If you’ve been a good customer, then there is always a possibility that you can negotiate with your bank on your home loan term period and the interest rate. Explains Amit Suri, CEO, AUM Financial Planners: "The interest rate that any housing finance company (HFC) charges to you is around 2-3% less than the PLR. In India, this benchmark for every bank is different. It doesn’t necessarily mean that every time there’s a hike in PLR, your interest rate will go up. If you’ve been regular with your payments, you can explore this with your bank." Analyst say that you should keep a watch on the interest rate your HFC is offering to new customers. Generally banks offer different schemes to new customers with various discounts. "If your existing lender is doing so, it clearly indicates that there is a cushion. And you should also benefit from it," says Harsh Roongta, CEO, Apnaloan. Besides, an HFC can only reset the floating rates once in every quarter. And if recently there has been a raise, make sure that you should be impacted only when the bank reviews it in the next quarter.
