Steps to choose the right lender for your home loan

A home loan is a pretty expensive affair and the repayment often goes on for more than 10 years - reaching 30 years in some cases too. Also, the minimum sum on a home loan can easily range in the lakh. So, it’s absolutely essential to approach the right lender so that you don’t have to pay too much interest or fees that you already need to. Here, we will talk about how to choose the right lender for your home loan.

1. Choose an NBFC: If you have tried applying for a loan, you will have come across a number of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) that have risen in number over the last decade or so. As the name suggests, these aren’t your typical banks and they lend money just the same irrespective of what loan you’re looking for. Before they arrived, banks had the monopoly on deciding the lending structure and the interest on a home loan. However, NBFCs have vastly changed the way the market works. For starters, they have given rise to healthy competition in the sector and have slowly taken a fair share of the market, threatening the power previously wielded by banks. If you feel a bank may or may not entertain your requests for a lower interest rate, you should consider applying for a NBFC as they often try to go toe-to-toe with some of the leading banks and provided loans at competitive rates.
2. Compare between different offerings: When you decide to go for a home loan, you need to look at all the offerings that are available to you. For starters, you can use comparison as a tool and compare the loans provided by 3 or 4 different lenders. Go and have a sit down with each of these banks and ask for the best rate they can offer. Sometimes, a discussion such as this can get you an interest rate that is way below the market rate, so that’s worth your consideration. Also, talk about all the other aspects of the loan such as the processing fees, stamp duty charges, and basically other charges involved with a home loan. Basically, if you are getting a lesser rate home loan, it means that you are likely paying more than most on one or more of these charges.
3. Figure out what you want: A home loan for a new property and a resale property is slightly different and should be approached slightly differently. Know what you are looking for exactly, what type of interest rate you are looking at (fixed or floating), how much down payment you have ready, and if the lender will ask for more in your case, and also think of how you service the EMIs on a month-on-month basis. Answering all these factors satisfactorily is highly important when availing a home loan because repaying it takes more than a decade and even more in some cases.
4. Check the lender out: If you have done enough research and have already decided to take a loan from a particular lender, stop and think: Does the lender have a good track record? Are they going to make your life difficult by adding unexpected charges to your loan? You need to have a clear idea on where your lender stands in the market, if the lender has a reputation of strong arming their borrowers, there’s a likely chance they might do so with you. So, it’s always better to read reviews, talk to known acquaintances who have a loan from the same lender, and then decide on whether or not you should take a loan with them. 
5. Know that lowest rate isn’t always the best: There’s something called clickbait - and if you’ve been on the internet long enough, you will have come across it several times. These make tall and practically unreachable claims with the content they offer and offer underdeliver at all times. Somer lenders too are guilty of using such a tactic. To begin with, they will put up a loan for the lowest interest rate - a few basis points lower than the prevailing market rate just to catch the prospective borrower’s attention. Once they have reeled you in, they will give you a list of all the charges you may have to pay to get the loan. So, make sure to not fall for such ploys and go with reputed lenders that have been in the business for long.
6. Have a higher down payment ready: A down payment is often the first hurdle facing a home loan borrower. Typically, a lender will only give you 80% of the loan amount; 85% in some cases while the remaining 15% - 20% should be taken care of by the borrower. The higher the down payment you have, the better it is for you as you can get a loan at slightly improved rates and have chances of getting your loan approved at a much faster rate than anybody else. Having a higher amount ready tell the banks that you are confident and serious about what you are doing, which will help them make the decision faster.

 A home loan can be a massive burden for a borrower as they need to be repaid over a period of 10 - 25 years, while maintaining all your other financial responsibilities. Following the steps mentioned above will help you get the best home loan for your circumstances possible.