Through this article, we have created a list of reasons why your home loan could get rejected and this will help you to tide over them and avoid these common reasons:

• Poor Credit score: Your credit score is a critical factor being considered when home loan companies are reviewing your home loan application. If you have a poor credit score, you can take steps to enhance it and then apply for the home loan for a positive response from your home loan company. Here’s what you can do to maintain a good credit score:

• Make sure your credit card bills are paid in time
• Use your credit card judiciously and keep a track of payment due dates
• If you want to take a loan against your credit card, make sure you have cleared your existing dues before applying for it.
• Remember that late payments reflect badly on your credit score and will become a hurdle while applying for a home loan.

• Non-filing of Income Tax Returns: It is necessary to keep a clean track record of filing income tax returns on a regular basis, as home loan companies ask for past two years records of returns filed. Make sure you file income tax returns before the due date and ask for Form 16 from your employer if you are salaried.
• Address in defaulter’s list: If someone from your family who is living at the same address as yours, has defaulted on repayment of any loan, there is a probability of getting rejected for home loan. Banks have the addresses stored in their database and this could work against you.
• Other Ongoing loans: If you have already availed of other loans like credit card, personal, vehicle or consumer loans and are paying a hefty EMI, the bank will review your application carefully. If the loan company feels that your repayment capacity may get affected by a fresh loan, your home loan application could end up in the rejection list.
• Loan Guarantor for a Defaulter: If you have stood as a guarantor for a friend or relative’s home loan, make sure that person has a strong repayment capacity, before you sign on the dotted line. If the person fails to repay the loan for some reason, you will be responsible for repayment and your name will feature in the list of defaulters.
• Age: If you are a salaried professional and close to retirement, banks will be vary of sanctioning your home loan. This is purely because your repayment capacity will diminish after a few years. At such times, you could opt for a co-borrower who has the requisite number of years left to comfortably repay the home loan.
• Frequent job hopping: If you have been jumping from one job to another on a regular basis, you could be in trouble while applying for a home loan. Banks and home loan companies look for job stability and some loan providers need the loan applicant to serve an organization for a minimum of three years. Your company’s credentials will also matter a lot when your home loan application is being scrutinized, so choose carefully if you plan to buy a home in the future.
• Prior loan rejection: If your home loan application has been rejected in the past, this will get recorded in your CIBIL rating and show up when a fresh application is made. Do not apply simultaneously with many companies as one rejection could ruin the show for you.

Experts recommend calculation of your net worth to ensure you are ready to commit to this long term loan repayment. Use the online calculator to get an idea of the EMI you will have to pay and also understand your home loan eligibility. Apply for a CIBIL report prior to your loan application so that you know the drawbacks you have. Check these reasons and prepare yourself accordingly to get a positive response to your home loan application.

Buy or rent, a home is a home. Period

The general impression people have is that homeowners are happier than those who lived in rented homes. This is a misplaced perception, apart from the asset creation bit, in both cases the security the home offers is the same. Home owners are responsible for every small bit of maintenance the home needs while the renters can simply rely on the landlords to get the job done. The joy of owning a home however is bigger which the renter may miss out on. All in all, the score looks balanced at least at this stage.

Choosing your paint carefully

Colours are long known to have an effect on our moods and this could be directly proportional to the happiness index. Various studies conducted worldwide have shown that the colours green and yellow induce a feeling of happiness and joyousness so make sure these colours are included in your choice of colours for the home. Consider green for your bedroom to enhance a feeling of tranquillity and comfort while yellow is a safe bet for a study or kids’ room due to its power to boost creativity and liveliness. 

Reduce the travel time

Seems like a long shot, doesn’t it? Commuters of metro cities will agree that travel is an integral part of city living and cannot be avoided. Long travel does impact the overall mood and could lead to lower levels of joy and happiness. So remember, the less you commute, the happier you will be.

