1. Banks are flush with liquidity; but at the same time the demand for credit has fallen a lot. Instead of parking the money with the RBI under the Reverse Repo window they would prefer to lend it to the customers.
2. As the fears of the slowdown recede and economic outlook improves the real estate sector is picking up. The real estate sector was one of the hardest hit sectors due to the sub prime crisis,
3. Increasing competition among banks and housing finance companies is forcing each bank to come out with an offer that is better than the existing home loan offers in the market. Most banks want to increase the share of retail assets among their overall portfolio.
4. Diwali and year end festive season. Normally during the festive season the demand from customers increases. It is considered auspicious to buy assets during the festive season.

Due to the above reasons lot of banks have come out with dual rate home loan schemes. Under these schemes the interest rate is fixed for the initial few years and it becomes floating for the remaining tenure of the loan. The floating rate depending on the Prime Lending Rate (PLR) of the bank. This means that if the Bank PLR goes up the interest rate on the home loan will move up and if the Bank PLR is revised downwards then the home loan rate will also move down along with the PLR. Due to the uncertain economic environment customers are hesitant to go for home loans. Customers are not too sure of the future economic scenario and the direction of interest rates in the near term. So banks are coming out with these dual rate home loan schemes so that the customer can be assured that his EMI would stay fixed atleast for the first few years.

Even though in the home loan offers of most of the banks the interest rate is fixed for the first few years is fixed; the other terms and conditions like the loan tenure, the minimum and maximum amount, pre-payment clauses etc are different in case of each bank. Through this article we are trying to make a comparison of the existing home loan offers of few banks so that selection becomes a little easy for the customer. However the customer needs to check with the bank for the final terms and conditions as these offers may be subject to change.

After having a look at the comparison let us have a detailed look at some of the home loan offers of some of the banks.

State Bank of India

SBI has come out with 3 home loan offers.

SBI Hi-Five Loan

• Under this home loan offer the maximum amount of loan given is 5 Lakhs.
• The maximum tenure of the loan is 10 years.
• Under this scheme the interest rate is fixed at 8% for the first 5 years.
• Thereafter the interest rate becomes floating at 2.75% below SBAR (State Bank Advance Rate) or fixed at 1.25% below SBAR.
• The processing fee under this loan upto Rs 5 Lakhs is Rs 1000.
• This scheme is valid upto 31^st March 2010

SBI Easy Home Loan

• Under this scheme home loan can be availed upto a maximum of Rs 50 Lakhs.
• The interest rate for the 1^st year is fixed at 8%.
• The interest rate for the 2^nd and 3^rd year is fixed at 8.5%.
• After the 3^rd year the interest rate becomes floating at 2.75% below SBAR (State Bank Advance Rate) or fixed at 1.25% below SBAR (State Bank Advance Rate) depending on the customer’s choice selected at the time of sanction of the loan. The fixed rate option comes with a reset clause of 5 years.
• The processing fee for loan amount upto Rs 5 Lakhs is Rs 1000 and may go upto Rs 7000 for a loan amount of upto Rs 50 Lakhs. This depends of the loan amount.
• This scheme is valid upto 31^st March 2010

SBI Advantage Home Loan

• Under this scheme home loans above Rs 50 Lakhs can be availed.
• The interest rate for the 1^st year is fixed at 8%.
• The interest rate for the 2^nd and 3^rd year is fixed at 9%.
• After the 3^rd year the interest rate becomes floating at 1.75% below SBAR (State Bank Advance Rate) or fixed at 0.75% below SBAR (State Bank Advance Rate) depending on the customer’s choice selected at the time of sanction of the loan. The fixed rate option comes with a reset clause of 5 years.
• The processing fee for loan amount of Rs 50 Lakhs is Rs 8000 and may go upto Rs 20,000 for a loan amount of above Rs 5 Crores. This depends of the loan amount.
• This scheme is valid upto 31^st March 2010

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC)

• Though a late entrant to join the price war; the market leader has finally announced the fixed-floating home loan offer to arrest its falling market share.
• HDFC has announced that it will offer home loan at 8.25% till March 2012. The loan has to be taken before 31^st March 2010.
• From 1^st April 2012 the customer will move to a floating rate. The floating rate charged will be 500 basis points below the Prime Lending Rate (PLR). 100 basis points is 1%.

