Buying houses without requiring any financial support is something that very few manage to pull off. What most people do is apply for home loans that provide the required finances for them to complete their property purchases. Now, many people are of the thought that the only expense of taking the loan is to pay off its monthly instalments. It is very important to understand whether the loan amount that is being borrowed can be afforded, and this is much more than just clearing EMIs.
Having a good financial plan in place before applying for the loan can help in getting the best deal possible. So, go through the following factors that will help in understanding what affects your home loan affordability:
- Lender’s down payment requirement
As per RBI guidelines, banks are only allowed to fund a certain cost of the property purchase. This means that your lender cannot offer 100% financing for the house. Usually, lenders cover 80% of the cost of the property if the loan amount is in the range of Rs 20-75 lakh and 75%, if the loan amount crosses Rs 75 lakh. Now, it is important to be aware of the exact down payment amount you are required to pay, as this will affect your budget for the home loan.
- Your debt-to-income ratio
You might be earning a very high monthly income, but this does not necessarily mean that it guarantees you a high home loan amount. An important factor determining your loan affordability is the debt-to-income ratio. If you already have multiple loans to repay, the existing debt will already eat into your budget. This leaves you with a lesser amount for the home loan and could be a problem. This is the reason why it is best to not have any existing debt while applying for a home loan to improve your loan affordability.
- Type of property being purchased
If you are buying a property that has completed construction, you can live in it while paying off the home loan. However, if you have chosen to buy a property that is still under construction, this could lower your home loan affordability. The reason for this is that in this case, you might also have to pay for rent while the new house is being constructed. This reduces your income and can affect your ability to borrow a higher loan amount. Therefore, this becomes an important point to think about before you apply for home loan.
So, these are the factors that a borrower needs to keep in mind to understand their home loan affordability. A simple way to understand this is to make use of a home loan affordability calculator. All that this calculator requires is details regarding the home loan’s interest rate, repayment tenure, your monthly income, down payment, and existing debt obligations. The calculator will then show the loan amount that can be afforded based on these details.
