Everyone aspires to own a house. It's a dream that most of us would have seen at some time or another and a goal that would probably top the bucket list of most people. It feels like a huge accomplishment when someone succeeds in buying his/her own house. Nothing compares to the sense of independence and security and also the peace of mind that come with home ownership, it's a wonderful feeling. Often people look to buy their own house when they have settled down in their careers and have attained a financial stability. It surely makes sense to have a house that they can call their own, instead of living in a rented accommodation. Owning a house has so many benefits - the biggest of them all being the freedom and privacy that one would never get in a rented house, you are no more at the mercy of your landlord. Also buying a house is more cost-effective than renting. Additionally, there are tax benefits as well.
 |
| (Image Source: www.oivietnam.com) |
Having said that, buying a house can also be somewhat tricky and a daunting task. It could prove to be an overwhelming experience, especially for the first-timers. My school friend and former room-mate in PG, Vikram, moved into a rented flat in an apartment in Bangalore after he got married. But they had a hard time dealing with their greedy landlord. He would raise the house rent substantially (25%) every year, citing flimsy reasons - inflation and maintenance costs. But Vikram and his wife Sunita continued to live there because their workplaces were very nearer to their flat and they liked the locality. Finally, six years later, they decided to buy a flat of their own when they had saved enough money. Both of them were earning well and had been saving precisely for that - to buy their own house. But owing to their naivety, they made a wrong decision and ended up buying the wrong house in a wrong locality!
If I were to list 5 common mistakes that people make while buying a house, they would be:
1. No Proper Research, Not Enough Homework Done -
Right from the time they went house hunting, Vikram and Sunita committed several blunders, the biggest of them all was that they didn't do any proper research about their neighbourhood or the locality. They had to pay a huge price for it. While they were away in Kerala on a vacation, burglars broke into their house one night and took away several expensive belongings. Vikram and Sunita probably would have changed their decision had they explored every aspect of their neighbourhood (including safety) and had known beforehand that it was a crime-prone place.
People often end up making a wrong decision while choosing the house, if they do not research enough about the locality. Some of them base their decision solely on the cost of the house or on their needs - whether the house has enough rooms for their family and whether it would be easy to commute to work. However it should be kept in mind that when one buys a house, it comes bundled with the neighbourhood too. So before buying a house, it is very essential to find out all about the locality, whether it's a safe and crime-free place and whether it has got all essential amenities nearby such as public transport connectivity, hospitals, schools, departmental stores, police station etc.
2. Acting in Haste -
Vikram and Sunita rushed into things, they acted in haste and bought the very first property that their real estate agent showed them, because they liked the house very much and also its price. They didn't even visit a second property for comparision and instead finalised their decision to go for that house, then and there! However not all properties that come cheap would be ideal houses.
Patience pays. One should search extensively in different localities and neighbourhood before choosing a house. There is nothing wrong in being picky.
3. Going Over Budget, Ignoring the Added Costs -
People often get lured into buying houses that are beyond their budget because sometimes you find a house too appealing to ignore and fall in love with it at the first sight, even when it would be much beyond your budget. Thus your decision gets clouded and you end up paying much more than you had initially planned to pay.
Vikram and Sunita too went over-budget. They got tempted by the beautiful interiors of the house. The real estate agent had very craftily quoted them a price that was quite low compared to the prevailing market rate, even though that price was well beyond Vikram's budget and they fell into the trap.
While choosing a house, one should resist all temptations and stay within budget. While making the decision, do factor in the other costs associated like government stamp duties, bank loan application fees, the insurance costs etc.
4. Ignoring Market Trends -
There are times people end up buying a house in haste and in desperation, without having analysed the market trends. The market keeps on fluctuating - sometimes it's a good time to sell off a house (i.e. advantageous for sellers) and sometimes the time would be ripe for buyers. The most opportune time for a buyer to buy a house would be when there are more houses up for sale or when the market economy is going strong and so the bank loan rates would be low. If one could keep a track of these market trends and buy only when it's favourable, he/she would then be able to buy the house at a good profit.
For instance Vikram and Sunita bought their house at a time when it was favouring the house seller more than them. But they had no idea about it and so ended up paying a few lakhs extra.
5. Not Taking Others' Opinions -
Making a choice while buying a house becomes difficult at times, however some of us wish to do it on their own. They wish to make an independent decision and so do not seek the help of others. However sometimes it helps immensely when we have friends or someone experienced to guide us. There is nothing wrong in listening to their opinion, isn't it?
For example, some houses look so beautiful from outside that people fall in love with them at the very first sight, and fail to notice problems with the house (if any) or tend to overlook them even if they would be staring right on their face. For example, like small cracks forming on the roof, signs of water seepage in the kitchen or insulation problem or any issue with the surroundings. However if they take a family friend or a colleague for the house inspection, probably they would give them honest, unbiased opinions.
Vikram and Sunita too had got so blinded by the interiors of the house that they ignored the fact that the apartment society was located in a fairly secluded area. So it was vulnerable to thefts and other crimes. I wish they had taken someone experienced with them - may be their parents or friends - when they went for house inspection or had sought their advice and guidance regarding the house.
One will be saved of all troubles and will be able to find his dream home if he/she avoided these 5 mistakes.
Thankfully now we have websites like www.realtycompass.com that help us immensely in our decision making and guide us through while buying a house because not only do they provide us with detailed information (with more than 80 points, significantly about the Location of a Project, Plan Details, Amenities Provided, Analysis and Reviews, information about the Builder, the Building Specifications, the Payment Plan etc) about every single project in a particular city but they also give us the carpet area and floor plan analysis.
Another feature that I loved on the website is that we can search for properties based on their prices ("Attractively Priced"), Upcoming Builders ("Upcoming builder"), Connectivity (Well Connected"), locality ("Good Neighbourhood"), the amenities available in the area ("Luxury Amenities"), Floor Plans ("Efficient Floor Plans") or based on naturescape ("Nature Scape").
Also with Realtycompass, one can now compare similar projects in a thoroughly detailed manner, using the "Auto Compare" feature.
Vikram and Sunita would have been saved of all trouble had they enlisted the help of
www.realtycompass.com for choosing their house. They would have been properly guided in every aspect.
Realtycompass.com contains more than 12000 properties based in 7 cities - Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Mysore, Kochi, Pune - that have been thoroughly verified and updated with extensive details.
Yet another feature that adds real value to the search algorithm is the Insights feature. One can now explore a city and find various properties, based on price, rating or demand. That is not all, he can also get real insights of those properties that have been compiled from high quality data.
Not just that, there is an online forum too where in one can ask about any particular project and the executives from the realtycompass team will guide him/her with answers.
The best part of realtycompass is the rating system that is in place for every single property. That would make someone's house search much faster and would help him in shortlisting his favourite houses without any hassle.
One couldn't have asked for more. Kudos to Realtycompass.
