bank lending rates rise, the argument quickly tips in favor of renting rather than buying and is expected to further increase the demand for rental properties in the short term.

This rising demand for rental properties and slow growth in supply is expected to ultimately drive up yields to a point where buy-to-let property becomes a much more attractive investment. Once this excess demand pushes prices upward, investors will start earning higher returns. High returns will in turn attract more investors to participate in the rental market, buying up a larger portion of stock.

Risks of financing buy-to-let properties are not expected to change, but banks will continue to support this market with responsible lending to enable a much larger buy-to-let market tosupport the growing demand for housing in South Africa.

Buy-to-let ask your mortgage originator today.

What is it that bond originators do and why not go the D.I.Y route?

What is it that bond originators do and why not go the D.I.Y route?

such a great question and you will always get your pros and cons depending on whom you are speaking to.

We do know that bond originators often shop around and are kind of impervious to which bank you are looking at but finding someone that is great is not always easy.  So do you get references?  I would.

Bond originators assist you by negotiating with all the major lenders on your behalf, thus taking the fear out of applying for a bond and even work with SA Homeloans, BMW finance and Investec not just Standard, ABSA, FNB and Nedbank.

The service of a bond originator is free to you, the applicant – this is because bond originators get paid by the banks.

This means less leg-work for you and a lot less admin for you, the client.

Even where the home-buyer has a really good, strong relationship with their own bank, bond originators allow for room to shop around for the best deals and to look around at all the other banks simultaneously, getting you the best deal there is.

Every now and again some banks seem to get into a tiff with the originating groups and then for a while no longer allow bond originators to act on their behalf, therefore it is advisable to first ask the originator who they represent and the good ones will make a plan regardless.

FNB Home Loans Update - From Head Office

FNB Housing Finance is excited to announce that we have now officially joined Home Loans and
other banks in rolling out Interbank Document and Data eXchange (IDX) for our customers.

IDX is an interface which allows bank agents (within FNB) to request bank statements from all
other banks using a specified criterion. The purpose of this crossing point is to eliminate the
lengthy and unpleasant process of having to ask and wait for customers to bring their monthly
statements from banks which they hold their personal active account/s in order for their “loan”
requirements to be considered. Furthermore, this also allows the affected bank to be privy to
information which the customer might withhold/omit that could prove to be troublesome at a later
stage.

For now, customers are allowed to opt not to partake in this roll out but it will be mandatory at a later
stage. We request that you utilise the existing (applied by other banks) form for all FNB Housing
Finance customers who would like to involve themselves in this roll out.

Thank you for your continued support.

Access bonds, flexi option, money available from a home loan

So what is the reasoning behind the banks such as FNB and ABSA, and Standard bank and Nedbank offering access bonds and what do they do for us.

The reasoning is that when allowing a customer to increase their home loan balance to the original bond amount without going through a new credit assessment the banks are not acting as  responsible lenders - a real no no for any lender

So, by only allowing access to funds that have been prepaid, the bank then assists, you the customer in ensuring that the home loan is paid off over the term of the bond as set out originally, without placing any additional financial strain on you the customer.  trust me, if you are under strain you will complain.

Should the customer require more than their prepaid amount available, a credit assessment will be done as normal to assess the affordability, which will ensure that the customer can afford the additional credit they want. This in turn reduces the risk of the customer going into arrears in the event they start taking financial strain.

So what are the rules - well these vary from bank to bank but generally they are and include but are not limited to: The customer must have a transactional account at the same bank as the access account.  The linked account must be in the same name as that of the bond holder and where the bond is in joint names, in the name of one of the bond holders. Home loan repayments must be by debit order or salary stop order.  Customer should not be under Special Repayment Arrangement or debt review. Insurance cover must be up and running. No vacant land bonds. No foreign nationals and non residents.

     Call a bond originator today and they can immediately send you details for all banks at once.

ABSA comes to the party - great news for home loans!

So a full pack of cards with the new announcement recently by ABSA about your favorite mortgage originator  and your application - all bond
applications, effective January 2012, whether submitted by an internal ABSA source or by an originator will be treated the same. 


This means that there will be no differentiation in LTV’s, whether a client applies directly to Absa or via an originator.


