August 2, 2012

Today multiple investment options are available in the market and one of them is real estate. When asking anyone about investing in real estate most people including financial experts give instant responses that real estate is a good investment option.

Everyone thinks that one can earn lacs of rupees by buying and selling real estate and it provides decent returns. Yes, real estate does provide good returns after a few years or months of investment. However, apart from a return, you have to consider various other factors before deciding whether real estate investment is a good or bad investment option. In this post, I will guide you to decide whether real estate is a good investment option or bad.

Real Estate Investment Option

Real Estate Investment – Good or Bad?

Thinking of real estate as a good investment option my friend purchased a 2 BHK flat at a prime location in Navi Mumbai in 2010 for investment purposes. After 1 year that flat was giving him a return of 15% and to fetch a profit he sold this flat.

Unfortunately, he was unaware of the capital gain tax on selling property. He ended up paying a substantial amount as tax on the profit. He also had to shell out the tax exemptions that he was availing of on the home loan. After considering this tax implication he was earning a 7% return only.

Learning – Financial transactions without knowledge can turn into disasters.

10 Best Real Estate Apps on android smart phone

Let’s understand all factors described above, before making any real estate investments –

Real Estate Investment Implications

Short-term Capital Gain Tax

As per income tax rules, if anyone sells real estate within 24 months (2 years) of buying it, the profit (difference between the purchase price and the selling price) will be added to his income for that particular year and taxed as per the tax bracket he is in.

So if you come in the highest bracket (tax at 30%), your gains will be taxed at 30%. Therefore if you gained 10 lakhs from the sale, you will have to pay 3 lakhs as tax.

Long-term Capital Gain Tax

As per tax rules if you sell real estate after three years or 24 months, then it’s considered long-term capital gain (LTCG) and you have to pay 20% of the profit as tax with indexation.

You can get an exemption from this tax under certain conditions. “To get the exemption, you need to purchase the new residential house within a period of one year prior to or two years after the transfer of the original house. As far as the under-construction house goes, the construction needs to be completed within three years from the date of transfer of the original house.”

If the cost of the new residential property exceeds the capital gains, then all capital gains are exempted from taxes.

Loan implications

Due to lack of money if you have bought the house by taking a home loan then you can take advantage of tax exemption on your principal amount (up to 1 lakh per year) and interest (up to 1.5 lakh per year).

The Income Tax Act says, that if you sell a house within five years of buying it, the tax benefits on the principal repayment on the home loan are reversed. These are then included in your taxable income in the year of sale.

Therefore, if you have availed 5 lakh tax exemptions for the principal (in 80 C) in the last 5 years (since the purchase of this house), you have to add this entire amount to your taxable income & you will be taxed at whatever income bracket you fall in. If you’re in the highest bracket of 30%, then 30% of 5 lakhs will have to be paid to the income tax dept.

There is no provision for levying income tax on tax benefits claimed for home loan interest. Therefore, any tax advantage you have claimed under Section 24(b) for interest will not be subject to tax at this time.

Maintenance & Other Cost

If you have purchased a flat then you are liable to pay a fixed maintenance cost to society every month. Not only that every year you will be paying municipality/ property tax.

RBI has passed a directive that a prepayment penalty is not applicable otherwise it could lower your profits even more as banks were charging up to a 2% penalty.

Rental Income

Many people think that they will rent their real estate investment and earn money. Nothing is wrong but the maximum rent in most of cases is around 6% of the investment amount. This 6% return will not even cover inflation.

Apart from this, you have to declare this rental income as taxable income which may increase your income tax burden.

Cost of Time and Trouble

It is very easy to buy property but sometimes it is very difficult to sell. You might have to wait months or years together to get a good deal for your property, During that time, you are investing your time and money in efforts to sell this property.

Sometimes in need of urgent money, you may sell this property at a discounted rate or may end up paying brokerage charges to broker. This will further reduce your profit.

So, real estate is a good investment option only if:-

(1) You can hold property for a long time (more than 3-5 Years)

(2) If you have excessive cash you need not take any loan for making an investment.

