[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by s@tan2s@int

I have a 20 year home loan with LIC housing finance ltd.

So you are rightly placed to answer my query.

How was your experience with LIC?
Did they followed habit of increasing rates immediately but not bringing down immediately, like some other banks do.
How supportive were they over the loan tenure in terms of cheque bounces or other problems which do happen sometimes over a 20 year loan?

[s@tan2s@int]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

So you are rightly placed to answer my query.

How was your experience with LIC?
Did they followed habit of increasing rates immediately but not bringing down immediately, like some other banks do.
How supportive were they over the loan tenure in terms of cheque bounces or other problems which do happen sometimes over a 20 year loan?

My experience with LIC so far has been so-so. I took this loan on a floating rate of 9% in June 2007. The interest rate they are charging now is close to 11%, They do regulate the interest charges on a timely basis as per the market trend ( increase or decrease). I convinced my brother who had a loan with HDFC to move to LIC as they were offering a fixed 9% loan for the first 5 years for new customers.

I have never had a case of chq bounce in my credit history, not just with LIC .

The only bitter experience I had is dealing with bureaucracy that you have to put up with dealing with a typical govt organization.

The lichfl site sucks big time. I tried to register on their site multiple times and was never successful in doing so..

Had to go to their branch each time to even get a simple IT certificate or to know the loan outstanding amount or an address change request etc..

The customer care lines are always busy or they never bother to respond.

The entire office shuts down during lunch hours between 1 pm to 2 pm & might extend depending on the topic being discussed at the lunch table...

They will make you run from one counter to the other to get a simple question answered..

The list goes on, but am happy that I am closing this loan sooner than I had thought. will share my loan closure experience soon...

[chikkars]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Does anyone has any experience with LIC HFC, i am considering having a home loan from them and wanted to know if there are any good/bad/ugly experiences with this NBFC.

The rates are competitive and the plans are more suited for my needs hence the decision to go with LIC HFC.

I recently booked a ready to move apartment, and took the loan via LIC HFL because the property was pre approved by them. The cheque processing happened today! It took about 20 working days for the whole process to be completed. However, I had to follow up quite frequently with the sales agent to get things moving. Overall experience has not been bad. But it's better to consider others' experience as well.

[amitk26]

One more important point about SBI HL.

SBI is trying to push the SBI Life Insurence companies Rinn Raksha policy.
They have mandated that either a customer should get someone to stand as guarenteer of the loan or take a Rinn Raksha policy ( only from SBI Life Insurence). The policy one time premium for 30 Lakh loan is almost about 1 Lakh rupees ( don't remember exact amount now) which they will add to principle.

I had an argument over this with RACPC guys that I already have enough insurence cover from other companies so why should I take another but they did not budge. So finally I got my wife to sign as guarenteer instead of spending on premium.

Other PSU banks and LIC HF have 0.25 - 5% more interest but they do not insisit of this insuring the loan through their own insurence arm.

Suppose you can not find a guaranteer then please calulate if you will save enough by paying .5% less interest to offset the premium over term in whic you will payback or not. The actual term of loan calculation is not important because it is likely people will pay back earlier then the full term.

In case a husband and wife wants to take joint loan for tax benifit for same property they they will need a 3ed person with steady monthly income to stand for guarantee .

With SBI expect atleast 30 -40 days in the processing and release of loan and also for each installment release expect 1 week time.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Iam planning to get a top-up on my existing Home Loan ( 15 Lakhs). when I enquired with my HL bank ( ICICI Bank) the CS executive said, they give 20% approximate of original loan as top-up and existing rate of interest is 12.25%

Can someone throw light if above is true and also what's the present best rate for home loan?

Also, top-ups and new loans are treated same in terms of interest charged?

Yes most banks treat them as same and they have same rate of interest, You can shift to another bank and discuss with them about the topup after shift.

Check the renovation loan with SBI and other PSU banks the process will be long as they will send an evaluator to estimate the existing market value of property and then a lawyer to provide leagal Opinion.

The current best rate is around 10% from SBI and good thing is that after RBI directive in 2011 new loans are linked to base rate instead of PLR this means you will get benifit of downwards rate movement faster then your previous loan.