We welcome this announcement and believe that this is very good news for all Absa bank customers, real estate agents and originators. You will therefore now be able to submit applications, on behalf of your clients, to Absa within the following lending criteria:


Existing Absa Customers: Ordinary Loan Up to 100%
Existing Absa Customers: Further Advance Up to 85%
New Customers to Absa : Ordinary Loan Up to 90%
Vacant Land ( New and Existing Customers) Up to 60% - still low
Existing Absa Customers: Building Loan Up to 80%
New Customers to Absa: Building Loan Up to 65%


Existing Absa Customers: Affordable Housing -
Ordinary Loan Up to 100%
New Customers to Absa: Affordable Housing -
Ordinary Loan Up to 90%
Affordable Housing - Building Loan ( New & Existing
Customers) Up to 80%


Existing Absa Customers: Loans above R2.7m Up to 85%
New Customers to Absa : Loans above R2.7m Up to 70%


Absa’s decision will ensure that no Absa customer will be prejudiced in the way that their application is treated and it also enhances the value proposition that your bond originator brings to you. 


Real estate agents and lead providers can now, once again, look forward to using the one-stop service that originators offer and stay abreast of their client’s bond applications. 


Well done ABSA, this is in line with Standard Bank and FNB.

What do the experts say for 2012 for the Property Market?

So what do you think is happening in the property market in SA - is it paradise to come?

This is what the FNB property barometer looks like.  Download this now.

Recently, there has been some media discussion about whether the current time is the time to buy property, on the back of some assertions that residential property market “equilibrium” has been reached. It is surely safe to say that the residential property market has become more of a “buyers” market since early-2008, with prices having declined by around -17% in real terms since February of that year (“real prices” refer to average house prices adjusted for consumer price inflation).

But it is challenging to ascertain when a market has reached equilibrium, the price level where demand matches supply, especially as equilibrium levels fluctuate over time. Reaching equilibrium would imply that demand has finally caught up with supply after about 4 years in which the market could be deemed to have been oversupplied, a state which caused the downward real price correction in the market. Reaching equilibrium would also imply no further real price decline to come, unless of course further economic deterioration in the near term caused the market equilibrium price level to decline further, because price levels required to reach market equilibrium, or (otherwise put) market balance, do change over time as economic conditions change.

We believe that indications emanating from the latest results of the FNB Estate Agent Survey suggest  that the residential market still has some way to go before it reaches that “holy grail” where oversupplies disappear and the market can finally be said to be realistically priced and, yes, in equilibrium.

The first and foremost factor influencing our view is the fact that, according to the agents surveyed, the estimated average time that a home remains on the market before being sold rose for the 2nd successive quarter in the 4th quarter of 2011, from a previous 17 weeks and 2 days to 17 weeks and 6 days.

This would suggest that the imbalance between demand and supply has deteriorated further recently. The recent average time on the market remains far above the 2 month level, and even well-above 3 months, levels which we would deem necessary to reflect a market with a “healthy balance between supply and demand”. There has been a broad trend of increase (deterioration) in the average time on the market since early-2010, after something of an improvement in 2009 on the back of major interest rate cuts.

The second indicator of pricing realism, namely the estimated percentage of sellers being required to drop their asking price to make the sale, has also shown the resumption of a broadly rising trend from late-2010 through 2011, and currently hovers around 90% of total sellers. Whilst one would always expect a significant percentage of sellers to “open the bidding” on the high side, the current percentage would appear to be extremely high when looking back to the lower percentage of sellers dropping their asking prices in years prior to the 2008 recession. In addition, 2011 showed further increase in this percentage, which is not what one would expect to see in a market getting nearer to equilibrium and price realism. While an additional survey question, regarding the average estimated percentage drop in price by sellers being required to do so, has only been asked for 2 years, we have seen a mild increase in the average estimated price drop from -11% early in 2010 to -13% by the end of 2011.

Therefore, the sample of estate agents surveyed during the 4th quarter of 2011 would not appear to believe that the residential property is yet realistically price given the level of demand, or otherwise put, they appear to imply that the market is not yet in equilibrium or “balance between demand and supply”. Admittedly, the appropriate average time on the market is debatable, but we believe that above 17 weeks is inappropriately long. This, we believe, requires either further real house price decline, or alternatively residential demand needs to strengthen considerably to catch up with supply.

