Looking For Property, Women? Brace Yourself

Long gone are the days when women depended on their spouses or parents to buy a dream home for themselves. Year after year the percentage of women homebuyers in the total property purchases in India has been growing. If you are one of those who have made up their minds to have a home of your own, here is what you ought to do to make sure your home purchase journey remains hurdle-free.

Decide what you want

Just because a colleague bought a 2BHK flat in a certain locality doesn’t mean you should do the same because you think the house grant. Your requirements might be entirely different. Your co-worker might have bought this property to let-out while you might be planning to move in in your new house.

As is true with clothes, in the world of property market, one size doesn’t fit all.

A smaller configuration, a different locality, a different housing society may suit you better.

Assess your financial position

No matter how emotional we make it sound, home purchases are strictly monetary in nature. This is evident from the fact that an intense urge to have a property can never be fulfilled without you having the financial wherewithal to materialise your intent.

So, assess your financial situation first.

Have you saved enough money to make the down-payment? Typically 20 per cent of a property value has to be paid upfront.

What is your home loan eligibility? As a standard practice, banks lend 80 per cent of the property value as home loan.

Who would you approach if you need additional help with money? In most cases, buyers seek help from family and friends to meet any deficits that might occur during the property-purchase process. Do make sure this money is officially taken as a loan and not as a gift. This would help you save taxes.

When a large part of your salary starts being deducted as an EMI (equated monthly installment) , how will you manage your other monthly expense? To avoid monthly crisis situation, make sure not more than 40 per cent of your monthly take-home salary goes as EMIs.  

Do you have a clear idea about the associated costs that property purchase involves? A buyer has to arrange for stamp duty, registration charges and has to make several other big and small payments in course of the property purchase.

You will invariably have to make some major or minor changes in the existing property to make it more fitting for you. Depending on the kind of changes you want, you may have spend a good deal of money in this area, too.

Find out the benefits you get

Now that you have assessed the money you have to pay, let us also find out which are the areas where you can save. Financial institutions offer home loans to women borrowers at lower rates, when compared to their male counterparts. Typically, interest rates on home loans for women are lower in the range of 50-100 basis points.

Women borrowers also enjoy exemptions on home loan under Section 80C, Section 80EE, Section 80EEA and Section 24B of the Income Tax Act. Considering that the government, in Budget 2021, extended the scope of Section 80EEA for another year, first-time women buyers can now make use of this benefit, if they purchase a property till March 31, 2022.

In almost all Indian states, women have to pay less as stamp duty. In the national capital, for example, women homebuyers have to pay only four per cent of the property value as stamp duty, while men have to pay  six per cent stamp duty. The same is true in Himachal Pradesh. In Maharashtra, buyers can currently purchase a property by only paying three per cent as stamp duty.

Check out discount offers

This is actually a good time to invest in property. Data available with PropTiger.com show that real estate developers across India’s major property markets are in desperate need to sell off their existing housing stock - in India's eight prime residential markets there are over 7.18 lakh unsold homes, as on December 31, 2020. This helps you in two ways - you do not have to wait to move in and you are in a strong bargaining position. Further, realtors are also offering good deals on such housing units to incentivise house purchases during the Coronavirus-induced slowdown. All you have to do is employ all your energies in doing research. Once that is done, you can compare various offers and opt for a deal that suits you best. At this juncture, however, it is important to note that a good property, even if it comes without any discount or bonanza offer, is worth it rather than a weak property coming at a bargain price.