Tips for new home buyers

Are you hunting for a home? A home loan helps you achieve peace of mind by providing you with one of the basic necessities of life – a roof over your head. But if you don’t exercise prudence wisely and take extra care while going through the process, a home loan can rob you of that very peace of mind. Here are a few quick tips that you should know before climbing onto the property ladder. These key tips could assist you choose the right home loan and save some money at the same time.

Market Research – Searching for the perfect home loan may seem hard work but if you do your homework and take your time, the whole thing will be a lot easier. Those hoping to climb onto the property ladder may be in for a bit of a shock – loan options are vast and can at first seem a little overwhelming. The key to getting the best deal on your loan – and that means the most sensible option, as well as the cheapest – is being armed with as much information as possible… so be prepared! Clear your doubts regarding the loan scheme before finalizing on anything.

Calculate the EMI – Estimate the amount of EMI that you can afford beforehand. Keep in mind your income and financial commitments to determine the amount of EMI you can pay before applying for a loan. Don’t make abrupt decisions on this one because if you get delayed on making repayments on time then it could be burdensome for you to pay penalties if you don’t have a stable income source. So, keep in mind the other aspects also that are worth to consider before you agree to take up the new loan and you’re your decision wisely.

Eligibility criterion – Having documents ready before you apply for a loan can speed up loan approval. A lender will consider your credit history; you must make sure you have paid all your credit cards and other loans timely to score good on eligibility. And if you have a clean record in your credit history for making payments on time, then you can use it as an asset when applying for a loan. Also, scrutinize the duration of your loan. If you prefer a long tenure loan then interest rate would be comparatively high and you will be bound to pay more overall.

Borrowing costs – When you apply for a loan, it’s mandatory to know about other additional charges that the lenders would add to the current home loan schemes. The lender may impose a range of administrative and service charges or processing fees. These additional charges will be considered under the sanctioned amount in your name and not considered under the amount that you take home. Before you agree any deal, you should examine the other charges that the lenders put into the scheme.

Study the fine print – Make sure you thoroughly read the home loan agreement documents with your bank or financial institutions. The lenders may acknowledge certain points to you but whatever is written on the paper will only be considered at the end. So, it would be appreciated to contribute some time on reading the documents to avoid any hassles later on. Get your queries cleared, if any, related to terms and conditions mentioned in the loan before signing your documents.

Learn more about credit history and its impact on your credit score at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source- Secondary

Increase your credit limit by exhibiting

Your credit limit may be raised if you exhibit timely and do full repayments. However, having a high credit limit and multiple lines of credit may hurt a person’s overall credit rating. In these cases, new potential lenders can see that the applicant has access to a large amount of debt, which may lower the chances that this person will be able to repay his or her debts in the future. As a result, new potential lenders might be less likely to offer an additional source of debt.

Information required by lenders

Relying upon the credit increase amount that is requested and the length of time the borrower has held the line of credit, a lender may ask for information directly from the borrower, pull a credit report or use information it already receives from the credit bureaus each month. Such information as employment status, income and housing expenses will be requested of the borrower. The lender may also look at the borrower’s payment history, including whether payments are made on time, how much credit is regularly used and how often the balance is being paid.

What influence your request?

Your request could be affected negatively for a credit increase if you are subjected for making late payments from the previous six months; whereas monthly payments that are a higher percentage of the balance have a favourable effect. The financial institution considers the client total amount of debt; the number of other lines of credit; the number of other requests for credit that have recently been reported to the credit bureau.

Conclusion

In case, your request gets refused then a credit increase may negatively affect your credit score, because the request is reflected in your credit history for a short time. If a request is denied because the current amount of credit is too high, then an increase can be requested again once some of the balance has been paid.

Source: Secondary

Hidden costs disclosed!

While availing the home loan, most of us forget to factor in the hidden costs involved. Customers normally notice these fees or charges once the deal is done and by then, it is too late. These costs can influence the total cost of the product. The benefit of knowing about hidden costs involved is that these vary from one financial entity in the market to another and some institutions may wave these completely, if you negotiate. Let’s take a sneak peek at some of the additional costs that is borne by the borrower but not mentioned to him clearly at the sanctioning of the loan.