And at this stage, the agents aren’t pointing to a positive move in residential demand. A key question posed to estate agents in the survey is with regard to their perception of residential demand strength, done on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the strongest possible level. After a mild strengthening in the demand rating in the 3rd quarter of 2011 to 5.87, the 4th quarter (normally a seasonally stronger quarter) saw a mild decline to 5.66. In year-on-year terms this represents -2.2% decline on the 4^th quarter of 2010. Agents have not perceived demand to have made any meaningful progress in terms of strengthening, following a significant surge from mid-2009 to mid-2010. This shouldn’t be surprising, given that since late-2009, there has been very little further interest rate reduction, and little support from a very mediocre economy.

In terms of expectations of demand in the near term, the 4th quarter agent survey returned a weak response, with a very significant drop in the percentage of agents expecting demand to increase, from 44% in the previous quarter to 17% in the 4th quarter. This was the lowest percentage of respondents expecting strengthening since the 2nd quarter of 2005.

When asking agents for the factors influencing their near term expectations, seasonal factors play the most important role in this deterioration by far, because at the time of the 4th quarter survey in November, they were looking at 2 months of quiet time ahead as the holiday season approached. However, there are certain other negative factors that have are significant, including the perceived “strict credit environment,  “economic stress/general pessimism”, and still-unrealistic pricing by many sellers.

Also significant, is that only a few agents (7%) still see interest rate levels as still being a positive. The last rate cuts took place in 2010, and the stimulus from rate cuts has worn off.

In order to eliminate the strong influence of seasonal factors, we aggregate the results for near term expectations on a 4-quarter moving average basis, and the result is what we call the FNB Home Buying Confidence Indicator. The Indicator is on a scale of -1 to +1, with a -1 number assigned to a “weakening expectation” by an agent, a rating of zero to an “unchanged” expectation, and a +1 rating to a “strengthening” expectation. Here we see the 4th quarter Home Buying Confidence Indicator declining mildly on the previous quarter’s level, from 0.25 to 0.19.

The agents surveyed, therefore, appear to have become more pessimistic in their near term expectations, seasonal factors aside.

The Estate Agent Survey thus appears to support our opinion that further real house price (house prices adjusted for consumer price inflation) decline is required in the near term in order to shift the residential property market towards a balance between demand and supply or, otherwise put, equilibrium.

Therefore, at this stage, the residential property sector would be sensitive to any unwanted surprises in the form of an interest rate hike at this week’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Reserve Bank. Fortunately, at this stage such an event seems unlikely, with the expectation that CPI inflation is nearing its peak, after which it is expected to decline back into the target range of 3%-6% without requiring help from interest rates at this stage

The Worlds 10 best Property Investments and Homeloans

Everyone wants to know the top 10 places to buy your proeprty in and with all of these there is a one stop shop to obtain free money transfers and international mortgages.  They are easy and cheap to produce and you rarely have to reveal your methodology.

Property Journalist Graham Norwood has put together an interesting list of the "safest" global property destinations for UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph.   The criteria used is extensibly the “lowest risk” locations but lifestyle arguments are used to justify many of the selections.

I've added my thoughts.  I'd be interested to hear your views.

1. Canada

Picked for its relatively strong mortgage market, solid legal system and stunning ski resorts.  Difficult to argue with Norwood’s selection especially as Canada has managed to avoid the worst excesses of the neighbouring US.

2. Hong Kong

Chosen due to limited supply and plenty of demand from the Chinese mainland.  

Hong Kong has experienced some of the steepest rises in property prices with values almost doubling since 2005. However, “experts” insist the boom is sustainable.  

There are now over 30,000 real estate agents working on the island, more than three times the number in the whole of the UK.  The experts predicting sustability are agents with a vested interest.  I’m not convinced.

3. Switzerland

Favourable tax treatment, a stable market and great skiing make Switzerland a great bet according to Norwood.

 

Buying a property is also a huge bet on the Swiss Franc which is hugely overvalued according to most measures.

