[satish_appasani]

I am looking out to buy a home and also looking around for home loan.

Can you please pool in about the banks that are nice deal with, has good offers and interest rates and any other suggestions?

Thank you.

I searched for any similar thread but couldn't find any.

[csentil]

First, DO NOT go to ICICI Bank. :-)

All nationalized banks have good rates of interest. Their processing charges are also less and repayment options better. Only concern is that they need extensive documentation (like last 2 yrs IT returns, guarantor, proper address proof etc).
Rate of interest vary between the banks and bargaining to a certain amount can be done.

Privatized banks have a higher rate of interest. Repayment options are limited and the first thing they want from you is Processing charge which they will pocket irrespective of whether your loan is approved or not. (Not the case with everyone, but still watchout for this). Most of them have external agencies and sometimes what is promised is not what you get !! However documentation required is less, more flexible with interest rates and loan disbursement is faster.

Shop around, talk to different banks, play one against the other and you will get a good deal. Do not rush, spend sometime understanding their jargons and what it really means and you will definitely come out better.

[NetfreakBombay]

I'll recommend HDFC Ltd [NOT HDFC Bank] and the bank YOU have your salary account in.

HDFC because: Sensible rates and they DO NOT use DSA (Selling agents) so you deal with employees and in my experience these guys know what they are talking about.

And they have maximum number of payment options. If you have LIC Policy / NSC like investments that are going to mature after 15 - 20 years, you can user that money for balloon payment.

Shop around, talk to different banks, play one against the other and you will get a good deal. Do not rush, spend sometime understanding their jargons and what it really means and you will definitely come out better.

I think this is the most important aspect, you wont get a good deal otherwise.

[linuxtechie]

Originally Posted by csentil

First, DO NOT go to ICICI Bank. :-)

As mentioned wont recommend HDFC bank either. But try out SBI bank, they are bit hard, but believe that is in our interest itself. I know of many folks who switched from HDFC to SBI.

~LT

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by linuxtechie

As mentioned wont recommend HDFC bank either.

Yes HDFC Bank just "re-sells" HDFC Ltd loans, and its employees might not have much control over actual rates.

Better to deal directly with HDFC (Instead of HDFC Bank).

[hondadude]

A friend of mine took home loan from Corporation Bank and was quite happy. We took loan quite some time back (in my wife's name) from SBI and had a good experience. I took a home loan some time back from ICICI and I wasn't happy with their service.

So, I would recommend that you shop around with nationalized banks first.

[rohitgaur]

Dear Satish
before finalising your loan provider, pls keep the following facts in mind

• try to get fixed rate(as of today 10.5 will be a great deal)
• bargain hard AFTER sanction esp near monthend, you'll get better deal during target crunch
• if speed matters, icici, hdfc ltd (no hdfc bank for home loan)are good bets, but for transparency go to any public sector bank state bank (any), bob, I believe Andhra bank is giving good rates there.
• remember , your house loan can benefit you in saving taxes as well as investments, finalise the deal with the help of bank officials, legal opinions of bank's lawyers helps get a clear title.....keeping you safe
  

Pls feel free to PM me for any help. I am in the Housing finance and business loans ind, just have moved from hdfc bank to CholaDBS home Equity Division

[kuttapan]

Dealing with SBI is a pain, but the whole effort may just be worth it later. SBI staff has been trained to behave very nicely with people, but I do not think it comes naturally to them, however they make an effort. My personal experience hasn't been very sweet, but I am putting up with their fumblings, so that I can live peacefully later, rather than have goondas from ICICI land at my doorstep.

[travelwriter]

I require some advice here. I am looking to transfer my existing home loan from HDFC to some other bank, preferably a nationalised bank.

Is it worth the effort switching banks? I want to do it since HDFC, I feel, is now getting costlier since I have a floating rate option. I would like advice on
1. Whether it is a good idea to switch
2. Which is a better bank - No hidden costs and ease of payment and no charges on prepayment
3. What are the documentation procedures

If any member has been through this, his/her advice will be hugely appreciated

[raman.]

@travelwriter, I have also a home loan from HDFC and after the recent rate hikes the ROI for the loan had become 11.25%.
I have gone in for a interest rate reset option where in I have paid approximately 1% of the outstanding loan amount and have got the rate reset to 9.75%.
This is an option that you can consider.

I think if you want to refinance your loan from an public sector bank HDFC will charge you 3%(not sure) and the PSU bank will also charge about 1%(processing fees). Now you need to do some calculations here as to which option will cost you more.

However, to get a loan from a PSU has its own share of woes. You might have to go to bank multiple times to get the same job done. Every time they will tell you that some document or other is missing. I had approached SBI initially for home loan. It was month of March. I was told that currently closing is going on, so I need to come after 2-3 weeks. Same was the case with PNB. I had no option, other than to go to a private bank. Having said that, its a fact that PSU banks don't resort to as frequent rate hikes as private banks.

As far as documentation is concerned in case of refinance you need almost all the documentation that you need for a fresh loan.

[ghodlur]

I had once tried to get my existing home refinanced by a PSU bank and the process was relatively smooth till the documentation part. Once documents were submitted it took almost 7 weeks for the PSU bank to confirm whether the refinacing was approved and to top it all they did not divulge any information as to how the original documents would be transferred and the outstanding loan cheque being paid. That actually put me off and I cancelled my whole attempt. BTW the loan I have right now is from PSU bank too.