How satisfied are you with the property you’ve bought? There are both satisfied and unsatisfied home owners at large. Sometimes a purchase is made without proper planning and thought – the result is regret.
Track2Realty: A decade ago, an Indian woman independent and capable enough to buy her own home was a rare case. However, things have changed today. Latter-day Indian women are very well educated, have good jobs with excellent career growth prospects, and even hold important government or corporate leadership posts.
Track2Realty: Reams of newsprint have been dedicated to discussing the sufferings of consumers in the Indian real estate sector. Particularly, homebuyers’ woes related to late delivery of projects, deviation of housing projects from promised quality, additional payments due to change in apartment area and inadequate protection of their rights have been well-documented.
Track2Realty: Real estate buyers are often warned that they must conduct a thorough due diligence before investing in any property, and that they should not reply solely on the verification process done by banks while they are processing a home loan request. This is sound advice, especially in the current times when many buyers have found themselves in troubled waters after making property purchase decisions without doing their homework.
Track2Realty: Even in these times of gradual revival, many developers continue to battle the problems of curtailed liquidity. Many developers with large land holdings are not able to launch projects on these land parcels solely with their own capital, and therefore look to either partner with better-capitalized developers or those looking for development opportunities in an asset-light model by giving them development rights in such projects.
Track2Realty: We are currently witnessing a market scenario wherein inflation and interest rates will taper down even as the GDP growth rate picks up, and selective asset classes are becoming increasingly attractive for investment. International market dynamics suggests that gold and crude oil will continue to weaken, and commodities as an overall asset class will continue to display weakness because of easing inflation.
Track2Realty: The answer to the question whether it is preferable to invest in a flat or in a plot of land depends on many factors, including the maturity of the investor. The investor’s overall objectives, ability to leverage, risk appetite and period of time he is able to hold on to the property before selling it again must be considered.
Track2Realty: A high-rise is a tall or multi-storied building equipped with elevators, but various bodies have defined the term ‘high-rise differently. For instance, the International Conference on Fire Safety in High-Rise Buildings pessimistically defined a high-rise as a structure where height can seriously impact evacuation, while the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary merely refers to high-rises as buildings having many stories.
Track2Realty: The daily papers are replete with complaints by buyers who had been led astray or otherwise victimized by fly-by-night developers who specialize in launching small one-off projects and then wash their hands off the project. In a market environment where the exists a high degree of customer awareness with regards to most products, how can this continue to happen?
Track2Realty: While buying a home in India, stamp duty and registration charges are the most significant additional costs above the base price of the property itself. Close on the heels of this expense come the costs involved in registering with the local electricity board and having a meter fitted.