Well, I am penning a post after a very long time, this time I will not promise that I will be regular and will write more posts in the coming years, but the kind of incident that happened wanted me to blog so that I can hear reviews and feedback from many folks who have gone through that and who are going through that.
So one of the biggest dreams of an average Indian is to get a house, as place that he can stay on forever and call it a home, in many cases I have seen that folks buy a house or rush to buy a house just to announce the outside world that they are now a proud owner of a property, though they take a lot of care in investigating the legality of the place, authenticity of the documents etc etc, none of them actually visualise the con's of getting an "apartment" or a "gated community", the initial euphoria that kicks in when you sign the sale agreement, blinds all the hidden horror it would tag along with.
I too live in a gated community, and I own many such gated communities, today I think the biggest mistake me and my dad did was buying many apartment complexes, though like all the other people, we were also proud to say that we own many houses, but when we decided to shut down properties and then consolidate, that's when all the horror unfolded, so while are are still learning from our mistakes, these are some of the common myth's that I wanted to break.
1. Buying a house or an apartment where you and your family are going to stay is never an INVESTMENT
2. There is never going to be a buyer readily available for you to buy your 'old' property, when I say 'old' property, even if you would have lived in a house for only 6 months, that house is an 'old' house for the new buyer
3. There are so many hidden costs that you have to bear apart from the maintenance you are paying.
4. It is not so easy to find a tenant in this fast changing market.
If you all consider the above 4 points, you will not invest on a house. Today I have around 16 properties or should I say 16 liabilities, because when I am trying to consolidate, I am not able to gain profit, so what happens is, I am working towards "OK, at least let me get what I have invested" and there goes all of my investment plan in to a downward spin.
Today with ever dipping economy rate, the costs are sky rocketing, just with a tag name of "premium" the builders are pulling you into a trap of unknown, today I pay Rs 7000 per month as maintenance, which is equal to a monthly rent of a single bed room accommodation in some parts of Chennai, but I dont have a choice, I have to abide by the rules and regulations of the association.
The apartment that I own in Bangalore is throwing surprises every now and then, they suddenly send you an email saying I have to pay amount for water connection, I have to pay amount for basement renovation, so you actually get sucked into oblivion where you have absolutely no control whatsoever. So in pure sense, you don't own that property, that property only owns you.
So if apartments tighten the noose around your neck in the name of unexpected expenses, you are not safe even if you buy a plot/land, and that credit goes to our government. If you sell a land/plot for X amount, you will have to pay 37% of "Capital gain" tax, so that means, whatever profit you think you have made in that sell is already killed by this law, and moreover you should only have 1 property in your name other than the new property you are acquiring or selling, if that condition fails, you have to pay 37% tax. So, the value appreciation you get is actually not for you, it's for the government.
Coming back to gated communities, the kind of rules and regulations each association have, is nothing short of a killer - You cannot rent the house to students, you cannot have pets, you cannot do this, you cannot do that, WTF? Its my house, I can do whatever I want, but sorry, you cannot, because you are inside a "gated" community, you are bound to the bye-laws, so in short, you spend your hard earned money to get locked inside a JAIL.
So with all the pains we are now going through in consolidating our properties, myself and my dad have decided, we have had enough and we are not going to invest in LAND or House anymore, it is time we think other options as real investments and try to appreciate the value of money.
So folks if you all think you are buying a house for investment, please re-think, it is not that rosy as we all think ... yes it is rightly called as a "gated" community, where every living individual is "gated" in their own house and locked down with rules are regulations which they cannot free themselves off
So one of the biggest dreams of an average Indian is to get a house, as place that he can stay on forever and call it a home, in many cases I have seen that folks buy a house or rush to buy a house just to announce the outside world that they are now a proud owner of a property, though they take a lot of care in investigating the legality of the place, authenticity of the documents etc etc, none of them actually visualise the con's of getting an "apartment" or a "gated community", the initial euphoria that kicks in when you sign the sale agreement, blinds all the hidden horror it would tag along with.
I too live in a gated community, and I own many such gated communities, today I think the biggest mistake me and my dad did was buying many apartment complexes, though like all the other people, we were also proud to say that we own many houses, but when we decided to shut down properties and then consolidate, that's when all the horror unfolded, so while are are still learning from our mistakes, these are some of the common myth's that I wanted to break.
1. Buying a house or an apartment where you and your family are going to stay is never an INVESTMENT
2. There is never going to be a buyer readily available for you to buy your 'old' property, when I say 'old' property, even if you would have lived in a house for only 6 months, that house is an 'old' house for the new buyer
3. There are so many hidden costs that you have to bear apart from the maintenance you are paying.
4. It is not so easy to find a tenant in this fast changing market.
If you all consider the above 4 points, you will not invest on a house. Today I have around 16 properties or should I say 16 liabilities, because when I am trying to consolidate, I am not able to gain profit, so what happens is, I am working towards "OK, at least let me get what I have invested" and there goes all of my investment plan in to a downward spin.
Today with ever dipping economy rate, the costs are sky rocketing, just with a tag name of "premium" the builders are pulling you into a trap of unknown, today I pay Rs 7000 per month as maintenance, which is equal to a monthly rent of a single bed room accommodation in some parts of Chennai, but I dont have a choice, I have to abide by the rules and regulations of the association.
The apartment that I own in Bangalore is throwing surprises every now and then, they suddenly send you an email saying I have to pay amount for water connection, I have to pay amount for basement renovation, so you actually get sucked into oblivion where you have absolutely no control whatsoever. So in pure sense, you don't own that property, that property only owns you.
So if apartments tighten the noose around your neck in the name of unexpected expenses, you are not safe even if you buy a plot/land, and that credit goes to our government. If you sell a land/plot for X amount, you will have to pay 37% of "Capital gain" tax, so that means, whatever profit you think you have made in that sell is already killed by this law, and moreover you should only have 1 property in your name other than the new property you are acquiring or selling, if that condition fails, you have to pay 37% tax. So, the value appreciation you get is actually not for you, it's for the government.
Coming back to gated communities, the kind of rules and regulations each association have, is nothing short of a killer - You cannot rent the house to students, you cannot have pets, you cannot do this, you cannot do that, WTF? Its my house, I can do whatever I want, but sorry, you cannot, because you are inside a "gated" community, you are bound to the bye-laws, so in short, you spend your hard earned money to get locked inside a JAIL.
So with all the pains we are now going through in consolidating our properties, myself and my dad have decided, we have had enough and we are not going to invest in LAND or House anymore, it is time we think other options as real investments and try to appreciate the value of money.
So folks if you all think you are buying a house for investment, please re-think, it is not that rosy as we all think ... yes it is rightly called as a "gated" community, where every living individual is "gated" in their own house and locked down with rules are regulations which they cannot free themselves off
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