Keep your home clutter-free

A cluttered, crowded home will lead to an increase in irritation levels as women are highly affected by the mess that lies around while men somehow manage to reach for the remote, albeit with some additional effort. A clutter-free home gives a feeling of cleanliness and hygiene thus keeps your young ones free from allergies and the parents worry free. Cleaning out unwanted stuff from the loft, balconies and from under the bed leads to a lot of extra space that can be utilised for other important things.

Thinking of renovations? Do it ASAP

Who doesn’t want a furnished home? Broken bathroom tiles or a dull paint-job could lead to relationship issues as an unhappy home could relate to an unhappy spouse. Take that decision to redo your home today before it affects your family life. Home improvement projects take forever and experience says it is wise to begin at the earliest to get the most out of your home and your relationships too. Studies say a perception of living in a dowdy home can point towards a feeling of unhappiness and being imperfect. 

Got a Home Loan? Pay it off if possible

Getting a home loan may have become easier nowadays but the pressure of a mortgaged home could get to you over a period of time. Pay off by saving on the side and you will enjoy what they call a “weightless” feeling. So watch your mood elevate to unknown heights as the loan amount reduces and vanishes.

Get to know the neighbours

Various studies have pointed out that if one is friendly towards neighbours and is known to engage in a regular, unforced conversation with them, they are happier and joyful. Urban lives become lonelier by the day and a bit of social interaction never hurts. Interacting with next-door neighbours or short conversations can lead to a general feeling of happiness and belonging. You could organize a small get-together or attend the society meeting if you are new around and watch the transformation. Take every opportunity to get acquainted with the people who you come across every day and increase the happiness quotient by a few levels.

With the arrival of technology in the real estate industry, there has been fear that realtors will be soon replaced entirely by housing portals and websites. The basic functions of a realtor may be replaced by technology, but the human element will always remain a critical part of a home buying/selling transaction. In fact, the use of technology will help realtors to conduct their business in a rapid manner and move towards more closures. Property search websites have empowered the consumer to a huge extent but the role of realtors has been further enhanced and their demand has grown multi-fold.

Realtors will always remain a necessary link between buyers and sellers in the coming years as the following reasons will justify:

1. Purchasing a home is the largest big-ticket transaction in a person’s lifetime and this may or may not be repeated in the near future. This makes it an emotion-charged event which they would want to carry out in the most sensible way possible as it has the potential to affect many factors of their lives and could have negative consequences if not handled well. The physical presence of a realtor assures buyers of practical advice and emotional guidance that’s necessary during its critical decision making process. Even if property portals give a quick display of properties, it is the reassuring presence of a professional realtors that clinches the issue for most buyers and sellers.

2. There are a few functions of the realtor that a property website or a software can emulate to a certain extent. But when it is time to meet with prospective buyers or sellers for your property, convince potential buyers about the advantages of buying your property or checking out the negative aspects of a locality, it is the friendly, neighbourhood realtor who is irreplaceable. Many properties need the alliance of a couple of other realtors too and having a realtor by the side, can be a real asset in such a case.

3. If you are looking for a cost effective method to sell your existing home or buy one, then a certified realtor is your best bet. While selling your property, he will manage the marketing bit and also filter out the real buyers from the crowd (read fly-by-night “agents”), saving you a lot of heart-burn and time. Since a professional realtor has a good understanding of the documentation needed to apply for a loan, you will save a lot of back and forth while approaching a lender. His invaluable knowledge of documents while registering your property or paying stamp duty will come in handy and ensure that the process is smooth and hassle-free.

Approach a professional and certified realtor if you have plans to buy a property or sell your current one. Smart Realtors make efficient use of the advances in real-estate technology and use it creatively to augment the buying/selling process. Everyone loves a good storyteller and a realtor is fully capable of weaving an interesting episode around a recent incident, which a portal may fail to identify. 

A realtor will enhance the unusual features of a property you would have otherwise ignored and highlight the benefits of living in a particular neighbourhood. Having a keen sense of business, he will be perfect to analyse the property’s potential to give returns in the coming years, something which an automated portal may lose out on. By using technology to give a fulfilling experience to customers, a realtor further enhances the quality of services being offered by him.

