Sunday Tips
By Dr. K.N Jha*
There are three basic necessities in one’s life to survive —Roti, Kapda Makan. Accordingly everybody after fulfilling food and cloth, wishes to own shelter – a dream home from their hard-earned money.
The aspiration for owning a house also has sentimental values. While at the end every decision depends on the budget, there are also many Central and State Government housing schemes that cater to all needs even of the poorest section of society. The present Central Government has also made provision for affordable housing loan and subsidy on interest amount. Apart from this, employment oriented migration and the rise in the numbers of nuclear family also gives fillip to home ownership desire. This home may be prepared on their own land / purchase / leased out from developers.
In the last session, we had offered you tips on how to construct your dream home. Today we give you a few tips that on the considerations before buying a house from a developer/builder.
Also read: Sunday Tips: How to build your dream home
Selection of location: First, you decide where you want to purchase the house. It is suggested that you should purchase your house where you are working or planning to settle down after retirement. If your children are in reasonable age group please consider their opinion also.
Rational requirement area: While purchasing flat or house, please review your present and future requirement of space, as you might not be able to purchase home repeatedly. In som cases, people tend to purchase more space than required, and some cases they buy less that what is actually required. Hence, there needs to be a perfect rationalization between your budget and requirement.
Fund arrangement: After finalizing the location and total space required, you will be able to calculate tentative amount needed. How will you meet this required amount? You may meet this amount from your savings, borrowings from relatives, disposal from property, personal loans, housing loan etc. It is suggested that fund shall be assorted and in spite of having sufficient fund with you, you opt for housing loan to avail the Government Subsidy on Interest and availing tax benefit under relevant section. If you are salaried class, please avoid take excess amount of loan to avoid stress on your day to day expenses.
History of builder/developer: Before finalizing the purchase of home, you should study history of developer and also take feedback from experienced colleagues. Builders bombard prospective buyers with advertisements with celebrities, and also vigorous follow ups by the brokers. They often misguide the home buyers and get them trapped. In some cases financial institutions are also involved in such malpractices to meet their target of advance under home loan segment. There are several cases where developers sold the same property to several buyers. It is suggested to purchase house from a builder, whose reputation is good and he who completes the project on time.
Ownership of land: Whether you purchase Builder’s flat or in Multi Storied Apartments, before that verify the ownership of land. The ownership of land and liabilities of various government agencies should be checked through a competent legal authority. You will find that there are numbers of examples, where developers developed the property by paying nominal amount to Authority, hence litigation and problems in registration of property occurred later.
Approved Master Plan and Flat and Floor Plans: Before entering into agreement, you must check authenticity of Approved Master Plan. The same can be verified through various concerned Government Departments like Development Authority, RERA etc. Please ensure that the Master Plan is fool proof in all respect.
Please also check approved layout of flats and floors in the Master Plan. In some cases, the developer builds more than the approved floor and also builds the flat in ground floor / parking space which is not legal and troublesome for your life time.
Complete details of carpet, built up and super built up areas: This is most important factor in purchasing the flat. Normally, builders confuse the home buyers in this regard and charges amount on the basis of super built up area instead of carpet or built up area. While finalizing the deal be clear on the above points. It has also been observed that some builders at the time of offer of possession increase your total carpet area.
Conditions of the agreement: Following Points in the Agreements may please be considered.
- Date of start, completion and possession.
- Brand and specification of materials.
- Disbursement of fund at various stages.
- Details of total cost.
- Cost escalation clause.
- Clause of forefeet of advance.
- Compensation in case of delay possession
- Society Charges.
- Provision of anti- earth quake, rainwater harvesting, waste disposal plan.
- Electricity, Water, Sewage, Drainage, Road, Parking, Community Hall, Police Station, Shopping, Ports ,Medical, Place of Worship, Mobile & Internet facility etc. shall be checked. Normally, Developer giving the electricity connection through society, which is costlier than the direct connection.
- Repairing Charges /Insurance Charge: Before entering into agreement, study clause of the period repairing charges and building insurance. As per standard procedure, the responsibility of builder to undertake repairing and maintenance of the building and insurance charges is included in development charge for certain period.
- Complaint Redressal Procedure. In case of complaints, normally, developers, are not entertaining them. The buyer should fully understand above clause for future reference.
- Completion Certificate and clearance from Fire Department.
You should visit the site on regular interval to review the progress & quality of the construction. It has also been observed that e Builder, Broker & Financial Institution disbursed the 95% amount of total approved loan without adhering the guidelines. At last after repayment of loan pl collect original registration paper of property from developer/Financial Institution.
*The writer is an expert on brand and sales promotion. The views expressed as personal.
