“Family plays a vital part in most of the real estate decisions in India,
especially if the house is purchased by an end user rather than an
investor,” Samir Jasuja, Founder and Chief Financial Officer at PropEquity,
adding, “Several times home loan borrowers take home loans where
installments are a substantial part of his salary. But borrower’s family
members pitch in to provide the financial support to him if there are any
financial setbacks.”

Young banker Aarush Gulati says that he was almost lost all hopes to have
his house in either capital or NCR as whenever he used to finalize any
flat for buying purpose, he found it beyond his budget. “ I always found
myself short of Rs 4-5 lakhs. It was a big amount for me as I have started
by career not long ago. When my parents came to know about my ordeal, they
at helped me with required some with an assurance that I do not have to
return the money,” Gulati told us, who purchased a 2BHK flat
in Indirapuram early last year.

Is family the real engine or driving force of realty market ? “ I have
observed that very strong family ties play pivotal role in giving oxygen to
the realty sector rather unconsciously. While there is no denying the fact
that the cost of residential apartments are getting more and more,still if
people are buying them it is also due to strong family bonding,” adding,
says Gaurav Mittal,Managing Director of CHD developers, adding “ I know for
sure that when a family member decides to buy his/her house, he gets
support from his/her parents, siblings and other close relatives. They give
financial support without any ‘ interest’ and at times without any
expectation of return of their money.”

In a rare confessional mood, a South Delhi based property consultant said
that once he was about to sell one ground floor flat in Green Park
extension but for the advise of an elder brother of a guy who was keen to
buy a flat through him. He recalls that before giving the earnest money to
the owner of that property, his client took his brother to that place.
After spending some time inside and outside the house, the guy told his
brother that you can not buy this flat as it is just opposite Green Park
cremation ground. And while he was right, he canceled this very fact from
his client.

Agrees Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed,Managing Director of ILD group, “ You would
not find even one per cent people who takes the final call when they buy
their property. We have been observing more often than not before sealing
the deal,the would be owner of house see to it that his close family
members also see his/her costliest purchase of his/her life.” He adds that
when they (close relatives) visit the possible new home of their very
own,they give him/her some suggestions. If the house is not east facing,
the would be buyer is likely to be told by his r own that ‘you would not
get enough sun light’. They also told many other things which they have
learnt with their experience.

Sharing his thoughts on ‘family matters’ in real-estate
world, Sunil Jindal,CEO of SVP Developers, says that we may say that the
family ties are breaking in our society,fact of the matter is that they
look rather strong in the context of realty world. “ I can tell you with my
own experience that as large number of youngsters from Bihar,
Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Orissa and Bengal are buying flats in places
like Ghaziabad and Noida,they get good ‘amount’ of support from their
family. But for that, you can not expect that a guy with not a very long
career can buy flat with his resources. He gets help from his family.”

Says Gaurav Mittal, “ As I have residential projects in non-metro towns as
well as outside the notional wall of NCR, I can tell you that a final
decision on buying the property only take place when not one or two,but
when there is a consensus among several family members. The house is
considered as a family property, not an individual thing. Perhaps that is
way the views of many matter and they too contribute, if they are asked
for,for the cause of family.”

“In many cases, parents also provide down payment or part of it to book the
flat on behalf of their children, which helps in keeping the demand for
housing alive even during recessionary period,” Jasuja Concludes.

Would you like to know Bhatia’s reason for redeveloping his South
Extension-part one house ? The ex- cop Bhatia informs that while he is
well-off economically and hardly needs money as he has enough for himself
and his wife. His three kids, two sons and one daughter respectively, are
well-settled in their respective fields. “ I joined hands with a developer
in order to give share of my property to all my three kids with clear
title. The idea behind giving them property without any issue so that they
do not fight post I and my wife depart from this world,” he explains.
Sameer Jasuja ,CMD of prop equity, strongly feels that redeveloping landed
property is really very sensible thing as it gives owner enough scope to
demarcate his/her property among his/her kids apart from the fact that
he/she also earns good amount of money. “ For instance, if you have three
kids,you can easily bequeath one floor each to your kids with clear title.
It is not easy to bequeath your one landed property to you more than one
kid,” he feels.

If realty experts are to be believed, it is wrong to believe that large
number of people sitting on properties worth fortunes in capital redevelop
their properties to earn more. Admittedly, this may be true in majority of
cases, the likes of Bhatia are also swelling swiftly. According to Sanjay
Khanna, director of Kailash Nath Projects Pvt.Ltd, “ Given the hard fact
that even the dearest of siblings fight to finish on the issue of
properties, it is expected from all those who bequeath their properties
with clear and clean title to their children,” adding, “ It goes without
saying that if parents bequeath properties without any title dispute to
their kids, they would do great service. Then they can leave this world
with peace that their kids would not fight over property that they left.”

