The ‘personal discussion’ checklist for home loan

There is a certain anxiety one experiences before one meets the lender granting the home loan. The meeting popularly referred to as a ‘personal discussion’, can be hassle-free, if dealt with tact.

Getting a home loan entails putting many pieces of paper together for the lending company to help ascertain your demographic and financial situation. After this, the lender will seek to meet you prior to sanctioning the loan. This meeting is colloquially called the ‘personal discussion.’ The personal discussion is of crucial importance. Decisions regarding the sanction as well as the loan amounts are made based on this meeting.
Given the importance of the personal discussion, it is worth understanding the objectives of the meeting so that you are well-prepared.

To accurately assess income: While your income statements for the previous year(s) reveal the income, the lender would like to know if there are any other streams of income that you have that can be used to service the loan. These could include deposits or other instruments maturing, a property that you may be selling in the near future or any other income that is not reflected in your financial statements.

To estimate your worth: The lender will ask you questions regarding your assets and your plans with regards to each one of them. This is to estimate whether you have the ability to repay the loan even if there is some stress with regards to your regular income.

To understand your business: Self-employed customers have incomes that fluctuate. The lender will like to understand your business, its seasonality and your ability to manage any resultant stress. Based on this, he will form a view regarding your ability to consistently repay your monthly installments.

To ascertain your expenses: Each one of us has different lifestyles and different levels of expenses. The lender will understand this and determine the installment that you would be comfortable repaying.

Loans or other obligations: Any loans that you are currently repaying need to be taken cognizance of, so that your consolidated debt burden is reasonable.

Future prospects: Finally, the lender will understand the future prospects of your business or employment situation. This will determine not only the appropriate loan amount but also whether the option of monthly installment can increase in the future.

While there is no need to ‘prepare’ for the personal discussion, it is worth bearing a few points in mind:

Be honest: Like elsewhere in life, it pays to be honest during the personal discussion. Lenders have access to your financial statements and a lot of information is accessible on the internet. Further, it is a common practice to do reference checks with the industry or trade. So any lies or inconsistencies are easily found out and could adversely impact the decision to sanction the loan.

Do not conceal any information: This is an extension of the previous point regarding honesty. Your indebtedness, reputation in the market and virtually every other facet of life are verifiable. It is not worth concealing information for the sake of getting a loan. It is worth noting that lenders exchange information regarding potential bad or fraud borrowers among themselves, thus magnifying the impact.

Keep your documents handy: It will help expedite the sanction if you provide answers to all the questions and provide any supporting documents required.

Confidence: Finally, be confident. You are the customer and have access to many lenders in the market. You just need to talk about your financial situation with clarity and confidence. There is no need to get intimidated by the process.

To Know more about Prescon Realtors & Infrastructures Private Limited
Contact Us :
Address  :
201, Prestige Precinct, Near Nitin Casting, Almeida Road, Panchpakhadi, Thane (W), Mumbai – 400601.
Telephone : 91-22-25985951–55
Email : prescon@prescon.in

Why 2bhk and 3 bhk size matter?

Basic facts you should know when buying a home

Let’s admit it, the terms and jargon thrown at us by agents and realtors have us staring at them cluelessly most of the time. While buying a house, terms such as carpet area, built-up area and super built-up area mostly evade our realm of understanding, or at least cause some confusion. In every residential complex, there are these three ways of calculating the area, or the square footage. They may not all sound very different, but there is in fact a big difference between carpet area and built-up area.
Not knowing what each actually means is what could give people a chance to take you for a ride. However, it is not rocket science. Just a little reading and you will be pretty thorough with the terms. Here are some of the basics of real estate you should know.

Carpet area

Carpet area is the area that can actually be covered by a carpet, or the area of the apartment excluding the thickness of inner walls. Carpet area does not include the space covered by common areas such as lobby, lift, stairs, play area, etc. Carpet area is the actual area you get for use in a housing unit. So when you are in search of a house, look at the carpet area and then make your decision, because that is the number, which will give you an idea of the actual space at your disposal.
Focusing on the carpet area will help you understand the usable area in the kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc. Nowadays, many builders don’t even mention carpet area at first, and usually charge on the basis of built-up area or super built-up area. Carpet area is usually around 70% of the built-up area.

Built-up area

Built-up area is the area that comes after adding carpet area and wall area. Now, the wall area does not mean the surface area, but the thickness of the inner walls of a unit. The area constituting the walls is around 20% of the built-up area and totally changes the perspective. The built-up area also consists of other areas mandated by the authorities, such as a dry balcony, flower beds, etc., which add up to 10% of the built-up area.
So when you think about it, the usable area is only 70% of the built-up area. So, if the built-up area says 1200 square feet, it means around 30% (360 square feet) is not really usable, and the actual area you will get to use is only the remaining 840 square feet.

