Ensure that the documents being provided to you are not colour photocopies. Check the internet for other modus operandi to fraud and ensure clear title to the asset. Seek advice only from authentic sources such as your bank.

Get the no encumbrance certificate to find the true title holder and if it is mortgaged to any financier. Obtain all tax papers to ensure that all documents are up to date.

Give yourself comfortable time. Do not hurry your purchase or loan in any case. Shopping around for a home loan will help you to get the best financing deal. Shopping, comparing, seeking clarification and negotiating with banks may save you thousands of rupees.

a) Obtain information from several banks

Home loans are available from mainly two types of lenders--commercial banks and housing finance companies. Different lenders may quote you different rates of interest and other terms and conditions, so you should contact several lenders to make sure you’re getting the best value for money.

Find out how much of a down payment you are required to pay, and find out all the costs involved in the loan (including processing fees, administrative charges and prepayment charges levied by banks). Knowing just the amount of the EMI or the interest rate is not good enough. Similarly, ask for information on loan amount, loan term, and type of loan (fixed or floating) so that you can compare the information and take an informed decision.

The following is some important information that you will require.

i) Rates

Ask your lender about its current home loan interest rates and whether the rate is fixed or floating.  Remember that when interest rates in the economy go up so does the floating rates and hence the monthly re-payment.

If the rate quoted is a floating rate, ask how your rate and loan payment will vary, including the extent to which your loan payment will be reduced when rates go down by a certain percentage. Ask your lender to what index your floating home loan is referenced / linked and the periodicity of updation of that index. Also ask your bank whether the index is internal or external and how and where it is published.

Ask about the loan’s annual percentage rates (APR). The APR takes into account not only the interest rate but also fees and certain other charges that you may be required to pay, expressed as a yearly rate. Banks are obliged to reveal the APR if requested for by the customer.

ii) Reset Clause

Check the reset clause, especially in the case of fixed interest rate loan as the rates will not be fixed throughout the tenure of the loan.

iii) Spread/Mark up

Check if the margin in the case of the floating rate is fixed or variable. The rate of interest you have to pay will vary accordingly.

iv) Fees

A home loan often requires payment of various fees, such as loan origination or processing charges, administrative charges, documentation, late payment, changing the loan tenure, switching to different loan package during the loan tenure, restructuring of loan, changing from fixed to floating interest rate loan and vice versa, legal fee, technical inspection fee, recurring annual service fee, document retrieval charges and pre-payment charges, if you want to prepay the loan. Every lender should be able to give you an estimate of its fees. Many of these fees are negotiable / can be waived also.

Ask what each fee includes. Sometimes several components are lumped into one fee. Ask for an explanation of any fee you do not understand. Also, remember that most of these fees are perhaps negotiable! Do negotiate with your bank before agreeing to a particular fee. See how the all inclusive rate compares with the all inclusive rates offered by other banks. While planning your finances, don't forget to include the costs of stamp duty and registration.

v) Down Payments / Margin

Some lenders require 20/30 percent of the home’s purchase price as a down payment from you. However, many lenders also offer loans that require less than 20/30 percent down payment, sometimes as little as 5 percent .Ask about the lender’s requirements for a down payment and also negotiate with him to reduce the down payments.

b) Obtain the best deal

Once you know what each bank has to offer in terms of rates, fees and down payments, negotiate for the best deal. Ask the lender to write down all the costs associated with the loan. Then ask if the bank will waive or reduce one or more of its fees or agree to a lower rate. Do make sure that the bank is not agreeing to lower one fee while raising another or to lower the rate while raising the fees. Ask for clarification in case you do not understand any particular term. All banks are obliged to explain the most important terms and conditions of the home loan in detail.

Once you are satisfied with the terms you have negotiated, please do obtain a written offer letter from the lender and keep a copy with you. Read the offer letter carefully before signing.