(3) You are making a profit in black transactions and the white transaction profit is much less.

(4) You are always reinvesting profit from real estate to real estate.

After reading this article if you are thinking of hiding your transaction for not paying tax then think again, every transaction done above a certain value is in the eye of income tax.

Every registry paper requires your PAN card and Aadhaar Card details and these details are captured by income tax. The income tax department may send you notice & you may be in other trouble.

So next time you get advice that real estate is a good investment option do remember what you read here. It may save you time and money.

Happy Investing!

How Property Builders Can Cheat You?

Real Estate

Shitanshu Kapadia

July 26, 2012

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions of life. You do enough amount of research & due diligence before purchasing your dream home. Yet sometimes builder creates false pictures and cheat you. To make you aware we are here with some of the methods builders are adopting to cheat innocent customers.

How Property Builders Can Cheat You?

“Booking is almost full or There is only one flat available”

This is the most common statement made by builders to any inquiries about their projects. This is done by builders to create a false image of the booming market. In most cases it is found that the builder has either sold a few flats or not even sold a single flat.

He makes this statement to create negative emotional feelings in buyers. Due to this buyer will hurry up or will be ready to pay the higher amount.

Available flat in most cases is found on the top floor or at locations with bad views or bad ventilation, as builders want to get rid of this type of flats as early as possible.

“No flats are available directly but we have some flats in resale”

Another attempt to cheat you is by telling you that all flats are sold and no flats are available for direct purchase. This is just to show you that there is huge demand. But if you ask the builder to show a copy of register agreement or sale deed in most of the case answer will be that all were cash transactions and they don’t have any documents like this.

So they can show anyone as an investor, as no record exists for cash transactions it is very difficult to catch them.

This is generally done to show heavy demand for his project so that genuine customers can be fooled & he will be forced to pay a higher amount.

“Loading factor to make property price look cheaper”

A few years back concept of a super built-up flat was introduced. This means an extra common area of construction is also added to each flat, which includes a staircase, a verandah between flats, and all common places of buildings that you rarely use. The actual flat size will be around 25% -30% smaller than the super built-up area claimed by the builder. This 25-30% extra construction is known as the loading factor.

In most of the projects, this loading factor is decided by the builder. Builder does not provide you with any data or documents on this loading factor.

We do agree that the builder provided some extra amenities, left the passages and bigger corridors, or made extra basement parking and nothing wrong in calculating or taking the price for this, but it should be reasonable. It is found that in some cases loading factor goes up to 45%.

A 45% loading means that 45% of the carpet area is made for common usage.

Example of Loading Factor:-

Builder A is selling a flat A of 1000 sq ft super built-up.
Builder B is selling a flat B of 1000 sq ft super built up.

Pricing as per Super Built up
Flat A: 3000 / Sq ft Total Price 30 Lacs
Flat B: 2500 / Sq ft Total Price 25 Lacs

The loading on Flat A = 30%
The loading on Flat B = 45%

Thus the carpet Area that you get is

Flat A: 700 Sq ft
Flat B: 550 Sq ft

Now if you calculate the Price / Carpet area

Flat A: 4285 / Sq ft
Flat B: 4545 / Sq ft

It’s very easy for a common man to get confused and consider that Flat B is cheaper, but actually, he is wrong and making the wrong deal. Surprisingly we have observed that even regular real estate Investors have made decisions without considering the loading factor.

In case you find a difference in price for the 2 flats in the same area, then you can always check the extra amenities between the 2 projects and you can find on your own if the loading factor is justified or not.

This super built-up concept was never there and it was introduced a few years back. I think it is only for helping greedy builders to earn more profits.

I guess the government has no regulation or control on this, so buyers have no choice.

“You will get the legal papers only after paying the cash component of the deal”

Before buying any property you should check copies of all legal documents like approval of municipality, sample sale agreement, etc. This document should be verified by lawyer.

In some of the cases, it is found that the builder is not ready to give legal documents or may tell you that legal paper will be shown to you after paying the cash component of the deal.

