5 Smart Tips That'll Make Your Property Buying Experience Breezy

The real estate market is unforgiving. Take a wrong step and it’ll show you no mercy besides tagging you as a rookie, or maybe somewhat of a living-breathing example of what NOT to do when investing for the first time. And let’s not mention the fear that’ll be instilled in you about never making another investment in property (on your own) ever again.

Now that’s a lot to live with, and honestly nobody wants the horrors of a bad investment to haunt them for life.

So, what do you do? Well, you can start-off by religiously following some of the tips given below.

1. Knowing Your Limits

This is one mistake novice investors make all the time. You go out looking for houses without considering your budget. And even if you do have a budget, you’ll probably misjudge the inclusions of carrying cost and mortgage payments. But that’s not all, you’ll also have to consider your spending habits which include your day-to-day expenses for utilities. Chalk out a plan by assessing how much you save monthly by deducting all the costs for utilities. When you’re done with that, fix a budget for the (property) purchase and calculate the amount you’ll to spend on the house upkeep and mortgage installments (if you’ve taken a loan).

You’re still not done though, because saving is essential. And that means watching how you spend money and what you spend it on.

2. Scour Every Nook And Corner

Remember to leave no stone unturned to find the right property, neighbourhood, and deal for yourself. Look, there’s a high probability that you’ll be hunting for property on your own, which means checking on the world wide web (mostly because the options are limitless and the process is convenient). And real estate websites like commonfloor.com make it easy for you with virtual tours, image galleries, and videos. So, make your checklist on real estate websites and visit every property because while you get most of the information online, it’s always better to confirm everything with a site visit.

3. Don’t Like What You See? Just Walk Away!

Purchasing a house is going to be a big step forward in your life. And when you take that step, you probably would’ve planned-out your future—a happily married life with your wife and children—in the house you fell in love with when you first laid your eyes on. Sounds like a fairytale doesn’t it? But wait, what if the house you love has high maintenance charges or comes at a price beyond your budget? Would you still go ahead and purchase it knowing that you’ll be facing a financial crisis that’ll jeopardise your ‘happily married life’ ?

No! You wouldn’t, and you never should go for a deal like that. So, when you do see a house next time, do the math, run the numbers. And when everything seems right, make the purchase. But if that’s not the case, just walk away!

4. Prioritising The Purpose Of A Purchase

You’ll have to know what’s the sole purpose behind purchasing the property, and for how long you intend to stay in it? The term will be decided by the mortgage that you’ve taken. So, if you’re the kind to move away in a span of say, 5 years, looking for alternatives will be a better option.

Selling your property because you couldn’t pay the mortgage is something you don’t want at any cost. Your assets are valuable, therefore it’s always best to prioritize the mortgage amount and the term before making an investment.

5. You’re Not The Only Boss

Just because you’re the one with the cash doesn’t give you the right to make rash investments. You’ll be needing all the help you can find. And that includes not just the financial experts, lawyers, and real estate agents, but also your friends, and family members. They’ll be giving you sound advice and suggestions, because you can get caught up in all the excitement of buying a property in india.

You have to be like a ninja—always wary of the things happening around you. You have to stay sharp and keep an eye out for developments in the market besides learning from the mistakes professionals (who excel in losing money on bad investments) make in real estate. It’s your hard earned money in question, and you wouldn’t want to squander it all away because of the silly mistakes you knew you could’ve avoided.

10 Common Mistake Renters Makes



When moving into a rented house, after signing the lease, you would be taking care of someone else’s property. However, there are some mistakes that most tenants do when living in a rented place. 

Declining the renter’s insurance
Usually the landlord would have insurance on the property that he lets out on rent. However, this doesn’t cover the property of the renter. You can call your insurance carrier and ask about coverages. This way any loss of property on a rented property doesn’t incur any personal financial loss. 

Don’t sign contract lease without reading it
The contract would have the details of the lease. Whether it is an apartment, flat or a house for rent in Bangalore, the details would include the start date, the length of the lease, and the amount of deposit and terms of the agreement. Ensure that the owner gives a copy of the same to you. 

