8 mistakes to avoid when buying a home

Author: Sachin Gupta | Find me on Twitter Follow @sach_gupta

Home buying is a long term commitment and therefore one should not rush through the things. Going through a well laid down process will eliminate following common mistakes.

Mistake 1

Buying a home in a builder project means there are additional costs to it. External/Internal development charges, Preferential location charges, club membership, fire fighting charges, one time lease rent, Maintenance charges, car parking are some of the charges that are billed on top of base selling price. These charges put together can range from 18 to 20 % of total cost of home. Once possession is given, you will have to pay stamp duty and registrations charges too.


Mistake 2

Borrowing means you will be paying EMIs. And more you borrow, higher the EMI or you pay EMI for longer time period. Do your calculations and make sure you pay as much as possible in down payment and borrow the rest. There is no point in borrowing 80% of property cost when you can arrange for more funds for down payment.


Mistake 3

Plan at least 3 years before you plan to buy a house. That way, you will have enough surplus funds to make the down payment and borrow the rest from bank.


Mistake 4

Home affordability is a key consideration and one should never lose sight of it. Home affordability means what is the value of home that you can afford given your current income levels. You can easily calculate Home affordability here.


Mistake 5

We all dream of living in a house that is big and has all the world class amenities, but can you afford it?


Mistake 6

Do not ever overlook due-diligence part. Ask for approvals, land title certificates, license number form the developer.


Mistake 7

If buying a home for investment purposes, make sure you do not lend in a soup and have enough cover to pay for home installments. When realty market was going strong, investors/speculators entered the market in the hope that they will make windfall profits, but things have become tough. Most of these investors/speculators are willing to offload their purchases at relatively very low rate of returns.


Mistake 8

Make sure your finances are in order and you have pre-approved home loan before you start your search for home. This way, you will not overshoot your budget.

Did you make any of the above mistakes???

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What are your Rights as a Home Buyer?

Are you planning to buy a home of your dreams? Well, buying a home is a bit tedious task. It involves many complex legal processes. Buying a home is perhaps one of your largest financial investments. Isn’t it? Particularly, if you are a first-time home buyer, your mind would be filled with hundreds of doubts and questions.

For instance, if someone is looking for flats in Calicut, he/she would be concerned with his /her rights over the property, terms and conditions offered by the builders, delays if any and other problems. As a home buyer, you might have many questions.

Before diving into what the home buyers’ rights are as per the Government norms, let us first analyse the process of buying a home in India.

1. First analyse your financial situation and requirements.
2. Find a property that caters to your specific requirements.
3. Inspect the property and seek professional help if needed.
4. Get into an agreement with the seller. Ensure that details like price and also personal details of both buyer and seller are highlighted before signing the same.
5. Find a reliable lender. It is always recommended that you associate with reliable financial institutions like the SBI while applying for a home loan. Play it safe.
6. Perform a thorough analysis of your property to avoid any loopholes in the agreement.
7. At the time of closing, ask seller for all the legal documents associated with your property and get it registered in your name.

These are some of the common steps that one follows while buying a home. Now, let us shift the focus on the rights of a home buyer. As a home buyer, there are several rights granted to you that include mortgage loans, the rate of interest on loan and several others. Awareness of such rights protects you from being duped.

Here are some of the rights that you are entitled to as a home buyer:

Right to obtain information
The home buyers are eligible to know the details of sanctioned layouts and plans of the building. They can also claim for the specifications which are approved by the construction control authority.

Right to know the stages of construction
Under RERA, the home-buyers are entitled to know the stage-wise schedule of the construction of the project. It includes the provision of water, electricity, sanitation and other amenities promised by the builder.

Right to possession of the property
The home-buyer has the right to claim possession of the building, plot or apartment. It is the duty of the builder to provide all the legal documents to the buyer.

Rights to document
It is the duty of the real estate builders to handover all the legal documents related to the property to the home-buyer. Under RERA act, allotted can claim documents and plans of the common areas.


These are some of the rights one should take advantage of as a home buyer. So, if you are looking for your dream home, exercise your rights and make an informed decision. Let me know if you have any doubts or your feedback in the comment section below.


