Makaan.com is the "on the Go destination" for properties

Makaan.com revamps its mobile site with host of interesting features facilitating easy discovery of properties      India is a “Mobile first” internet market, with majority of searches happening on mobile. Mobile searches are growing at a faster pace compared to desktop. Traditionally mobile version of all sites (including property sites) has been a poor adaptation of desktop sites, slow, with small images and with limited features. Most sites are not designed for mobile making discovery of properties extremely difficult.  This is set to change now with Makaan.com’s new and revamped mobile site making it an ideal “On the Go destination” for property buyers. The updated mobile site is extremely contemporary with host of features facilitating easy discovery of properties. Some enhancements that are likely to benefit the buyers are: Made for mobile: The site is not a strip down version of desktop, but designed considering the requirements of mobile users. Key interfaces like Home and Search screens are optimized for highest Google page speed score for usability among all the property sites. The site automatically responds to your screen size, OS, bandwidth and location. All this intelligence helps to have an amazing experience across various devices and browsers. Rich features: Being optimized does not impact the feature list and value that it delivers. Loaded list of features like immersive photo view, map view, nearby facilities, amenities, project details help you to narrow your property search.  You can easily find the nearby Schools, ATM, Hospitals, Malls, Train/Metro and Bus stations. Once you like a property it can be stored in your “favorite bucket” for easy access. “Photo view” on mobile is the 1st initiative of its kind in the Indian property market. Contemporary Look:  The site has an easy and natural user interface. All the important information is highlighted for easy understanding with quick buttons. It requires minimum typing and enables easy swipes. Latest technology and smart way to represent information helps to de-clutter interface. Easy navigation ensures that you do not move away from the property search anytime (this was a major limitation with other property sites). Instant Connect: Leave your concerns related to privacy and spam behind. You can view contact details of the sellers without filling any form. Additionally, use the “Connect seller” whereMakaan.com connects buyers and sellers together thru a system generated call. If the seller is busy, the system retries automatically after sometime. Artificial intelligence: Logic running in the background works like a virtual property assistant to help you find right properties based on your preference. Based on your journey of discovering properties, Makaan.com automatically personalizes the results for you. It also recommends properties instantly matching your property requirement.  Makaan.com also sends FREE property alerts to your email. “In-content refine” technique is used for the 1st time in the Indian property market. It enables you to refine results based on bedrooms, budget etc while you are browsing properties without you having to make multiple selections. To summarize, the new makaan.com mobile site is an easy, intuitive and smooth interface aimed to help you find your dream home in a faster, smoother and sharper manner. Go and discover the newwww.makaan.com mobile site.

Avoiding prepayment penalty on home loans

The prepayment penalty that is applicable when the borrower decides to pay back in advance a portion of the home loan in order to reduce the interest burden in the long run is a matter concern in all home loans. The banks stand to lose their earning in terms of interest on the borrowed capital which is why they try to discourage prepayment of any kind of loan by incorporating clauses such as the prepayment penalty.

RBI and NHB on Prepayment penalty of Home Loans

Both the Reserve Bank of India as well as the National Housing Bank is against the policy of banks charging prepayment penalties on home loans. Both the bodies have issued directive in this regard to all housing finance companies. However at present the ban on prepayment penalty charges is applicable only for home loans that floating or adjustable interest rates and not on the conventional fixed rate home loans which form the majority of home loans in the country.

Tips to avoid Prepayment Penalties

Here are a few practical points which can help avoid or even reduce to some extent the prepayment penalties that the banks levy of the customers.
 

Negotiate: This is the first step towards prepayment of a home loan whether in whole or partially. The borrower has to discuss and negotiate hard with the lending institution to waive of the prepayment penalties applicable on the home loan. Reasons such as high interest rates and affordability of the loan are justifiable and the banks will find it logical to help out the borrower by permitting partial prepayment, extension of tenure or lowering of Emi rather than ending up in default of repayment situation.

