Changes You Would Be Happy To See If You Go Home Shopping Now

We have come a long way from when buyers did not get their due place in the sector that they deserved—that is to say, that of a king. The real estate boom led many to believe, especially developers and financial institutions, that it was alright to make their consumers wait since there was always a serpentine queue in front of their offices of those who were looking for new property, and of those who were trying to get a home loan. That was a horrendous mistake, we all know that now. Those who overestimated the power of the consumer were soon to realise their mistake. Buyers would soon turn into fence sitters; consequently, seekers of home loans would also disappear, making the sector sink in slump.

Today, everyone is trying their level best to make amends, with a larger aim to improve the health of the real estate sector. While we often speak of big changes, there are several small changes that are taking place everywhere, much to the joy of the consumers.  

Let us begin with sellers.

The colour of your money

Before the much-debated demonetisation took place in November 2016, buyers entered the resale market knowing quite well that they will have to arrange what is known in common parlance as black money in case they are serious about making the purchase. Mind you, a salaried man often faces great difficulties to arrange the down-payment for the property purchase. They hardly have any black money, to begin with. Making a kill based on speculations, sellers would inflate the rates of property to their great satisfaction without having any intentions to pay taxes for the true value. To do this, the property would be registered at a much lower price than the actual cost the buyer had to way. In a way this was also beneficial for buyers since stamp duty for a lower deal would also be less. But, it would be unfair to assume buyers benefitted greatly from such a practice.

To arrange the “black” component of the deal, the buyer will have to artificially discolour his white money. Whatever savings were to be made on stamp duty would seem almost insignificant when one has to take the pains to go through the forced illegality.

Today, sellers are willing to register the property for all its worth, much to buyers' relief.  As a result of this property rates in major resale markets have come down quite significantly. In national capital Delhi, for instance, rates have fallen by about 15 per cent in some localities after demonetisation.

The long wait

When you left your home for a visit to the bank to know everything about home loans, you knew you would be waiting for hours before you get a chance to meet the person who would be in a position to answer all your queries. All those frequent messages and afternoon phone calls promising quick disbursal of loans notwithstanding, it took a lot of time to get the funds if you really decided to go for it. The same is not true anymore. We all know that due to their bad monetary health, financial institutions are under a great deal of stress. This has certainly led to a change in their approach toward the customer.  If you open the official website of State Bank of India, for instance, there is a button you could click on to get the answers to all your home loan queries. You would be happily surprised to see how quickly they get back. In fact, a large part of the job could be done using the online portal. In case you really want to visit the office, you would find the staff far more forthcoming than you ever did. The doors of the branch managers are always open for you. Considering this is a public sector bank we are talking about, this is a major change.