Processing Fee: A valid amount of money is charged by all housing finance companies which comprises a processing fee and other administrative charges. The specific amount for this fee differs from one bank to another however, is less for public sector institutions in comparison to private lenders.

Legal Valuation Fee: Before sanctioning the home loan, all housing finance companies carry out a thorough legal verification of the property. The borrower has to bear the charges as legal fees of the lawyer undertaking this kind of verification.

Interest on term before EMI initiate: There lies a certain division between the disbursement of the first loan installment and start of the EMI. During this period, definite interest is imposed by a financier which is termed as the broken period interest.

Prepayment Penalty: If the borrower chooses to prepay the home loan before the tenure gets completed, the bank will charge a prepayment penalty from the borrower. Plus, a service tax is also imposed on the prepayment penalty. But, as per RBI, this clause has been abandoned for floating interest rate home loans

Rescheduling fee: When the interest rate gets altered by the bank or in case the borrower determines to prepay certain portion of the outstanding loan amount. The home loan tenure and EMI structure has to be rescheduled to match the prevailing conditions, the borrower has to borne a rescheduling charge assessed by the bank.

Conversion Charges: The bank charges a certain amount, when a borrower decides to convert the home loan from a fixed rate type to a floating rate type or vice versa. Additionally, a service tax is levied as applicable.

Miscellaneous Fees: The banks may charge the customer several types of miscellaneous fees that are not mentioned earlier. Such fees incorporate charges for obtaining a copy statement of account and copy of original documents that have been submitted by the borrower while availing the loan.

So, ask the financial institution to give you details on the fees and charges involved, read these carefully and then take your decision accordingly.

Visit www.cibilconsultants.com
Source- Secondary

Financial health implications

No matter how reputed and reliable your brokerage house, bank and financial planner are, remember that it’s your money. Get involved. They will keep coming to you with numerous tips that they say are ideal for you; they may hard sell the products that they have to offer; they make call after call and send you mail after mail extolling the benefits of strategies. While considering everything that they say, do your homework and finally settle for what you think fits your portfolio requirement.

Here are a few simple snippets which will help you bring financial disciple in your life.
             

Never buy a product which you don’t understand

No matter what the company’s sales representative promises you or convinces you to believe, never put your money on something which you find too complex to fully comprehend and whose benefits you are not convinced about. So, first clear any doubts that you may have with the sales person and only then agree to buy it.

Shop for the best deal

If you are investing in a financial product, whether it is a loan or any other funds, involves your hard earned money. So it is important that you take time off to look at various options available in the market, compare them and then take a well-informed decision while choosing the right product. Each financial entity has its own terms and fees, and it is in your best interest to compare all the choices available and then pick out the best deal for you. A reduction of few basis points in the interest rate of your home loan or personal loan can end up in saving thousands of rupees for you over the long term.

Perform online research

As you get prepared for availing a loan, do not forget to carry out an online research on the best rates and schemes offered by different banks. There are different loan products available in the market as per different requirements. In addition to speeding up the buying process and making it less cumbersome, you also stand a great chance of getting your desired products at discounted rates.

Reveal the hidden costs

When you buy a financial product, you may forget to factor in the hidden costs involved which can influence the total cost of the product. Hidden costs involved vary from one financial entity in the market to another and some institutions may wave these completely, if you negotiate. So, ask the financial institution to give you details on the fees and charges involved.

Negotiate to gain a best deal

Every financial institution has its own interest rates and fees structure for customers which provide some scope to us to bargain for a better deal. However, before sitting on the negotiation table, you need to do your homework and get information on rates and charges prevalent in the market so as to assess the level to which you can bring down the price.

Visit www.cibilconsultants.com

Source-secondary

Secured credit cards for better benefits

A secured credit card is backed by savings account used as collateral on the credit available with the card. Money is deposited and held in the account backing the card. The limit will be based on both your previous credit history and the amount deposited in the account. This type of credit card is used by people with little to no credit or a past history of bad credit. The major benefit that these cards provide is the ability to rebuild or establish a credit history which at some point may allow users to gain unsecured credit cards or other forms of credit finance.
                         