There is no denying the fact that in the absence of not clear title, apart
from siblings fights, many innocent buyers of properties face really tough
situation later. Suggests Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed,MD of ILD group, “ Before
buying a piece of land, buyers must inspect whether proper approvals for
development on the property and for the building plans have been obtained.”
adding “ if you are booking a flat in some project of realty firm, then it
would be advisable for you to thoroughly check the copies of the
construction plans and layouts of the project, buildings. It will help
buyers assess the property, and also whether it matches with the approval
granted by the authorities. This will also come handy for buyers on a later
date if actual construction deviates from the plans.”

Neeraj Jha (name changed), a Delhi based journalist, reveals the sad story
of his own family where siblings fought for several years as title of the
property left behind by their parents was not clear. “ It was very sad that
I was involved in a protracted legal battle with my two brothers on the
issue of dividing the family property. While we got our due share in
parental property after long haul, our relations became very sour. At the
end of the day, I feel that all those owning properties must ensure that
their kids do not suffer either in the absence of clear title or for any
other reason,”he said.

And talking about the importance of housing project without any legal
issues, Gaurav Mittal, Managing Director of CHD group, suggests to all
would be buyers that it is also a good idea to see whether banks have
appraised the project for giving loans. Though not a substitute for buyers
conducting their own checks, this could provide an additional level of
comfort about the veracity of the builder’s documentation.

One can safely say that one has to buy property with clean and clear title.
And if you have to spend some money and time in this regard, you must do.
And last but not the least, you must bequeath your property to your legal
heirs with clear title. Remember, property without clear title will only
give pain to your kids.

Surprisingly for a change, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has decided to maintain the flats after their allotment. For the first time, DDA will now provide maintenance of the flats that are part of its latest housing scheme for the next 30 years.
DDA will maintain the usually neglected common areas like staircases and shafts of the flats that it will allot. A large number of the nearly 16,000 flats that are part of the new housing scheme will enjoy DDA’s healing touch. The allot tees, however, will have to pay a one-time lump sum amount for the maintenance.
While DDA realized its responsibility towards allottees of their flats,will other builders too rise equal to the occasion in order to provide much needed after sale service to their clients ?
In a very candid admission, Sanjay Khanna,Director,Kailashnath Projects Pvt.Ltd, says that generally it can be safely said that realty firms hardly look after the affairs of buildings they build. Due to their sheer apathy towards all those who buy flats,the buildings start decaying after some years.

Coming back to DDA,the cost of the houses in the new scheme will now include the cost of maintenance. Allot tees of flats with lifts will have to pay 15 per cent of the total amount as one-time maintenance amount and allottees of flats in up to five-storey buildings will pay 12 per cent. DDA will now plaster the facade of apartment blocks, repair staircases, railings, balconies and floors and also take care of the common drainage lines.
Sunil Jindal, CEO of NCR-based realty firm, SVP group, says they are operating with “a maintenance team whom we outsourced look after the affairs of our projects. It address all the issues of our customers. You can not survive in the market without taking care of the interests of your clients.” He adds that they have have deputed technically sound people who can manage the smooth operations of the complex.
However, an expert of realty affairs said, “I have observed that as maintenance of apartments and commercial buildings is not a great business opportunity, most of the realty firms extend maintenance facility only during the first year or till such time a resident association is formed, purely on a no-profit no-loss basis. The corpus collected is accounted for and the remaining funds handed back to the association for relevant maintenance activities.”
It is no secret that residential and commercial buildings that look good and impressive are maintained by dedicated maintenance teams. Maintaining a building is not all about housekeeping and cursory maintenance. Far from being confined to plumbing and electrical work, maintenance of these complexes extends to include a host of items that require a fully functional office and maintenance staff on call round-the-clock.