Yes, most banks allow you to repay the loan ahead of schedule by making lump sum payments. However, many banks charge early repayment penalties up to 2-3% of the principal amount outstanding. Prepayment penalty may vary according to the reasons and source of funds - if you obtain a loan from another bank for pre-payment the charges are usually higher than when you pay from your own sources. However, you may credit more than your EMI amount into your loan account on a periodic basis and bring down your interest burden as and when funds are available with you. Most banks do not charge a pre-payment penalty if you deposit more than your EMI payable on a periodic basis. Please check such stipulations while availing the loan.

When other banks reduce the interest rate, you may prefer to close your account with the bank with whom you are banking, to avail of the loan from the bank offering reduced rates of interest. You have to pay pre-payment charges for doing so. In order to ensure that their customers do not approach other banks for availing reduced interest rates, banks allow customers to switch over from a higher interest loan to a lower interest loan by paying a switch over fees which is lesser than the pre-payment charges. Generally switchover fee is taken as percentage of the outstanding loan amount.

Keep up-dating yourself on various changes in the home loan market. Visit the branch, discuss with the officials to get the best out of any changes in the home loan scenario.

Yes. Resident Indians are eligible for certain tax benefits on both principal and interest components of a loan under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Under the current laws, you are entitled to an income tax rebate for interest repayment up to Rs. 1,50,000 /- per annum. Moreover, you can get added tax benefits under Section 80 C on repayment of principal amount up to Rs. 1,00,000 /- per annum.

1. At the time of sourcing the loan, banks are required to provide information about the interest rate applicable, the fees / charges and any other matter which affects your interest and the same are usually furnished in the product brochure of the banks. Complete transparency is mandatory.
2. The banks will supply you authenticated copies of all the loan documents executed by you at their cost along with a copy each of all enclosures quoted in the loan document on request.

A bank cannot reject your loan application without furnishing valid reason(s) for the same.

If you have a complaint against only scheduled bank on any of the above grounds, you can lodge a complaint with the bank concerned in writing in a specific complaint register provided at the branches as per the recommendation of the Goiporia Committee or on a sheet of paper. Ask for a receipt of your complaint. The details of the official receiving your complaint may be specifically sought. If the bank fails to respond within 30 days, you can lodge a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman. (Please note that complaints pending in any other judicial forum will not be entertained by the Banking Ombudsman). No fee is levied by the office of the Banking Ombudsman for resolving the customer’s complaint. A unique complaint identification number will be given to you for tracking purpose. (A list of the Banking Ombudsmen along with their contact details is provided on the RBI website).

Complaints are to be addressed to the Banking Ombudsman within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the bank complained against is located. Complaints can be lodged simply by writing on a plain paper or online at www.bankingombudsman.rbi.org.in or by sending an email to the Banking Ombudsman. Complaint forms are available at all bank branches also.

Complaint can also be lodged by your authorised representative (other than a lawyer) or by a consumer association / forum acting on your behalf.

If you are not happy with the decision of the Banking Ombudsman, you can appeal to the Appellate Authority in the Reserve Bank of India.

The scheme of reverse mortgage has been introduced recently for the benefit of senior citizens owning a house but having inadequate income to meet their needs. Some important features of reverse mortgage are:

• A homeowner who is above 60 years of age is eligible for reverse mortgage loan. It allows him to turn the equity in his home into one lump sum or periodic payments mutually agreed by the borrower and the banker.
  
  
• The property should be clear from encumbrances and should have clear title of the borrower.
  
  
• NO REPAYMENT is required as long as the borrower lives, Borrower should pay all taxes relating to the house and maintain the property as his primary residence.
  
  
• The amount of loan is based on several factors: borrower’s age, value of the property, current interest rates and the specific plan chosen. Generally speaking, the higher the age, higher the value of the home, the more money is available.
  
  
• The valuation of the residential property is done at periodic intervals and it shall be clearly specified to the borrowers upfront. The banks shall have the option to revise the periodic / lump sum amount at such frequency or intervals based on revaluation of property.
  