Don’t think that a secured credit card and a prepaid debit card are the same as both have different characteristics. Prepaid debit card, where the cash collateral is placed into an account and drawn down by using the card. On the contrary, when you open a secured credit card, you are granted a line of credit with a zero balance and a predetermined credit limit. You are charged interest on the balance to your account.

Financial institutions or lenders may be unwilling to accept the risk of providing an unsecured credit card to a customer, so they instead offer a line of credit that has been secured with cash collateral. Secured credit card payments and balances are reported to credit bureaus. In fact, the information reported on your secured credit card is treated the same as any other credit card.

Here are some rules; you need to follow to build your credit.

• Wisely use your card

Use your card prominently as by simply having a new credit limit does not help out your score much. Instead, buy a few things each month and make your payments. Manage your card responsibly and you may see an increased limit or even qualify for an unsecured card in the future.

• Repay your balances timely

Try to pay off your balance consistently every month to have favourable results on your credit report, and you may even be able to avoid interest charges altogether if you make the most of any grace periods.

• Avoid using your card to maximum limit

If you max out on your card, you will incur higher interest charges on higher balances, but you hurt your credit utilization rate by borrowing too high a percentage of your limit.
Visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Learn how Annual Percentage Rate (APR) works

Loans or credit agreements can vary in terms of interest-rate structure, transaction fees, late penalties and other factors. A standardized computation such as the APR provides borrowers with a bottom-line number they can easily compare to rates charged by other potential lenders. The annual percentage rate, or APR, is the cost per year of borrowing. By law, all financial institutions must show customers the APR of a loan or credit card, which clearly indicates the real cost of the loan.

Annual percentage rate versus Interest rate

APR is not the same as the interest rate on a loan. Loans charge an interest rate, but usually also charge other fees, such as closing costs, origination fees or insurance costs, which are typically wrapped into the loan. Credit card companies are allowed to advertise interest rates on a monthly basis, but are also required to clearly state the APR to customers before any agreement is signed.

If two loans have the same interest rate, but one has much higher fees than the other, simply shopping by interest rates won’t give an accurate comparison of the loans’ true costs. That’s why there is the APR. By factoring in other fees, APR gives a more accurate estimate of the cost per year of a loan. For this reason, the APR is generally higher than the interest rate.

Conclusion

Unfavourably, not all financial institutions include the same fees in their APR calculation, so APRs are not always a perfect comparison tool. When comparing loan or credit card APRs, ask which fees are included, so your comparison is accurate.

Visit- www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Low Spread Of Credit Cards leads to increasing Loans In Kerala

The credit demand in the country is on the rise as the number of applicants for new loans has increased by 150 per cent in the last three years. Out of the total loans disbursed in Kerala, 82 per cent is used to purchase two wheelers, reveals the latest data trends report of Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) released here on Wednesday.

As compared to other states, Kerala has the highest number of credit applicants who are above 45 years and 21 per cent borrowers in Kerala had a credit score of 800 and above and 40 per cent has a credit score of 750 above, the data stated.

CIBIL score assigned to a borrower ranges from 300 to 900. The higher an applicant’s credit score the more the likelihood of the loan application getting approved.
                 

Releasing the data, CIBIL Managing Director Arun Thukral said that Kerala has 46 per cent credit seekers who are less than 35 years.

“The state has very low penetration of credit cards and personal loans. Banks and financial institutions today consider the CIBIL score as a crucial parameter before sanctioning any new loan. Now telecom, insurance and stock broking companies have started accessing the score,” he said.

He hinted that in the future the details of utility bill payments will be linked with the credit score of an individual.

Speaking on the occasion, Harshala Chandorkar, Senior Vice President-Consumer Relations, CIBIL said that there has been a 200% growth in consumers reaching out to us for their CIBIL report across metros as well as Tier II and Tier III cities since 2009 indicating the rising financial awareness in the country.

CIBIL is India’s largest credit information company that maintains information on over 317 million consumer trades and 15 million commercial trades.
Source: Secondary