Properties, Homes & more

In a recent survey by Reuters, More than a quarter of Americans currently renting houses and apartments have no intention to ever buy a home!

The survey, by real estate search site Trulia.com, found 27 percent of renters do not plan to ever buy a home. Although 72 percent still expect to buy eventually, that proportion is down from 77 percent six months ago.

Of those who do hope to become homeowners, two-thirds say they will wait two years or more. This reluctance to buy could drag out the real estate market’s slump longer than many have predicted, Trulia said.

Renters converting into buyers are crucial to turning around the housing slump, but the current economic crisis is causing people to become very hesitant to get off the fence and buy a home. Among the factors affecting sentiment: Renters are unable to save for a down payment, or they are waiting to get a new job or for mortgage rates to go even lower. Trulia’s online survey of about 2,000 Americans was conducted by Harris Interactive in late July.

One of the recents developments happening in Thane’s real estate market is: builders are duping customers through sale of “stilt parking”. One of my close friends was a recent victim of this “possible scam”.

The builder in question is a reputed builder of Thane and has multitude of projecs running in and around Thane. this case happened in one of the projects which was, for some reasons, stuck in litigation in past. the builder have kept buyers in dark about it. now, somehow, the project is cleared and the project is almost on completion, he is trying to dupe customers by selling parking slots at exorbitant rates. he is also saying that STILT PARKING CAN’T BE SOLD LEGALLY (hence hehas & is selling them illegally) & HE IS NOT ALLOWING PARKING REGISTRATIONS ALSO.

I want to ask the legal experts if this is true.
1. Can “stilt parking” be sold at all?
2. Can “stilt parking” be registered? or, regularized?
3. What are legal options available to the customers?

Please share your opinions & save others.

It’s all in the name of good faith! Wise old men said centuries ago that a person’s happiness rests on the good things he has in his home or place of work. Probably every family in our country has a Ganpati figurine in the house that is a sign of prosperity and good luck. Now-a-days, the trend is to have Feng Shui artifacts. It means wind and water. It is rapidly becoming a standard practice for creating the ideal and balanced environment to live in and work.

Feng Shui specifically comprises of four aspects: building, environment, people, and time. Most “masters” and Feng Shui books only utilise the first two aspects - building & environment - and miss the other two important factors - people & time.

It is an ancient chinese study of the environment that is natural and “built”, and has been practiced for thousands of years. It is a blend of architecture, interior design, Chinese mathematics and common sense. In its most accurate form, Feng Shui analyzes specifically how a building and environment supports the people and how a certain time period affects the house and its occupants.

If properly applied, Feng Shui recommendations can result in improvements in the life of the individuals who occupy the property. There are many places where Feng Shui articles are available. Now even stores like Lifestyle are also stroing Feng Shui figurines like Three Wise Men - its presence is said to ensure wealth, authority, respect, long life and good health; Laughing Buddha - a symbol for prosperity, success and financial gains in the work areas; Dragon and Turtlehead Dragon among others.

The sale of these artifacts is going really strong because they are the best way of ensuring good luck. These collectibles are priced very affordably in the range of Rs. 120 to Rs. 2,000 - according to the size & material used. You can also place Figures and Fountains in porcelain thus enhance the beauty of your living rooms. You can use Wind-chimes, available in ceramic and aluminium. In my next post, I will discuss more about Feng Shui and how one can utilize this philosophy to bring in cheer to one’s life.

Ramakant lives in a 3 BHK flat in a posh Thane apartment. He had purchased the property around 1.5 years ago for Rs 60 lakhs. Today, the cost of the apartment is almost 1.5 times original price. With an (2 times) increase in his pay package, Ramakant is sure he can save some additional money every month. He is contemplating on buying a second house. Is this a wise decision?

Discussion…

Correction phase

In today’s times, the realty sector can be best described as in a correction phase. Ideally, this is the best time to invest in property.

Easy home loans

A few years ago, procuring a home loan was quite difficult with lot of administrative hassles, government hurdles (or red-tape), and high interest rates. People could buy their own homes only towards the end of their careers when they had saved enough (PF) money. Things have changed considerably over these years. If you are a salaried individual of today - employed with a large, reputed firm - and have no history of previous loan defaults, getting a home loan is absolutely simple for you.

Nowadays, the lender decides on your housing loan eligibility after considering factors like age, income, educational qualification, repayment track record and credit history. Interest rates have dropped down to single digits. You can, in fact, shop around for the bank that offers you the best deal!

Tax benefits

If you have acquired a second home, the principal paid on both the home loans, will be eligible for deduction under Section 80C, subject to the overall cap of Rs 1 lakh. The entire interest repaid can be deducted from your taxable income for the second house. Only one of your properties can be shown as self-occupied. In case of the second property, actual or notional rental income has to reflect as additional income earned. You can deduct 30 percent from this rental income towards maintenance charges. Municipal taxes can also be deducted from rental income.

Rental income

The rental income that a second property can fetch is a major factor that many buyers take into consideration. This rental income can help pay off a large portion of the EMIs. If the property is closer to the heart of the city, the rental income could be higher.

Conclusion

Considering all above parameters, it seems to be a wise decision for Ramakant to buy a second house, provided he can assure himself a decent cash flow after purchasing the second home.

As I have written in my previous post: Beware of “teaser” home loans, I have mentioned that advisers are warning individuals against obtaining a “teaser loan” only because of the lower interest rate, as it could have serious impact on their finances if the interest rates were to shoot up when the floating rate kicks in after the initial years.

Although all prominent banks have introduced teaser home loan rates as they are flush with money due to lack of demand from companies for funds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken a stern stand on this “bad practice” and have categorically asked all the participating banks to END TEASER LOANS. As reported by Economic Times, RBI is concerned mainly because borrowers may subsequently find it tough to repay the loans, once interest rates go up after the first couple of months (during which the rates are fixed at a fixed rate). I hope banks are ensuring that borrowers are well aware of the implications of such rates and the appraisal takes into account repaying capacity of the borrowers when the rates become normal. [Refer: RBI sees red over teaser home loan rates]

As per RBI’s directions, SBI will be terminating its teaser loans offers by March End, and HDFC will continue till end of February. However, ICICI Bank has immediately withdrawn all its teaser loan schemes. [Ref: Economic Times]