Being the capital of Tamil Nadu, there is a great demand for both commercial and residential properties in Chennai. If you are looking for a dream home, which meets your budget restrictions too, then you may be able to find a good option here. With the growing property rates it is really not easy to find a spacious apartment, which may have lush green surroundings, since this city is very crowded. But with the expansion of city limits to suburban areas, and the construction of condominiums has given rise to affordable homes.

There are plenty of sites where you can find the home of your dreams in Chennai easily. Here you can access thousands of properties including apartments and bungalows. Real estate in Chennai is growing and finding an ideal property through regular real estate brokers can be a time consuming task. Usually realtors take up a lot of time in showing you around the different properties. Then there are also so many plans for upcoming constructions. All of these can be seen on the internet instead of going apartment house-hunting.

The rate of properties in Chennai varies on the basis of area or location of the property, whether it is a commercial property or residential property and many other similar considerations. OMR, old Mahabalipurum, Medavakkam, Annanagar and other posh areas have higher rate of property. Another advantage of online real estate browsing is that realtors charge certain fees and commissions and hence this will raise your over all budget.

Chennai real estate industry is also booming because of the higher pay packages also with the easily availability of loans. Apart from these factors there has been a surge in this business. Chennai real estate has seen tremendous growth and change of vision of construction with international corporations setting up their establishments and headquarters here. This has resulted in modern and compact constructions with a rise of skyscrapers and condominiums. All of these factors have altered the entire scenario of the real estate industry. Hence one can find apartments
, penthouses, bungalows, etc. with ease and pay for the same through easy installments.

Some of the vital factors that would affect your overall property cost in Chennai include size of the property, interiors of the apartment, kinds of construction and many other factors. Most of the times, prospective clients can also see a model home, which is displayed for the convenience of buyers. Some of the basic amenities available at these new apartments include swimming pools, gyms, parks, etc.

Commercial property rates are much higher here, and they are available for both proprietorship and rental. Chennai is amongst the leading cities who have witnessed the growth of plush apartments and modern homes along with a huge commercial sector. Major players in the real estate industry in Chennai property are the giant chains, shopping malls, restaurants and other commercial sectors. They have altered the structure of this once colonial city and made the concept of buying homes much easier.

By Vaneet Gupta

Deciding a complaint filed by Panchkula resident Birbhan Goyal, the consumer forum held on Tuesday that enhancement in the rate of
interest in case of home loan is illegal and unwarranted. Imposing a penalty of Rs one lakh, which the bank will pay to Goyal, the forum said, ‘The bank is directed to overhaul accounts of all its loanees and bring the rate of interest at par with those at which the loan
(home) is advanced to new customers from time to time, so that all its customers, whether old or new, who have opted for adjustable rate of interest pay the same rate of interest during any particular period.’

Stating that the finance company and the bank adopted unfair trade practice, the forum, headed by Jagroop Singh Mahal, held, ‘Whenever enhancement takes place, the rate would not be more than that at which loans are being advanced to new customers, meaning thereby that if after enhancement, loan is advanced to any new customer at a lower rate, the rate of interest of the complainant and all other loanees would also come down to the same level.’

After completing all formalities needed to avail a loan, Goyal entered into an agreement with a home finance company and the bank. A loan of Rs 37 lakh, which was to be paid in 180 instalments in a period of 15 years, was sanctioned and he started paying the instalments from March 2005 onwards on a regular basis. However, a letter took him by surprise in August 2008. The letter allegedly stated that the repayment schedule through EMIs was being revised to increase the repayment time from 180 to 502 months. He immediately approached the bank?s local branch and requested cancellation of the payment rescheduling but to no avail.

Denying allegations, ICICI Home Finance Company Ltd and ICICI Bank Limited, in their written reply, pleaded that the complainant had opted for floating rate of interest and due to increase in it, they had increased the tenure of repayment of monthly instalments to reduce the financial burden on Goyal.

Arguing before the forum, Goyal’s counsel stated that the finance company and bank adopted unfair trade practice by increasing rate of interest for old customers at a higher rate, whereas the prevailing rate of interest was much lower, which was depicted through their announcements and advertisements in the newspaper to attract new customers.

After hearing the pleas, the forum held that the interest rate of any old loanee would be lowered to bring it at par with the interest rate at which the loan is advanced by the bank to its new customers.
Source :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/Bank-to-pay-Rs-1-lakh-for-overhauling-loan-account/articleshow/4750737.cms