The Finance Minister presented the Union Budget 2023 today. In the past, taxpayers have had big expectations from the Union Budgets but the budget announcement turned out to be a damp squib. Yes, there are always policy changes but not many seem to affect the salaried class directly. The Union Budget 2023 is an exception.… Continue Reading
The Union Budget 2023 is round the corner. Are you ready with your wish list? What do you want from this budget? Lower taxes? Higher tax deductions? Additional tax exemptions? The Budget announcements may not meet all your demands/wishes since the Government must strike the right balance between populism, targeted incentives, and tax collections. Still,… Continue Reading
Every home loan borrower wants to close the home loan quickly. After all, you truly own your house once you have repaid the entire home loan. How Does the Home Loan Amount Go Down? We know how loan mathematics works. Most home loans are reducing balance loans. With reducing balance loans, a portion of EMI… Continue Reading
Financial Innovation in credit products is the order of the day. Recently, I came across Bajaj Housing Finance myEMI home loan product. How is this product different from existing home loan products? Let’s find out. Bajaj Housing Finance myEMI Home Loan Product Under this product, you can choose your EMI subject to the following conditions.… Continue Reading
A loan is a contract. And a contract can be worded in any way. Minor changes in the wordings or the product structure can make a huge difference. A borrower must understand the loan structure properly before choosing among the various loan options. We have all read about SBI Maxgain and other home saver loans.… Continue Reading
Why do we have to make down payments for home purchases? Why can’t the banks lend the full amount for the purchase? Two reasons. Firstly, the banks get a wider security cushion while lending. So, if the bank lends Rs 80 lacs for purchase of Rs 1 crore house, in the event of default, the… Continue Reading
An interest rate hike hurts all borrowers. For the same service (loan), you must pay more every month. Or pay the same amount but for a longer period. Neither is a desirable outcome for a borrower. And yes, the rate hikes hurt the borrower running a tight budget a bit more. In such cases, the… Continue Reading
The loan amount is already decided. You do not control the interest rate. The only aspects where you have discretion are: Loan Tenure Pre-EMI or Full EMI Regular home loan scheme OR Home-saver loans (such as SBI Maxgain) #1 Choosing the Loan Tenure We have this tendency to close the home loans as soon as… Continue Reading
A few weeks back, I wrote about the impact of RBI repo rate hikes on your home loans EMIs. RBI Repo rate hikes will quickly translate to longer loan tenures or higher EMIs for the borrowers, especially if your loan is linked to an external benchmark. If there is scope to increase the loan tenure… Continue Reading
The Reserve Bank has hiked the Repo rate in the first week of May 2022. If your home loan is linked to Repo rate or to any external benchmark, you will soon see one of the following things happen. EMI stays constant and the outstanding loan tenure goes up (that is the usually the default… Continue Reading