Super built-up area

Super built-up area is a builder’s BFF! It is the area calculated by adding the built-up area and common area that includes the corridor, lift lobby, lift, etc. In some cases, builders even include amenities such as a pool, garden and clubhouse in the common area. A developer/ builder charges you on the basis of the super built-up area which is why it is also known as ‘saleable’ area
Now let us consider this case: the rate is Rs. 2,000 per square foot and the super built-up area is 1,200 square feet, then the base cost will come up to 24 lakh.
When there is more than one apartment on a floor, the super built-up area is calculated in a different manner. Let us assume this is the case.
- The area of Apartment 1 is 1000 square feet
- The area of Apartment 2 is 2000 square feet
- The total common area is 1500 square feet, out of which the share of Apartment 1’s common area is 500 sq. ft. while the share of Apartment 2’s common area is 1,000 sq. ft.
Then the super built-up area of Apartment 1 is 1,500 square feet and of Apartment 2 is 3,000 Square feet. The super built-up area, as seen in this example, is divided in the ratio of the apartments’ built-up areas (in this case 1:2).
Considering the fact that builders and developers usually price their apartments based on super built-up or ‘saleable’ area, being unaware of the fundamental difference between carpet area and built-up area and other terms leaves one running blind. Often the actual usable area is much lower than the super built-up area.
Some builders take into account the carpet area while charging you, but this is only in the rarest of the rare cases. 90% of the developers calculate the base cost on the basis of the super built-up area; the more the amenities the higher the super built-up area.

In a nutshell

Real estate can be complicated, and you cannot change the rules and practices, but you definitely can make an informed decision when you’re aware of the various types of calculations for square footage, a seemingly major but actually simple job. We hope this clears up the confusion that always seems to permeate floor areas and how prices are calculated, making it easier for you to make decisions.

To Know more about Prescon Realtors & Infrastructures Private Limited
Contact Us :
Address  :
201, Prestige Precinct, Near Nitin Casting, Almeida Road, Panchpakhadi, Thane (W), Mumbai – 400601.
Telephone : 91-22-25985951–55
Email : prescon@prescon.in

Walk-to-work culture gaining immense momentum in Thane

Everybody wants their home to be close to their work place; however, is it feasible to have one, especially in a metropolitan city like Mumbai? Thane, today, is very strongly promoting the walk-to-work culture. Residents here tend to allocate high importance to the location of homes that are within a reasonable commuting distance from their workplaces. In such a scenario, a home close to the Central Business District (CBD) or Secondary Business District (SBD) is a premium offering in the residential real estate segment.
Siddharth Bhatia, marketing head, The Wadhwa Group, says, "The potential growth of Thane as one of the new CBDs of the city, has witnessed a major rise in the preferred residential location by people. In the last two decades, Thane has transformed rapidly as a developing location. The demographic aspect of the metropolitan is such that commuting from one part of the city to another is a task and hence, people prefer settling for a property that is closer to their area of work."

Experts believe that the increased connectivity of Thane with Mumbai's suburbs and the national highways has paved the way for many corporates and factories to have their foothold in this area. Emerging micro-markets in Thane like Majiwada, Ghodbunder Road, Pokhran Road and Kolshet Road along with the presence of prominent developers and their quality offerings, have led Thane to house both, residential and commercial spaces. "Accessibility to international schools, hospitals, entertainment facilities and green living, has contributed to the rise of the population in the nearby areas and the expansion of Thane city. Integrated townships and high-rise buildings, along with public service facilities, have promoted the government to establish a business centre around Thane, thereby enabling people to have an adequate work-life balance," explains Anupam Verma, vice-president operations, Rustomjee Urbania.

Thane and its walk-to-work culture

Thane has seen a gigantic increase in residential real estate because of its close proximity to prime locations and commercial hubs. "With the infamous traffic grimaces, walk-to-work is the much-needed change that will make a significant transformation for the betterment of Thane by facilitating people to dedicate more quality hours at work rather than spending time on travelling," opines Rushank Shah, director, sales, Hubtown Ltd. According to experts, there exist certain key aspects that lead to an appropriate work-life balance in Thane, such as:

Connectivity: Connectivity of Thane with Mumbai's suburbs and its out skirts is fetching a great amount of at traction for the residential and commercial realty space;

Accessibility: Accessibility to international schools, corporate entities, hospitals and transportation, has enabled the consumers to avail a better lifestyle

Entertainment: Availability of the malls, amusement parks and other entertainment zones in Thane has added a great quotient to the walk-to work culture.

Healthy living in thane

Niranjan Hiranandani CMDHiranandani Group points out, "Healthy living is something that Thane promotes with its real estate offerings. There are two aspects we need to consider here. First, the city itself is clean and green; it is blessed with verdant greenery and water bodies. The Sanjay Gandhi National Park's eastern side overlooks the city and this adds to the green perspective. Gardens within the city adds to the 'green' quotient; as do the lakes surrounded by lush, tree lined avenues. Secondly, the integrated townships, which are coming up in Thane have added to the 'clean and green' aspect in a major way. In fact, these townships promote the 'walk culture', with options which encourage residents to walk to the green spaces, the club house or sports facilities. The townships have been created in a manner that encourages residents to think 'green'."

Experts claim that Thane is one such locality that fulfils the most lucrative need by providing a classy living without compromising on the breathing zones of the city. Widened roads and a number of green patches dotting the locality all around add to the spacious charm.

To Know more about Prescon Realtors & Infrastructures Private Limited
Contact Us :
Address  :
201, Prestige Precinct, Near Nitin Casting, Almeida Road, Panchpakhadi, Thane (W), Mumbai – 400601.
Telephone : 91-22-25985951–55
Email : prescon@prescon.in