4 ways to legally save on property registration charges

4 ways to legally save on property registration charges – Techtends

The property registration charge, which usually on average ranges between 5-10%, frequently eats up a substantial part of a home buyer’s budget. Buying a home is everyone’s dream but, with a lack of money, it is impossible to get a dream home. If you succeed in saving any part of the charge, it will save money and help in raising your home-buying budget. It will also boost your interior budget, reducing your home loan outstanding or utilizing it any other way you prefer. Below is the list of 4 ways to legally save on property registration charges.

By appealing to the registrar/sub-registrar, a way of legally saving on property registration charges:

Stamp duty and registration rates are to be calculated on the actual transaction price. When the market prices change at periodic intervals, the government keeps on revising the circle rate. This has happened many times in the recent past when the market rate was less than the circle rate. When the market rate is less and paying the stamp duty at a higher circle rate puts a buyer at loss. However, there is a way you can save on stamp duty because not many buyers are aware. Under the state stamp act, they can appeal to the sub-registrar for conviction of market value.

Registration at undivided share:

The purchase of undivided shares is widespread in the land aggregation process. When the buyer signs two agreements with the builder – the sale agreement and the construction agreement. The sale agreement is for undivided shares (UDS) in property, i.e. the buyer’s share only in the common area. A specified share would be required to be crystalized by going for metes and bound partition for any utilization. Hence, the registration of a construction agreement is not compulsory in every state; it is only possible where the agreement is not compulsory. In some states such as Tamil Nadu, it is mandatory to register both a sale agreement and a construction agreement.

Rebate for female buyers:

If joint/individual purchases by women, many states, including Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, and UP offer a discount on stamp duty charges. The Delhi government’s official website states, the stamp duty rate is 4% for women and 6% for male buyers.

Local stamp act:

Although rules vary from state to state, it’s reproving to review the local stamp act / hire a professional to do the job. The cost of the property can occasionally be reduced by state regulations, which sometimes, state rules are such that you can save on property registration charges.

In Maharashtra, most clients don’t know if they sell the property within one year of buying from a developer, the property registration charges are applicable only to the net profit. On the property, if gifted to a blood relative, no need to pay stamp duty. For Example, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

Properties In Pune Unsold; Boon For Home Buyers?

Home buyers look with lure to attain a better one among the many unsold properties in Pune. The home buyers are expected to bargain for the unsold properties in Pune.

Properties in Pune remain unsold. Home buyers see it as a boon.

Properties in Pune remain unsold. Home buyers see it as a boon.

Vast numbers of properties in Pune remain unsold. Recently residential market in the city has experienced stable property prices for a few couples of weeks.  Home buyers consider this as a boost for them as they will have plenty of options to choose from. They are also hopeful of attaining properties in Pune at lower rates through bargaining with the builders.

Global property consultant Cushman & Wakefield’s October-December (2012) quarter residential research report stated that the home launches fell sharply in the last quarter of 2012. Though there was a substantial increase in home launches here in the first three quarters of the year, the final quarter faced around 60% fall in new launches. Continue reading

Real Estate Booms around Schools of Reputation

The value appreciation of real estate properties goes ups and downs along with the presence of any reputed schools in the area. The higher reputation the school has the higher value real estate property gets.

High reputed schools normally admit children into kindergarten on the basis of local address. As a rule such schools accept the children within a distance of three to five kilometers away from the school. So the people opt for homes which are close to such schools of reputation. Real estate builders realize the importance and act accordingly. Continue reading

Real Estate Firms Use Online Media to Shield Reputation

Real estate builders use social media as a resort to preserve their reputation. Their reputation is tainted as home buyers comment negatively on social sites.

Real estate builders hope to cover up the lost reputation through appointing online reputation managers. The necessity pushes the real estate companies to hurry up appointing online reputation managers. This is done mainly to shield their reputation.

The proposed home buyers are yet to receive their homes even after two years of expected delivery. The provoked home buyers have started using social media to express their disgust. In fact this severely affects the reputation of the real estate developers.

