Rajiv Raj tells you about some easy financing options to deck up your home
Diwali is just around the corner and there is an excited buzz everywhere. A festival of lights, Diwali is celebrated by millions of people in India and abroad, with gusto.
On this day, people worship the Goddess Laxmi, the Hindu Goddess of wealth and prosperity, and requests her to bestow their homes with riches. People renovate and clean their homes to welcome the Goddess.
Diwali is also a time when crucial financial decisions are taken. If you are thinking of setting your home, Diwali is the best time to do so.
The festival season is the time when all the major banks of India provides cheaper and faster home loans. Apart from the cheaper interest rates, during festival season, banks also waive off fees, to attract more customers.
If you are thinking of welcoming goddess Laxmi in a brand new home, this is the best time to go ahead and apply for a new home loan. However, if you only wish to remodel your home before Laxmi puja and looking for funds, there are still ways to make it possible.
Clean your house
Before you shop for the best ways to set up your home this Diwali, make sure to clean your home thoroughly. It is believed that Goddess Laxmi resides in a home that is clean and organised.
Do away with everything that you do not need. This will make your home clutter free and give you more space to rearrange your home.
Oftentimes, when a house looks like it needs to be remodelled or extended, it only wants to be cleaned, organised and clutter free.
You may be surprised by the space in your house once it is properly organised. It will also give you a chance to access your home properly and decide which part to renovate.
Ways to get funds for setting up your home
Now that you have a fair idea of how do you want to set up your home this Diwali, there are a handful of ways to do so. However, before venturing out to explore the options, make sure that you have a ballpark figure.
Renovation can be tricky and you would not want to end up with too much or too little money to cover up all your expenses.
Here are some of the ways that you can explore.
Personal loan
This is fairly simple. Personal loans are unsecured loans. These loans are given, based on your credit history and repayment capacity.
By unsecured, it means that these loans do not require any collateral or security. They are easy to get and require minimum documentations.
However, since these are unsecured loans, the interest rates are also often higher.
Top up home loans
Several banks offer top up home loans on your existing home loan to add value to your home. If you have an existing home loan, then you can approach the bank to get a top up over that loan.
The top up loan can also be used for any other personal purposes.
Home improvement loan
Home improvement loan, as the name suggests, is offered by banks, solely for the purpose of renovating and improving your home.
These loans are different from your existing home loan and have different terms and conditions.
Photograph: Indu Harikumar/Creative Commons
The author is a credit expert with 10 years of experience in personal finance and consumer banking industry and another 7 years in credit bureau sector. Rajiv was instrumental in setting up India's first credit bureau, Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). He has also worked with Citibank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Experian in various capacities.
