Guest Author2020 has been a year of consecutive devastation. Due to various natural calamities, all of us are facing struggles in every area. In this current scenario, a big question arises in front of many customers how & what factors to consider before buying a home in this period. Customers are facing not only the challenge of arranging the fund for purchasing a property, but they are also facing social distancing issues resulting from the pandemic situation. Thus buying & selling of property has come under a challenging situation.
There are no more planned weekends as we settle into the WFH routine, making the most of the digital technology within easy reach. This also means the buyers have more time to research & gather information on property deals & home loans, discuss their financial strength & assess their repayment capacity. All this from the safe confines of their present accommodation. Thus can focus more on buying a home in this COVID-19 period.
Factors to consider before buying a home in covid period:
Virtual Tours
Imagine going through the rooms of your future home even before you buy it? Well, virtual reality makes that possible. With many buyers likely to avoid site visits, maximum developers are focusing on virtual tours & showcasing their property virtually. Now, its very easy to do 360* degree tour of their projects over the internet thus trying to sell their properties online with other bumper discounts & benefits.
Several real estate portals & real estate agents have virtual assistants to book the choice online & fix site visits too, so make most of it. Thus this factor becomes a very vital factor before buying a home in COVID-19 period.
Online Loans
Almost all the banks like SBI, LIC HFL, HDFC, AXIS banks have started providing online loan service in this Covid-19 period which ultimately helped the online purchase of the home. The Banks started to ascertain home loan eligibility & home loan sanction based on all the soft copies of income proof & others forwarded to them by the buyer. Thus this is also an important factor before buying a home in COVID-19 period.
Legal documents to be scrutinized
This is the best time to take stock of your documents while at home. Lawyers advice buyers planning to take a home loan to include the sale deed, khata-an important document for registration of new property, General power of attorney, no objection certificate, allotment letter, sale agreement, original copy of possession letter, payment receipts, property tax receipts, etc, in their list of important documents. All those documents need to be checked properly before buying a home in COVID-19 period.
Digital Outlook
The Younger generation have an edge over their peers when it comes to loan applications & property purchase. According to a survey, the young tech-savvy population is much ahead of its previous generations & is more financially responsible & comfortable borrowing. These young people are very much comfortable with virtual tours, online videos, and online transactions that they seem okay with this change in techniques. Social distancing will trigger WFH & the tech-savvy generation will leverage the power of digitalization to purchase their dream home. Thus the technical savvy young generation & power of digitalization made it easy for many to buy a home in COVID-19 period.
Thus in this time of uncertainty, we can buy a property keeping in mind these essential 4 factors discussed above. In the meantime, know the plight of real estate in India and how builders are fighting back.
– Written by Sayantan Saha
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Guest Author
Aravind Sundaram