Understandably, maintaining a complex not only includes housekeeping and round-the-clock emergency maintenance but also beautification and maintenance of gardens and common areas, security, to name a few.
RK Sinha, CMD of noted security service SIS India Ltd, says that they had started an upkeep service for residential and commercial buildings and the response was very encouraging. “Within a couple of months of starting our new business, we started getting a barrage of queries from both small and big cities, for managing buildings,” he says. According to journalist-turned-entrepreneur Sinha, the service is typically managed by a manager and office personnel, complete with a wireless network to track field staff.
Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed, CMD of realty firm ILD group, says: “While we extend the facility of lifetime maintenance, it is certainly not because it is an added business opportunity but merely to ensure the development is well taken care of.” According to him, apartment maintenance is more of a bother than money earner. He,however, accepts the fact that this is one area which deserves attention from realty players.
Realty market watchers say that maintenance is the key to the upkeep of a residential complex. The going rate is around Rs one to Rs1.50 per sq ft for a normal residential complex with facilities like lifts, swimming pool, power backup. But complexes with a golf courses, etc, will have high rate of around Rs 3 per sq ft. All good things come at a cost, so does maintenance of a nice residential complex. This is like owning a luxury car, which naturally has high maintenance cost, spare parts are expensive. Similarly, maintenance cost of apartments with golf courses, luxurious specifications is high.
This fact should however be made clear by developers to prospective buyers. Paying high maintenance of Rs 2 psf, is not practical for a buyer of affordable home in the range of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, as he has budgeted for the EMI and doesn’t expect high monthly maintenance cost.
There is a clear-cut consensus among realty experts that any property, howsoever magnificently built, will deteriorate and lose its grandeur if not managed with the right approach.
A building managed by a reputed property manager helps enhance the company’s image and gives it the edge in marketing its properties, especially under the present tight market conditions where people seek better value for money that they are investing.
Professional service and maintenance can always be achieved by hiring good vendors, Jindal feels. Talking about co-operative societies, marketing professional and social worker of East Delhi, Pavan Dhir says that there is an attitude of indifference or lack of consensus on matters related to maintenance of the society, resulting in delays in decisions on building repairs, renovations, and so on. A professional approach and outsourcing of property management helps carry out the jobs in time and also check deterioration of the structure.
It is learnt that there are a few international players in this business, ie, Knight Frank, Brooke Insignia, CB Richard Ellis and Sodexo. The few Indian companies that match these big names are IPM&SL, Radhakrishna Hospitality, etc. It is learnt that Richard Ellis, which manages properties measuring over 10.8 million square feet in India. In Chennai, they manage 1.3 million square feet at Tidal Park, another 3.75 lakh square feet at Raheja Towers, and 68,000 square feet at ITC Centre.
Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed, CMD of realty firm ILD group, says that unlike in the west, professional facilities management of buildings is a new concept in India. “I sincerely feel that after developers construct and sell their products to customers, experts should be given the responsibility of managing the properties. They will always do a better job.”
At the end, Sanjay Khanna is of the view that builders should give utmost priority to the affairs of the clients post sealing dealings with them. It is better for them to create a dedicate department which only look after upkeep of the building as well as other issues of their clients.

Dr.Dabas says that while the smoke from fireworks consists mainly of fine toxic dusts that can easily enter the lungs, it also badly damage all kinds of plants. Smoke from fireworks combustion may contain a mixture of sulfur-coal compounds, traces of heavy metals, and other toxic chemicals or gases. The combustion cloud can contain harmful fumes such as ozone, sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide.
Experts also say that fireworks fallout contaminate water supplies. As plants require clean water to blossom, contaminated water play havoc with plants. In the absence of clean water supply, they could not blossom.
What are the safeguards that one can take to protect house garden ? Dr. Dabas says that the first and foremost measure one ought to take is to avoid cracker bursting and also impress your neighbours to do so. If you and your neighbours do not celebrate Diwali with crackers, it would go a long way in giving clean and pollution free atmosphere. “ Naturally, if crackers do not emit deadly gases, then your plants and garden remain cool and nice,” says Dr.Dabas.
Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed,CMD of leading realty group of NCR,ILD, informs that they see to it the residents of their apartments burst crackers in flower pots instead of on the grass as the deadly residue damage the grass as well as the soil. “ Our efforts are yielding results and we save our garden to very great extent. We also put lot of water on plants of our gardens on the next day of Diwali in order to remove the dust that settle down on plants,” informs Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed.
Now the gardens are all the more in a very scary position as many fireworks are imported from China which is dangerous because they have a proven track record of cutting corners by using cheaper, more toxic materials. Avoid Chinese made fireworks because of their pattern of using banned or more toxic chemicals without regard for the safety of the rest of the world. Will you think of saving you as well as your garden from deadly Diwali ?
While it is not at all possible to ensure that your garden remain unaffected and unpolluted post Diwali, but you can always make little effort.

Dev Kumar Tyagi, an ad professional, says that as he belongs to the family of farmers with lot of land, he feels so happy to maintain his terrace- farms in his DDA flat in Mayur Vihar.“ Along with me, many other neighbours of mine are following me. When you grow your own vegetables and fruits on a terrace, it gives you huge satisfaction part from the fact that you get chemical-free fresh vegetables. This will not only save money, but also time and energy spent on several trips to the vegetable market on polluted roads. Above all, the biggest gain would be eating healthy,chemical-free vegetables.”
What exactly would you need to start your terrace garden?
So, are you all set to start your own terrace garden ? According to experts, the set-up costs of terrace gardening depend on whether you want to start step-by-step or all at once. If you want to start all at once it will around Rs 25 thousand.
Noted architect Azmal Zaheer Khan of Capital’s Kothari Associates cautions all those who are planning to start roof-farming. “ I think you should avoid farming on your roof if it is weak or leaking. It would further damage your roof. You need to make sure that the roof on which the gardening is to be done, should be strong enough to carry the weight of the garden.”