4. Mauritius

Outstanding natural beauty, a strong political situation and a new scheme to encourage foreign investment make Mauritius a good tip.

5. Gibraltar

Spain without the problems is the basic message.

A strong economy in financial services, telecoms and internet gaming combined with very low taxes make Gibraltar an excellent bet.

6. South Africa

Low volatility in the property market, outstanding beauty and cheap prices are the key arguments in favour of South Africa.

7. Barbados 

Chosen for its international prestige, accessibility and a strong legal system.

8 St Lucia

Barbados with lower prices.

9. Kenya

Chosen for its “consistent growth”.  Not sure it meets the strict “low risk” criteria though.

10 The Cayman Islands

A reputation for international finance, limited supply and fantastic lifestyle make the Caymen Islands a solid choice.

Comment

It is very difficult to produce a list like this on a global scale.  All markets are local.  Buying property in established prime locations is the key to preserving capital and minimizing risk.  The key is finding clients with a lot of liquid capital and long time horizons.

The Good News Please The Good News

Well today Dec 1, 2011 is world AIDS day and to mark this occasion it is great to know that the clinics are having great success with reducing HIV positive status for young babies born from HIV positive mothers.  How wonderful.

On this same day, we see stock markets rise on the back of European banks raising their funds and backup funding for bailouts, albeit they may need to raise this from the IMF.  But that's OK.  In fact if you want to see who owes what to whom in the Eurozone click here.

On the SA home loan and mortgage front, we have seen a very slow rise in lending, but there is some very good news.  ABSA, Standard Bank, FNB and Nedbank have all changed their lending criteria for the better.  Well done guys, so if you are risk averse and ready for the plunge get your homeloan today from these guys and make sure you sue a great mortgage originator who will not only get you the best deal but also discounts on attorney fees etc.

So great news in the money transfer arena.  Globalfundi a SA based transfer company has announced the best rates and no administration fees for moving money out of SA and they assist in all the Reserve Bank and exchange control requirements.  Save a whack when you send or receive money to and from SA.  That's great news.

In this last month of the year you may need to raise funds quickly so look at getting some cash in the pocket and then pay it off with your bonus asap.  personal loans are very popular and the bank lend fairly easily as long as your credit report and record stays clean.

For those wanting to get to the top of google use a great SEO company today, there are many.  we see savings made of up to $120,000 a year from the case studies. 

The best news of all - its Christmas time, give something to those in need and we wish everyone we know and do not know a great recharge for 2012.

What are the banks offering foreigners and non-residents today!

If you are a non - resident and looking for finance, mortgage or home-loan and buying a property or investing in South Africa, whats sort of financial resources is available to you today! So do you feel like a foreigner?

You will always need to transfer some money from your country to South Africa, either as  deposit or for your monthly mortgage payments, however that can be done free of transfer fees and need not be an expensive project.

So what do the lenders offer and this includes, ABSA, Nedbank, FNB and Standard Bank and even SA Homeloans.

So firstly non-resident clients living and working abroad.  50% maximum and then only from ABSA, Standard Bank and FNB.

Non-resident Clients with SA Work Permits

FNB - 50% loan Max
ABSA - 70% loan Max
Nedbank - 80% loan Max if you are a Nedbank client
Standard Bank - 90% if not a client and 100% if you are a client

However, you will need

1. To have a clear credit record and if you do not know what your status is please get a copy of your credit report today.  This will save you hours of heartbreak.

Ensure your required documents are up to date - so bank statements are less than a week old, clear to read - otherwise the banks will reject them and if you are self employed have at least 2 to 3 years audited and signed financials available.

Of course , use a bond or mortgage originator always - they know who offers what and remain objective.

Revival of Exciting Boksburg Affordable Housing Project

So finally Windmill Park Estate has been revived.

This awesome development backed by FNB is seeing a new lease on life and we wish them great success.

Already the first phase homes are developed and this Secure Estate has revised pricing with cheaper prices and 100% homeloans available

Well done Boutique Homes and FNB

Also remember you can get finance from ABSA, Standard Bank and Nedbank so if you live in Boksburg or want to move there this is certainly for you on the corner of Barry Marais and Rondebult roads.