Real estate research firm Liases Foras recently reported that the delivery of homes will be delayed. Approximately 3, 23, 000 homes are to be delivered in 2013. Liases Foras reported that merely a half might be delivered on time. The delivery of the remaining half will be delayed. The report added that some of them will be delivered only in 2015. Continue reading

Homebuyers to Get Protection from MHUPA Regulatory Body

The newly appointed Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) Mr. Ajay Maken said that the government plans to appoint a regulatory body for protecting the home buyers from the hands of real estate sharks.

During a press conference Mr. Ajay Maken said to the media that the MHUPA  is about to set up a regulatory body for protecting the home buyers who often face severe troubles from the real estate developers.

On the same occasion the MHUPA  Minister did not forget to stress on the need of proper planning in the residential sector. Continue reading

Mumbai offers little hope for home buyers.

In a recent report, Jones Lang LaSalle said that Mumbai seems to be in a tighter spot with Rs275 billion being sunk in land since FDI (foreign direct investment) was allowed in real estate in 2005; most of which has failed to yield returns. Even many investments done in South Bombay once named as one of the hottest and costliest property location in the world have met the same fate. Read Mumbai has sunk Rs275 billion in lands since 2005, the reason is known to all. Sky high prices have put off customers. In Mumbai, an average flat costs more than Rs10,000 per sq. ft. and even in Navi Mumbai, in less populated areas, there are many projects that have flats priced at over Rs1 crore.

Add to that the confusion created by the new DCR (development control rules). Many builders now have to make fresh plans to accommodate the proposed changes about FSI; and the worst affected are those whose projects are already underway. Many of the launches have been put on hold, and construction has been stalled in many places. And for people who have already invested in these projects, the longer the deadlock lasts, the more they have to pay.

Buy or not to buy? Despite a profusion of analyses and research reports on housing prices and their future direction, home buyers remain as confused as ever. So it is little wonder that 37 lakh of flats remain vacant in Maharashtra, of which 4.79 lakh are in Mumbai. The Census Directorate data says that even Thane district has more than 5 lakh vacant flats.

“Why doesn’t the government or RBI (Reserve Bank of India) understand that the more they squeeze liquidity by raising interest rates, it raises returns on black investments even higher. If our country can bring down black element out of property, rents will fall, property prices will fall,” said a commentator.

The home-buyer, however, is at a loss. The Budget came as a flop, and a recent Crisil report says that prices of steel and cement will go up, which will probably be passed down to the end-user. And then, there is the proposal to hike on leave-license, which is going to make rentals expensive. There are some who expect matters to improve.

Pankaj Kapoor, MD, Liases Foras also had echoed similar thoughts. “The high prices are not fault of only the builders. The hike in stamp duty was uncalled for and it is too revenue-centric and indicates a short term vision.” Read Maharashtra Stamp duty hike: “Neither can you afford to own a home, nor take it on rent”

However, as most experts say, one can buy a home any time. “You never know what will happen next. And honestly, there is little evidence to suggest that customers have waited for better home loan or price options when they have to buy a home—because it is a necessity. So if you want to own a home, there is no bad time,” said an analyst.

Chennai leads Indian Realty Sector.

In a recent report, property broking and real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle said the Indian property market is poised to attract about US$3 billion, almost double last year’s US$1.6 billion, from overseas buyers this year.

The Indian property market will see more investment from overseas this year as it still remains an attractive investment destination globally.

Of this, one-third would be from home buyers and the balance from investors. This is despite the fact that property prices in India are at an all-time high.

According to a recent National Housing Bank (NHB) survey, property prices in big Indian cities have increased by as much as 43 per cent to 166 per cent in the last four years.

NHB, wholly owned by the Reserve Bank of India, lends to home-mortgage companies. It also regulates and refinances social housing programmes. In its report, the bank said Chennai had seen the highest rise in prices at 166 per cent. Bhopal was second with a hike of 117 per cent and Mumbai was ranked third with an increase of 87 per cent.

