Home Buying Tips For The First Timers!

If you are a first time property buyer, buying a home can be a great experience. Every home buyer knows that they set a particular budget range and stick to the price range so that you can know how much you can afford for the property or home. Buying a home may be the first step you take towards building long term wealth. Thus, here are things to know before buying a house:

·     Budget: You need to know how much money you will have each month to meet your expenses. Remember that your first property will seldom be your final property, so search after your present property getting needs first, and let the long term take care of itself. You should guarantee that the property you are getting will satisfy your present needs and be within your budget. 

·      Location: Take a good look at the location and the locality. It is better to try a place adjacent to the prime location of your city so that the price is not that high. Location will also have a large impact on the resale value of your home. Choose wisely and your home may be your best investment.

·       Rental Rates in the area: If you are planning about investing in rental property, homes in high rent or highly populated areas are ideal. Knowing the rental rate in the area helps you to choose the right property and location.

·      Good Resale Value: Resale sale value is an important thing to consider before you plan to invest or buy a property. Property buyers never consider resale value when they buy. They make the mistake of focusing solely on a prime locality or the budget of the property. If you choose the wrong property or location, it is possible that your future sales price will always be less than the other homes around it.

·       Loan Eligibility: Home loan eligibility depends upon the repayment capacity, income, existing loans or debts and age of the loan applicant. The lending company or banks provide online services such as Home loan eligibility calculator to calculate loan eligibility of the home loan borrower. The maximum loan that can be sanctioned varies with the banks and the eligibility criteria may vary according to the bank or RBI regulations. As home loan rates increase, the loan eligibility for a borrower becomes stiffer.

·       Stamp Duty & Registration Fee: This is an important expense or tax, much like the sales tax and income tax that are collected by the Government. When planning your budget for property buying and deciding to buy a property, you need to know the rate and charges applicable in your city. If you want to know the market value of your property and the stamp duty amount on it, you need to contact the Ready Reckoner to locate your valuation zone and sub-zone. Find out the stamp duty amount applicable to you as per the market value.

·        Property insurance: Property insurance safeguards your financial future if certain damages occur to your property. The cost is relatively low and provides coverage in case of problems with the property title, certain damages or any legal issue. There are many different home insurance policies to choose from, with varying levels of protection. When taking a decision to protect your major assets, it is important to have a resource you can trust, to guide you along the way. Choosing the right house insurance protects your property and makes the process of buying easy.

·       Tax Planning: Tax planning, a legitimate exercise and should not be confused with tax avoidance or tax evasion. Tax benefits can be claimed on both the principal and interest components of the home loan as per the Income Tax Act. You can also purchase property in joint names. Joint home loan is an option that might prove fruitful for married couples. Know about your home loan and tax benefit available on it.

Real Estate: Key Factors from Union Budget 2016

The Union Budget is an eagerly-awaited annual events which Indians follow closely. As the decisions and allocations announced by the Finance Ministry have great pertinence to both individuals and industries. The real estate sector is sensitive to many of policies that are announced both for various industries and individuals. The realty sector is just emerging from a prolonged and painful slowdown, and is looking for all and any signs of light at the end of the tunnel. This fact makes Union Budget all the more critical, and the real estate industry has many expectations from it. 

• ·         Offer financial protection from project delays to home buyers

The Union Budget should pay specific heed to this pressing need. On purchase into an under construction property, buyers can only claim tax benefits of Rs. 2 lakh after possession if construction is completed within three years. The benefits reduce to Rs. 30,000 if the builder delays construction beyond this – and they pay higher interest. First time home buyers purchasing properties for self-use additionally pay rent.

Instead of allowing home buyers tax benefits post-possession, the Union Budget should make a provision that allows these from the time they start paying interest on housing loans. This will ease their monetary burden considerably and make increase the velocity of home loan disbursements. Similarly, if an under-construction property is purchased from capital gains, its construction must be completed within three years of its sale to avail exemption. There can be delays by developer in such cases too. These deductions should be brought at par and the construction timeline should be extended from the current three years to five years.

