Home Buying Advice For Young Couples
Gone are the days when only the elderly could or would buy homes on the back of their life savings. Thirty years ago, the typical Indian homebuyer was invariably aged above 50 and cashed in his or her provident fund to finally make the dream of home ownership come true. Today, homebuyers in India are younger than ever, with the age group of 34-38 populating a majority of sales deeds. Furthermore, these young buyers are maximising the advantages of youth with the power of team leverage.
With dual-income nuclear families having become the new norm, young married couples are the preferred customer ‘configuration’ for banks and home loan companies. Their combined creditworthiness is boosted by the very healthy risk profile that banks see in people who have two decades or more of active professional life ahead of them. The result? Young couples have the ability to buy a sizeable home in a good location today, locking in its value and capital appreciation potential.
Know your fundamentals
The decision to buy a home should not be influenced by other people’s thoughts and opinions. While one young couple with a certain degree of financial agility may see a lot of sense in buying a home as soon as possible, another of comparable fiscal ability could be content to live out their lives in rental homes and invest their surplus money elsewhere. For now, let us consider the first set — young married couples who have firmly decided to buy a home.
The ‘Starter Home’
Young aspiring homebuyers should keep in mind their current and future finances and balance that with their current needs. The concept of ‘starter homes’ is a very valid one in India — the kind of homes that a majority of young couples prefer or are able to buy in the initial stages of their careers and/or married life. The idea of buying a starter home is to secure a property within one’s existing means, and then upgrade to a larger home as the family as well as the financial capability grows. Ensuring that the starter home, though compact, is in a good project with decent amenities, and in a well-connected location, will enable the buyer to sell it off more quickly and at a better price when the time to upgrade to a larger flat finally comes.
This is, by no means, the default choice for all young couples; many prefer to invest in larger homes, the kind their combined credit-worthiness can permit.
Deciding the budget
When it comes to deciding on how much money one can spend on buying a home, much depends on whether the newly-baked family comprises a single income earner or if it is a dual-income scenario. If it is a single-income household, a starter home in a good project by a reputed developer is the way to go. In the case of a dual-income situation, a couple can set its sight a little higher, but it is important not
to overreach.
The main focus at this point in one’s family life should be to secure a home, while simultaneously retaining the ability to enjoy the first years of married life in reasonable style. The objective for a newly-married couple, unless it comes from wealthy families, should not be to immediately buy the biggest, flashiest home on the block.
