Thinking of availing a home loan or mortgage for the very first time?
First time home loan shoppers are highly likely to fall for the sugar words and marketing tactics of banks or home loan providers. The following tips may help you strike the best deal without having to sulk over potential mistakes usually committed by inexperienced borrowers.
For your First Time Home Loan…
(Please note that these are just a few guidelines and there may be a lot more that you might want to check out with respect your specific scenario in your country or state)
1. Shop around for the best deal
You may want to compare the loan offers – in terms of rates, monthly installment as well as overall mortgage package – from at least four to five different financial institutions before arriving at a final decision. In addition, you may want to discuss with your friends or relatives who might have had experience with each of these banks. Please note that the lowest interest rates do not mean the best deal. You have to know exactly how they calculate the interest (daily reducing balance, monthly reducing, quarterly reducing etc) and if there are additional charges. In addition, understand if there are any processing fee or lawyer fees along with the rules for prepayment or foreclosure.
2. Negotiate for a discount rate
It might sound odd but most of the banks have the flexibility of offering 0.5% or 0.75% (might vary in certain countries) less interest than the standard advertised rate. This is particularly true if you are having a stable and high earning profession (e.g. doctors, lawyers,…). In addition to these so-called ‘professional packages’ there are also corporate discounts available from some banks targeting specifically people from certain high profile corporates. Hence don’t be ashamed to negotiate.
3. Plan the rest of your life ahead
Never take a home mortgage assuming certain raise in salary or additional income that ‘might’ come in the future. Instead, plan from the point of view of additional financial burdens that you might encounter in the coming years (or the tenure of the loan). This may include wedding expenses, child education, purchase of vehicles or even expensive vacations.
4. Insurance, riders and deposits
It is highly advisable that you take home mortgage insurance for 25% to 30% of your home loan value to avert any risk of non-payment due to critical illness, accidents, job loss due to the above or even death. Mortgage insurance is mandatory (from the lender’s point of view) in most countries if the home purchase contribution from your side is less than 20% or so. If you do not wish to take mortgage insurance, set aside 10% to 15% (or even 20%) of your loan amount towards a term deposit or low risk bank investment. This will indeed help to repay your loan in the case of temporary no-income situations. This will also help in reducing your monthly outflow towards loan.
(You can have both the deposit as well as mortgage insurance which can help you with a little bit of tax planning as well)
5. Go for it ONLY when you are ready!
A home loan is a lifelong burden for most people. Hence before taking a loan, do a readiness and feasibility check from your end to see if it’s the right time to go for such a financial commitment. Also chew only as much as you can swallow – a huge home may be your dream but you have to really think whether you can afford it.
The other aspect of readiness check is to have a good credit history and stable background. Building your credit history by paying back your credit card bills on time, not withholding tax dues, not having several loans etc will boost your credit record. In addition, you may jump jobs and rented homes as little as possible to establish a good history. Frequent address changes are not considered good by financial institution in certain countries.
I hope these tips for first time home buyers were interesting to you. You may want to share this page with your friend who is in the lookout of a home loan.