Since various checklists are floating around the internet when buying a flat in Jaipur, this article will cover some of the essential points and focus on the most practical and real ones.
Buying a Flat in Jaipur
- First, hire a lawyer paying Rs 5000 to Rs 10000 to review all the documents on the land and property. It is difficult for a consumer to understand an extract from 7/12 full of industrial jargon, such as property title, land use, municipal corporation approvals, and occupational certificate. In the event of a resale, this document will cover the property tax receipts paid and the bank’s loan release documents for fully paid property loans.
- Estimate the total cost of ownership, including parking fees, stamp duty, registration fee, new furniture/furnishings that a customer may have to purchase. All of this could contribute almost 5-20 percent of the total cost of the apartment.
- It is important to understand the final useful area of the apartment, especially in the case of apartments under construction. Most of the time, the sale would be in a super-built area. Consumers should be comfortable with the living area that they will finally be able to use. Estimate the total cost of managing the home. This will include maintenance charges, property tax, and higher transportation charges compared to your current location. Make sure this fits into your monthly budget.
- It is equally important to check whether the majority of the other occupants of the building are like-minded and belong to a similar age group. If residents don’t have similar ideas, conflicts eventually arise over how to maintain the building, adjusting parking spaces, whether pets are allowed in the elevator, etc. Avoiding staying in buildings with a mix of 2BHK and 3BHK apartments (different budgets and occupant income levels) will cause long-term pain.
- If you are buying the apartment as an investment, think about the profile of your typical tenant and whether the location of your apartment is good enough for that tenant. If it is a traveling couple, see if the apartment is near the train station. If there is a parking space, please check if you need two parking spaces.
- Speak with the building watchman or the watchman of the neighboring building in case the building you would buy the flat in, is under construction to find out the situation of water supply, electricity supply, availability of domestic help, level of security and safety, neighborhood grocery stores, deliveries from restaurant, gym, daycare center, hospital, and school, depending on your life situation, and your need.
- Talk to the building watcher or neighbor building watcher in case the building where you would buy the apartment is under construction to find out the status of water supply, electricity supply, availability of domestic help, level of security, neighborhood grocery store, restaurant deliveries, gyms, daycares, hospitals, and schools, depending on your living situation and needs.
- Think carefully about whether a neighboring small building or bungalow has the potential to become a taller building and will block your view in the next 2-3 years. Ask the security guards at those buildings if there is any discussion about the remodel.
- Find out if the home loan you are thinking of is the cheapest. Explore women’s co-ownership or retirement rates, if applicable. Customer service in private sector banks and public sector banks is not much different in home loans as our interaction is minimal on an ongoing basis. Therefore, fish at the best rate.
- Discuss with the seller in advance about the cash component, if applicable. These things come up at the last minute, and most of us don’t have access to large amounts of cash.
- If you are buying the apartment as an investment, make sure it fits within your overall asset allocation and has a balanced mix of stocks, debt instruments, and real estate. I would recommend a 40:20:40 mix between the three for investors under 50. Also, calculate your annual real estate returns as a combination of 2-3 percent rental income plus expected capital appreciation fewer maintenance fees.
- Find the average price range in the neighborhood by asking. One should speak to people in 2-3 neighboring buildings to get an idea. There could be a range of 5-10 percent difference even within the neighboring building, depending on the quality of the construction, the exact configuration of the apartment, etc.
- If you are buying an apartment under construction, visit the buildings already delivered by the same builder to check the quality of their construction, assuming it would be the minimum quality you would deliver here. You can ask the occupants of the previous building if the building was developed on time, or if the developers delivered the building to society in a friendly way, etc.