This is a guest post by Sreekanth, who is a digital marketing expert at Webdura Technology. He enjoys experimenting with new techniques in both print and the web. He also loves to explore roads less traveled. Reach him by writing in your details in the comments sections.

5 REAL ESTATE MISTAKES MUST AVOID IN 2017

 Image source: www.propertyportalwatch.com

Dealing with the real estate finance and property matters is an uphill battle. You never know which move will make or break your future plans. Especially for the first-time dealers or the new beginners, the real estate dealings are a learning road. The investors step into this new world of investments and weigh the pros and cons of various property deals against each other. Once they are fully satisfied and have talked to their agents and lawyers, it is only then that they get into a contract with the seller. Even then, the beginners and even professionals tend to make unforeseen mistakes at the time. But, through thorough research and learning, they can do their best to avoid the common pitfalls that can be disastrous.

Here are the common mistakes that can be avoided easily if one has some background of financial and real estate guidance. The mistakes are as follows:

• Lack of research

Image source: jllapsites.com/real-estate-compass

Most of the investors while dealing with property do not know everything that they should. The real estate agents take advantage of this fact and there’s a high chance that they’ll allure you into making less beneficial deals. This is where your knowledge and a good support system are required.
The lack of research can be in choosing the right location or in financing (discussed ahead). Many new investors ask very few questions regarding the property they are shown. This is a big mistake! You should ask everything about the place. How investing there is beneficial? What facilities does it offer and a lot of other things? Say if you are interested in investing in the property located on the Al Marjan Islands UAE, wouldn’t you ask about the other UAE islands and the other potential areas? You must approach every possibility that you can.

• Not having a strong financial approach

 Image source: realtybiznews.com

The property investors, home buyers, building renters, everyone must have a strong financial background. The dozens of mortgages offer, loan plans and financial funds are available in the market with the purpose of helping the investors purchase what they want. Here, sticking with the budget you have is very important. Some of the investors are attracted to homes and buildings with a higher price. As a lot of other expenses should be taken into account before expanding the budget, spending money on such a deal is a waste of your money and time. Other bad investments include those with a high-interest rate, high monthly payments, and balloon payments.

• Giving up easily on negotiations

Image source: lehmbergrealty.com

Good communication and negotiation skills are a trump card in the real estate dealings. You need to have a strategic approach if you want to get a good deal and negotiations play a very important role here. To excel in this domain you need to learn the basic techniques and tricks of property dealings. What many investors here do is they give in easily to what the agent has said. Even if they aren’t satisfied with the deal, they fail to negotiate with the agent. Then the end results, in this case, aren’t good enough. This is why you need to learn how to negotiate or at least know the basics of the essential things and how to talk about them before signing the contract.

• Miscalculating the repair costs

It’s not only the property land or the building that costs you your life savings but also the repair cost that most of us ignore to consider. The repair cost is the money one has to spend, after buying the property, on the maintenance of the building. Everything from the repair of the lost connections to painting, lawn care, the furnishing of the place and few other important tasks are included in the post-property buying expenses. A buyer must consider these and make sure he doesn’t go out of cash so that he could fix these issues as well.

• Ignoring the due diligence period

A due diligence period is the right of every buyer and those agents who don’t give it or keep it short must be stopped. As the buyer, you are responsible for the deal you are making and you must keep a reasonable due diligence period before finalizing the deal so that you have a chance to end the deal if you find some problem in it. During the due diligence period, you should hire a third-party proper property inspector who looks into every aspect of the house and analysis it. Estimate the repair cost and check whether there is any other issue or not.

Real estate investment is tricky but not impossible. If you follow the proper guide and avoid the common pitfalls we have mentioned in the article, there’s a higher chance that you’ll succeed in making your very first potential deal. Keep your head high and be attentive during the whole process. This is what it takes to get a good deal.

This is a guest post by Rachel Stinson who has always had a knack for writing, food, fashion, and places. Blogging has combined all four for her with an added bonus of enthusiastic audiences. She expertly analyzes real estates and restaurants with respect to pricing and people involved and can express her opinions in an unhesitating, engaging manner.