[mobike008]

Thanks Amit,

My current home loan of 15 Lakhs is at 7.5% fixed interest ( Yup, that's right) so NO plans of moving this HL to any other bank or foreclosing it

So how does this top-up loan work? Will this 3 lakhs that I need for interior decoration work of my flat added to my existing principal amount?

How will the EMI change? Will the new EMI clubbed into the old one or it'll be separate?

I know too many questions. I am meeting the sales guy of ICICI over the weekend to take it forward

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by mobike008

So how does this top-up loan work? Will this 3 lakhs that I need for interior decoration work of my flat added to my existing principal amount?

How will the EMI change? Will the new EMI clubbed into the old one or it'll be separate?

No, IMO the top up will be treated as a seperate loan and will have seperate EMI. You will be saved from the documentation part and maybe lesser ROI but will no way be clubbed with the existing home loan. This is from my experience when I had a home loan top up from StanC used for buying a car

[S_U_N]

I am new to home loans and to real estate as well. On this thread, there are lot of positive aspects of SBI Max Gain. It appears to be some Over draft account to me and sounds good.
Does SBI offer this (or any other type of home loan product) on older properties (e.g 5-7 year old construction)?
How much loan would they offer? I assume 80%
Is it better option to keep the tenure short (say 15 years, instead of 20 years) to keep the total landed cost low?
SBI does not charge pre-payment penalty. Any other good banks having this feature?

Sorry if some of these are already answered elsewhere.

[ghodlur]

@SUN,

The SBI max gain OD account is available for any property, its indeed a good product. I would suggest call any SBI home loan dep guy and you can get all your queries answered or drop in to SBI home loan branch. The only grouse to this wonderful product is the long time taken by SBI is sanctioning the loan, too many documentation and some times its frustrating too. End of the day, you will not regret the decision. If you intend to go for a resale property, then before you apply to SBI, ensure that the documentation is in place foremost.

The loan offered would be 80% of the property value and most of the banks dont charge now pre-penalty sharges as per the RBI directive

[amitk26]

One more feature of SBI Home Loan if your property is certified as green building then you get an additional 0.25% rebate in interest.
Refer to SBI website for details on norms of certification.
Unfortunately very few builders are going for green building certification.

[S_U_N]

I am looking at purchasing a plot and subsequently building a house.
With Budget 2013, there is special benefit on Income Tax (extra 1 lac) for first time buyers if loan amount is upto 25 lacs.

If I approach a bank for construction of house on a certain land, will it be considered as housing loan?

How will they determine if I am eligible to that amount? Do they need any architect plans for the construction?

[AJo]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I am looking at purchasing a plot and subsequently building a house. If I approach a bank for construction of house on a certain land, will it be considered as housing loan? How will they determine if I am eligible to that amount? Do they need any architect plans for the construction?

Well, you need to first find a "Non-Agricultural" plot of land (with all papers clear), once done, approach an Architect who would prepare a preliminary plan with an estimated cost of construction. Talk to a Bank showing this as a consolidated project as (1) Plot Purchase + (2) Construction of House. The bank disburses the loan in 2 parts - first part for plot purchase & 2nd part for Construction. The construction part will only be disbursed after getting a Plan sanctioned from the local municipal authority. Once this is done, the Architect will prepare a detail cost estimate which needs to be certified by him & handed over to bank. The Construction disbursement happens in stages linked to construction stages.
Please note - NO income tax benefits are available for a loan for only Plot Purchase. You will have to complete the construction of the house in order to claim tax benefits.
(I had purchased a plot & constructed on that with a home loan 6 years back).
Rgds,
Ajo

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by AJo

Well, you need to first find a "Non-Agricultural" plot of land (with all papers clear), once done, approach an Architect who would prepare a preliminary plan with an estimated cost of construction. Talk to a Bank showing this as a consolidated project as (1) Plot Purchase + (2) Construction of House. ...

Please note - NO income tax benefits are available for a loan for only Plot Purchase. You will have to complete the construction of the house in order to claim tax benefits.

Thank you for these inputs.
Some questions:
1. Why do I need to convert to NA? This plot is part of Private Plantation Zone. I am told that I can build a farmhouse on the agricultural land directly. Can you confirm?
2. Will the bank (e.g. SBI) entertain me if I am giving them a consolidated plan/ proposal even if the land is not in my name?
3. On second thoughts, I am trying to target the 25 lac limit that this year's Budget has put forth. Since construction of house itself will take around 25 lacs, I am inclined to purchase the plot using other forms of loans - not bank loan.
The construction can then begin around 6 months from now.
I presume house construction should not take more than 6 months after it has started.
So, target is to take tax benefit of the extra 1 lac + the original 1.5 lac.

