Excellent Article – Holes in the Ground

I earlier wrote about “why not to buy a house” (Part-1, Part-2). But I recently came across an excellent write-up from Deepak on a more balanced approach towards buying a house. He writes scathingly on the way builders cheat the prospective buyers:

Typical deals are: you sign on a piece of paper looking at a hole in the ground. The builder promises to give you a "ready" house in say three years. The apartment size is shown to you and the "amenities" you will get, like a swimming pool, a tennis court, water to drink, air to breathe etc. You then get a bank loan for 20 years for some part of it, and the rest will fall in place.

The most eye-opening was the youtube video by a Unitech buyer who got really pissed-off by the way the company delivered the house. This reminded me of one of my friend who purchased a flat (~1700 sq. feet) near Sarjapur Road at the exorbitant price of Rs 2350 per sq. feet. The worst it is located not on the main road, but almost 3-4 KM inside. He recently shifted with not even the compound wall completed (no question of amenities in place yet). It was shocking and I have begun to agree more so with Deepak that the best buy for a house is the one that is either “ready to move” or “second hand purchase” :

But I'll pay well to get a ready house: if I'm buying for emotional reasons I would rather not have the worry and pain.

So true!!