3 Study the market carefully
It is important to do your own research on the property market while buying a home. A lot of people take property decisions based on the advice of someone they know. While trust is a good thing, this can also get you in trouble. Start looking at property supplements and trade magazines. Visits brokers, look at websites, visit exhibitions, then shortlist properties based on your requirement and budget.
4 Location is important
Find places near to work, to the kids’ school, to a shopping centre and other conveniences. Also figure out how good the access is, what the neighbouring areas are, the quality of infrastructure. Find out what’s going to come up in an area in the future, to whatever extent has already been planned. A visit to local brokers and a contact with the planning department of the local area might yield some results.
5 Study the layout as well
Study the layout of the apartment well. Making changes to an apartment is possible, but it is time consuming and costly. First of all, see if there are enough rooms for your family. The same area can accommodate two large bedrooms or three smaller ones. What you need is dependent on the size of your family. Check on the size of the living, dining and kitchen. The sizes of the bedrooms should accommodate double beds easily.
Check if there are provisions for electrical equipments. Storage is important. The flat should maximise the use of space.
The rules are many, but whatever your taste, you need to ensure convenience and safety. For a child or elderly person, this could make the difference between comfort and fear.
Use the sample flat to understand the layout, but sit down with an architect or interior designer to see what possibilities it has for remodeling in the future.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Two tips to buy a home
Planning to buy a home? It’s a great idea and here are some tips to help you choose wisely. Shortlist properties based on these concepts and you should find the entire process less confusing than you think it is.
1 Aspirations, lifestyle
While you may want the moon, think clearly and decide what kind of lifestyle you and your family would be comfortable with. Villas, apartments, individual home, an executive floor, all entail a particular type of lifestyle. Deciding between living in the inner city and a suburb is also a lifestyle decision. If you like a quiet laid back life, choose a suburb. If you like being in the hub of things and having everything nearby, but are willing to settle for less space and more noise, the city will work fine for you. Think of scenarios about 10 years into the future and identify a place that will suit your needs till then.
2 What’s the size of your pocket?
Figure out your loan eligibility from a housing loan company or bank. Look at your resources and decide how much money you can pay up as a lump sum. That will help you do a back calculation and decide what budget you should have while looking for a home.
1 Aspirations, lifestyle
While you may want the moon, think clearly and decide what kind of lifestyle you and your family would be comfortable with. Villas, apartments, individual home, an executive floor, all entail a particular type of lifestyle. Deciding between living in the inner city and a suburb is also a lifestyle decision. If you like a quiet laid back life, choose a suburb. If you like being in the hub of things and having everything nearby, but are willing to settle for less space and more noise, the city will work fine for you. Think of scenarios about 10 years into the future and identify a place that will suit your needs till then.
2 What’s the size of your pocket?
Figure out your loan eligibility from a housing loan company or bank. Look at your resources and decide how much money you can pay up as a lump sum. That will help you do a back calculation and decide what budget you should have while looking for a home.
