What are Housing Assistance Programs?

The housing assistance program is "Building a House for the Poor."

Housing Assistance Program

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The housing assistance program is

"21st Century": GHF's mission is to build houses for the poor. How does it work? Tim Wilkens: There are about one billion poor homeless people living in cities in the world. Our goal is to solve the living problems of this group of people and provide a long-term funding plan for these low-income people-"micro loans The plan, the foundation's microloan program, can transform a large number of families from slum dwellers to property owners. This project is planned to be implemented in the Asia-Pacific region. Including China, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries and regions, the total amount of assistance reached 2.5 billion US dollars. The amount of aid planned for China is $ 250 million. The Asia-Pacific region will set up an Asia-Pacific board, and the specific implementation plan will be formulated by this board. The board of directors has been prepared and is composed of the most successful real estate businessmen in Southeast Asia, but the list of members of the board has not been officially announced. The Asia-Pacific Board of Directors will select 3 cities as the first batch of aid cities. We will consider, for example, the need for disaster relief in Sichuan disaster areas. After 3 months we will know the details of the implementation plan. "21st Century": In which countries has GHF implemented aid? Tim Wilkens: We have implemented assistance in 19 countries, including the United States, South Africa, and Central Europe. Although the assistance program is aimed at improving the housing problems of the poor, at the same time, we also see that with the establishment of property rights, the social status and dignity of the poor are also improved. For example, in some Arab countries, women cannot have property rights in fixed assets. But with the help of this fund, these countries have women-owned real estate for the first time because the United Nations requires them to write their names together in the property register.

"21st Century": Income levels around the world are not the same. How does GHF identify "low-income groups" as qualified buyers? Tim Wilkens: The UN will use surveys to identify low-income earners. We will require these applicants to fill in detailed information, and the local government will also help define the low-income group. "21st Century": Home buyers are low-income people, will GHF worry about the problem of "discontinued supply", just like the current subprime debt crisis? Tim Wilkens: We are not worried about low-income households not paying. In the decades of our fund's history, we have helped low-income people in cities in many countries, and historically have a bad debt rate of less than 2%. "21st Century": How to provide loans to the poor? Tim Wilkens: The United Nations will invite local governments to help on the land, provide preferential land and supporting facilities. Mainly to build small houses. There are two types of standard houses, 40 square meters and 50 square meters. All homes have bathrooms, kitchens, two bedrooms, and clean tap water, a septic system. GHF provides mortgage loans to buyers of these low-income groups. Local banks first provided mortgages to these people. One year later, the fund bought 90% of the mortgages to share the risks for the banks. GHF's mortgage rates will be lower than those of local banks. For example, in the China-US bank market, the mortgage interest rate is 12%, but the interest rate for GHF is 8%. It should also be lower than current interest rates in China. The construction of the house will invite local developers to undertake it, and GHF will also give developers a reasonable profit in return. "21st Century": How big is the entire GHF? Tim Wilkens: The size of this fund is increasing every year. Donors are donations from private individuals, many from the United States. This is a privately held charity fund that works with the United Nations.

Tim Wilkens is also engaged in timeshare product development in the United States, and he analyzed to reporters the current real estate situation in the United States. "21st Century": The current US property market is described as a nightmare. What do you think of the current situation in the US market? Tim Wilkens: The entire real estate market, including land prices, is falling. Different cities are showing different conditions. Some cities have seen house prices fall by only 3% and 4%, and some cities have fallen by 40%. In a car-industry city like Michigan, house prices have fallen by 60%, mainly due to severe losses in the auto industry and high unemployment, which has triggered a collapse of real estate. But in California, the IT industry is still strong, and land prices and real estate prices have not fallen much. The decline in land prices relative to house prices is even greater, because although banks have tightened developers' loans, some developers can still obtain loans. Well-known developers still have preferential interest rates, even as low as 4.5%. 9%. But no bank is willing to issue loans for the purchase of land.

"21st Century": As a developer, what countermeasures do you have? Tim Wilkens: There are some good opportunities as the property market shrinks. When the Texas real estate market collapsed in the 1980s, there were special acquisition funds to buy out of bad projects. I have bought more than a thousand of these projects and sold them after they were built. Many people want to do this kind of business, but few people can make money in this kind of business. Many people took the opportunity to buy a property, but the result was still in their own hands. This business is much more complicated than developing it yourself. You have to be very careful to understand why this project broke down, whether the debt and debt relationship is very complicated, and to understand when the market can pick up, and the project cannot continue to rot in its own hands. At present this is a good opportunity to acquire a project, this acquisition can be loaned. The US government's policy is now more lenient. In the past, it was required to purchase land with full documentation. Construction must start within one and a half years, and it has now been extended to three years. "21st Century": What do you think of the US economy? Tim Wilkens: The United States is printing a lot of money. Although the effect will not be shown soon, the economy will improve in 2011.