“Owning a home is a keystone of wealth, both financial affluence and emotional security.” – Suze Orman
Whether buying a home for the first time or the second time, it’s always special. Buyers often get allured by amenities and other details given in the glossy brochures. There is more to a residential project rather than amenities and glossy letters. There are certain factors every homebuyer must verify before buying a home. Let us take a look at these 5 factors.
Approvals and Licenses
Verifying approvals and licenses is a vital aspect of buying any real estate property. The first thing you need to verify is the registration of the project. Every project is registered with the local and state government and has its unique registration ID. In India, to check the registration and other details of the project, RERA number is displayed on every printed advertisement.
Also, check with the project’s regional or local officials whether the builder owns the right to develop the property. As a homebuyer, you must definitely cross-check environmental clearance, local body approvals, construction commencement certificate, and approved building plans.
Location
“The problem with real estate is that it’s local. You have to understand the local market.” – Robert Kiyosaki
Location is a considerable aspect when deciding to buy an apartment. You obviously don’t want to buy an apartment in a region where it takes over 15 minutes to connect to the pharmacies, grocery stores, supermarkets, and other convenience stores. Ideally, these stores must be reachable within a span of 10 minutes.
Neighborhood
Along with connectivity, it is equally important to analyse the neighborhood. Take a note of all the key distances like multispeciality hospital, healthcare centres (ayurvedic, homeopathic and allopathic), veterinarian (if you own a pet or going to adopt one), police station, pharmacy, etc. Calculate the duration required to travel to and fro from your workplace considering the traffic.
Also, ask the developer of the project and other localites about the scope of infrastructure and real estate development in the future.
Pricing and Payment Plans
Ask the sales executive for price per square feet. Calculate the total cost of your home by multiplying the price per square feet and carpet area. Enquire whether the total cost is including or excluding the parking slots. Also, find out about the market price and study its trend in the past few months.
Also find out about which financial institutions and banks are financing the project. If you’re opting for secure home loan, opt for the bank which offers the lowest interest rate. Usually, the bank that finances the project offers the minimal interest rates on home and personal loans.
Owing to the piling of unsold inventory, the latest trend in the payment plans of real estate is the possession oriented plan. While possession oriented plan is a secure payment plan, other payment options are also available like down payment, construction based, and flexi payment plan. Choose the one that is suitable for you.
Apartment Size and Layout
Make sure you know about different types of apartment before you finalise one. Ask about the carpet area and built-up area of your home. Don’t get confused between carpet area, built-up area, and super built-up area.
Study floor plans of the project. Carpet area is the usable area enclosed within the walls; the area that constitutes the carpet area, internal and external wall area, terrace and balcony space is the built-up area; super built-up area is the sum of built-up area and common area such as the corridor, lobby, and staircase.
Check the layout of the apartments. To know the layout of the house, ideally, you should visit it during the day and get acknowledged about the directions. To analyse the directions, you can refer to the floor plans that points to the North of the project.
Studying layout will aid to determine sun during summer, light during monsoon and winter, and windows or balconies for cross-ventilation. This will assist you in understanding the orientation of your home to the entrance and common areas. If Vastu-compliance is your key criteria, ask your developer for the same. Vastu-compliant homes have advantages of their own.
Since home is more than a mere structure of bricks and beams, you need to consider these basic 5 factors before you buy a home.
