10 Tips for First Time Home Buyers

10 Tips for First Time Home Buyers

First-time home buyers go through a mixture of emotions like joy, pleasure, excitement, and pride as they can finally buy a house for themselves. Looking to buy a property, whether it is plot or an apartment, accompanies stress, confusion, and queries on how to examine various aspects for safe home buying and ensure happy living in the very first home. Here are the 10 tips for first-time home buyers to purchase value added property safely and avail home loan benefits.

Who Are First Home Buyers?

Along with residents who plan to buy a home for the first time, buyers who have had no ownership of the principal residence in the past 3 years are also first home buyers with regards to availing home loan tax benefits.

How to Make Your First Home Purchase?


10 Tips for the First-Time Home Buyers


Here are certain things to pay close attention to when buying a house for the first time.


Tip 1 :

While buying residential plots for sale in Chennai, check RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) registration of the property. You can verify with RERA number online for proof of registration.


Tip 2 :

You don’t want your first dream home to become an excessive burden that encumbers your finances. Buy land that fits your budget. A land or a house is a low liquidity asset prompting you to plan your finances extra cautiously while buying a house for the first time check existing loans or debts and your income ratio (Debt Income Ratio - DIR) before taking a home loan.


Tip 3 :

Check the location of the property. Home is where you spend your most relaxed time, and its location determines the quality of life and the resale value in the real estate market as there are various options for first-time home buyers from the investment perspective. Moreover, land or house location is the main criterion that decides socioeconomic status, as the first home is the sum of your economic growth from years of hard work and savings.


Tip 4 :

Decide the type of house you want to build on the land you buy, such as a duplex, villa, or condo. Check the facilities and amenities in price and compare. Plan the number of rooms, size, etc., based on your requirements reviewing your fund allocation neck and neck. During the first time home buying process you should also consider the number of family members and the expansion of the family in the future.


Tip 5 :

Find a credible and certified real estate builder to buy your first property. When you buy land from a trusted real estate partner like Ashok group builders, you can be stress-free about the mandatory formalities involved in first-time home buying process and make your investment safe, secure, and worth your hard-earned money.


Tip 6 :

Explore the neighborhood to check the proximity to different amenities such as schools, hospitals, malls, brick and mortar shops, bus stops, railways station, and so on, and any red flags like water stagnant, inaccessibility of roads, improper road conditions and drainage facilities, issues in availing basic amenities like water and electricity, lack of connectivity, etc.


Tip 7 :

If you have a cash crunch while planning to buy your first home, no worries! You can take a home loan and avail of several benefits such as minimum/zero down payment and other tax advantages, which are exclusive for the first-time home purchase.

First-Time Home Buyer Advantages!

  • Home Loan Interest Advantages: You can claim a maximum deduction on home loans up to 2 lacs under Section 24, which has been effective from 2018-2019 onwards, and while repaying the capital amount you are eligible to claim tax deduction up to 1.5 lacs under section 80C and 50k on payment of interest amount.
  • PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) GST Advantages: First-time home buyers using the CLSS (Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme) pay only 8% GST in lieu of the previous 12%, and they are eligible for further tax benefits with a family income of 18 lacs per annum.
  • Subsidy Advantages: You are eligible to receive a 4% subsidy for income within Rs. 12 lacs when the capital amount is Rs. 9 lacs and a 3% subsidy for income within Rs. 18 lacs with a capital amount of 12 lacs.

These are the things to know for the first time home buyers regarding home loans and Govt., subsidies.


Tip 8 :

Review the spending pattern and try to cut the expenditure or spend less on the things you need the least so that you can make room for new home EMI. Buying land for building a house demands high financial capital and access to financing like home loans, provided your emergency savings are intact.


Tip 9 :

First time home buying process involves in planning your investment and setting your long-term financial goals in perspective for successful returns. One of the most valuable points to consider is whether the house is your permanent residence or a real estate investment. While the house bought for a stay doesn’t offer any income, a house bought for investment offers regular returns.


Tip 10 :

Despite different options for first time home buyers, buying a house is taxing financially and emotionally hence perform thorough market research, get guidance from real estate experts, and have multiple choices to pick from rather than going to just any of the real estate builders.

Take Away

While buying a house requires appropriate precautions for a safe purchase and a happy lifestyle afterward, it has many advantages on the home loan front. Home buyers enjoy a variety of home loan advantages with matching eligibility, which they should be aware of and evaluate the mandatory approvals for a pleasant home buying experience and enjoying a peaceful dwelling experience. We believe that these ten tips and information on tax advantages are essential things to know for the first-time home buyers to add value and reduce the challenges in the house-buying journey.