Navigating the Home Buying Process for First-Time Buyers

Buying a house in Mumbai is a dream for people from all across the country. But buying a residential property in the city of dreams is not a simple task. There are various steps involved ranging from selection and decision-making to waiting for approval of the home loan. If that does not sound draining enough, choosing the right locality and understanding the socio-political and economic factors is very important before buying a home in Mumbai.

But worry not, this blog will navigate you through the home-buying process in Mumbai in detail. By the end of this blog, you will feel much more confident about your decision to buy a home in Mumbai. So without further ado, here’s a detailed home-buying guide for first-time buyers!

Deciding The Locality

Deciding the locality is the first and foremost step in the home-buying process. Do you wish to live near nature or do you want a posh, urban living? Do you want to live near the beach or would you prefer the hills? Mumbai has a varying landscape and it differs vastly even in short distances. And hence it becomes very important to decide on what locality you would want to live in. Here are some pointers that you might want to consider.

• Neighborhood & Safety

Keep in mind that you and your family will be residing in this new house. So, of course, safety must be your top priority. Look if the neighborhood matches your desired lifestyle. Make sure you do background checks about the locality. This has become very simple due to the boom of the real estate industry on social media and the internet as a whole.

• Connectivity

Next up, you need to make sure that you have enough connectivity. Of course network coverage is a must but the kind of “connectivity” we’re talking about right here is a different thing. Here, connectivity refers to the availability of means of transport and public transportation more specifically. It is much better if the locality offers multiple means of public transport like railways and roadways too. In simple words, make sure that the public transport stations are not far away from your home. And if they are, it will greatly affect the prices of the property.

• Development

While the current location matters a lot when choosing a place to live, the rate of development affects the price and lifestyle too. How? Well, the answer is simple, the more infrastructural development your locality gets, the more suitable it is for residential purposes and the more increase it will see in prices.

Defining The Budget

The next step is defining your budget. This means understanding the amount you can spend, which includes the amount you can get on credit, the amount you can pay upfront, and the amount you have in your savings account.

Two major things that you need to know are:

• Home Loan Eligibility

Yes, this is the first thing you will need to ascertain when planning to buy a home. Your eligibility and limit for a Home Loan is something that will affect your budget a lot. To be eligible for a home loan, you need to have a stable income source and a good credit score (above 750). But there are many factors that influence your eligibility. You might want to discuss it with your bank.

• Other Costs Involved

Now coming to the other costs involved in buying a residential property. If the property you are interested in is still under construction, you will need to pay 5% GST if the agreement value exceeds 45 Lakhs, otherwise 1%. But if the construction is completed and the project has received its Occupancy Certificate or OC, you do not have to pay the GST.

Then comes Stamp Duty and Registration, which is usually 6% of the property’s total value. But you might also want to consider the lawyer’s fees which are about 1-2% of the value. Other costs that are to be considered involve the home loan processing fees, parking charges, and brokerage fees.

And that covers basically a majority of the costs involved in buying a home. Further, you will need to plan what kind of property you want to invest in.