Assess your needs carefully: As a first time buyer, you should make a detailed assessment of your need for space, especially since you will be presented with a large number of great-looking options. For example, you should decide on the floor if you have narrowed down on a property in a high-rise tower. The size of your family and its growing needs will help you to understand if you need a 1 BHK or a 2BHK. 

Select the right location: This is certainly one of the most important criteria before narrowing down a property as you will probably live here for the next decade or so or maybe a lifetime too. Your office, your spouse’s workplace and your kids’ school, not necessarily in that order, should be within manageable distance from your home as this will reduce a lot of stress and save travelling time. The railway/metro station, bus connectivity and available of private transportation should ideally be available in the vicinity. Supermarkets, daily convenience stores, banks, ATMs, medical facilities etc. should be nearby too. If all of the above can be ticked off your list, you have probably arrived at the right location for your dream house.

Budgeting: Take a long hard look at your present household income and your investments before applying for a housing loan. Make sure that you will not spending more than 30% of your total household income on the EMI and your savings plan for the future won’t be affected in a major way. If you exceed your budget by a small margin, brainstorm on how you could narrow down this gap. Can you or your spouse take up a part-time job to supplement the current income? A well-thought budget is the key to a secure future for first time home buyers and needs a careful assessment before you handover the cheque for down-payment.

Check actual affordability: If you fail to factor in the expenses that you will face after the home has been bought, you are bound to lose sleep over it. Keep an eye on future expenses and consider various expenses like monthly maintenance, property tax, water charges and home maintenance. Take your decision only after you have assessed all these points and compared them against your household income to arrive at a realistic decision. Apart from these, there is furniture to be made, painting or wall-papering to be done, home appliances to be bought and a million other things that will need your attention.

Spend time discussing these three important tips with your parents or spouse before buying your home and you won’t regret the effort you put into it. Delay the decision if you are not ready financially or emotionally, but do not decide in a rush as you may have to repent later. Ask for advice wherever needed and speak to experts in this area to take a well-informed and real-world decision.

Here’s how this can be done easily without making a major effort to establish yourself as a good and reliable neighbour everyone would love to have:

• Be Social: Your busy work schedule and managing the home may leave you with very little time to socialise, but remember your neighbour is the first point-of-contact in case there is an issue at home. Take that first step and introduce yourself if you are new to the locality. Sport your best smile and invite them into your new home for a chat or a coffee. Break the ice without waiting for them to do it and approach your neighbour. 
• Interact Regularly: Get speaking to your neighbours when you bump into them in the lift or in the lobby. Find time to ask them about their children and work and before you know it you could get chatting about everything under the sun. Don’t project yourself as a snob as this will isolate you from others too. Keep your ego aside while you call on them and watch them reciprocate the next time.
• Be Understanding: Always offer help. Solve any issues they face and you will have found a friend in your neighbour. Maintaining healthy relations with neighbours is simple and does not need a huge effort. Keep the television/music system volume at desirable levels and keep pets within the home. Keep your surroundings clean which will encourage others to follow suit. 
• Maintain necessary distance: You wouldn’t like it if you had someone constantly at your door, being nosy and gossiping about others, would you? Follow the same practice and respect your neighbour’s privacy. Overindulgence can kill a good relationship especially with next-door neighbours, so keep distance and mind your own business. Giving unsolicited advice may rub people the wrong way so be careful in this area.
• Respect Privacy: Imagine how painful life would be if you had your neighbour in your home at odd hours of the day, chattering away about irrelevant things? Similarly, it is a good thing to understand your neighbour’s lifestyle, work hours and preferences. Be aware of the thin line between being friendly and being intrusive about an individual’s personal life. Don’t visit them at odd hours, simply because you are free. Respect their private life and you will find that they will do so too.

Take these simple steps and you will be amazed how easy life becomes, in the company of neighbours who are friends too. You will create a meaningful and mutually-beneficial relationship with your neighbours that will easily stand the test of time.