[AJo]

1. Why do I need to convert to NA? This plot is part of Private Plantation Zone. I am told that I can build a farmhouse on the agricultural land directly. Can you confirm?
As far as I know - You will need a min. plot of 1 Acre (44000 sqft) to build a farmhouse in the legal way. To buy an agricultural plot you need to be a farmer. If I am not wrong you can build 4% of the plot area. (Best to get this confirmed from an architect or a lawyer). Be aware that developers make smaller parts of agri. land & sell off to "non-farmers" telling them that you can build a farmhouse. This is not legal & no bank will advance a loan for this.

2. Will the bank (e.g. SBI) entertain me if I am giving them a consolidated plan/ proposal even if the land is not in my name?
I doubt any bank will entertain a proposal to loan you money when the land is not in your name.[/i]

3. On second thoughts, I am trying to target the 25 lac limit that this year's Budget has put forth. Since construction of house itself will take around 25 lacs, I am inclined to purchase the plot using other forms of loans - not bank loan.
The construction can then begin around 6 months from now.
I presume house construction should not take more than 6 months after it has started.
So, target is to take tax benefit of the extra 1 lac + the original 1.5 lac.[/quote][/i][/i]

I think you need to clear up issues regarding purchase of land, whether you can build on that land or not, first. Taking advantage of any tax benefits a later. (Six months as pure construction time is fine. Unfortunately, that time for Govt. approvals for the plan could be between 3 to 9 months depending on the paper work you have in place.
Rgds.
Aj

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by AJo

1. Why do I need to convert to NA? This plot is part of Private Plantation Zone. I am told that I can build a farmhouse on the agricultural land directly. Can you confirm?
As far as I know - You will need a min. plot of 1 Acre (44000 sqft) to build a farmhouse in the legal way. To buy an agricultural plot you need to be a farmer. If I am not wrong you can build 4% of the plot area. (Best to get this confirmed from an architect or a lawyer). Be aware that developers make smaller parts of agri. land & sell off to "non-farmers" telling them that you can build a farmhouse. This is not legal & no bank will advance a loan for this.

I am hearing this 1 acre restriction for the first time. To buy an agricultural plot, collector approval can be obtained by a non-farmer. So that is the option I can select in my case.
For Private Plantation Zone, I was told that I have to leave 70% area for plantation. I can build house on 30% area. FSI is 1.

Do you have some credible source with whom you can check?

[AJo]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I am hearing this 1 acre restriction for the first time. To buy an agricultural plot, collector approval can be obtained by a non-farmer......

SUN -
Let me tell you my own story: I am a common man with absolutely no contacts (political or otherwise).
I set out to buy land to construct a house with a bank loan. The first block I hit was - You cannot buy agri. land since you are not a farmer. So how do I become a farmer? Ans - Show documentation (7x12 extract, etc) that your forefathers posses farm land or "become" one using money & contacts. (Anybody who told you that all you need is a collector approval to become a farmer is making it sound toooo easy. I guess this is where the money & contacts come into play). Unfortunately in this country there are ways & means to do everything even tho' it may not be legal. I was also told that no bank will give you a loan for a construction on agri. land. (This was also the time I was told that to become a farmer - I will need to buy an acre of land & manage the paperwork to ensure that I am a "farmer"). Unfortunately, I did not have the cash nor contacts to do any such process.

I suggest you talk to a good lawyer with excellent knowledge of land dealing & laws related to this BEFORE you commit to buying any land. (Ofcourse this is assuming you are not a farmer already)

After hitting a lot of roadblocks I finally realized that the only way I can get a bank loan is if I buy a NA (non-agri) land. This is what I did - bought a NA plot, submitted a consolidated proposal to the bank, which helped me buy the land as well as construct a house. Also took tax benefit on the consolidated loan.

If you need more info. we can correspond by e-mail. Pls PM me your mail. (I cannot PM, since am a "newbie" on T-Bhp).
Thanks,
Ajo