How to buy your own home without a home loan

Shruti Kohli of Moneyquin.com believes you can buy your own home without going for a home loan. All you requires is a bit of discipline and an early start.

Was it a picture frame on the wall of my room? Or was it the window full of colourful flowers?

I had woken up after a cosy Saturday siesta and sat up looking out of the window. The chrysanthemums, roses, dahlias in the garden of the posh cottage across the road, filled the world with colours and freshness. The window in my room full of this view looked more like a framed picture hanging on the wall.

Ever since I started staying in this rented flat a year ago, I admired the cottage and each time secretly wished I too had such a house of my own.

Admiring this pleasant set up and wishing again, I got ready for a walk like any other day. But today I couldn't resist stopping by at the old lady's cottage and dropping a word of praise. She was obviously delighted.

We met thereafter on a couple of weekends. She told me about how she had chosen to remain single. And how she had managed to buy the cottage within ten years of working. She had saved and invested and ten years later had bought this house without taking a home loan!

She inspired me. The first thing I did after this conversation was to prepare an excel sheet on how I intended to organise my money over the next few years. I was 22-years-old and had started working six months back. I also resolved that I would fulfil the target before I got married. I gave myself seven years to fulfil this target.

I got in touch with a financial consultant recommended by my uncle. She helped me understand the basics of investments as she helped me build my portfolio.

Today, I am 29-years-old and I write this from the study of my two-bedroom flat. I don't have flowers in my window. But I quite admire the changing hues of the sky on a weekend evening. I moved into my own flat a week ago. And yes, I did it without a home loan. You can do it too.

All it requires is to begin early and a bit of discipline. Here's a to-do list for those in my situation:

• Be clear about your objectives
• Put down your financial transactions on an excel sheet under various heads
• Set a column for 'inflation' also
• Set a realistic time frame to achieve your financial goals
• Find a good financial consultant to help you
• Start your own research too. You will find lots of good financial literature these days. You can begin by reading the stuff recommended by experts. Later you may use your own judgement
• If you figure out that you may not be able to manage without a loan, for various reasons which may range from financial constraints to time constraint (not everybody is lucky like me to start early), you need to be careful about certain things before you begin shopping
• Choose a bank that gives you the best interest rates
• Try to negotiate the rates
• You may even consider pre-approved loans. Here you have more scope for negotiating since the bank is offering this product
• And last and the most important to do: Be absolutely disciplined. Stick to the standards you have set for yourself. Don't give in to temptations to spend unnecessarily.

Moneyquin is a personal finance magazine for women and children.