I am a 30-year self-employed earning a monthly income of Rs 40,000. I want to know the procedure that would be followed for availing a gold loan. You can take a loan against the security of your gold ornaments. Lenders usually finance up to 90 per cent of the value of gold jewellery. The gold loans are typically for the duration of one year and the duration can be extended at the prevailing rate.

You can walk into any branch office of the lender along with your jewellery. The lender will evaluate your jewellery and will provide the loan based on their valuation rather than the cost mentioned in your purchase bill. Depending on the loan-to-value, the rate of interest varies from 12 to 28 per cent a year.
Muthoot Finance and Manapurram Finance are two very active players in loan against gold jewellery. Banks such as HDFC Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank also provide such loans. Please remember that lower the amounts of loan you take per gram, lower will be your interest rate.

I want to buy a property in Hyderabad. But banks do not provide home loan or loan against property on the plots of residential colo-nies. What shall I do?
It is advisable to take a regular home loan for purchasing a residential property. The home loans are cheaper than other loans (including loan against property) and you do not have to provide any security except the house being purchased. Your loan eligibility will depend on your disposable income and existing borrowings.

You need to approach any bank, which provides the home loans. The lender will evaluate your credit history, your disposable income and the value of the property being financed. Typically, banks provide only up to 80 per cent (85 per cent for property worth valued less than Rs 25 lakh) of the cost of property as a home loan.

If you are not able to get a home loan due to any reason, then you can take the loan against property. The process followed for loan against property is same as that followed for home loans. Usually it is difficult to get a loan against a vacant residential plot. Most lenders lend to buy a flat rather than an open plot.

I have taken a car loan that will end in January 2012. What is the procedure that I must follow after paying the last EMI, and what are the documents that I need to get from the bank?
After paying the last your last monthly instalment, you need to approach your bank for a no-objection certificate (NOC) along with RTO form for the termination of hypothecation. Both the documents need to be duly signed and stamped by the bank authority. You will have to submit these documents to the RTO along with other necessary vehicle documents for removing the hypothecation on your vehicle.
Similarly, you will need get a no due and clearance certificate from them to get their name removed for the insurance policy of the car.

I am a shop owner. I am afraid at the prospect of the government acquiring my land. Though I may be compensated, it would stop my income from the shop. So please tell me if I can take an insurance policy against the loss of business. Will any company provide me such cover under the umbrella of business insurance. If yes, how much would it cost?
There are no insurance policies that will cover your shop for the reason mentioned by you.

(Harsh Roongta is the CEO of Apnapaisa.com. You can send in your queries to movingmoney
@deccanmail.com)