Don’t pay rent beyond due date 
Some of the rental agreements would include a fine if the rent is due beyond a fixed date. It is therefore best to make all the payments before the last date. If the date is causing a problem, it is best to talk to your landlord and sort out the wrinkles in the contract. This way no late fees are incurred. 

Not reporting of problems in the property when they occur 
Most of the landlords are dependent on the tenant to inform them of the problems when it occurs with the property. The size of the problem does not matter. To cite an instance, if there is a problem with the plumbing, before it leads to bigger issues, it is best to inform and get it repaired. This way the owner saves money and it also keeps the tenant safe. 

Inviting more people to stay with you
Most property owners would clearly state whether you are allowed to invite other members to stay with you in the apartment. If it is a place like a paying guest in Bangalore or Mumbai, then it is understood that the place would have multiple people staying at the apartment. However, it is best to clarify all doubts before signing the lease with the landlord. Sometimes, you may want a roommate to share the rent costs, and then too clarify the same before moving in. You cannot sublet apartments, therefore, the best way to avoid hassles is to ask the property owner and be clear about all things before moving in. 

Failing to provide notice before moving

Most landlords would have their set of rules about moving out of an apartment mentioned in the lease. They usually ask for a month’s notice, however, if that is not feasible, the tenant may even have to pay a month’s rent. To avoid this, the best way is to clear all doubts with the property owner and if possible find another tenant who can replace you as soon as possible. The landlord does not incur any loss of rent making him happy.

Real estate will ever crash?


Indeed a Big Question
So many times I've come across people who say it is high time inflation in real estate and the market is going to crash. A basic understanding of real estate and finance would prevent many of these so-called "financial writers" from their fantasy headlines. Remember, these are writers--not real estate geniuses. They are people who make a low five-figure income putting words on paper. They love exciting doom and gloom headlines. 

They interview self-proclaimed experts from the stock market arena who know NOTHING about real estate. "Sell all your real estate and buy stocks from me." Real estate cannot be compared against other financial markets like you would compare a Yamaha against a Honda. 


Much of the value of the stock market and other financial markets is "good will." The only solid asset of some companies is the real estate they own. One good scandal, lawsuit, or moronic manager and that "non-real estate" value can go up in a puff of smoke.



Real estate: The foundation of wealth, currency, value

Real estate will NEVER EVER crash. It never has, it never will. It cannot happen. It is NOT possible. Yes, there are corrections.

A total crash in the general market will not happen. You will never see a Rs. 80 Lac house become a Rs. 20 Lac house. Not unless everything else is devalued, and then it makes no difference. If real estate were to sell for "pennies on the dollar" then the days of penny candy will be back, and you'll get change from a buck back from MacDonalds again.

You will never have a 1500 square foot house sell for Rs. 20 lac while a Toyota Innova sells for Rs. 20 Lac. All other value in this world is basically tied to real estate. If real estate plunged, so would everything else. But it is not going to happen.

If values began to plunge, money would rush in so quick your head would spin. Japan, Germany, or dozens of other capital markets would flow this way.


Local markets "correct" themselves

Even in local markets this is the still true. When Boeing shut down, the market was hurt bad. Someone literally put up a billboard saying "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn out the lights?" Well, where is that market now? And what happened when local people moved out?

FIIs came in and bought up properties and made millions upon millions upon millions. Over last 10 years, I've seen some corrections around different parts of country, but nothing resembling a crash. I have books on my shelf about the coming real estate crash of year 80s, crash of the 90s, etc. It never happens. It never will.

Authors that write those books have no greater insight to the future of the world than the heaven's gate people or Jonestown groupies. But like those organizations, there are always nuts willing to listen to financial fanatics. The definition of fanatic is "zeal without knowledge".

Real estate doesn't crash. Not nationwide. Not without a general crash of everything. And believe me, the stock market, commodities etc. would have gone down the toilet long before. The same stock market writers predicting a real estate crash would be leaping from a ledge.

Now, I am talking the residential market and ONLY the residential market. Commercial real estate and other areas can have wider swings. Hotels can be overbuilt or shopping centers can be overbuilt.

