Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Top 5 Lighting Ideas to Light Up your Rooms like never before

Not everyone understands how far proper lighting can go in enhancing and transforming the look and feel of interiors of a house or an office. A careful planning with respect to lighting can add a lot of aesthetic values to the looks along with serving its functional purposes. Any of the interior architects in Bangalore can vouch for the fact that a properly-lit room can offer a much peaceful and calm atmosphere.

If you have plans to change few bulbs here and there at your residence or office or if you are looking forward to an extensive overhaul of your space then consider these 5 lighting ideas that can literally transform your rooms for better.
  1. Chandeliers- There are few things to chandeliers. They are clichéd, they are costly and they are still a must if you really want your living room to be beautifully and uniformly lit. Most people see chandeliers just as props to beautify their spaces, but these lighting objects are also very functional as they help you get rid of those corner shadows in the room. A crystal chandelier can add elegance or a metallic one can offer great visual treat. These light fittings often come with dimmer levels to use them as per your needs.
  2. Recessed light fittings- If you don’t want your entire living room bright but just want to illuminate one particular section of it, then, recessed lighting is the answer for you. You can typically find fluorescent, halogen or incandescent bulbs outfitted in these lighting devices. There are usually dimmers attached to it that can be used for decreasing and increasing the illumination and thus changing the ambience in the room in less than a second.
  3. Task lighting- Now you may confuse this with recessed lighting as these are also used for illuminating specific areas in a house but for specific tasks and not necessarily just to create pleasant ambience. Perfect examples would be lights above the dresser, study lamp, table lamps etc. They can be typically found in the form of pendants, portable lamps, track lights etc.
  4. Funky cabinet lighting- Being in kitchen and preparing dishes can be all the more fun with some funky lighting embedded in different cabinets. It is practical and also one of the very smart ways of making your kitchen exciting. Whether it is the kitchen counter top, the cabinets or the exhaust, these light fittings can make your job simpler. Consult one of the home interior designers in Bangalore to learn more about these cool and practical lighting solutions for kitchen and other cabinets in your home.
  5. Bedside lighting- A little lighting along the bedside can help all of us, especially if you like reading your favorite books right before sleeping. There are many options like bedside lamps, wall-mounted ones or floor lamps that you can choose from. All these often come with a dimmer to regulate the intensity of lighting.
While many home or office owners are driven by lighting options and solutions available in the market, many others approach it one space at a time. Hiring one of the best interior designers in Bangalore can help you get over this confusion.

The trends in home lighting solutions keep changing year after year, but at the end it boils down to how comfortable and peaceful ambience can they create inside the spaces you live in. Office lighting is equally important as right lighting can keep the workforce pepped up and in good mood, which in turn can help any business.

This is a guest post by Bharath Joshi

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

How to Apply for SBI Home Loan Online

State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest and one of the oldest public sector bank of India. It started its banking business in India in the year 1806 with a market share of 20% in deposits and loan in the banking sector. SBI has been ranked at the 232nd position in the Fortune Global 500 list of the year 2016.

SBI and its five associate banks have a comprehensive list of banking products and services that they offer to their customers through its wide-spread branches all over India. They offer products to residents as well as non-resident Indians. Apart, from banking products, SBI and its associates offer products like insurance, credit cards, fund management and investment in capital markets as well.

SBI Home loan:

SBI is one of the largest providers of home loans in India. With their comprehensive list of different kind of home loan products, they have something that meets everyone’s expectations. SBI was voted as “The most preferred home loan provider” by the consumers themselves in CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards. The easy to avail, transparent and trusted SBI brand of home loans are better than any other home loan products in the market.

With a market cap of Rs. 190,000 crores and total outstanding loans of Rs. 11 lakhs crore as on March 2015, SBI stands at the leading position well ahead of the private sector banks in India. This is at least in part due to their innovative products and competitive interest rates.

Features of SBI home loan:

  1. SBI home loan is available with minimal charges;
  2. Interest is charged on daily reducing balance at very low rates in comparison to similar products available in the market;
  3. They offer the loan with no prepayment penalties. So, if you have surplus money, you can prepay the loan anytime and reduce the interest burden at no extra charges;
  4. Apart from loans, their home loan products come with other exclusive benefits as well;
  5. No hidden costs and charges;
  6. With such a widespread network of branches and the online facilities, the loan can be availed from any part of India easily.

How to apply for SBI home loan:

SBI home loan can be applied by visiting any branch of SBI as well as through the online route at just a click of the mouse. SBI recently started the online home loan application process which helps customers check their eligibility and find a quote in accordance with their requirements.

Firstly, the customer needs to fill an online form to get an instant e-approval. After that, the bank officials shall visit the customer to complete all the penalties. Also, the customers can upload all their documentation online. This has helped in reducing the processing time considerably and made the whole process customer-friendly.

