Why you Should Explore the Home Loan Top-Up Option

Buying a home and taking a home loan is not just a onetime expense. A home needs a lot of care and work. When you purchase a home, you also need to purchase with it all that goes into that space, from electronics to furniture, to lights and fixtures and even the tiles and flooring. These are not small expenses and a lot of times your housing loan alone is not sufficient to fulfil them. Even if you can afford all these things the first time, they can be a recurring expense. A home needs repair and renovations as regular intervals for it to remain nice and sturdy. And these expenses are not small either.

A top-up home loan is an exclusive option given to home loan customers that gives them the option of borrowing an amount additional to their existing loan. This money can be used for home improvement, repairs or any other thing you many need it for.

Here’s what you need to know about a home loan top-up.

1.  Eligibility: Top-up loans can be availed only by someone who has an existing housing loan. There are other preconditions too that you need to fulfil before you become eligible for such a loan. Here are some of the criteria that are taken into consideration.

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•    Minimum period: You need to have started repayment of your housing loan and paid interest for a certain period before you are eligible for your home loan. This period may differ from bank to bank.

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•     LTV limit: Loan-to-value (LTV) is the amount you’re allowed to borrow on your existing housing loan. The LTV ratio is fixed at 80-85% of the present value of your property. 

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•        Tenure: The tenure of top-up loan runs concurrently with that of your home loan. So if you have 10 years remaining for your home loan repayment, your top-up loan tenure cannot exceed the remaining term. 

1.  Benefits: The first and foremost benefit of a top-up loan is that you don’t need to manage multiple loans when you get a top-up. The top-up amount is simply added to your existing loan amount and the Top-Up Loan Interest Rates are also paid through a single EMI. There are no restrictions on the usage of this amount. You can use it for whatever you want. Be it renovation work, a new car or for your business or even healthcare.

2.  Best to opt for top-up loan: If upon buying a new home you require more money to purchase additional parking space, do get some renovation work done or to by something for your new home you can opt for a top-up home loan. If after a few years of paying interest on you Housing Loan you have a big expense coming that is related to your business or family, you can opt for a top-up home loan, instead of going for a personal loan.