But, it corrects. The plan and path for an investor should not be one of panic. There are things to do and not to do.



Here is what you should do . . .

1. Avoid or be extremely careful of areas that are highly dependent on one employer, industry or other factor. A large company shutting down or having big layoffs can drastically affect a local market. Well this point doesn't worry Bangalore real-estate because it has so many industries.

On the other hand, in the same area you can also have both stability and volatility. We had a steel plant shut down a few miles away from me and that local area was hurting. At the same time, I live near an extremely stable University that has to turn away students and the market is quite stable. So, in the same city or adjoining cities you can have both safe and risky areas.

2. Stick to bread and butter properties. The average property that any Tom, Dick and Harry would live in. Even villas or apartment complexes can have more volatility.

If you are following a buy and hold philosophy (which I do not advocate), than you need something very stable to hold on to-residential single family homes in the starter home range and just above. High priced homes can be volatile, too.

3. Be careful about "buy and hold." The plan of buy all the real estate you can and hold on for dear life has flaws. I heard one guru say "buy all the real estate you can and hold on by your fingernails if you need to." I know of many people who acquired the nicknames "nubby" or "stubby" throughout the years.

It is very high risk to be highly leveraged with no plan for a downside. The same guru also used to say "Negative cash flow is like bad breath; it's better than no breath at all."

Well, I've seen it squeeze the breath right out of many people leaving tragedies of everything from bankruptcy to divorce and even death and suicide. Even a small market correction in prices or rents and someone has to begin eating their portfolio and that rarely works.

4. Have some reserves. If the only way you have food for your family is if all the tenants pay, there's a problem. If a property flooding or needing a new roof means you can't make mortgage payments, you have a problem. If you clothe your kids from what tenants leave behind, you've got a cash flow problem and probably not the happiest kids.

This isn't just a joke. I've known people that were that tightly stretched and that even ate the food tenants left behind. Anyone following a strategy where there is little or no cash flow and no ability to handle problems or a market correction is gambling with their finances, future and even family. Again, a buy and hold strategy must be very carefully planned out.

5. Make your profit going in. No other strategy makes sense. You don't need to "buy and hold on for dear life." The greatest thing about real estate is that you can profit from an "inefficient" market. The fact that there can be profit from the moment you own the property is wonderful and quite unique to real estate.

When a stock broker shows you how to buy IBM stock at less than the price your neighbor is paying right now, this very moment, then pay attention to what he has to say. Until then, learn all you can about real estate. There are many, many strategies and techniques to make money when you buy the property.

When you are good at it, you can buy and resell quickly and make a large profit. When that happens, you have little concern for what happens to the market ten years, one year, or even one month from now.

It's about education. When a stock market analyst tells you that real estate is going to crash, he is only demonstrating his ignorance. When a real estate investor is worried about a crash or even a correction, that is also about lack of education.

6. Learn to forecast a market. That doesn't have to be all that hard or ultra-technical. You can watch your local market for factors such as "housing starts" and new and existing home sales.

Basically there are even some simpler predictors available from the Board of Realtors. I like the "average days on market" factor that is available in the sold information. That is the time between the listing of a property and the sale date. When that time begins to go up, a market is turning. If you want to apply a little calculus, you can even catch it sooner, but I won't get into that here.


But, back to the original message. Real Estate Will NEVER Crash--no matter how many headlines or talking heads say so.


Why Real Estate Investors Are Heading Towards North Bangalore


Bangalore has one of the most thriving real estate markets of the country. Although the entire city is bustling with residential and commercial projects, north Bangalore is the new destination for developers and buyers. Let’s find out why. 

If you live in Bangalore, you would know about the real estate market of the city. Ever since the establishment of IT sectors in Whitefield and Electronic City, there has been a huge surge in the demand for good residential and commercial properties in these areas. Over the past decade, the Sarjapur-Marathahalli region has gained prominence as the best location for office spaces in the city. Similarly, many commercial properties came up on the entire stretch of Outer Ring Road (ORR), as it is a Special Economic Zone and home to many IT companies. However, the scenario is changing now as north Bangalore is experiencing many infrastructural developments. This article talks about the prospects of north Bangalore as the new realty hotspot of the city. 

