4 things you should do before looking for home loans.

Home Loans are a blessing for anyone with homeownership on their mind. These financial aids help you purchase your dream home even if you do not have all the funds upfront. However, going in for a home loan is a huge financial decision and requires an umpteen amount of planning, research, and preparation.

There are a number of things you need to make sure of before you apply for a loan, without which, your experience of a housing loan can become a hassled one. To keep this from happening to you and to help ensure you make a well-informed decision, this article will highlight 4 things you should before you start looking for financial offerings.

1. Save for a good down payment.
If you have time on your hands, it makes sense to beef-up your down payment amount. This will allow you to borrow less and also help you pay less interest. This is because the interest you pay is calculated based on the loan amount you borrow. Therefore, a lower loan amount will result in lower interest payments as well.

2. Work on your credit score.
Many things about home loans depend heavily on your credit score; the interest rate applicable and the loan amount you are provided included. Better credit scores are sure to get your better interest rates and they’ll for sure help you get higher loan amounts. So, if you’re going to set aside time to save for a larger down payment, it’s worth it to work on your credit score too!

Make it a point to pay any existing loan EMIs on time, the same goes for your credit card payments. Whilst on the topic of credit cards, staying within your credit limit & sticking to your oldest card will also help you increase your credit score. Though a good score is around 750, the closer you are to 900, the better!

3. Use calculators.
Before you start looking for home loans and go into debt, it’s vital that you have all the calculation in place to help you get out of debt. That’s why it’s so important to use one of the many online home calculators. One of them is the EMI calculator that helps you with the entire break-up of your repayment schedule, right from the first EMI amount to the last. Knowing this can help you create full-proof repayment plans and budgets.

Another vital tool is the eligibility calculator. It will tell you how much of a loan amount the bank is most likely to provide you keeping in mind your monthly income and outgo.

4. Life insurance.
As long as you keep paying the EMIs, the house you live in is safe and after the loan is complete the home will complete yours. However, if something were to happen to you, your loved ones would have to shoulder the cost of the home loan. In such cases, a life insurance plan will provide you complete peace of mind and help your loved ones cover the cost of the loan with ease.

Doing these 4 things before applying for home loans is vital. They will ensure your borrowing and repaying experience is a smooth one. Good luck and all the best.

Insurance on home loans: 4 things you need to know.

Home Loans are a significant form of debt to handle. They involve large amounts of money and require you to devote sizeable parts of your monthly income towards repayments for as many as thirty years; that’s 812 months. However, the fact that your lender has provided you the loan indicates that you currently able to repay the amount; a process that will only get easier as you benefit from appraisals, bonuses & other windfall gains during the course of your working life.

In other words, as long as you’re around, everything will be just fine. You’ll pay the EMIs, and eventually repay the entire debt too. However, life is very uncertain and if something unfortunate was to happen to you, the responsibility of repaying the home loan falls on the shoulders of your family members; family members who might not be financially capable of handling this debt.

This is where an insurance policy can come in and provide you peace of mind, even from such uncertainties. They ensure your loved ones do not have to pay the EMIs or see the house go up for auction. However, before you go out into the market and look for an insurance policy, keep these 4 things in mind.

1. The insurance that comes with home loans.
Most lenders will offer an insurance policy with their home loans. Whether you opt for this insurance depends on a number of things. Some lenders have tie-ups with an insurance company and provide one of their plans as the default and only option. Some have the same setup but they allow you to choose a policy besides the one they are offering, so you are free to go with the one you like. It is better you opt for a lender that doesn’t force anything on you, including the insurance policy.

2. Look out for single premium payments.
These policies function normally; the only thing is that you pay one single premium upfront instead if small amounts over time. This adds to the other up-front costs such as the down payment, the processing fee, stamp duty, etc.

3. Payment methods
There are many ways the payments can be made. Firstly, you might be able to pay for insurance yourself, either upfront in a single premium form or in monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly premiums. On the other hand, some lenders insist on making the payment in your behalf and add the total cost to the loan value. This will lead to higher EMI amounts. If you pay the premium yourself, you can claim the amount as deductions up to Rs. 1, 50,000 under section 80C of the Income Tax Act.

4. Coverage.
The cover offered by some policies gradually comes down as the outstanding amount decreases. For example, a plan with a 25 lakh cover could reduce to as much 13.5 lakh after the tenure of the loan. The drawback with this is that if you were to extend your tenure the outstanding amount would increase. In which case, your family members would have to arrange the difference.

Keep these 4 things in mind when looking for insurance on home loans.

Good luck and all the best!

Modern-day benefits of applying for a home loan online.

In today's modern time, technology provides a wide online platform for buyers and lenders for daily trade and business. The information flows from one party to another. And real estate sector is not left out from being revolutionized due to the digital wing. Gone are the days, when one had to fill up forms, do attestation, file the documents and wait hours and hours standing in the long queues, and then months to know the status of their home loans. Now sitting in the comfort of your rental home or offices with few clicks of the mouse, you can apply for a housing loan. Internet facility is kind of a boon for middle and upper-middle-class smart individual who don't believe in wasting time and energy yet fulfill their dream goals with ease.

Compared to a decade ago, getting home loans today is rather easier for us because of the website information of some of the most reputed players of the markets, aggregate sites and speedy app based applications. Thus, gathering information, comparing quotes, filling forms, review forms and documents, and knowing the status of your loan is now quick, easy and with few clicks away on your computers, laptops, and smartphones.

Here are some benefits of applying for home loans online:

Save time

A couple of years ago, home loan application had a lot of manual procedures involved that was time-consuming and tedious. However, with online application procedure, both borrowers and lenders can save time, efforts and inventory set up. Thus, technology now reduces human error and maintains high accuracy!

App Based Model

With the invention of smartphones, technology gets an inch closer to your service. The time is changing for home loan borrowers. Right from comparing quotes to applying for home loans, checking your monthly EMIs to making payments of your home loan installments, everything can be done through smartphones and while in mobility. You don't even have to sit at your home on the computers to do the task. You can maintain the amortization schedule, track payment history using smart devices.

Quick quotes

Compare to olden days tedious process, getting loan sanction is rather quick and within few minutes through online application way. Low-income group people who feel hesitant to visit banks or non-banking finance companies can actually visit the online aggregators sites, make comparison between different lenders on the website, fill up a few questionnaires, and within few minutes they will be given a complete break up of principal amount qualified for, interest rate affordable and processing fee towards your home loans.

Loan Eligibility

Everyone is aware the maths of home loans involves a lot of calculations and complexities. Slight misjudgments can cost you a bomb, so you have to be very careful on it. Manual calculations carry this fear and you will have to shell more out of your pockets. Thanks to technology that has gifted us home loan eligibility calculators - An easy, accurate and hassle-free option for calculating your monthly installments, interest applicable and principal amount you will get to buy your dream home. Some calculators give a glance at EMI graphs, and details about processing fees, so based on the needs and requirements you can adjust your home loan - tenure, principal amount, eligibility and more.

A lot of information is available online to make your life easier on housing loan. To strike out for the best deal it would be wise to do in-depth research. Visit online and apply for home loans to fulfill your dream of owning your house, now!