In such a case, we request you not to make the mistake by blindly paying the builder in cash. It may be possible that you will never get this money back or you will be trapped.

At the end, I would like to say that check all aspects of the project and builder before making any real estate deal.

Financial Planning Tips – Before Buying a Home

Real Estate

Shitanshu Kapadia

July 20, 2012

Buying real estate is one of the biggest financial decisions of life. It requires a good amount of research and financial planning. With the increasing property prices and inflation, it is very difficult for most of us to make a lump sum payment while buying a home.

You may go for the home loan option but the challenges are many starting from the loan application to the disbursement stage. The following tips will help you understand what to look for while buying a home.

Before Buying a Home

Financial Planning Tips – Before Buying a Home

How to do budgeting?

The first step you need to do is budgeting, you need to make yourself ready with details of how much savings and investments you have for making a down payment while buying a house.

Start finding current housing rates in the locality of your choice. Visit various projects interact with real estate brokers, and go through property advertisements and real estate portals. Another way to find rates and upcoming projects is by visiting property shows/exhibitions held in your city.

How much Down payment is to be made?

Once you come to know the average price you can decide the amount required for making a down payment. If you are planning to take a home loan make inquiries to banks about your loan eligibility. Most of banks provide home loans of around 80% of your property document value. You have to make a 20% down payment on the property’s cost.

A builder may ask for a certain amount in black. As the loan is given on white value only, you need to make a down payment considering the white value cost. This cost includes money given to the builder by cheque, stamp duty, and registration costs.

Any additional cost is involved?

Keep in mind that there are some charges for which you need to prepare your budget accordingly.

If a white component of a property document value does not suffice for the home loan amount required by you, then either you have to arrange additional money or you have to produce a bill of extra work.

Other additional costs that you need to consider are stamp duty and registration costs which depend on the location of the property and the prevailing rate (decided by government authority). You can use tools like a stamp duty calculator to estimate additional costs associated with the property purchase. This helps ensure you have a clear understanding of all expenses and can plan your finances accordingly.

You need to consider the cost of loan processing fees charged by the lender. If you are seeking a lawyer’s advice for the property due diligence or valuation you need to consider lawyer fees also.

Buying a home via a broker may cost you an additional 1% of the property cost. If you are buying a flat then it may cost you additional society share transfer fees. So in total additional cost

In general additional costs that may be incurred are:-

Stamp duty and registration
Loan processing Fees
Extra Document Charges
Brokerage Charges
Lawyer Fees
Society Share transfer fees

How much Home Loan I am eligible for?

Before buying a home you have to check about your maximum loan eligibility and how much you should borrow. This eligibility mostly depends on your monthly income. Approach the bank you plan to borrow from and ask it to assess your loan eligibility. They will issue you a letter stating your maximum eligibility for a home loan.

Some banks also provide online modules to check this eligibility.

Home loan Tax benefits – Section 24, 80EE & 80C- 10 less known facts

Which Interest rate loan option should I select?

Home loans available from banks have two options either you can opt for a fixed interest rate option or a variable (floating) interest rate option. In fixed interest rate option rate of interest remains the same throughout a home loan. In the floating rate option rate of interest varies.

Choosing a fixed-rate home loan offers an advantage over a floating rate as the rate remains the same even if market interest rates increase, requiring the borrower to make consistent fixed monthly payments. This choice is ideal for individuals who seek to protect themselves from fluctuating interest rates and prefer consistent payments over a set amount and duration for their loan. If you wish to benefit from different home loan interest rates, you should choose the floating rate option.

Finally, after your loan is approved and payment of the black and white amount is done you have to pay the appropriate stamp duty and registration fees to get disbursement of the loan.

Don’t end up taking excessive loans; make sure you take home loans up to the amount you can afford. Your first home doesn’t have to be the home of your dreams.

Do not be afraid to ask for help from financial advisors or real estate professionals when dealing with the challenges of buying a home. They can offer valuable knowledge on the financial aspects of owning a home and assist you in making well-informed choices.