• ·         Provide more tax saving on housing loan and house insurance premiums

The government should increase the tax deduction limit for housing loans, especially for buyers in metropolitan cities. The current limit of Rs. 2 Lakh is insignificant given the ticket sizes in cities like Mumbai, where most houses are priced at Rs 1 crore and above. Also, tax concessions on house insurance premiums could be introduced to encourage end users to insure their homes. Similarly, the tax exemptions limit should be increased by about Rs 1 lakh and be auto-set to match inflationary trends in a financial year.

• ·         Raise house rent deduction limit

Salaried persons get house rent allowance as a component of their total salary, and cam therefore claim a deduction. This deduction can be substantial in cases where the salary and its HRA component are higher. However, self-employed persons and those who draw lump sum pays without an HRA component can only claim a maximum deduction of Rs. 2,000 a month under sections 80GG. The budget can and should address this anomaly.

• ·         Provide more incentives to boost development and consumption of sustainable real estate

The Budget should provide clear and convincing benefits to buyers of green real estate in the country. Stakeholders of the residential real estate sector definitely require more encouragement to press the green button. Most home buyers in India are averse to paying an extra premium for such projects, and the low demand means that developers are not sufficiently active in this segment. The Budget should provide a combination of incentives to boost the development and buyer interest in green real estate in the country.

• ·         Make additional allocation for infrastructure development in peripheral areas of metros

Although the previous Budget prioritised affordable housing, the upcoming Budget should allocate an amount specifically for building infrastructure and improving connectivity in the peripheral areas of cities, especially the metros. Without this, it will be difficult to provide affordable housing in the cities. Developers entering this segment should be allowed cheaper financing options, thereby also providing a shot in the arm for governments Housing for All by 2022 target.

• ·         Remove the DDT bottleneck in REITs

Despite the announcement last year, there are not been a single REIT listing in India to date. The primary reason is the presence of Dividend Distribution Tax. While the government has worked towards removing other bottlenecks, DDT has remained a key pending issue. Developers and other asset holders need the government to do away with it in the Budget 2016. Until this vital change is made, REITs – which can almost single-handedly revive the Indian real estate sector – will remain pipped at the post. To aid the faster revival of the real estate sector as well as to provide a significant boost to the economy in general, the Budget must address this issue.

Residential Property Launches Down 20%, Sale Marginally Up 3% in 2015

The launch of new residential projects was down 20% in 2015, while the sale increased marginally by 3%, the global property market and research firm Knight Frank India’s report revealed on Thursday. The report says that the glut in the realty market of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region will continue. The reform in the housing sector has failed to revive the market.

According to report, in 2015, new launches were down by 23% compared to 2014. The demand has shrunk by 6%. The property prices are stagnant. It has registered a marginal increase of 3%. This is the good time to buy the new home, says the report. Interestingly, the budget housing between Rs.30 lakh to Rs.60 lakh are always in demand, now reported in distress in Navi Mumbai, and peripheral of the central and western suburbs. While demand in Thane has slightly up by the 13%. The premium South Mumbai market witnessed a 108% jump in new project launches to 208 units in 2015.

The residential market in the MMR has been experiencing a steady fall in new launches. There was a 23% decline in the new launches in 2015, compared to 2014. During the second half of 2015, sale of housing units dropped by 6% year to year. For the first time since 2008, the demands for office space has exceeded than supply in MMR; office absorption is at 130%of supply in 2015. The information technology industry emerged as the top occupier of office space in the MMR, contributing 46% of the demand in 2015.

We have witnessed a robust office space demand with 7.5million sq.ft. of annual absorption in 2015. The overall market observed big deals across IT and Pharmaceuticals space, some of the largest office deals ever seen in Mumbai. There is a shortage of quality office space in the city; however it is not visible in the peripheral areas. Outlook for 2016 is a further decline in supply making it a favourable landlord market. However, in next 6 months we do see a gap in terms of expectations of tenant and landlord given the corporate earnings is sluggish and rents are likely to increase gradually in select micro markets due to declining supply.