6 Advantages for Women Real Estate Buyers

Buying real estate is so much more than finding the perfect location to call home. But when women are into buying real estate, there have certain benefits. Here are the top advantages for women in real estate.

A relatively small monetary investment and some sweat equity can generate a substantial profit. Many women nowadays are financially independent, making decisions about running the house and managing finances. Now they are also choosing and buying real estate properties.

With the state governments and different financial institutions offering various sops for female property buyers, purchasing an apartment in the name of a woman as the sole or joint owner makes sense.

The government has undertaken the step to encourage more female buyers and investors in the real estate field. As per a recent survey, about 42% of women prefer real estate as an investment> asset.

Top 6 Advantages of Women Real Estate Buyers

Here are a few advantages women who invest in real estate property can take advantage of if the house/property gets registered in their name.

1: Home Loans at a Lower Interest Rate

The loan eligibility determines the budget for purchasing your home. If you jointly register for an apartment, you can apply for a joint home loan.

A joint home loan helps the couple to share the debt burden. It also paves the way to apply for a higher amount of home loan. Banks also offer home loans with a reduced interest rate exclusively for women. Various home loan schemes and initiatives encourage women to own properties for their family members. You can get the benefit provided by

• 'Her Ghar' from the State Bank of India,
• Women Power' by HDFC,
• Mahila Awas loan,
• Tata Housing.

Bank offers 0.25% higher interest to men than women in a loan amount under 30 lakh. Home loans from the State Bank of India have competitive interest rates starting at 8.55% p.a. The rate of interest on the Home loan of HDFC for women real estate buyers over Rs 30 lakh is 8.60%, whereas it is 8.65% for everyone else.

2: Home Loans at a Lower Rate

A lender bank also thinks that the money the bank has given shall be returned in time. It is seen that women loan buyer return money in time with interest and have less chance of committing fraud, and this is why leading Banks and NBFCs provide home loans at fewer interest rates to women with attractive schemes also.

If a property is in the name of a person's wife and the loan is also taken in the name of the wife but doesn't know a specific income, it will not be considered a Benami property.

3: Tax Advantages for Women Real Estate Buyers

One can take advantage of being a women real estate buyer or buying a home in the name of a woman, and you will get a deduction of interest up to Rs 2 lakhs every financial year.

If the apartment is self-occupied and you have bought it in your wife's name, you could apply for an extra deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh as an interest amount at the end of a financial year.

Suppose the husband and the wife have separate earning sources and jointly own a real estate property in Kolkata; they both can file for individual tax deductions. The benefits of tax deductions depend on every co-owners respective share.

According to sections 80C, 24, and Sections 80EE and 80EEA, if a man and his wife own a property jointly, the wife must sign up for the loan as a co-applicant. Here they both can get the advantage of allowing them to claim tax deductions on their separate salaries.

4: Lower Stamp Duty

Some state governments in India have kept stamp duty rates lower by 1% to 2% to encourage more women to own real estate properties individually or in joint ownership. For example, if a woman is buying a property in Delhi, she has to pay 4% as the stamp duty, and for an apartment purchased for the same price, a man must pay 6% as the stamp duty.

In Uttarakhand, the stamp duty for men is 5%, whereas it is 3.75% for women.

States and Stamp Duty Rates

Haryana

• For males - 7% in urban areas
• For females - 5% in the urban area

Maharashtra

• 6% for male
• 5% for female

Odisha

• 5% (Male)
• 4% (Female)

Uttarakhand

• 5% (Male)
• 4% (Female)

RAJASTHAN

• 5%(Male)
• 4% ( Female)

Uttar Pradesh

• 7% (male)
• Rebate of Rs 10,000 on overall charges(female)

Punjab

• 6% (male)
• 4% (female)

5: Benefits under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

Women can multi-task better in a simple way. Any given day, you can see women balancing home, career, and family with no more than a bat of an eye, so it is no wonder why they are great at this game. Also, women tend to be straighter forward, especially to the women buyers.

Also, their great charm has been known to charge many men into buying homes.

Under the PMAY, the government gives more preference to women as compared to male applicants.

If a woman owns a property under the PMAY scheme, then the government is ready to provide subsidies up to Rs. 2.67 lacks. Under PMAY, for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Rs. 3 lakh income per annum or falling under Lower Income Group (LIG), the government will give almost 6.5 % interest subsidy up to Rs. 6 lacks the loan amount to women.

This scheme aims to make women better decision-makers concerning property investment in India. For the first time, Rs 2.35 lakh subsidy is given to homebuyers under the Central Government's Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).

The government has divided CLSS into four classes.

1. Economically Weaker Section (EWS): women having an annual income less than or equal to Rs 3 lakhs will be given a subsidy of 6.5% on a home loan of up to Rs 6 lakhs.
2. Low Income Group (LIG): women having an annual income of less than or equal to Rs 6 lakhs will be given the same benefits as the EWS group.
3. Middle Income Group – 1 (MIG-I): women having an annual income of not more than Rs 12 lakhs will be given a subsidy of 4% on a home loan of up to Rs 9 lakhs.
4. Middle Income Group – 2 (MIG-II): women having an annual income not more than Rs 18 lakhs will be given a 3% subsidy on a home loan up to Rs 12 lakhs.

An unmarried girl can also apply for a PMAY subsidy or home loan. According to the PMAY regulations, the homeowner must have at least one female family member.

6: Ensure Financial Security

You can also protect your financial assets by purchasing a home in a woman's name. Suppose a person is in loss or debt in business, then neither the government nor creditors may seize the house registered in the wife's name.

More women are purchasing a home because of two benefits: capital appreciation and rental income.

Other Benefits

There are some other advantages for a woman homeowner. If an individual does not pay a loan or a debt on time which he has taken for any work or business, then the bank or any government official will not take home recovery of money. But some conditions need to be fulfilled to acquire all these benefits. These are:

• If a woman is the co-owner or guarantor in any loan, her property can be removed for recovery.
• If a couple jointly owns a property, and if the property is used for renting, then the property rent will be attracted tax from both the co-owners.
• If someone owns a property in the name of the wife and the loan is also taken in the wife's name but out of a known source of income, it will not be considered a Benami property.

First, you need to take the time to look at the overall selling aspect. On this aspect, both men and women do show similar strengths and weaknesses. However, men tend to take a more critical look than a woman may. Also, men tend to consider the homes they purchase an overall investment, and women do not.

The men also tend to sell their properties more on investments. Women, however, tend to pay more attention to the detailed aspect of selling. They have a natural skill to look at a variety of different properties and then be able to envision the various ways that they will make that property even better. They also have a more critical eye on the property's interior than a man would. This is one of the main reasons women have begun gaining much recognition in the real estate field.

POST-COVID OPPORTUNITIES

Many real estate companies believe women will become significant stakeholders while buying property in post covid.

About 48 per cent of women browsed their interested properties, whereas 39% of men. On the other hand, women are more brand conscious in buying property as compared to men. 60% of women prefer to buy a home from a reputed real estate firm to ensure quality service and security.

Conclusion

The government of India wants to offer more attractive opportunities to the buyers of real estate properties. This is because real estate growth is an integral part of the growth of the Indian economy, and higher demand will help it develop more rapidly.

Keeping up with the government efforts, the real estate developers in Kolkata and other Tier-1 cities are building housing projects that cater to the requirements of every buyer. In this scenario, you should avail the most significant benefits of government policies to fulfil your aspirations in the world of real estate.