SBI home loan products:

SBI offers a variety of home loan products designed to meet everyone’s requirements. Here are few of the home loan products offered by SBI:
  • Home Loans: This product is offered for buying a new home, buying a pre-owned house, and for the construction of a house;
  • Loan for earnest money deposit: This loan can be availed to finance the earnest money requirements to book a residential plot or a house property that us sold by government housing agencies or housing boards. This loan can be repaid by the housing loan availed from SBI later;
  • Takeover home loans: this loan facility allows customers to shift their existing home loan from any other commercial, public, private, housing finance company or foreign bank to SBI;
  • Tribal Plus scheme: this is a specialized scheme for people living in the hills or tribal area of Northeast India and areas around Bhopal, Lucknow. Chandigarh, Patna, and Bhubaneshwar;
  • SBI Privilege Home loan: This home loan product is specifically meant for government employees;
  • SBI Shaurya home loans: only defence personnel can avail a home loan under this category;
  • Her Ghar: As the name suggests, this home loan variant is exclusively for women home owners and is offered at a concessional rate of interest;
  • FlexiPay home loan scheme: Availing a loan under this scheme, help young professionals reduce their financial burden by repaying the loan in easy installments.
  • NRI loans: SBI has special home loans to cater to the needs of NRIs.

SBI home loan interest rates:

SBI offers home loans at very competitive rates in comparison to other banks. Presently, it is offering home loan at the rate of 9.15% onwards depending upon the product you choose. Whereas, SBI home loan concessional rates that are offered to women start at 9.10% onwards.

Eligibility criteria and documentation required for availing SBI home loans:

Eligibility criteria and the documentation required depends upon the employment status of the person who is applying for the loan. Here are the requirements that are needed to be met for availing the loan:
  • In the case of salaried employees:
If the applicant is serving as an employee with a company, then he needs to be 18 years of age to a maximum of 70 years to get their home loan approved from SBI. The minimum income should be at least Rs. 1.2 lakhs p.a. to avail a home loan between Rs. 5 lakhs to a maximum of Rs. 1 crore. The loan can be repaid in 5 years to 20 years. The applicant should be working for at least 2 years with the current organization in order to be eligible for the home loan.
  • Documents required:
  • Application form with photograph
  • Residential and identity proof as accepted by bank
  • Salary slips for the last 3 months
  • TDS certificate, i.e. Form 16 of the previous year
  • Salary Account statement for the last 6 months
  • A cheque for the home loan processing fee.

  • In the case of a self-employed person:
If the person is self-employed, then he can avail a loan when aged between 21 years to 70 years. Minimum annual income of Rs. 200,000 is required to be eligible for the home loan. A loan of Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 2 crores can be availed by a self-employed individual and this can be repaid within 5 to 20 years’ time. The applicant should have been in the same business or profession for at least last 3 years in order to qualify.
  • Documents required:
A majority of the documents required to be submitted by a self-employed individual are similar to those that need to be submitted by a salaried applicant. The documents that are specified to self-employed professional and businessmen are as follows:  
  • Educational certificates
  • Proof of business existence
  • Certified copies of income statement and balance sheet for last 3 years
  • Bank statements for last 6 months
  • A cheque to cover the applicable processing fees

Presently, there are no processing fees on SBI home loans if it is being transferred from a different lender to SBI or if the loan is being granted for a SBI approved housing project.


This is a guest post by PaisaBazaar Team

Friday, December 16, 2016

Reasons Why Demonetization Has Brought about the Right Time to Invest in Real Estate

Much hype is created around the demonetization of the currency and its effects on the real estate sector. The fear that the real estate sector will suffer immensely as a consequence of this decision is, however, unwarranted. In fact taking long-term perspective in account will help us see that demonetization will actually bring some positive changes.

Thanks to the demonetization, India will witness transparency and organized ambiance. From a home buyer's view, this is a welcoming change, as it will place him in a stronger position with so many benefits to reap.

Top reasons why you must invest in realty sector (post demonetization).


  • Demonetization has accelerated the flow of money into banks. This excessive money will allow the banks to give out a loan at a cheaper rate of interest. People can avail home loans with ease to build their dream homes.
  • Projects that were earlier delayed on account of lower cash will now speed up. Increased cash flow with banks would also facilitate industries to avail loans at better lending rates than what was being offered earlier.
  • Better liquidity has resulted in deflation, which in turn has given rise to price stabilization, hence making it a buyer's market. The Reserve Bank of India has more than enough expanse to lower the REPO rates now. If the banks have liquidity, it will help them convert the REPO rate into reduced borrowings for home loans. The rupee is also expected to become stronger in the coming few months, thus increasing the purchasing power of customers.
  • Investment in infrastructural construction - Demonetization will lead to a surge in the percentage of money accounted for which will result in an increased collection of taxes. This means the government will have much more resources to invest in infrastructural constructions in India. This will be a win-win situation for the consumers who have invested in affordable projects on the outskirts of the town as they will get more connectivity.

Also, the transformation to cashless economy will make the home buying process all the more transparent and convenient. Therefore, if at all you are planning to buy new apartments in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad or any other city, keep in mind that this is the right time. The Realty Sector has witnessed a slowdown in the past two years and prices of apartments have dipped by almost 10%.

This is a guest post by Dinesh Dawde