Home décor consists of physical objects and items such as furniture like a dining table, wall décor like art pieces, and accessories like house plants and statues. Home decoration also includes the colours used in a room, such as wall paint or wallpaper. It includes the style of furniture and art, as well as how they are arranged in a room. On the other hand, home renovation is a broader aspect of home décor. Here it includes repainting walls, installing new fixtures, refacing cabinets, and adding new fixtures and finishes. Home renovation literally means ‘to revive’ and is associated with existing properties.
Whether it is home décor or home renovation, the ensuing expenses add up and can eat into your budget. And with monthly repayments, it can be difficult to afford such expenses. An Interest-Only Home Loan allows you to buy residential property and renovate or decorate it with ease.
If you take an IOHL for home renovation or decoration, you pay only the interest component of your home loan for up to three years. The principal component along with the remaining interest is repaid after the interest-only period is over via EMI.
As you only have to pay the interest during the interest-only period, you will have more savings that you can use toward home décor or renovation.
Let’s look at an example:
If you take a regular home loan of Rs 85 lakh with a tenure of 25 years and an interest rate of 7.2%, your EMIs will be Rs 61165. But if you take an Interest-Only Home Loan, your monthly repayments for the first three years will be Rs 51000. The money that you save with an Interest-Only Home Loan (Rs 10165) can be put toward renovating and decorating your house just as you please.
Suppose your main reason for taking a home loan is to finance home renovation as you are falling short on the required funds. You can opt for a personal loan or your credit card for this purpose. However, personal loans tend to have higher interest rates and average repayment tenure of five years. Credit cards are not much better. Instead, you can opt for an IOHL and take a smaller loan for house renovation.
During the first three years of the loan tenure, you can repay the interest component of the loan while spending the difference amount on the required renovation. You can pay off the remaining debt at the end of the interest-only period either in a lump sum payment or via EMIs. Additionally, with an IOHL, you get the benefit of choosing a longer tenure to reduce your monthly repayments.
With the Standard Chartered Interest-Only Home Loan, you also get the flexibility of repaying the principal plus interest components whenever you want. If you want to pay off your home loan quicker and have adequate funds, you can choose to start repaying the full EMI before the end of three years.
The bottom line
Home décor and renovation expenses got you feeling down? Choose Standard Chartered Bank’s Interest-Only Home Loan for stress-free renovation and an easy repayment schedule.