  
• Married couples will be eligible as joint borrowers for financial assistance. In such a case, the age criteria for the couple would be at the discretion of the lending institution, subject to at least one of them being above 60 years of age.
  
  
• The loan shall become due and payable only when the last surviving borrower dies or would like to sell the home, or permanently moves out.
  
  
• On death of the home owner, the legal heirs have the choice of keeping or selling the house. If they decide to sell the house, the proceeds of the sale would be used to repay the mortgage, with the remainder going to the heirs.
  
  
• As per the scheme formulated by National Housing Bank (NHB), the maximum period of the loan period is 15 years. The residual life of the property should be at least 20 years. Where the borrower lives longer than 15 years, periodic payments will not be made by lender. However, the borrower can continue to occupy.
  
  
• From FY 2008-09, the lump sum amount or periodic payments received on reverse mortgage loan will not attract income tax or capital gains tax.

Note- Reverse mortgage is a fixed interest discounted product in reverse. It does not take into account the changes in interest rates as yet.

Important – This part is fine printed to help you practice reading the fine print. The loan agreement documentation runs into nearly 50 pages and its language is complex. If you thought everyone signs the same agreements with the bank, where is the need to read? You are not taking an informed decision. If you thought somebody would have pointed this to me if there was any problem, then maybe they did but you could not read or listen to it. Think again! Borrowers' and lenders' rights may not be expressed clearly in a transparent manner in all the loan agreements. The home loan agreement may not be provided to you in advance so that this could be read and understood before you sign the agreement. Every method may be used to delay handing over a copy to the borrower in sufficient time. Some areas you may focus are a) check the “reset clause” incorporated by some banks in their home loan agreements that allows them to change the interest rate in the future, even on fixed rate loans. Banks may set their reset clauses for 3 or 2 year intervals.  They say a lender cannot have an agreement that a fixed rate is set for the entire tenure of 15 to 20 years as this will cause an asset-liability mismatch. Talk to your bank. b) Please seek clarifications on the term “exceptional circumstances” (if stated in the loan agreement) under which loan rates can be unilaterally changed by your bank. c) A common person thinks that default ideally means non-payment of one or more loan installments. In some loan documentation it can include divorce and death (in individual case) and even involvement in civil litigation or criminal offence. d) Does the loan agreement say that disbursement of the loan may be made directly to the builder or developer and in the case of a ready-built property to the vendor thereof and/or in such other manner as may be decided solely by bank? It is the borrower whose original property papers are retained with the bank, so why disburse to the builder. Possession of property has been  delayed in some cases when the cheque was issued in the name of the builder and the builder refused to pay delay penalty to the borrower e) Does the agreement enable assignment of your loan to a third party?  You take into account reputation and credibility of the bank before entering into a loan agreement with it. Are you comfortable with third party takes over or should you also be allowed to move your home loan from one bank to another in that case? Look for ambiguous clauses and discuss with the banker. Some agreements say changes in employment etc. have to be informed well in advance without quantifying the term “well in advance”. f) In one case the loan documentation says “issuance of pre-approval letter should not be construed as a commitment by the bank to grant the housing loan and processing fees is not re-fundable even if the home loan is not processed”. This is never ending it seems. The above are only indicative instances of what has been observed / reported/ indicated by various sources. However, our main objective was to get you into the habit of reading the fine print. If you have read this, you would have understood the importance of reading fine print in any document and we have achieved our objective. I only wish I could have made the print smaller as in the real cases.

