It is a loan taken by a person who purchases a home from American HomeBuilders of West Africa (AHWA)--an exclusive partner of US-Africa Housing Finance (USAHF).

Yes. The home loan is amortized over 10 years. The borrower makes a monthly payment which consists of both interest and principal.

The home finance contracts are typically 10 years loans with no prepayment penalty. The borrower makes monthly payments which consist of both interest and principal. The borrower has to meet strict underwriting criteria to qualify for the loan. The interest rate is typically between 10.5 and 12% per annum.

Many criteria are used to determine the suitability of a borrower. AHWA gets to know its customers during the sales process and has information that is not available to an average lender and does not show up in a FICO score.  Some of the areas evaluated are:

• Verifying that the customer can make a downpayment equal to or greater than 30% (20% prior to January 1, 2018) of the home purchase price.
• Review of current wage statement and employment
• Tax returns review
• Face-to-face or telephone interviews
• Credit score (when available)

USAHF believes that its borrowers have a lower than average default risk primarily because:

• There is a strong emotional connection with a home in their birth country that will make this payment a priority over others
• Given the substantial downpayment, there is a lot to lose in a default
• The houses built by AHWA provide substantial collateral compared with unsecured loans

All home loans are secured by a house built by AHWA. Furthermore, AHWA holds the title to the house until the loan is completely paid off.

In the unlikely event of a default, AHWA will repossess the home and resell it via AHWA's normal sales process. Keep in mind, AHWA is in the business of selling homes and thus has a full sales team dedicated to selling homes.