Saturation Point in Other Parts of Bangalore 

A major part of Bangalore’s real estate activity is concentrated in Electronic City and Whitefield. The government developed both these places. Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) allotted lands for establishment of IT parks on ORR. Bangalore Development Authority was also responsible for developing ORR. Private developers and the state government have played a huge role in transforming these areas. 

Due to the development of commercial real estate, the demand for good residential projects went up in these areas. These localities have good infrastructure and lie in close proximity to commercial districts. Hence, property prices or rental rates are quite high here. According to CommonFloor.com, the average selling price of a property in Whitefield is Rs 5,183 per square feet. You can rent a 2 BHK house in this locality for Rs 21,109 per month. 

Infrastructural Developments in North Bangalore 

Since, all the prime localities in Bangalore have reached a saturation point in terms of real estate projects, the focus is now being shifted to north Bangalore. Government has come up with two mega projects to develop this part of the city. 

The first project is the prestigious Kempegowda International Airport. The airport is built on 4,700 acres of land. The project is expected to create approximately 40 million square feet of real estate space in the coming decade. It is the busiest airport in south India and the third largest in the country.

The second major infrastructural development will take place on 3,000 acres of land. This huge plot has been allotted for the establishment of three major industries; Aerospace Park, Hardware Park, and IT park. Electronic City is one-tenth of this upcoming industrial area. Imagine the number of jobs it will create and its positive effect on the real estate market. 

Good Sale Price Appreciation in North Bangalore 

Unlike Electronic City or Whitefield, north Bangalore witnessed a development in residential real estate, even before the commencement of IT parks. The area has a good number of schools, colleges, hospitals, and shopping complexes. 

According to CommonFloor.com, the average selling price of a property in Devanahalli is Rs 4,237 per square feet. If you think this is lesser than Whitefield, wait till you hear about the estimated sale price appreciation of a property in this area. The figure is a good 26.8 percent per year. This is way more that Whitefield where properties have an estimated sale price appreciation of -0.7 percent. This shows that north Bangalore is climbing the real estate ladder and will soon become one of the most popular commercial and residential locations of the city. 

Real estate experts have predicted a good future for north Bangalore as more and more investors and buyers are moving in this direction. If you are planning to invest in property in Bangalore, head north.

Why real estate prices are sky rocketting

Protected by Copyscape Duplicate Content Tool

Ever wondered a flat which was just 40 lacs few years back is now being sold at 70 lacs. Specially in cities like Bangalore which is expanding 360 degree wise why real estate prices have increased at alarming rate. Well there is demand & supply curve which plays an important role to control real estate prices. But these days this is also controlled/manipulated to some extent thereby leading to atrocious price rise.

Going for 2nd/3rd… home
Right from the beginning of his career an IT guy dreamed of owning a beautiful house(villa/flat). After few initial years of his job he somehow managed to accumulate the down payment and finally he was able to fulfill his dream. But soon he realizes his 2nd dream… another house may be a bigger one. And then another house… the 3rd one .. may be purely for an investment purpose. If his bank balances would have permitted he might have materialized his 4th dream and who knows a 5th dream as well. Given that rupee, wrt dollars, has already depreciated by 20-25% in last few quarters NRIs are finding hard time not to buy any property.  Believe me, if situation is favorable then Indians are too good in that.

Builder tied-ups with agents
These days you might have noticed that project is in pre-launch state and you won't get flats of your choice. At least not in one go. Builder might try to sell you ground floor/non-vastu compliant units.   When a project is launched they generally get into tie up modes with big real estate agents. These guys in-turn block some of the flat units at launch price which will pretend some manipulated hyped demand. Further with ongoing bookings these guys keep on raising prices.


Builder-landowner joint development
These days places like Sarjapur, Electronic City, Whitfield(towards Old Madras Road), Kanakpura Road are witnessing new real estate projects which are basically joined venture of builder and land lords/owners. Builder mostly doesn't pay any money to landowners. Rather they are offered number of flats like 5/10/15 or may be more depending on how big their land was. Post construction these landowners will simply put all these flats on rent and will happily wait for 2/3 years or even more if its recession. Unlike builders they usually don't need immediate money to kick start another real estate project.  