LIC Housing Finance (LIC HF)

• LIC Housing Finance has introduced a dual rate home loan scheme under the name ‘Fix-o-Floaty’.
• Under this scheme the interest rate is fixed at 8.9% for the first 3 years for home loans between Rs 30 Lakhs upto 75 Lakhs.
• After 3 years the customer will move to floating rates prevailing at that time.

Punjab National Bank (PNB)

• Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced a Festive Season Bonanza-2009 for housing loans and car loans
• Under this scheme PNB is offering home loans upto Rs 30 Lakhs at a discounted rate.
• The interest rate for the first 3 years is fixed at 8.5%.
• After 3 years the customer will move to floating rate. The floating rate will be 2 – 2.5% below the Bank Prime Lending Rate (BPLR).
• Under this scheme the bank has also waived off the processing fee and the documentation fee.

Canara Bank

• Canara Bank is offering dual rate home loans under the New Housing Loan Package
• Under this package the interest rate is fixed for the first 5 years for loans upto Rs 30 Lakhs.
• In the 1^st year the interest rate is 8% and for the next 4 years (2^nd year to 5^th year) the interest rate is fixed at 9%.
• After 5 years the customer moves to floating rate which is 2.5% below the Bank Prime Lending Rate (BPLR). But the floating rate is subject to a minimum of 10%.
• The scheme is valid upto 31^st December 2009.

Axis Bank

• Axis Bank has launched a dual rate home loan scheme under the name “Power Plus Scheme”
• Under this scheme the interest rate is fixed for the 1^st year at 8% and thereafter it becomes floating. The floating rate charged will be 3.50% below the Mortgage Reference Rate (MRR).
• The bank is offering loans upto 30 Lakhs under this scheme.
• The margin requirement is 15%.
• The scheme is valid till 10^th December 2009.
• The bank has waived off pre-payment charges under the scheme.

We have got all the above information from the websites of the respective banks. However customers are advised to check with the banks for the final rates and other terms and conditions as these may be subject to change.

While the banks are fighting hard to win every additional customer; the customers are having a merry time choosing from the multiple options that they have on offer. A customer should compare all the options available and study the pros and cons of each offer and finally select the offer that best suits his requirement; after all buying that dream home is the biggest financial decision of their lives for lot of us. So Happy Home Loan Shopping!

This article is written by Gopal Gidwani!

A shop for its owner does not only act as his main asset, but also his main and probably only source of income. In these times when crime can be considered to be at its peak, no one is spared of the danger. Not even small and medium shop owners. To protect their shops and the assets and goods contained therein, the best resolve for a shop owner is to take up a Shopkeepers’ Insurance Policy.

This policy insures the owner and his partners from any loss or damage to the property or the goods resulting fro theft, violence or robbery or a natural disaster. The policy usually covers shop building and its contents, cash stored in the counter/ transit, neon and glow signs, plate glass, the owner’s public liability, baggage, workmen’s compensation liability, fidelity of the employees, as well as interruption of business. Shops that also have a manufacturing facility don’t come under the Shopkeepers’ Insurance Policy.

The shopkeepers are immensely benefited by this policy as risks that are taken care of provide a comprehensive coverage to the owner. Risks include burglary and theft, fire and other allied risks, accidental damages, misfortune or loss, any risk or liability under the Workman’s Compensation Act, loss due to dishonesty of the employees, injury to any third party and the loss of the business owing to any interruption. But the policy applies only if the cost of the business does not exceed a certain maximum amount.

This insurance policy doesn’t cover the motor vehicles belonging to the business, securities, deeds, bullion and stocks, documents and manuscripts etc. owned by the business. Also in case of a burglary, if the owner or one of the partners is found guilty, the coverage doesn’t apply. Also loss or damage of assets during transit or moving the business from one premise to another is not covered under this policy.

The shopkeepers’ insurance policy lets the shop owner concentrate on his or her business rather than worry about the many perils that occur. It is designed to cover the losses of the shop owner arising out of various risks.

