Thursday, February 26, 2015

How to Make Your Dream of Owning a Home in Kolkata Come True

Everyone wants to buy a home. No one person wants to pay rent all his or her life and to be quite honest; nothing feels as good as being a homeowner. Home owning comes with an unexplainable satisfaction and this probably explains why most homeowners in Kolkata refer to their property as their biggest achievement. The question however remains; are you in a position to own a home and not just a home but also the home of your dreams?

Consider your financial ability

While the thought of servicing a mortgage sounds ideal than that of paying rent, you should first know your financial standing. Weigh your financial capability before plunging into the home-market. Potential buyers of upcoming residential projects in Kolkata, for instance, should compare and contrast other options available.

As a first homebuyer, you are likely to overlook factors such as down payment, depreciation, transaction closing costs and homeowner insurance. Other costs include furnishings, design accessories, purchasing vital appliances and moving, among others. Most of the upcoming real estate Kolkata have modern amenities such as swimming pools and landscapes that will obviously require you to pay maintenance fees.

Buy an old home? Maybe it’s not a good idea

Once the deal is sealed, calling the previous home owner every now and then to ask them to fix a thing or two can be quite frustrating.  This means that you will have to handle leaking faucets, malfunctioning systems and everything under your roof. Buying an old home in Kolkata, which most deem affordable can prove to be quite costly in the end.

If you still do not know whether you need to buy a new or old home, here are some more factors that should determine whether you are ready to own a home or not:

Factor #1: Determine the value of the home that interests you. This can be achieved simply by determining the property value in comparison to the prices of similar homes sold within the same neighborhood. With a competent real estate agent, you should be able to have this information without a strain.

Factor #2: Weigh various mortgage loan options. This will help you determine what is affordable to you in terms of down payment. Usually, down payments in Kolkata depend on a value percentage and highly depend on the mortgage type that you settle on. Do not dismiss the idea of private mortgage insurance. This is vital as it ensures mortgage lenders are in a position to recover a good portion of the losses financially in the event that a borrower is unable to repay a loan fully.

Factor #3: Add the requirements of down payment. Usually, the closing costs are used to determine the total amount of money needed off the bat.

Factor #4: Think about property taxes. A good number of lenders will ask for an impound account where you will be required to pay for property taxes on a monthly basis, not forgetting the insurance. These are usually paid alongside with the mortgage payments, which are made monthly. Figuratively, your tax rate is likely to fall somewhere around 1.5% of your home’s purchase price annually.

With these factors in mind, you are obviously in a position to weigh whether you can afford a flats in Kolkata or not.


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Why Does a Bride Wear a Bridal Garter?

For those who do not know what a bridal garter is it is an accessory that the bride wears under her wedding gown on her thigh just above her knee.  In times past a woman wore a bridal garter for functional reasons
because they were needed to hold up her stockings.  Today they are no longer needed for functional reasons because most women wear panty hose under their wedding gowns.  They wear them today for the purpose of tradition and aesthetics.

For the modern bride there are many style variations but the typically one is a stretchy cloth band that adorned with decorations such as bows or lace and is typically white.  Because of the saying “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, many brides will chose a bridal garter or a wedding garter that has blue accents.  Some even choose to coordinate the color of the garter with the color of the attendants dress.

In the United States there is the wedding tradition of tossing the bridal garter during the wedding reception and is often performed in conjunction with tossing the bridal bouquet.  The standard tradition is that the bride will sit in the middle of the floor on a chair at the wedding reception where the groom will remove it from her leg and throw it to the single male guests.  Many times the bride will choose to wear two garters so she can keep one as a keepsake and have the other one thrown.

It is thought that the tradition of the garter originated in France or England during the fourteenth century.  There are several theories as to how this tradition developed with one being that it is considered good luck to get a piece of the clothing that the bride wore which in times past it led to guests attempting to tear off pieces of the bride’s wedding gown.  To protect their wedding gown from being torn brides then began to toss personal items in substitution such as the bridal garter.

There is also another theory which comes from an old English custom and from which the modern tradition evolved is that the guests would follow the just married couple to their wedding chambers and attempt to steal the stockings that belonged to the bridal party.  Then the guests would throw the stockings over their shoulder in an attempt to hit the bride and groom.   If they succeeded they would have good luck.  Regardless of how the tradition of throwing bridal garter began many brides today carry on the tradition of wearing one at their wedding.