Explore government schemes and incentives aimed at first-time homebuyers, such as subsidized interest rates or tax deductions on home loan repayments. These schemes can help reduce the financial burden of homeownership and make it more affordable.

Conclusion

Buying a home is a significant financial decision that requires careful planning and consideration. By following these financial tips, you can ensure a smooth and successful home-buying experience while safeguarding your long-term financial well-being.

Download Family Monthly Budget Planner

Personal Finance

Shitanshu Kapadia

July 10, 2012

Most people are too lazy to make household budget plans. They sit back and enjoy life as it comes. They spend money every day on things that they do not need rather than on essential things. Many of them are not bothered to track their spending.

Due to this one day, they may be trapped in a situation where they will need money for an emergency such as an accident, the treatment of a disease, or a loss of job. At this time, they will realize that they do not have any resources to dip into during emergencies. Hence, it is very important to have a family budget plan to track expenses & savings.

Keeping track of family finances is a very difficult task without a proper household budget planner. Often, a spouse is in charge of all financial matters and it can become daunting, especially at month or year-end. Finances are something that many shy away from because of the lack of incoming funds and the abundance of outgoing funds.

Creating a household budget can be a lifesaver. By creating a budget you can better see where your money is going and where it needs to go.

monthly budget planner

Family Monthly Budget Planner

The first thing you need to do is know your monthly income. This will help determine how much money you have coming in each month.

Now start the exercise of knowing your monthly expenses. The first task you need to do is break your expenses into a list of categories like groceries, clothes, utility bills, etc. Make sure to include both fixed (e.g. rent) and variable expenses (e.g. groceries).

To make the list more accurate you can use your bank statement. This is applicable if your spending is through cheque or credit card & if you spend money in cash then get maximum information from last month’s bills.

Now you know your monthly expense it is time to make a budget. Creating a budget may not be an exciting task, but it is vital in keeping your financial house in order. Budgeting is also required to control your expenses. Draw your monthly and yearly budget based on monthly expenses.

When you were going through the list of expenses you might have noticed that some expenses are necessary, but can vary from month to month. Examples include groceries, utility bills, dining out, entertainment, etc.

Determine the expenses that fall into these variable categories. If you feel you are spending more on any category item, create a simple budget (amount) for that category and monitor your spending concerning the budget limit you have set.

If you make a purchase with a credit card or debit card make sure to check your statement on a weekly basis to see if you are within your budget or not. If you are spending money in cash, then withdraw the monthly budgeted amount at the beginning of the month and only spend the cash that you have.

A Simple Excel sheet is attached herewith you can use this to track your expense.

Family budget planners are crucial to ensure we have a good understanding of our family’s financial situation. Begin a financial record to get a true picture of your family’s earnings and spending.

Given budget planner if used properly can help you to limit unnecessary expenses and let you know exactly how much you can afford to spend on non-essential items. A family budget can even help you set up savings for the future and establish habits in your children that can assist them later in their lives.

Creating and maintaining a family monthly budget planner is a proactive approach to achieving financial security and realizing financial aspirations. By prioritizing needs, setting realistic goals, and fostering good financial habits, families can navigate through various financial challenges and build a stable financial future.

FAQs

Is it necessary for every family member to contribute to the budget planning process?

Yes, involving all family members ensures shared responsibility and commitment toward financial goals.

How often should I review my family budget?

It’s advisable to review your budget monthly and make adjustments as needed to reflect any changes in income or expenses.

What if my income fluctuates each month?

Allocate funds based on an average monthly income and adjust the budget accordingly during months of higher or lower earnings.

How can I teach my children about budgeting and financial responsibility?

Start by explaining basic financial concepts and involve them in age-appropriate budgeting activities to instill good money habits from an early age.

What should I do if I consistently overspend in certain budget categories?

Review your spending patterns, identify areas where adjustments can be made, and consider reallocating funds from less essential categories to cover overspending.

1...476477478...482 Page 477 of 482