EXAMPLE OF EMI CALCULATION (PURE FIXED LOAN)

	Amount of Loan		1,000,000.00
	Annual Interest Rate		15.00%
	Number of Payments		120
	Monthly Payment		16,133.50
Number	Payment	Interest	Principal	Balance
0				1,000,000.00
1	16,133.50	12,500.00	3,633.50	996,366.50
2	16,133.50	12,454.58	3,678.91	992,687.59
3	16,133.50	12,408.59	3,724.90	988,962.69
4	16,133.50	12,362.03	3,771.46	985,191.23
5	16,133.50	12,314.89	3,818.61	981,372.62
6	16,133.50	12,267.16	3,866.34	977,506.28
7	16,133.50	12,218.83	3,914.67	973,591.62
8	16,133.50	12,169.90	3,963.60	969,628.02
9	16,133.50	12,120.35	4,013.15	965,614.87
10	16,133.50	12,070.19	4,063.31	961,551.56
11	16,133.50	12,019.39	4,114.10	957,437.46
12	16,133.50	11,967.97	4,165.53	953,271.93
13	16,133.50	11,915.90	4,217.60	949,054.34
14	16,133.50	11,863.18	4,270.32	944,784.02
15	16,133.50	11,809.80	4,323.70	940,460.32
16	16,133.50	11,755.75	4,377.74	936,082.58
17	16,133.50	11,701.03	4,432.46	931,650.12
18	16,133.50	11,645.63	4,487.87	927,162.25
19	16,133.50	11,589.53	4,543.97	922,618.28
20	16,133.50	11,532.73	4,600.77	918,017.51
21	16,133.50	11,475.22	4,658.28	913,359.24
22	16,133.50	11,416.99	4,716.51	908,642.73
23	16,133.50	11,358.03	4,775.46	903,867.27
24	16,133.50	11,298.34	4,835.15	899,032.12
25	16,133.50	11,237.90	4,895.59	894,136.52
26	16,133.50	11,176.71	4,956.79	889,179.73
27	16,133.50	11,114.75	5,018.75	884,160.98
28	16,133.50	11,052.01	5,081.48	879,079.50
29	16,133.50	10,988.49	5,145.00	873,934.50
30	16,133.50	10,924.18	5,209.31	868,725.18
31	16,133.50	10,859.06	5,274.43	863,450.75
32	16,133.50	10,793.13	5,340.36	858,110.39
33	16,133.50	10,726.38	5,407.12	852,703.28
34	16,133.50	10,658.79	5,474.70	847,228.57
35	16,133.50	10,590.36	5,543.14	841,685.43
36	16,133.50	10,521.07	5,612.43	836,073.00
37	16,133.50	10,450.91	5,682.58	830,390.42
38	16,133.50	10,379.88	5,753.62	824,636.81
39	16,133.50	10,307.96	5,825.54	818,811.27
40	16,133.50	10,235.14	5,898.35	812,912.92
41	16,133.50	10,161.41	5,972.08	806,940.83
42	16,133.50	10,086.76	6,046.74	800,894.10
43	16,133.50	10,011.18	6,122.32	794,771.78
44	16,133.50	9,934.65	6,198.85	788,572.93
45	16,133.50	9,857.16	6,276.33	782,296.59
46	16,133.50	9,778.71	6,354.79	775,941.81
47	16,133.50	9,699.27	6,434.22	769,507.58
48	16,133.50	9,618.84	6,514.65	762,992.93
49	16,133.50	9,537.41	6,596.08	756,396.85
50	16,133.50	9,454.96	6,678.54	749,718.31
51	16,133.50	9,371.48	6,762.02	742,956.30
52	16,133.50	9,286.95	6,846.54	736,109.75
53	16,133.50	9,201.37	6,932.12	729,177.63
54	16,133.50	9,114.72	7,018.78	722,158.85
55	16,133.50	9,026.99	7,106.51	715,052.34
56	16,133.50	8,938.15	7,195.34	707,857.00
57	16,133.50	8,848.21	7,285.28	700,571.72
58	16,133.50	8,757.15	7,376.35	693,195.37
59	16,133.50	8,664.94	7,468.55	685,726.82
60	16,133.50	8,571.59	7,561.91	678,164.91
61	16,133.50	8,477.06	7,656.43	670,508.47
62	16,133.50	8,381.36	7,752.14	662,756.33