Experts are also of the view that to prepare your drainage system you need to do the roof garden construction. Lay only burnt bricks uniformly on the terrace. Burnt bricks are the best bet, because the normal ones turn into mud and collapse the drainage system. Corrugated sheets can also serves as a good option, but should be placed at 3′ distance to make the water flow to the drain.In top of the bricks, lay a net lawn. This will prevent the soil to get inside the bricks.

You may not get required success in your endeavour to become a farmer if your roof is surrounded by tall buildings and not allowing sun rays to fall on the roof, you can’t grow vegetables.

Avtar Singh, who grows vegetables in his East Delhi house, says that terrace gardening gives you the opportunity to get closer to nature, without taking much efforts. It is a type of indoor gardening, where you take care of your indoor plants as well as rejuvenate your inner self.
If you have a balcony or extra space to dedicate to your plants, you can grow vegetables that require larger containers, such as cauliflower and brussel sprouts. If your space is more limited, eggplant, peppers (both bell and hot), salad greens and herbs all grow well in smaller containers. Carrots will also grow in small containers that are sufficiently deep. If you are lucky enough to have a balcony, you can use it to grow plants that require structural support. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and other vine plants require trellises, cages or poles to grow properly. You can use the beams and fixtures of your balcony as supports for these plants.
P.L.Sharma says that if your space is really just too limited for plants but you still would like a garden, do some research into community gardens in your neighborhood. Some non-profits and community groups transform vacant lots into gardens where local people can rent plots. It is time for you to become farmer and enjoy the fruits of your hard work.

Gate of your house or apartment is the first thing that makes a lasting impression on all those who visit your place to meet you. It goes without saying that a bad gate at the entrance in terms of colour or size is an eyesore. There is a group housing society in I.P. extension, which is supposed to be the best and costliest, has a huge gate with silver and blue colour. Honestly, it looks bad and spoils the image of society too.

Admittedly, a decent gate which can keep burglars at bay is required both outside your house or apartment. In the recent times, gates are changing and changing fast. Unlike in the past,they are now both taller and stylish. They are no longer simple and small. Why change in the looks of gates ? While it is not easy to find the exact reason, it seems that now people try to erect different gates for security reasons. They also build high walls compare to earlier times when the walls of the homes used to be very small,not more than five feet.

It goes without saying that when you enter the house of somebody,the gate is what catches your attention before anything else. And surprising, gate is always last on the list of owner to buy, or get one made once the house is fully constructed. And more often than not, quality, beauty and even size are often overlooked.

Sanjay Khanna,director of Kailash Nath Projects Pvt Limited, says that as recently as one decade ago,a gate was meant only to protect the house from intruders and hence there was no concern about beauty, colour, design or size. “ Things have changed. Many contemporary house owners spend huge sum to buy or make showpiece gate. Security factor is also there,” he informs

Realty experts say that the selection of the gate is important, as the choice can help save or squander money. “The owner must have a clear-cut idea about the size and design of the gate he/she intends to spend on gate. Before rushing to buy one, consult the architect who designed the house,” feels Sunil Jindal,CEO of SVP group.

Surely, a bad looking gate mars the beauty of a house; a gate too high or too long ends up hiding it. An simple gate made of iron would cost you not more than Rs 15000.The price of the gates varies with the design. Designers say complicated sculptural designs require more welding, thereby increasing the costs.The labour charges also go up for complicated and intricate patterns. Normally, it takes one or two weeks for completing a standard gate.

A heavier one costs more. Gate designers say the rate, inclusive of labour charges, comes to Rs.100 per kg. An entry-level gate of three metres length and 1.5 metre height costs around Rs. 20,000.

Nazma Rizvi, who used to teach at capital’s School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), says contemporary and classic styled gates have many takers. There have been cases where house owners have completed the gate and compound wall for Rs.5 lakh.

Are CCTV surveillance and remote systems attached to posh gates becoming popular ? Despite lot of euphoria in favour of remote gates, it could not make a big dent in the market. Still not many people opt for such gates. A dealer of cast iron gates in Jagatpuri in capital, informs that they have stopped offering them as there are not many takers.

According to him, possible malfunctioning prevent many from opting for such varieties, he adds. People who want to give a traditional touch to their houses never hesitate to spend an extra sum on a posh entrance. of the typical. The dexterity of construction and the beauty of cast iron gates are essential to add charm.

The size of the gate can vary with the length and breadth of the house. Measure the distance between the house and the gate before deciding on a design.

Author Pratap Sehgal says that his house in Rajouri Garden had a small gates with small walls till couple of years ago when he realized that buglers easily jump from small walls and gates. Then he raised that time has come when raised the height of outer walls and made big gates to prevent any robbery.

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