What then brings overseas investment to Indian property, when prices are skyrocketing? The answer is simple: Despite the global turmoil because of the financial crisis, the Indian economy has remained robust, largely due to domestic-driven demand.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle, India’s strong economic growth, rapid urbanisation, growing middle-class population, demographic advantage and increased thrust on infrastructure has worked in its favour. Buying property is especially popular among Indians living abroad, who all seem to want a piece of the homeland. That is why Indian property shows are burgeoning around the globe.

Dubai-based Sumansa Exhibitions has been holding Indian property shows across five countries. And every year the number of developers taking part in the shows and the attendees has grown rapidly.

Sumansa Exhibitions’ chief executive officer Sunil Jaiswal says: “We have held shows in the UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore. They have been very well received by both exhibitors and visitors alike.”

This year Sumansa will hold the Indian Property Show in Singapore on April 14 and 15. It will be held at the Suntec Exhibition Centre’s hall 401 and nearly 40 developers from across India will be part of the show.

More than 200 properties will be showcased during the two-day exhibition. Sumansa expects the number of footfalls at the event to be much larger than the 4,000 that turned up at its last year’s event.

DTC Revision Beneficial for Realty

income tax
On June 15, the revised draft for the Direct Tax Code was released. This code is a try by the Indian government to simplify the laws of income tax. The government is waiting for the Parliament to pass the code and plans to adopt it from April 1, 2011.

Below is the list of some must know changes proposed in the draft code with respect to realty sector.

Short-term capital gains: As per the proposals, tax will be imposed on any gain or loss made on the sale of an asset within a year.

Long-term capital gains: The proposed laws say that after an year of purchase, the taxation policy on any gain or loss made on the sale of an asset will be implemented as per the long-term capital gains tax policy.

As per the draft code, from April 1, 2011, April 1, 1981 will not be considered for calculating the discount rate; rather April 1, 2000 will be considered for the same.

Rental Income Taxation Policy: The draft code has proposed that the gross rent should be calculated on the actual rent receivable or received for the financial year.

Home loan Interest Rates: The draft DTC intends to keep on deducing tax on the interest paid on home loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh for construction or purchase of residential property.

Self Occupied House Property: Any self occupied house property (property not been let out) will be allowed for deduction on account of interest to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh.

This revised draft code of the DTC has come up as a boom for the home buyers and home owners. The revision seems to be beneficial for all, be it is investors or developers.

Realty Getting Costlier


My House drawing,  back side
April 23, 2010

The real estate buyers are in big trouble in how to buy a dream home with these increasing costs of realty day by day. Since more than eight months, a 30-year-old professional, Nisha Parekh, has been searching for a proper and affordable residential space in Ahmadabad for her family but has not yet succeeded despite of aggrandizing her budget by Rs. 10 lakh, i.e, from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh.

This is not the story of just one Nisha. It is about all the young buyers who failed to buy their dream home since the prices of realty shoot up by 30 percent in August 2009. Ms Pakekh, who till recently was working as a researcher with ISRO also added that due to these price hikes, she failed to buy her a dream home aven after increasing the budget with a decent amount.

One more witness of this price hike is Mr. Dutta, who noticed that in 2008 prices in Mumbai touched the sky. He added that after this hike, on recognizing lower volumes of transactions, the developers use inducements as goodies to attract home buyers. A price correction of around 15% could bring back buoyancy into the market, based on various indications. According to him, if this price rise continues, it will force the developers to finally come up with certain schemes and discounts that were done away with.

Also according to him, the realtors are majorly focusing on high profile projects which fall in the category of above Rs. 40 lakh costing but if seen from buyer point of you, they are totally unaffordable,
even with the economy stabilising and improved job security.

Residential property becomes cheaper

Home Loan
Photo by thisperthlife
Residential property prices are expected to fall by about 10% this year. Residential property rates declined by 18% to 20% in this March. Despite this drop, buyers are watching market scenario with ‘wait and watch’ policy. This trend is likely to continue through 2009. Mr. Sudhir Nair, Head, CRISIL Research says, “Demand in the commercial and retail segment is likely to remain under stress for the next two years owing to excess supply and weak off take.”

It is believed that lower home loan interest rates would help to revive demand in the residential segment. Hence, capital values are likely to stabilise in the first half of 2010, and increase during the second half of the year.