Inflation & land scarcity
Investing in a plot and buying a flat are 2 different things which will have their prices going up but the driving force will be different in both the cases. A plot price appreciates because of land scarcity and not because of inflation. Until you've a house constructed on a plot, inflation will never come into picture as you have nothing in place like steel, bricks, cements, etc whose cost will increase due to inflation.  But a flat price appreciates mostly because of inflation and to a lower side because of land scarcity as well.
If you have an independent house that too in a gated society then push will be from both inflation as well as land scarcity and put together it'll fetch you very decent price in coming time.


IT and infrastructure development
Both of these things goes hand-to-hand. Well just for name sake I mentioned it as "IT" industry. It can be any other industries like pharmaceutical, banking, retail, etc. These days cities are witnessing their expansion and what used to be suburb few years back are considered main downtown areas. Specially cities like Bangalore which doesn't have any geographical limitation is really getting pushed to expand its city limit.



Read out similar blogs related to Bangalore real estate:

Get a group discount on a Bangalore based property: 
Want to get a group discount on any specific specific property (villa/apartment/plot). Then join this Bangalore buyers group and express your interest in the interested property. In-case you are looking for a property which is not present there then feel free to add that to the list.

Bangalore Intermediate Ring Roads(IRRs) to push residential growth

Protected by Copyscape Duplicate Content Tool
Looks like Karnataka government is really keen in decongesting the traffic woes in the state capital. This is evident from the fact that they along with Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) has plans to step up and start the development of two new IRRs(Intermediate Ring Roads).
Initially in 2006 government had restrictions which now seems to be taken back thereby allowing the construction and development activities to happen in Ramanagaram, Nandagudi, Sathanur and Solur.
With the plans in place to procure land for the IRRs will definitely act as a catalyst to boost the real estate demand in and around ORR (Outer Ring Road) and IRRs. BMRDA has plans to take this road infrastructure development activity in four stages.

Devanahalli to Attibele
This is going to be a 80-km stretch of the IRR construction activity starting from Devanahalli and going till Attibele. This 80 km long stretch will be connecting BIAL (Bangalore International Airport) and the Electronic city and the vicinity. This IRR will run through Hoskote and the already developed Whitefield. Also road leading to Hoskote has many residential options(to know more about Hoskote/Old Madras Road development refer link1 and link2). This area will push towards social and commercial infrastructure development. This whole construction is expected to cost around Rs1000 crores.

Attibele to Ramanagar
So far this is going to be the longest stretch of 128 km which will join  Ramanagaram with Attibele. This IRR is supposed to link Mysore Road and Electronic City and in between it'll pass through Kanakapura, Anekal, Jakkasandra and some other hubs as well. It's worth to note that Ramanagaram being a textile hub and has over Rs.1500 crores as investments will be benefited a lot because of this move. Even the Kanakpura Road and its vicinity like Uttarahalli and Bidadi will be seeing the real estate catchments. This stretch will also enhance the connectivity between NICE road and Satellite towns. Estimated project costs Rs.1600 crores.

Dabaspet to Devanahalli
This will be a 89-km IRR starting from Dabaspet till Devanahalli. This will cover Doddaballapur, which is indeed a lucrative real estate option for buyers and investors. Adjoining is the road leading to Nandi Hills which is also witnessing residential development.
Dabaspet area is an upcoming industrial hub given that KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board) is aiming to make this area as a industrial zone in four different phases. Think about a road connecting this BIAL and a industrial hub( with most of the current industries being only export-oriented). Given this demand in place a huge potential of development is being sensed over there. This area is bound tol attract real estate drifts. Fact that this area is still affordable will boost the demand of villas and plots. Estimated project costs Rs.1100 crores.

Ramanagar to Dabaspet
This will be last phase of the IRR and it'll be 70 km long stretch from Ramanagar to Dabaspet. With this in place Ramanagaram, a textile hub, will be connected to the Dabaspet(industrial area) and further this will lead to the international airport. Estimated project costs Rs.1078 crores.