East Rand rocks!

Credit Decision for Self Employed People

So what do banks look at when offering a home loan - firstly it is your repayment ability especially the financial position and strength of balance sheet, asset base of the business and the individual and of course the equity.

The there are the actual needs or amount required and providing the bank with the purpose of funds for a home, Holiday house etc.

Credit managers want to know everything about the business income focus being on how income is generated by client and the source of the income and sustainability thereof.

Minimum documents needed are - The latest 2 year signed comparative financial statements. - Signed and dated statement of personal assets and liabilities - Latest 3 months personal & business bank statements. - Where latest financial statements are not available, the latest set of management accounts required. - Kredit inform and ITC or Experien credit checks will be done on company and individuals and the business documents are required to confirm all principles & interest holding.

This is the same for all banks with slight variations whether you go to ABSA, Std Bank, FNB or Nedbank.

Property Marketshare per bank - changing times

So Std Bank up to 36% - up to 100% loans

FNB maintains 23% approx - up to 100% loans


ABSA drops to 19% - up to 70% loans

Nedbank drops to 12,5% - up to 90% loans

SA Homeloans Climbs to 10% - up to 100% loans

Well what a change from a year ago - you can get a homeloan through a good mortgage originator.

Time to move as rates are bound to come down.

Wie de f.... is in beheer meneer!

Well its not often that we find the banks being funny about things but they really are and when you try get money, or change accounts or heaven forbid try get money back, or just go and deposit some cash into your account - you know you will be challenged.

Well , look at hellopeter.com and follow the bank antics and it must bring an awesome smile to your dial, because you know, that this is what has happened to you, or a friend or someone, at least once.

I certainly have some empathy for the banks because no matter what they do, no matter how many processes they put in place, somehow, it goes wrong very quickly.  Maybe because it is 25 million people to 100 branches odds that nails them, and someone is going to be mad!

Without singling out Standard bank, ABSA, FNB, Nedbank, Capitec, RMB, Investec as a culprit, these are a few snippets for this wonderful Almost Spring Friday (ASF!)

1. Self employed client, who has banked same bank for 22 years wife banked with same bank for 17 years and has business account with bank as well.  Wife started new business sponsored by Old business and backed by surety from both clients and the bank refused a 50% mortgage due to " Could not confirm relationship with the client"...eeeeeish  Client went to hellopeter.com and voila home loan granted withing 3 hours.  They had submitted their home loan through the mortgage originator on the advice of the bank - 7 times and it only took 6 and a half weeks.

2. Well not to be outdone, one of the other banks took 12 weeks and 9 submissions to get a R 100,000 home loan as a further loan because they could not prove her company she works for was a legitimate company - she works for PAM GOLDING! - must be some obscure company

3. Bank no 3 - Electronic payment done to incorrect client from one client - pure mistake (finger) problems and reported it to the bank to cancel.  Went to recipient bank explained mistake and sorted that out.  Refund happened as follows:

Sending bank refunded the money 4 Times
Receiving bank refunded the money 3 times

at R 285 - a pop this was a win, so went back explained the mistake to sort out and guess what nothing has been done except Sending bank refunded 1 more time and receiving bank refunded 1 more time

Maybe we should all work with these banks... Bless them and have a great weekend

So as they say in the country... Wie de f..... is hier in beheer meneer!

PRIME + Standard Bank and FNB interest on homeloans status

So the banks have definitely changed their risk profiles and increased the premiums on rates following the article recently released by FNB.


Now we learnt through reliable sources that Standrad bank have increased their risk rating under certain circumstances.

For those applying for a home loan and are self employed expect a rate plus 0.3%.  If a small holding or plot expect anything from an extra 1.5% to 2.5% and if a Business Mortgage expect an additional 1.5% on top of the normal rate.

Defintely time to use your favourite bond originator.

we expect the other banks to follow suite shortly.


  thanks to our news feeders for the thumbs up guys.......

Interest rates set to climb??

Is it my imagination or is everyone trying to force the interest rates to climb by speaking about it in the media??

Or am I being paranoid?

I Need to finance a new home and get more to pay my Debts?