Switch to Floating Rate: Certain banks permit the switching of a home loan from fixed to floating rates in between the repayment period. This is permitted as the floating interest rates are usually a bit lower than the fixed interest rates. Thus prior to prepaying your home loan one must try to switch over first. Once the home loan is changed to a floating rate type then the bank cannot take any prepayment penalty in case the prepayment has to be made in full or partially.

Make partial Prepayments: In certain cases the home loan borrower can approach the bank to permit him to make a partial prepayment of the outstanding amount in order to reduce the net amount on which a high rate of interest is being charged. The banks may permit up to 25% prepayment of the outstanding amount in one go without any penalty being charged thereon. The customer may again attempt to make another prepayment of up to 255 of the now outstanding amount after some intervening period.

Prepayment from Own Source: Prepayment or foreclosure of an outstanding from the borrower’s own sources does not invite any prepayment penalty from the bank. But the onus of proving the source as being his own lies on the borrower. Sources such as maturity of policies or sale of other properties or assets are acceptable means to prepay a home loan without any penalty.

The home loan requires repayment over a period which may be as long as two decades. Thus the borrower must make all calculations carefully while deciding on the amount and tenure of the home loan so that there is no unnecessary EMI burden in between.

Home Buyers' expectations from the new BJP led Government: Research done by Makaan.com

India has seen a decisive electoral mandate after a long gap and we have a stable government at the center. All industries are excited about the outcome of the general election. There are talks of sentiment improvement in the real estate sector too. With the intention to gauge the expectation of home buyers from the new BJP-led government, Makaan.com, India’s fastest growing property site, conducted a research in the month of May 2014 among 1400 home buyers in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Indore and more.

Key expectation of Home Buyers’ are:

1. Home buyers are excited about the positive impact on real estate & are planning a property purchase

Home buyers were sitting on the sidelines for the past 1-2 years, hesitating to put their hard earned money in the property market, waiting for the economy to revive. This mood seems to have given way to a more optimistic sentiment. When asked whether the new government arrival will have a positive impact on real estate sector, the majority, 80% of home buyers answered in affirmation. The development agenda, which was the central theme of the election campaign, seems to have created a resonance among the Indian home buyers and they counting on the new government to keep its promise. It needs to be seen whether the new government will consider the aspirations of the home buyers and give them enough reasons to smile.

To check, if this positive sentiment will lead to increase in actual transaction, we quizzed home buyers on their intention to buy a property. A sizable number percentage (38%) are extremely excited and are planning to buy a property in next 6 months. Another 34% expressed their intention to buy property in next 12 months (see chart below).

2. Homebuyers expecting drop in property prices          

Property prices have remained stable over the past few months and the mood of the market might change to a drop in property prices. 26% of home buyers feel that the residential property prices would drop of over 10% in the coming 12 months. Almost an equivalent number expect the prices to remain stable. 19% of buyers expect the prices to go up from the current level with majority of them expecting an appreciation of up to 10%. This should bring some relief to the buyers in the coming months. It is widely debated that the real estate prices can be brought down by 10-20% just by simplifying the procedural delay and by offering clarity to developers regarding approvals. The government has already indicated that they would look into the issue.

3. Budget of Home Buyers is likely to remain the same, after the announcement of new government

The budget of the Indian Home Buyers has remained the same in-spite of the economic slowdown of the past few years. 62% of buyers are willing to spend the same amount of money as they have budgeted for, around 1-2 years back (but were waiting for the right opportunity). There are 30% of buyers who have reduced their budget allocation while there are another 8% who are ready to dish out more money for property buying.

4. Property investment budget for home buyers is 0-40 lakhs

Owning a home has been a priority for Indians since ages; it is treated as a symbol of financial stability and social status. Affordable housing (budget upto 40 lakhs) will continue to be a preference for majority of home buyers with almost 60% buyers opting for this. Mid segment housing (40 to 75 lakhs) will be the preferred budget category for 27% of home buyers. High end housing (75 to 125 Lakhs) will be preferred choice for 8% of buyers whereas 5% of buyers will be looking for luxury housing (budget over 125 lakhs). There seem to be an expectation that the new government will take steps to boost affordable housing so that people can realze their property dream. It needs to be seen if this demand will be attended to or not.