                                                                                Read Forwards>               < Read Previous


Read out similar blogs related to Bangalore real estate:

Get a group discount on a Bangalore based property: 
Want to get a group discount on any specific specific property (villa/apartment/plot). Then join this Bangalore buyers group and express your interest in the interested property. In-case you are looking for a property which is not present there then feel free to add that to the list.

Hoskote to be developed as Satellite Town

Protected by Copyscape Duplicate Content Tool

One after other many Bangalore suburbs are falling into Karnataka state government approval list which later on need to be developed as Satellite Town. After Anekal, Kanakpura, Ramanagara, Magadi, Nelamangala and Devanahalli being declared to be Satellite town now comes the turn of Hoskote. Bangalore city areas are already been congested and to decongest the state capital need is being felt to move towards developing towns around Bangalore. And Hoskote is another such destination. Also this will allow common people to leverage the fact that satellite town areas are yet to develop thus they are still very much under common people's affordability limit.

Most of these satellite towns have agricultural lands and earlier state government has opposed the notion of residential and commercial development here. But now they have realized the need of the hour and have decided to let real estate development for residential as well as for commercial purpose to happen in these areas.

State government this approval will enable developers to go for government permit to develop gated as well as non-gated layouts in these upcoming satellite towns thereby paving the way for another possible real estate boom. Off course this is a long term development plan and will definitely take 5-10 years of time from now to get things in place.

State government has already laid the foundation stone for around 17 projects worth around Rs.200 crores.

                                                                                                                           
Connectivity with Bangalore city and other townships
Along with Hoskote other satellite townships in-turn will be connected by two ring roads:
 Bangalore Metropolitan Region Satellite Townships Ring Road (BMR-STRR)
 Bangalore Metropolitan Region Intermediate Ring Road (BMR-IRR)

The BMR-STRR not only connects satellite townships but also links areas like Magadi, Kanakapura, Attibele, Dobspet, Anekal, Sarjapura, Ramanagaram, Hoskote, Devanahalli and Doddaballapur. Total stretch of BMR-STRR will be around 283 kms.


Real estate buzz in this area
Hoskote is already known for the presence of many warehouse industries. Already many real estate movement have started in this area. Confident developer have planned township projects like Canopus, Cygnus phase II, Auriga, Auriga phase II, Auriga phase III, Auriga phase IX, Auriga phase XII, Auriga phase XV, Auriga NRI and Auriga NRI III in and around this area.
To know more about Hoskote development refer this link.


Traffic decongestion
State chief minister has instructed the officials to clear traffic jam at Krishna Raja Puram within 3 months from now in order to have free traffic flow towards Hoskote.


Water issue being addressed
To address the water issue around 5 TMC ft amount of water needs to be supplied to southern parts of the state from Yettinahole (Sakleshpur in Hasan) which is a stream of Netravathi river.
Yettinahole project will be targeted to fill-up the lakes located in rural parts of Bangalore.
Government is also seeking the need to shift the Bangalore Rural Districts Deputy Commissioner's office from Bangalore to Hoskote (and other districts) which should facilitate the infrastructure development of these areas.


New BMTC bus depot
To facilitate the development towards Hoskote, state government has inaugurated a BMTC bus depot which is spread on 3 acres of land built at a cost of Rs.4.7 crores.
This new bus depot at Hoskote is capable of handling more than 150 bus being planned to schedule to various parts of Bangalore city.
To explore more on Bangalore Hoskote Bus Stop connectivity/route refer this link.


                                                                                        Read Next >     < Read Previous

Read out similar blogs related to Bangalore real estate:

Get a group discount on a Bangalore based property: 
Want to get a group discount on any specific specific property (villa/apartment/plot). Then join this Bangalore buyers group and express your interest in the interested property. In-case you are looking for a property which is not present there then feel free to add that to the list.


5 Smart Tips That'll Make Your Property Buying Experience Breezy

The real estate market is unforgiving. Take a wrong step and it’ll show you no mercy besides tagging you as a rookie, or maybe somewhat of ...