Are You Ready To Take A Home Loan?

You have made up your mind to buy a home. In the past couple of years, you have saved enough money to make the down-payment for a property of your choice; banks are only too eager to finance the remaining amount. However, your eagerness to become a home owner sooner rather than later notwithstanding, you must not overlook the fact that your responsibilities, too, would multiply when you turn a borrower.  Treading with caution while you take small steps could be a good idea, to start with.

What else can you do to ensure you do not have to face any unpleasant situation as a borrower?

Reading is not just for recreational purpose

Loan documents are lengthy and even the most patient among us would find it highly tiresome to read each line written in extra small fonts. Even if we somehow manage to do that, decoding the financial legalese becomes an almost impossible task for a layman.  When I asked a friend who recently purchased a house availing of a loan whether he knows about this term called "spread", he told me he had no clue. Little did this fine gentleman, who works for a multinational research company, know how a change in spread by his bank would impact his personal finances. Here, we will have to acknowledge the fact that for the average Joe, decoding such aspects might be even tougher.  You could employ a finance expert to understand all that, but then that is going to cost you. Reading comes to you as an obvious option.  The more you read, the better you understand all the benefits and risk of availing of loans.

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Not asking for too much, are you?

Most of us avoid asking too many questions thinking this might portray us as clueless and show our lack of understanding. This approach will cost you dear if you are a home borrower. You have to keep asking your bank questions till you are satisfied that you have got all your answers. Just knowing that your bank offers loans at the cheapest rates is not enough. There would be many terms and conditions, too, that you must pay heed to.  All of us haggle with our local grocer while buying veggies, a transaction which is trivial in comparison with a property purchase.

Falling for niceties just won't do

Your loan agent is calling you twice a day and is ready to get home all the papers for you to sign. How very nice of him, you think.  But let not the nicety of your bank or its staff hurry you into signing the documents. Banks are doing their job in trying to earn another customer, from whom they will be charging money for the services provided.  As a borrower, you have to do your job of treading carefully and going for what is right for you.

Also read: Why Is Legal And Technical Verification Key In Home Loan Application Process?