I'm redeeming all my mutual funds apart from a couple of bond funds that don't move much anyway. Might keep HDFC equity fund also alive as a nest egg. I've cashed in most of my stocks too - the ongoing bull run has helped me no end.
HDFC is helping out on the home loan front, but the way their EMIs fluctuate each time I talk to them is wierd. Need to have them put it in writing asap. ICICI has been dogging me too. They seem to segrate prospects linguistically. When I went to them for a car loan, they had a Malayalee talk to me. Now for the house, I initially met a Mr Mukherjee over the phone and another Mr Mukherjee in person ("He is D. Mukherjee, sir. I am R. Mukherjee"). A day later I have yet another good soul from ICICI call me up and ask, "Naattil evide aanu veedu ?". Hmm.
HDFC also wants me to give them an undated cheque for the entire loan amount, which they say they will return when I give them the original agreement papers. Eeks ! My life isn't worth that much. What the heck am I getting into here ?
A very good Sunday after a long while. Rachana was quiet and well behaved. My parents left for Kerala early in the morning. Sindha and I lazed around the house, reading and listening to music. Peace.
Not sure how Sindha can manage without anyone around at home, though. Both sets of parents are now back in Kerala. I need to get home early most days, hope I can manage that.
Started reading Ripley's Game, thanks to this reminder from
Saw half of Cider House Rules on Zee MGM. Since Irving wrote the screenplay, the movie was quite similar to the book.Some of the characters haven't been etched out very well though. Should try to see the second half on a repeat sometime.
Shakespeare in Love has been on my vcd deck for about a week now. Watching movies is next to impossible when you have a baby at home.
As one-half of a couple who availed themselves of a bank loan and bought a flat in Bombay recently, I can only tell you this: Do your homework!
ReplyDeleteThe interest rates fluctuate depending on the bank's PLR (prime lending rate). If you go in for a fixed rate option, your interest rates remain (more-or-less) stable all through the tenure of your loan. The floating rate, on the other hand, ties you down to market fluctuations - so you lose or gain depending on which way the market swings.
I hope you've gone in for a 10-year loan. A 20-year loan makes your EMIs look very affordable, but you'll end up paying a lot more by way of interest. We settled for 15 years, because property prices in Bombay are pretty steep and an EMI (equated monthly instalment) of 15K is about all we can manage.
The entire exercise took us four months, from the time we identified our dream house (and not-so-dream bank), to taking possession of the said house. It's a different matter that we've not been able to move in yet, thanks to the renovation that's underway.
But that gives me an idea. Let me see if I can post Anatomy Of A Househunt on my journal sometime soon.
Thanks ! I'm also planning for a 15 year loan. Our househunt was going on for over a year, till we finalized on one a few weeks back.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like 'The Cider House Rules' too much. I think Irving wanted to squeeze too much of the book into a 2 hour movie, and failed.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if that's right or now. All I remember of the movie is that it doesn't quite match the book.
:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks !
ReplyDeleteplanning to follow in your footsteps (as in buy a place) ... so watching this space ;)
ReplyDeleteI totally understand, having just gone through both the house and car loan rigmarole... I'm feeling very broke now. My new car should be here Monday though... that's the only bright spark in my life right now... :)
ReplyDelete