Transfering home loan to something similar to MaxGain

[olusanya800]

Im considering transfering my oustanding home loan (30L) from SBI MaxGain to something similar in another bank. This is to reduce my EMI and increase loan tenure.

Ive been going to banks all over town asking for their rates, services and MaxGain like features. So far I've got Citibank, Standard Chartered. But both banks state that I can avail benefit of interest reduction only if I have in excess of 1lakh deposited in my overdraft account. Does it then make sense to go for their Home Saver Home Loan schemes? I'm concerned losing the benefit of my parked 1lakh might be too much. For this I'm considering transfering to HDFC with their lower interest rate (HDFC doent have Home Saver schemes currently).

Ive also heard good things about Bank Of Baroda and their Home Saver schemes. But im not sure about PSUs due to their slow processing times and somewhat poor customer responses. Do you recommend BoB?

I am not heading to HSBC as ive heard numerous complaints from others.

I need to transfer from SBI because I need to reduce my EMI and extend loan tenure. SBI refused to refinace/reschedule my loan as they dont allow to reduce EMI extend tenure apparently. I spoke to Chief Manager directly regarding this.

 

[iwishtobegood]

@olusanya800 Hello. I just repayed my housing loan of Bank of Baroda. Had a super Saver loan account. Saved a lot on the interest due to the super Saver or Maxgain feature. I had no troubles with the bank. I suggest you should try the BOB option. Best Regards.

 

[olusanya800]

@iwishtobegood Thank you for your reply. Yes, i visited BoB too last and the features they provide are very close to SBI max gain. Event the interrst rates were very close.

Did you ever take a top up loan during your tenure with BoB? The home loan officer said that I need to wait atleast 12months (without defaulting on my home loan EMI) before I can apply for one. Other banks never mentioned this.

 

[iwishtobegood]

@olusanya800 Hello. No, I didn't take any top up loan. They had offered after a couple of years, but I didn't feel the need. I used to deposit all the money in this account and take the maximum benefit of interest saving. Your tenure reduces much faster through this account.

 

[miller77]

@olusanya800 Did you transferred loan? Can you please share your feedback. I am planning to apply home loan.

 

[olusanya800]

@miller77 Sure sure. But i went for home loan takeover from existing home loan in SBI. I didnt apply for a new HL.

I went with Bank Of Baroda. They had the lowest ROI (8.5 at time of writing this). Their Max Gain-like feature (their scheme is called Home Loan Advantage here) is also pretty much what SBI offers. Instead of current account, BoB offers a savings account (with 0% interest benefit, but if you park your extra money here to reduce interest on your home loan principal amount, then it is as good as 8.5%).

I considered other banks too but their offers were not that great as compared to SBI or BoB. To start off, their ROI is higher. Mostly around 8.75+. HDFC offers 8.65 but they do not have a max gain like feature. ICICI failed to explain any hidden charges. I had to ask them myself based on what I read online and then they'd bring it up. Citi has a max gain (Home Loan Credit) type but the benefit can be only for parked amount over and above 1lakh. Standard Chartered and HSBC were also similar but I couldnt do much research on them.

All in all, DYOR. Goto banks in person instead of talking on phone. You grt mofe details. Consider banks that have max gain type feature for long term benefits.