ATM :: Planning to invest in home? Here is how you can raise your down payment


With interest rate-cuts and increased liquidity with banks following the demonetisation, loan products have more accessible.
Adhil Shetty | Published: May 11, 2017 4:02 PM | Financial Express

ATM

Consumers with healthy credit scores today would be receiving loan offers aplenty. With interest rate-cuts and increased liquidity with banks following the demonetisation, loan products have more accessible. Yet availing a home loan for the very first time remains a complex experience that loan seekers view with trepidation.

There are often misconceptions about what a home loan can do, and what it costs. For instance, you may be of the belief that the loan granted will match the property price. That is untrue, as financial establishments expect you to pay the margin amount.

The margin amount is another term for down payment for your new home. It could be anything between 15% and 20% of the home’s net value. For a first time home buyer, it is no easy task raising this money.

Here are some ways to help.
1. Strategic savings
Nothing beats strategic savings and for this you need to start your planning early. It involves you visualizing your long-term fund needs—including the need to buy a home—and beginning to save and invest accordingly. Begin with simple and accessible investment tools such as mutual funds or recurring deposits. Slowly and surely, you’ll be able to build your deposit over time. You can be efficient at this by locking in your savings at the start of the month. The earlier you start, the sooner you build this fund for your down payment.

2. Take loans but exercise restraint
There could be a situation where you are in urgent need of funds for the down payment. You could consider taking a personal loan to meet the need. Yet, you need to do this in a controlled manner. Having an existing loan will reduce your ability to take on, and repay, additional loans such as a home loan. You would find your finances stretched as you attempt to pay two EMIs at once. This isn’t an ideal situation to be in and is recipe for a financial disaster, in case you were to temporarily lose your ability to generate income. Therefore any loans for down payments need to be taken thoughtfully, and settled as soon as possible to reduce monthly EMI liabilities.

3. Mortgage another property
If you are confident that your current income can take care of EMIs of more than one loan, you could consider a loan against property. You can claim this loan against several options. For example, an existing property or home could be mortgaged. You could also claim it against assets such as shares, jewelry, PPF account, and LIC policies. There also exists the option of taking a loan against rent.

4. Withdraw from your PF account
As per the new EPFO norms, you are now allowed to withdraw up to 90% of your EPF corpus. Not just that, you could also withdraw from this corpus to pay for your EMIs. This scheme was recently implemented keeping in line with the Housing For All initiative of the central government. A word of caution: your PF corpus is meant to help you generate a pension income in retirement, so if you intend to redeem it for a property purchase, you must replenish it soon, or create a backup pension fund to meet your future needs.

5. Deferred down payment
You have the option of requesting a deferred down payment when purchasing a house from a well-known property developer. Under this, you will have the choice of dividing the down payment into multiple instalments. These instalments can be paid over a jointly agreed period of time. Let us say that you have to make a down payment of Rs. 10 lakh. Ask the builder for a time frame of five months to pay Rs. 2 lakh per month.

6. Liquidate your investments
Before you decide to make a property purchase, take stock of your savings, investments and assets. Anything from a vehicle to a part of a property you own can be liquidated for a down payment. Bank deposits, gold, mutual funds, shares etc. can be disposed. This should be carefully done so as to not disturb other financial objectives.

7. Approach an NBFC/ HFC
Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and House Finance Companies (HFCs) provide loans that can help you cover a larger part of your fund requirement. For example, they may provide a loan to cover your registration and home repair costs as well. The entitlement of the loan, of course, will be calculated on the basis of your ability to repay.

Always remember to not act in a hurry. Think long and wise about the route you are taking to raise the down payment for your house. It is also advisable to wait and let an offer go if you cannot make the down payment, as there will always be another good offer in the future.

(The writer is CEO, BankBazaar.com)

Source : https://goo.gl/8ixiEW

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