IDBI Home Loan - Too good to be true, But TRUE
After dealing with Citibank (and HSBC) for a brief period for my plot loan in Bangalore I came to a conclusion that getting a plot loan going to be a prolix affair and also run the risk of the bank backing out with one pretext or the other or change their terms in midway.
This was my situation: I was funding 30% of the site cost and I needed bank funding for remaining 70%. Currently I live in Chennai and it will take two to three years for me to start construction on the acquiring site. Few banks came forward to lend money and they are Citibank, HSBC, and IDBI. I’ll give some details on my interactions with Citibank and HSBC before I go into more details on IDBI.
Citibank - the bank that specializes in distancing itself from the Customer that is YOU!
First of all you don’t get to talk the bank or hear what is bank’s actual home loan policy or how things work with them. They outsource even the first customer interaction and loan processing to a bunch of people who belong to a company called Shelters. They will say anything to get you engaged with them and randomly throw restrictions and guidelines at you in the name of RBI and voluntarily suggest way to get around them, effectively making you to think that they are doing great many favors for you and your business is more important than anything else for them! If you go ahead with their initial offers and promises then you are in for rude shock and awakening; things will just fall apart when you start asking how each of their so called favors going to work or how are they going to overcome guidelines (which seems to me that these are specifically designed for Citibank by RBI :-)) and they will just stop responding! Bottom line, Shelters (read Citibank, if you will) will say anything is possible and can even claim that they can fund you to buy the entire Bangalore and at the same time have no clue on what they are talking about until you get little closer and ask more questions!
So, any time spent with them is waste of time and energy. However, I hear that it works OK if you are buying a flat constructed by a well-known builder (read big) as the builder takes all the nonsense with the bank to sell his! (Shelter people requested me to meet one Mr.Dhaval Mehta, Citibank person who manages Shelters, Bangalore. He is anything but courteous and promises that will get back you within 12 hours; you guessed it right, no response from him even after repeated reminders. Well, what else to expect from Citibank for I’m a Citibank Suvidha customer for past 8 years and maintaining a minimum balance of 5 lacs for past six years!!!)
HSBC - Offer not best in the market
Well, they were little more courteous than Citibank but their offer is not best in the market and reluctant sellers!
IDBI - Exceeded my Expectations!
Well, I got IDBI contact from my friend. IDBI bank person listened fully what I wanted and he gave me neither big promises nor false commitments. He told me clearly what IDBI offers and what he can do to meet my needs. I met him just once, in a restaurant, gave him initial documents, spent two hours discussing and filing forms. That’s all (I didn’t even have to meet him again even after the registration); IDBI’s lawyer was waiting in the sub-registrar office with the DD on the day of registration, 27 days after meeting the IDBI person. This despite the following:
1. As I mentioned earlier, I’m living in Chennai, but buying a residential plot in Bangalore and applied loan in Bangalore. So, site verification has to happen in Bangalore and my personal verification in Chennai, that means coordination among their branches from two different states.
2. Since I’m not living in the same city, as that of my bank there is some lead-time in meeting bank’s document requirements. At times, bank person himself met the seller to collect some documents.
3. I wasn’t at my office when bank came for verification and they confirmed things over phone and with my colleagues at work.
Bank always told me well in advance what documents they require and there was no going back and forth on terms. Everything was told in the beginning and that sets the expectations correct. Bank promised 3 weeks but they took few days extra probably due to me being away at Chennai. This, at least, for me "too good to be true" as you just the meet bank person once, call bank him few times a week, send few documents over courier, few emails and then the day comes, as promised, where bank is ready for the registration, all this happening me being at different city!
Probably I’m lucky and some credit must go to the person who handled my case, but isn’t it true that organizations are nothing but its people who make an organization to succeed and deliver great customer satisfaction! Good that IDBI has such people and I got to interact with one such person!