Photo courtesy: prakhar What is a reverse mortgage? A reverse mortgage, as the name suggests is opposite of normal housing loan (mortgage) and is available only to senior citizens. How does it work? Once you pledge your house for reverse mortgage, the bank after carrying out its due diligence will arrive at the value [...]
Photo by: kevindooley Tax benefits on home loans have turned out to be an important aspect of home buying . Here is how you can benefit from the same. Tax breaks For self-occupied house property, the annual value of the house property is considered to be nil. Further, an individual could claim a deduction for [...]
Did you apply for a loan but the bank turned it down without giving you sufficient details on why they turned down your application? The Reserve Bank of India has been receiving a number of complaints, including under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, that customers are unable to get their own credit report [...]
photo by demibrooke Buy land. They’ve stopped making it. – Mark Twain. Banks and housing finance companies (HFCs) in India provide loans for purchase of plots (land). Usually, the banks/HFCs insist that the plot of land is purchased from a recognized authority like a development authority, from a society, or from a recognized developer. Financing [...]
The application for the home loan is a very simple procedure. Most banks offer a home banking facility wherein the bank’s executive visits you at a convenient time, at your home or office. He liaises between you and the bank, also suggesting schemes, added benefits, interesting insurance policies and educating you on the best rate [...]
A friend of mine recently applied for a personal loan from a leading bank and was shocked to know that she would be paying almost 50% of the loan amount as interest, spread over a period of 5 years. The purpose of this personal loan was to settle some outstanding credit card dues. Agreed, the [...]
Traditionally, US mortgage lenders checked the creditworthiness of borrowers and then provided 80% of the home loan amount; the remaining 20% had to be paid by the borrower. So, even if the price of the house dropped it would still be higher than the bank’s loan thus giving an incentive to the borrower to repay it. However, in the recent years in order to increase lending volumes and profits the US banks followed a relaxed approach (many lenders even stopped checking the creditworthiness of the borrowes) by giving loans that were EQUAL to the entire value of the house, so the borrowers had no personal stake at all. Ultimately, this led to loans that were given to people who did not have any documented income, job or assets.
Most Americans have an enormous debt load. Many of them feel that this fact is simply a part of modern living. With the focus of consumers more and more on credit as a form of currency, it can seem downright impossible to reduce debt load. However, there are ways to do this, including short term [...]
