House hunters, have a balanced wishlist

You read about the idea of a dream home in advertisements, on hoardings, hear of it in radio jingles and TV commercials. It makes you wonder whether you’re living the lifestyle you truly deserve, if your home -buying decision was too hasty and was there a chance that you could have got a better deal . The ideal home is a ubiquitous marketing concept, and it haunts buyers before and after a property purchase. But is there really such a thing in India?

wish list when house-hunting.

RERA - A RAY OF HOPE?

Lured by the promise the perfect house at low rates, countless buyers fell prey to marketing hype in previous years - and paid a heavy price. Now that RERA is in place, the risk of buying into a project that gets unduly delayed or does not take off at all has been greatly reduced, as has the potential for low-grade construction.

The current market presents them with the option of buying a de-risked ready-to-move-in property at negotiable prices.

However, while the resale market can offer properties in aspirational locations which saturated long ago and cannot support new supply, it is not protected by RERA. One may buy a flat in an old project with high maintenance, or which turns out to be illegally constructed and may be demolished. Over-shooting the budget, without a a plan on how the home loan will be repaid can result in a major loss.