I am afraid I do not have a positive result as you expected, however I do have a solution for you.  As you will see we look at all forms of finding a solution for you and there are often more than one option and I would like to explore everything for you.


So my first approach was with an external private lending company whose calculator model produced the below results which gives me a very clear indication as a starter of where things are: - Not attached but it means NO GO they do not want to carry the risk.

We call this the ASSISTANT LOAN and it is important to know that when you apply here this is not the cheapest loan at a rate of 17.5% but it is a decent offer in the debt consolidation approach and often the quickest to get all situations on the road and the idea here is to simply get the funds to kill the credit cards etc and this loan is usually taken and after a year they then assist you back into the big banks fold via a standard mortgage.

Unfortunately, this type of loan criteria is not met as the value of the property vs the loan vs the income needs to make up a minimum of R 150,000 in their loan book before they take on the risk. So I attach this for you just for your records. Use it or lose it!

PROPERTY VALUE - This Lightstone valuation I sent you is what some of the banks use especially FNB, the others usually send out a valuer. So we can assume a value of between Lightstone (R 700,000) and your recent one of R 1,500,000.00.


FNB - I agree FNB will decline, they have the loans from you, they know your risk and they have their internal risk ratings as well, you are highly exposed to them and my suggestion is that even though they are an awesome bank, let’s forget about them for now until things are sorted out

SWITCHING to ANOTHER BANK - Not an easy option especially with the lending banks being as cautious as they are now. Also when the banks switch they will normally only offer a maximum of 80% of the value they find. So if we assume a value of R 1,5 m then we can expect an offer of R 1,200,000 and this is what you owe as it is, plus there are some costs and expenses in switching – so close this avenue for now.


Buying a NEW HOUSE - OK, attached is a copy of your credit report and as you are aware there are some issue here that will prevent a new loan. Whether you use us, a bank or another mortgage originator or bond originator it remains the same as we all work through the same credit management at the banks. Whether it is standard bank, FNB, ABSA, Nedbank.
Even with these been settled, they are still on the credit reports and they are bank adverse’(FNB) – so that closes the door almost 100% - this scares the banks more than anything.  This includes getting personal loans (However i could be wrong, but this defeats the purpose as these are expensive.


You have to make arrangements to get these removed and I would speak with Transunion ITC on 0122 2146000 and Experien on 011 7993400 find out how to get these removed. So this closes this door as well until this is cleared up.


THE WAY FORWARD: -
1. I see you were paid a bonus – use this to kill some of your credit cards today, tear them up and move forward. They will and do cripple you financially no matter what you do. The credit card interest rates are prohibitive.


2. If this is not possible then you need to: Kill one of the cards off immediately or over the next month or so and close it forever.


3. Increase your bond payments by R 200 pm and after 2 months ask FNB to extend your bond from 20 to 30 years and ask for a better rate.


In three months time then you can look at this again, but right now you need to address your credit record first and that will take at least a month or so. Then I suggest we re look at this. I wish I could have been more helpful but unfortunately in this credit climate lending is tight and any form of credit risk scares the lenders 100%

I am thinking of you!!!!!

Shareblock Finance - can it be done YES YES

So time to think out of the box:

If you want to finance Shareblock then send us an application form and or email us.

Is it easy - NO, Is it do-able - Yes - but remember the banks do not finance share block simply.  Neither, ABSA, FNB, Standard Bank or Nedbank, not even Investec, RMB and the likes.  So whats the catch - nothing, its how we structure this.

We have a few scenarios:



Facebook

So the answer is absolutely yes - you can finance shareblock.

Short term loan - We can raise a short term loan up to 60 months for the full amount or part of the amount for you. APPLY HERE and select Short term or Personal Loan.
(This has limits which include the amounts, interest rate etc, but we will always quote you first)

Equity Release Finance - Here we will release equity on your property asset - This is only limited to the amount of your property asset and here we can access up to 80% of the equity. APPLY HERE and select further loan.

Free International Transfers - we can transfer your funds from any international destination to a South African Bank account with NO TRANSFER FEES - saves you up to 3% of the amount.  This is underwritten by Barclays Bank and with SA exchange control regulations.
APPLY HERE and click on "our transfer partners".