Loan Information - Home Loan - Student Loan - Consolidation: 6 tips to choose your home loan lender

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Every one dreams of buying a home but most of us do not have sufficient funds in our bank account to make such a purchase. So we are left with the option of asking a housing finance company to finance our purchase. However choosing the best home loan lender is important if we have to escape all the hassles that are linked to availing a loan.

Also before you pick the lender for your home loan try to sort out in own mind the criteria you are looking considering your own credentials. Check on some important aspects of the loan, such as finance costs and interest rates. Tracing down a good home loan lender who can guide you through the entire loan procedure and help in accomplishing your dream of a nice house is a little difficult. So some of the following tips can help you in achieve your dream faster.

1.Finalize your property before the lender
You should always finalize the property you want to purchase before looking for lenders that would be ready to finance your house. This is important because some banks lend for a property that is already furnished while others extend for a self constructed property or property that is under construction. Thus it is better to finalize the category of your property first and then look for lender options. It will help us to focus in a defined area and extract all relevant information before finalizing on the lender.

2.Ensure your loan eligibility criteria
All the banks follow some eligibility standards for giving a loan. Primarily, it depends on your income and repayment track records. You can get details of all bank home loan criteria from individual banks or in the Rupeetimes Home Loan section and choose the one that can offer you maximum amount based on your income. The loan eligibility amount can also be increased if you club your and spouse’s income.

3.Fixed or Floating interest rate
One is always left in dilemma while opting between fixed and floating interest rate. It is always thought that a fixed interest rate means same rate throughout the tenure but sometimes it is adjustable after a certain period of time, provided which either your EMI amount or the loan tenure can increase. Thus it is better to clear this point in hand with your lender. On the other hand, if you are opting for the floating rate loan, make sure that your lender’s floating rate has come down at least over the past two years. Market scenario should also be analyzed if you planning to avail a floating rate loan as it depend on the economy’s interest rate. Some time back Rupeetimes.com covered an article describing the pros and cons of fixed and floating loan rates.

4. Processing fee is non-refundable
Banks always charge a fee in order to apply for loan with them. This fee is known as the processing fee and is non-refundable. Generally it varies between 0.50% and 1% of the total loan amount. However one should be clear that paying a processing fee does not mean that o loan will be sanctioned by the bank. Therefore it is always better to have written agreement with your lender. A switching fee is also charged if plan to switch from a floating rate to fixed rate. The catch is that you can try to negotiate on this. Some banks on negotiations even give you a flat processing fee.

5. Assure all the hidden costs
Mostly the interest rate charged by the bank is taken into consideration while taking a loan but there are large hidden costs involved with most loans that prick the borrower’s pocket. Hence it is advisable to decide on all legal charges, pre-payment charges, valuation fees, processing fee and other hidden costs before a loan is availed.

6. Be assured about the lender before making a choice
You should always be well informed about your lender as it will help to have a clear picture about the future. Depending on where you live, you can locate online comparison on rupeetimes.com that will tell you about a number of similar lenders suiting your needs. At a glance you can get all the right and detailed information you need and on what each lender can offer to its customers. If you match up what each lender can give you to what you are actually looking for and which best suits your needs, you can then compare it with others.

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