Properties, Homes & more

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.

The Government of India (GOI) may modify the draft direct tax code to retain tax shelters on interest and principal repayments for home loans to make the proposed new code more attractive for the average Indian, a finance ministry official told The Economic Times. The proposed direct taxes code, which has been unveiled for public debate and is due to become operational from April 2010, does not provide tax incentives to loan-funded house purchases that are for personal use.

At present, taxpayers are allowed to deduct from their income the interest paid on home loans to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh every year. In addition, the repayment of the principal amount is also allowed to be included within the rebate available under section 80C, which has a maximum limit of Rs 1 lakh.

The draft code, billed as a comprehensive reform of the direct taxes regime, has suggested increasing the exemption limit under section 80C to Rs 3 lakh, but the list of eligible expenditure/savings does not include the principal payment. The code also restricts the interest deduction only to in respect houses rented out and where such income is included in the income of the assessee. At present, if a home buyer in the highest 30% tax slab were to avail the maximum tax exemption available on home loans then government loses over Rs 77,000 in tax.

The planned move to discontinue tax benefits for housing has faced widespread criticism and the finance ministry official said that they are looking at provisions (in the direct taxes code) that concern common man directly, including tax incentives to housing.

A few days back, a leading newspaper carried an advertisement on their front page from a builder claiming that they are going to shed a light on the truth and are digging out the fact how the projects from another leading builder are charging Rs 5800/sqft for Plinth Area using hidden costs like Common Areas etc while they charge only Rs 2370/Sq ft for Plinth Area exclusively.

Now, the focus of a property seeker shifts towards the fact that how must he save himself from these smart games from the builder where he tries to buck extra? The smooth talking salesmen on the site of the builder chooses to skip on this fact too. So what should we do? The only way to save your skin from this hook is to have the right knowledge on the Carpet Area , Super Area and Plinth Area.

Here is a quick run-through the exact definitions you should know before diving in to scoop the best deal on property.

• “Carpet Area” refers to the total usable area within the four walls of an apartment or a commercial space, as the case may be. In other words, it refers to the area for which a carpet can be laid if required by the owners.
• “Plinth Area” refers to the entire carpet area along with the thickness of the external walls of the apartment. It obviously includes the thickness of the internal walls and the columns, if any, lying within the four walls of an apartment. The commercial space is not taken into account in calculating the plinth area.
• “Super Built-up Area” refers to the plinth area of an apartment or a commercial unit as added by the balconies and other common areas like corridors, staircase, lift room, motor room, security room, meeting hall, gymnasium and an area reserved for indoor games.

The builders, while advertising or quoting the rates for there properties, tag the carpet area and print the rates of the same in there commercials and public issues. But what they usually sell you is the Plinth Area. There has been a huge lot of roaring on this matter in past and yet the strength of the definition of Builder Area’s is enigmatic.

How many of us really get into the carpet area? We seem to simply go by what the builders say in terms of the saleable/chargeable area.

DO NOT GET FOOLED BY THE BUILDERS. I am intentionally posting this on April Fool’s Day, so as to warn all the readers and prospective proerty-buyers from being called “April Fooled by the builder”!!! Pass on this warning to all those you care about.

Finding inspiration for interior design can be tricky. Going to the usual stores often leaves you feeling uninspired and one of the crowd. Sometimes it takes looking a little bit further to find design that truly inspires and invigorates the left hand side of your brain.

One of the best places to find inspiration is from the thousands of blogs that are dedicated to design and interiors. Many famous interior designers and industry professionals like to maintain blogs to log their creative inspirations. For those of us that do not live in the World of design these blogs are a great place to start in order to quickly get up to speed on the latest trends and developments. Often you will find that there are styles that you were not aware of and ways of styling a living space that you had not considered before. Often the high street sofa store do not cover new and breaking styles of sofa so it is always worth checking other places before it is too late.

Interior design blogs will also give you ideas on how to style rooms. Practical tips outlining the do and do not’s’ can come in very useful. Things like spacing, colour, and practical advice can make all the difference to your success.

When looking for sofa and interior blogs make sure you follow blog rolls rather than simply relying on search. Many bloggers do not make an effort to get search visibility so it is always advisable to check out the blogs that are popular within blog rolls. Many bloggers are also willing to have dialogue with you and may be able to help if you have any specific questions.

Once you have looked at many sofas and taken plenty of time looking at blogs, I would strongly advise that you print out your favourites and make a collage. A collage will provide the visual stimulus that will help you decide which style suits you best. After taking in to account other factors such as price and sizes you will be ready to choose the sofa of your dreams. Good luck!

For more info about sofas, you may visit the sofa information section on sofasofa.com.

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]