The LIC Home loans offer various Home loan schemes that may be accepted by individuals all across India, because of the striking rates at which they are provided. Since there are different Home loan schemes available, which make the time period for repayment quite flexible with LIC Home loans, people find it more convenient than any other plans; this is leading to the increase in the popularity of LIC Home loans, among the common mass every other day.

Anybody from a resident Indian to a NRI can apply for LIC Home loans and may be granted the loan for purposes like purchase of plot, construction in a site, for repairing and renovation and even extending ones residential unit. There are basically two different schemes under the LIC Home loans policies, along with an added scheme, and they may be presented as follows:

1. Griha Prakash – Under this scheme a person is allowed to extend their residential units and may be granted a loan amount that may start from 25 thousand INR to a maximum of 1 crore INR. The policy takes care of up to 85% of the total cost of getting the things done, for having a new house for ourselves. The time period within which the amount has to be returned may be 20 years or an age of 70 years or retirement age, but the one which comes earlier is considered.
2. Griha Lakshmi – This policy of LIC Home loans is similar to that of the one mentioned above except the extension of property.
3. Griha Sudhar – This scheme pertains exclusively to the purpose of renovation of the unit and has the limitation of a maximum amount of 10 Lac INR. The major thing to note in this particular case is that, the policy would fund either 25% of the current asset value or 85% of the repairing cost, but the one that is lesser would be chosen.

However the LIC Home loans rate varies among the cities; for example, the company had suddenly declared a 7.75% interest rate for any term, when the banks had cut down their rate of interest.

An office umbrella policy is a comprehensive policy that protects and covers an office or a business from the various perils that it might face while operating. There are many problems that an office might face while concentrating on business, like an earthquake or any natural disaster that destroys a part or the entire building. At times violence or riots might result in damage of the office premises. His office umbrella policy covers all these damages and more. It could range to anything from some the assets or the contents in an office, or fixtures and fittings of the structure, damage to sanitary and glass panes, electronic equipments etc. The coverage is suitable for any kind of offices, large, medium or small. This insurance breaks up all the office equipments and provides coverage for each one of them. The loan could be availed by business owners who own their premises or have rented it.

The office umbrella policy is very useful for business like an architect’s office, a fashion designer’s boutique, consultants etc, or any other office for that matter that can have goods which can be an easy target of loss or damage, intentionally or otherwise. The insurance also covers for business interruptions in some select cases.

It also takes care of liability insurances, breakdown of any office appliance, money insurance or even personal accidents. All these are of course a matter of scrutiny by the insurance company. The insurance might also cover a business against various law suits slapped on it which may result in a loss of any asset belonging to the company. These apply to special cases. A policy of this nature actually covers everything that is left out by other insurance policies.

There are not many companies a very enticing office umbrella policy. Also the competition in this particular insurance policy is much less. Hence finding a product that suits a business premise should not be a very difficult task. As with other policies, the paperwork may be immense, and claiming the damage a big hassle, but it is all worth it when some mishap occurs in a company.

Although a country may be economically very prosperous and strong, the risk of robbery and burglary is always there. Apart from theft and robbery in homes, those in the business places are increasing by the day. No amounts of security measures are adequate at times. To counteract such situations, lending houses have come up with innovative and attractive burglary insurance plans for business premises. These insurance products relieve the business people to some extent, at least because of the fact that whatever they might have lost due to the burglary will be reimbursed.

Burglary Insurance provided by most insurers takes care of all the assets in the business premises, cash stored in lockers, papers and important documents. Usually, a robbery is associated with violence and threat, and that is what the insurance company provide insurance against. Theft are usually not on the list, but can be obtained in special cases. The insurance provides cover for cash in the premises, damage to the premises caused due to some violence, securities kept in lockers etc.

Before giving out any coverage, the companies lay down certain conditions on the insurer as to how to maintain the premises, to prevent a robbery. Usually, they require one to keep cash in strong locked steel cupboards, securities and important documents in steel lockers etc. Also the coverage is not valid in case of theft by an internal staff, or a person who didn’t break in to the premises. In some cases the insurance takes into account the damages caused due to strike of violent nature, riots and chaos leading to robbery etc, but more often than not, theft are kept out of the coverage.

