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Banks typically approve 60x your monthly in-hand salary as the maximum loan amount. On a Rs 1 lakh salary, you can get up to Rs 60 lakh. But EMI should not exceed 40-50% of take-home pay. At 8.5% interest for 20 years, a Rs 50 lakh loan means Rs 43,391/month EMI. Factor in existing EMIs (car loan, personal loan) — banks count all obligations in the 50% ceiling.

Ready-to-move wins for most buyers. Under-construction looks 10-20% cheaper but after adding 5% GST (zero for ready), Rs 27 lakh dead pre-EMI interest on Rs 1 crore loan over 3 years, rent during construction, and lost Section 24 tax deductions — the discount inverts into a premium. India has 5.08 lakh stalled housing units. Buy under-construction only from Grade-A developers in Chennai, Mumbai, or Pune with verified delivery track records.

Pre-EMI is interest-only payment during construction — zero principal gets repaid. On a Rs 1 crore loan at 9%, monthly pre-EMI is Rs 75,000. Over 3 years of construction, you pay Rs 27 lakh in pure interest. After possession, your full 20-year EMI begins from scratch with Rs 1 crore still outstanding. The deferred EMI option (pay nothing during construction) costs 36% more over the loan life. Always choose full EMI from day one if you can afford it.

No. Section 24(b) interest deduction (Rs 2 lakh/year) and Section 80C principal deduction (Rs 1.5 lakh/year) are available only after possession. During construction, you pay EMI/pre-EMI with zero tax benefit. After possession, pre-construction interest can be claimed in 5 equal installments — but subject to the Rs 2 lakh overall cap. If construction exceeds 5 years, your deduction limit permanently drops from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 30,000/year.

On a Rs 50 lakh loan at 8.5% for 20 years, EMI is Rs 43,391/month. Total repayment: Rs 1.04 crore — meaning you pay Rs 54.14 lakh in interest alone, more than the principal. At 30% tax bracket, Section 24 saves you Rs 60,000/year (Rs 12 lakh over 20 years). Net interest cost after tax: Rs 42 lakh. A 0.5% rate difference (8% vs 8.5%) saves Rs 2.1 lakh over the loan life.

The base price is typically 25-40% below all-in cost. Additions: PLC or preferential location (Rs 1-5 lakh), floor rise (Rs 10-50 per sq ft per floor), car parking (Rs 3-10 lakh in metros), club membership (Rs 2-5 lakh), EDC/IDC (Rs 50-200 per sq ft), power backup (Rs 1-1.5 lakh), IFMS/sinking fund, 12-24 months advance maintenance, plus stamp duty (5-7%), registration (1%), and GST (5% on under-construction). A Rs 55 lakh base flat can cost Rs 96 lakh all-in.

As of August 2024, 1,981 projects with 5.08 lakh housing units are stalled across 42 cities. Worst hit: Greater Noida (74,645 units), Thane (57,520), Gurugram (52,509), Pune (47,000+). The number has risen 9% since 2018 despite RERA. SWAMIH Fund has delivered only 61,000 homes — 12% of the problem. NCR has the worst post-RERA completion rate at 74%. Chennai is safest at 90%.

You must continue paying EMIs to the bank — the loan agreement is independent of the builder. Homebuyers are financial creditors under IBC but banks get paid first in liquidation. Jaypee buyers have paid EMIs for 15+ years with no possession. Amrapali buyers waited 8-10 years. There is no automatic EMI waiver for stuck projects despite lakhs of signatures on petitions. RERA refund orders have a 12-14% recovery rate in practice.