You can apply for a Home Loan even before you begin the search for a property. The bank will look at your income details and give you a pre-sanction on the basis of your income eligibility. This will give you the confidence to decide on the budget that you have for your property buying decision. The final loan amount will of course be determined, once you provide the property cost and other details to the bank. They will fund a specific percentage of the property cost, subject to your income eligibility and the balance will be your margin requirement. Also refer the section on - ’How much of the property cost will the bank finance’.
The purpose of having a co-applicant to a loan is to be able to club the income of your co-applicant and yourself to get a higher eligibility on your home loan. All property owners need to necessarily be co-applicants on the loan. Other members of ones immediate family may also become co-applicants to a home loan viz. spouses, parents, children& siblings. Where income from a partnership or company is considered, the partners / directors can also become co-applicants, if the policy of the lender allows.