Are you making these 5 home loan mistakes too?

Posted by Anurag Mishra on March 25th, 2017

For most people, home loans are a tool to achieve their biggest financial goal, i.e. own a house. But at times, in the excitement of getting to own a house quickly, people end up forgetting few key things about borrowing money. And this leads them to make some big loan-related mistakes. Here are the 5 mistakes which should be avoided at all costs:

1) Lenders will not lend you the entire amount for purchase of the house. Most lenders require you to put in 15% to 20% of the total cost from your own funds. The lenders provide rest of the money. So if you want to buy a house for Rs 50 lacs, then you need to have at least Rs 10 lacs (20% of Rs 50 lacs). In case you don't, you should either search for a cheaper house or wait to save up the required down payment.

2) Now the fixed rate of Interest remains fixed for the entire tenure of the home loans. Floating rate loans on other hand have variable rates that can change in future and are linked to policy rates declared by RBI. Both have their own pros and cons and hence, it is a very important factor to think about thoroughly.

3) When buying a house, many people forget to consider other hidden or less-discussed costs like property tax, maintenance costs, etc. Since these costs themselves run into lacs, overlooking these would mean that you would have lesser money to actually buy the property you want to.

4) Most people's first preference for taking home loans is to go to banks where they have their active accounts. Though this might be a convenient option, it might not necessarily be the best option. Always approach many lenders to see which is offering you the best interest rates and other services. Remember that even a difference of few decimals points in interest rates can help you save a few lacs over the loan tenure.

5) Many lenders automatically include life insurance plans in the home loans and ask borrowers to include the one-time premium amount into the loan amount. This effectively means that you are taking a loan to pay insurance premium too! This should be avoided if possible. It’s best to take a separate term plan to protect your home loans.

{Source: http://www.tatacapital.com/blog/home-loan/5-home-loan-mistakes-to-avoid.htm}