The premium of the burglar insurance is usually high with a huge stake at risk. Getting an insurance done may not be a problem, but with the insurance company trying to prove that the particular robbery doesn’t come under their clause for reimbursement, the claim can be a hassle. With a lot of companies out there in the market ready to insure a business premise, the insurer weighs all the options before actually getting the insurance done.

The company of Sundaram Home Finance Ltd. had been established in the year 1999 and in reality is an auxiliary part of the southern India based Sundaram Finance Ltd. This company has impartial participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Netherlands, FMO and Washington also. After spreading its popularity and gaining the people’s confidence and faith in the South, Sundaram Home finance Ltd. is looking forward to expand itself with its varied dimensions in North India too.

Sundaram Home finance Ltd. is providing its customers with variety of loan products, which may be curtailed or summarized as follows:

• Home Loans
• Loans for Home Improvement
• Loans for Home Extension
• Loans that are provided against existing houses
• Loans for helping out professionals
• Loans against a plot of residential land by Land loans
• NRI Loans

Every person has the dream, of having a house for his own, and to realize that dream Sundaram Home finance Ltd. has designed or made available various loan products, like the ones mentioned above. It may include different requirements of an individual, ranging from getting a new home to renovating and repairing the existing one, along with keeping the home in mortgage to raise fund for some other requirements.

There are a number of benefits that can be obtained from Sundaram Home finance Ltd., which are quite obvious if someone may go through the package deals that are given with the products, and take note of the insurance covers in them. There are different insurance covers from which the individuals may wish to choose and could be categorized as:

• Insurance cover for low cost property
• Free coverage for personal accidents
• Life cover, which could be optional
• Insurance for the contents at home

The Sundaram Home finance Ltd. provides various other features like many other finance institutions, which provide home loans to different individuals across the country, by making their products more sellable and attractive. For the added information about the added on services by Sundaram Home finance Ltd., it is advisable to log onto the website of Sundaram Finance Limited, and get the solution to our queries.

PNB or Punjab National Bank provides its customers with various Home loan policies and features at highly competitive rates. They know the needs of the Indian customers that they have to deal with, on a regular basis, and provide the policies accordingly. The PNB Home loans cater mainly to the requirements of the middle class individuals of India, as PNB itself is one of the leading public-sector banks of the nation.

The PNB Home loans are very easily available, and have an even easier process of repayment that is given over a prearranged time period. This period of time is determined, when the PNB Home loans are being finalized and along with the loans, the buyer gets the opportunity of having a life insurance covered against him. The basic grounds on which the PNB Home loans are provided are:

• Extending, repairing, modification and even renovating of an already existing building or flat
• Purchase or building of a new house or flat

The basic interest rates of the PNB Home loans may be around 9.5%, and the time period may vary from a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 25 years. However, there is a certain limitation of the loan amount that an individual may take from the bank. The maximum amount of loan amount sanctioned under PNB Home loans is 20 Lac INR and the minimum that could be obtained is 1 Lac INR. It generally takes around 7 days to process the PNB Home loans, from the day it has been finalized with the bank.

Apart from all these details, the PNB Home loans also enable us to choose between fixed and floating rates that may be applicable from time to time, and keeps varying from one time period to another. As far as the eligibility is concerned, a person between the age group of 25 to 50 years may be qualified to apply for the PNB Home loans. Along with this, it also has to be noted that the annual income of the individual, who is applying for the loan, must be greater than or equal to 1.2 Lac INR.

The contemporary era is rightly touted as the era of loans as it enables people to come to terms to terms with some of the basic needs of life. No doubt, this basic need starts from home and to a large extent people are taking home loans either to buy a house or to renovate or to make some improvement to the same. But, this turbulent economy also calls for a better look into terms and condition and at the same time some of the basic criteria for selecting a housing finance company.
Below are some of the guidelines which definitely would help you to zero in and choose a home loan.

Interest rate
The first step that you should take while selecting a home loan company or a housing finance company is to look for the rate of interest. Though most of the rates look exactly same on paper but there is chance that you would be able to bargain with the company and come with a rate that would suit your needs and requirement.