63	16,133.50	8,284.45	7,849.04	654,907.29
64	16,133.50	8,186.34	7,947.15	646,960.14
65	16,133.50	8,087.00	8,046.49	638,913.64
66	16,133.50	7,986.42	8,147.08	630,766.57
67	16,133.50	7,884.58	8,248.91	622,517.65
68	16,133.50	7,781.47	8,352.03	614,165.63
69	16,133.50	7,677.07	8,456.43	605,709.20
70	16,133.50	7,571.37	8,562.13	597,147.07
71	16,133.50	7,464.34	8,669.16	588,477.91
72	16,133.50	7,355.97	8,777.52	579,700.39
73	16,133.50	7,246.25	8,887.24	570,813.15
74	16,133.50	7,135.16	8,998.33	561,814.82
75	16,133.50	7,022.69	9,110.81	552,704.01
76	16,133.50	6,908.80	9,224.70	543,479.31
77	16,133.50	6,793.49	9,340.00	534,139.31
78	16,133.50	6,676.74	9,456.75	524,682.56
79	16,133.50	6,558.53	9,574.96	515,107.59
80	16,133.50	6,438.84	9,694.65	505,412.94
81	16,133.50	6,317.66	9,815.83	495,597.11
82	16,133.50	6,194.96	9,938.53	485,658.58
83	16,133.50	6,070.73	10,062.76	475,595.81
84	16,133.50	5,944.95	10,188.55	465,407.26
85	16,133.50	5,817.59	10,315.90	455,091.36
86	16,133.50	5,688.64	10,444.85	444,646.51
87	16,133.50	5,558.08	10,575.41	434,071.09
88	16,133.50	5,425.89	10,707.61	423,363.48
89	16,133.50	5,292.04	10,841.45	412,522.03
90	16,133.50	5,156.53	10,976.97	401,545.06
91	16,133.50	5,019.31	11,114.18	390,430.88
92	16,133.50	4,880.39	11,253.11	379,177.77
93	16,133.50	4,739.72	11,393.77	367,784.00
94	16,133.50	4,597.30	11,536.20	356,247.80
95	16,133.50	4,453.10	11,680.40	344,567.40
96	16,133.50	4,307.09	11,826.40	332,741.00
97	16,133.50	4,159.26	11,974.23	320,766.77
98	16,133.50	4,009.58	12,123.91	308,642.85
99	16,133.50	3,858.04	12,275.46	296,367.39
100	16,133.50	3,704.59	12,428.90	283,938.49
101	16,133.50	3,549.23	12,584.26	271,354.23
102	16,133.50	3,391.93	12,741.57	258,612.66
103	16,133.50	3,232.66	12,900.84	245,711.82
104	16,133.50	3,071.40	13,062.10	232,649.72
105	16,133.50	2,908.12	13,225.37	219,424.35
106	16,133.50	2,742.80	13,390.69	206,033.66
107	16,133.50	2,575.42	13,558.07	192,475.58
108	16,133.50	2,405.94	13,727.55	178,748.03
109	16,133.50	2,234.35	13,899.15	164,848.89
110	16,133.50	2,060.61	14,072.88	150,776.00
111	16,133.50	1,884.70	14,248.80	136,527.21
112	16,133.50	1,706.59	14,426.91	122,100.30
113	16,133.50	1,526.25	14,607.24	107,493.06
114	16,133.50	1,343.66	14,789.83	92,703.23
115	16,133.50	1,158.79	14,974.71	77,728.52
116	16,133.50	971.61	15,161.89	62,566.63
117	16,133.50	782.08	15,351.41	47,215.22
118	16,133.50	590.19	15,543.31	31,671.91
119	16,133.50	395.90	15,737.60	15,934.32
120	16,133.50	199.18	15,934.32	0.00

Loan amount x rpm x  (1+pm)  
                                    (1+pm)

• rpm= interest per month (rate of interest per year/12)
• n= number of installments

NB: If you have a fixed budget towards EMI you can arrive at loan amount by changing the other variables such as by reducing the rate of interest or by increasing the tenure of loan. This can also be arrived at through EMI calculator by a trial-and-error approach.