If you do pay a prepayment charge keep in mind - the prepayment charge should be considerably less compared to the interest saved.
You can consistently pay a part-prepayment, say every quarter, and conserve some of your savings for this purpose every month. This will bring
down the principal you owe the bank, thereby reducing the outstanding loan
amount and hence the net interest you will end up paying will consistently drop down. You can consider the prepayment option, in cases where you
need to reduce your outstanding loan amount significantly enabling you to close the loan early, or when your interest rates are on the upswing
that results in an increased your loan tenure. In case of the latter, you could also try out a loan balance transfer, which basically means you
will try to refinance your existing loan through another bank which gives you a lower interest rate and tenure for the remainder of the
outstanding loan amount to be paid to your current bank.
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Interest rates have finally cooled off a bit, with the RBI bringing down the CRR and repo rates recently. Some banks have already announced rate
cuts on loans
and few others are following suit. So, does it make sense to refinance your existing home loan? Will it
help you save significant money by
closing your high cost home loan and making a loan transfer to another bank that gives a lower interest
rate?
Or should you prepay instead, which will bring down your outstanding loan amount significantly?
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The US housing boom, which occurred around 2001-2005 attracted a lot of curiosity and
interest. The people and the banks of United States, wondered how to make the most of this consistently escalating prices in the real estate market. People were interested in buying homes and selling them at a profit.
The subprime borrowers, who had a poor credit score felt they had an opportunity to pay off all their outstanding loans by cashing in on this boom.
Refinance opportunities came by way of Option ARM, which was a sought after loan product during these times.
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To prepay or invest - that is a question most of us ask when we have spare cash in hand. Here's how to take the decision.
Amar bought a re-sale apartment three years back, for which he took a loan of Rs 7 lakh at 8.5 per cent. He pays a monthly
installment
of Rs 6,500. Now, he wants to invest his monthly saving rather than use it to prepay and reduce his outstanding loan amount
significantly; but is unsure. His monthly income is Rs 50,000.
Amar could actually do both - make part prepayment and invest too. Here's how.
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He liquidated some of his assets, made a few bulk prepayments and took care of his defaults. He also opted for a home loan transfer to refinance his current home
loan. He expected the loan transfer to benefit from the falling interest rates. The option
to refinance his loan to a bank that offered a
better interest rate and a lesser tenure than his existing loan provider eased the pressure enormously as the steep interest hikes in the past
were taking its toll and his bank offered the benefits of slashed interest rates, which meant lower EMIs only to new customers, which left him with a distinct
disadvantage.
Hence he had no other option than to opt for a loan transfer to another bank, where he can avail the benefits of a new customer.
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