National presence
This point also has a very vital role to play while selecting a housing finance company. You should select a company that has branches in at least main cities across the country. This particularly is very much important as some people might have a transferable job or may have to go on frequent visits to different cities and states. This point basically helps these people in getting rid of the hassle of couriering their cheques to the housing finance company.

Prepayment or foreclosure benefits
This is also a very important point for all those people who are seeking a home loan but is especially important for salaried people. Salaried people know that they will get a he in their salary every year and at the same could even get some sort of bonus or incentives which eventually means that they could pay higher EMIs and at the same time could even repay the loan either partially or fully. Some housing finance companies do not charge on prepayment whereas some charge. So, it is advised that you should go with the former one.

Update your knowledge by doing proper homework
Home loans are not all about going with a particular brand rather it is selecting a housing finance company which totally defines your requirement. Hence, do your home work and then only move ahead with the deal.

Like several Indian banks, the IDBI also provides Home loans to its customers and on various occasions try to make it more attractive than their competitors. IDBI Home loans take out lot of headaches from our part, and make it pretty easy for us to get financed for our new home. Various other important add on facilities are also provided along with the IDBI Home loans to make it a more attractive offer.

IDBI Home loans guides us in realizing our long desired vision of having our own home, by the means of simple steps free of overheads. With the help of IDBI Home loans we could get a number of things done, such as:

• Get a newly built house or flat
• Buy a residential plot of our liking
• Get the previous loans taken from other banks to be re-financed, etc.

The IDBI Home loans are considered to be highly flexible and provide us with number of advantages that are unique only to them, and may be summarized as below:

• A resident individual may extend the tenure to about 25 years
• Huge amount funding could be possible
• If required technical and legal assistance is also provided on behalf of the bank
• If the person undergoes change of income or the status of residence, his eligibility can be adjusted after reassessment
• Facility of transferring one’s balance
• Interesting interest rates
• Updated EMI against our balance is made available
• Options of choosing between fixed and floating rates

Other than these, there are different criteria involving our eligibility to apply for IDBI Home loans, and they are based on the factors that include us to be salaried individuals, or NRIs, or businessmen. Each of these criteria regulates the term, for which we may take IDBI Home loans. The tenure of an employee is higher than that of a person, who is self employed, whereas it is the lowest for the NRIs and are all subject to one condition that the person may be at most of 60 years, during maturity of the IDBI Home loans.

The State Bank of India, or SBI, is one of the earliest banks of our country and still respected by its competitive private counterparts. Like various other companies financing for your Home loans, the SBI has developed its own Home loan policies. The SBI Home loans have been formulated, especially with the knowledge of the basic needs of our nation’s people and are quite thrifty.

The different forms of SBI Home loans under which the bank may provide finance to the individual are:

• ‘SBI-Maxgain’ Home Loan
• ‘SBI-Flexi’ Home Loan
• ‘SBI-Freedom’ Home Loan
• ‘SBI-Realty’ Home Loan

The schemes that are provided by SBI Home loans allow full transparency among the bank and the customer and are conducted in such a manner, in which the individuals do not have to go through much of a hassle. The most interesting aspect about SBI Home loans is that they do not have any upper boundary on the maximum amount, with which we would be able to build or buy a new house for ourselves. Even the eligibility criteria is broadened in case of SBI Home loans, as to apply for it you simply have to be an adult, i.e. above 18 years, or you must be having a income source that is steady.

The SBI Home loans generally cover up to 90% of the total amount that we have to pay for having a new house, and it enables us the liberty to repay the entire loan and the interest till we are of 70 years. Like many other home loan policies the SBI Home loans also provide the Free Personal Accident Insurance cover for their clients.

Along with all such facilities, the SBI Home loans provide us with exclusive benefit packages that may cover several things, ranging from the ATM-Debit card to be used internationally to SBI Classic or International Credit card. There are also other features along with these, which may include 50% concession on the remittance charges or for outstation cheques being collected and the option of doing online banking. Thus, many individual prefer to go for SBI Home loans than any other services, because of the smooth functioning assured.