5 reasons why your neighbour earns more than you

“My house was slightly bigger, perhaps 200 sq ft more space than Prakash’s and yet he managed to make an extra Rs 5.5 lakh. Howwww!!”

Ever wondered why two houses, sometimes in the same locality, move in the market at different prices? You may even be willing to pay differently. Consider buying a Tee. You would be ready to buy a higher priced black tee from downtown but you would expect a flea shop to sell you the same commodity dirt cheap. Real estate can play mind games too! Know how-

Create your own brand

Whether selling or renting, the mantra is how well you package your product. Nobody likes a shoddy, capsized wreck for a home. Make sure your house looks inviting. Houses convey the personality of people who reside in them. When it comes to lifestyle or real estate, aspirations are always at play. So, when you pitch, make sure you are pitching a lifestyle.

Maintenance

Just like your daily life, a certain discipline and decorum works well for a house too. A clean, painted house that has no leaking roofs or termite ridden cupboards or blotchy exteriors will see willing takers, whether on rent or sale. Consider yourself in the prospective tenant/buyer’s position and try to gauge, would you be willing to buy what you are selling? If the answer is no, work on it till you can say a yes. Of course, it means a little more spending.

Here’s a tip from Ajay Sharma, DGM, Valuations and Consulting, HDFC Realty - The seller knows the average value of a property and would be willing to spend -/+ 5 per cent of the market price. Suppose, the price of your property is Rs 100 and a buyer would have to incur an expenditure of Rs 12 to repair/renovate the house, then ideally the seller should be selling the house for Rs 88. If you still feel you should ask for Rs 100, that is the total cost of the property, you should be willing to undertake all the repair work before passing it on to the buyer.

Be open to research

Buyers and sellers in the market are equally competitive. All buyers want to boast a budget buy while all sellers would want to brag a profit. However, you need to price your property appropriately to prevent a prospective tenant/buyer from opting for the next best at a value-for-money rate. For this, do a careful research  - What are the going rates in my locality? What are the kind of amenities provided by the seller/landlord at that price? Is there a possibility of sizeable price appreciation in the near future?

You can find answers to most of these if you rely on formal indices. Leading real estate consultancies and portals carry timely research. This way it is easier to find how a locality has been faring in the past. If you see buyers rushing to a particular locality, something might be appealing. It may either be the well managed civic infrastructure or clear, smooth transport or job hubs in the vicinity. Such places will command a premium.

Is the time appropriate?

When is the right time to buy/sell? If your research is headed in the right direction, you would know. When the sales are low, it is a better time to buy because that is when developers would be willing to settle for a little less. On the contrary, this may not be a good time for sellers. Probably, this is when they should wait till the market is open to giving them their worth.

Market!

Ever wondered why companies invest in marketing departments? Your house needs some kind of marketing too! Reach out to brokers or post your property online. The internet has pervaded into almost 30 per cent of the population today, finds research. This is the population you would be targeting.  Find out new ways to reach out to them.

Now you know the reason why your neighbour has been earning better through real estate, probably he has taken care of all the above!

In preparation for the new international airport, the CIDCO will develop a Smart City, NAINA, which comprises of 30 towns around the airport

The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to be operational in three years and the first flight is targeted to take off from there in 2019, Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao said.
“The Navi Mumbai International Airport has received excellent response in the qualifying round of global tenders. It is targeted that the first flight takes off from there in 2019,” Rao announced in his address to a joint secession of Maharashtra legislature at the beginning of the budget session.
In preparation for the new international airport, the CIDCO will develop a Smart City, NAINA, which comprises of 30 towns around the airport, he said, adding this will focus on work areas pertaining to education, medical, entertainment, logistics, commerce, science, industry, etc, and the government has already notified an area of 600 square km. for it.

Simultaneously, CIDCO will invest Rs.35, 000 crores to develop the South Navi Mumbai as a Brownfield Smart City covering seven towns over an area of around 7,700 hectares.
In this, the main focus would be on projects like affordable housing, metro corridors, economic and infrastructure development projects along with Port City Development, scheduled for completion by 2019, Rao said.

Supplementing these would be other major infrastructure projects in and around Mumbai and elsewhere in the state, including construction of the new bridge across Thane Creek to ease congestion between Mumbai-Navi Mumbai, will be taken up this year.
The proposed coastal highway project in Maharashtra will promote industries, tourism and defense requirements, and this year work will start on the ambitious Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway which will be the longest Greenfield expressway in India, said Rao.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will be the implementing agency for the Thane-Borivali Tunnel Road, Thane-Ghodbunder Road, Kon-Kalyan-Dombivali-Shilphata elevated road, four-laning of Wakan-Pali-Khopoli Road and 27 railway overbridges in Vidarbha.

Elsewhere in the state, the government has completed over 263,000kms out of a targeted 337,000kms of roads under the development programme of 2001-20021, including converting 6,800kms of state highways into national highways, he said.

The government plans to form “Maharashtra Railway Infrastructure Development Company” as a JV with the railways ministry to expedite implementation of railway projects in the state.

The government will participate by way of equity in port-rail connectivity projects for Jaigad Port and Dighi Port and also buy 26 percent shares in satellite port project of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust at Wadhwan.

While the Belapur-Pendar Metro Project, 11kms in Navi Mumbai will be completed in July 2017, and work on the Mumbai Metro Rail Line 3, Nagpur Metro and Pune Metro projects will commence soon, he said.

Out of 118 km Metro Rail Project planned for next 3-4 years, the Dahisar to Dadabhai Nauroji Nagar route of 18.5 km and the Dahisar (East) to Andheri (East) route of 16.5 km with an estimated cost of Rs.12,000crore have been approved, the governor said.93

Housing for all: Maha may waive stamp duty for small homes

State may do away with the levy for houses with an area of less than 250 sq ftKailash Babar  |  ET Bureau  |  16 March 2016, 12:50 PM IST

MUMBAI: In a move to support the central government's vision of housing for all by 2022, the Maharashtra government is considering waiving stamp duty for houses with an area of less than 250 square feet and offering concessional rates for residences up to 450 sq ft.

Residences above 450 sq ft in area will not get any concession or waiver and will cost 10% more with the state planning to increase ready-reckoner rates by as much as 10% from April 1, according to government officials aware of the proposal.

This is the first time the government will give up stamp duty , levied at 5% of the property value, or offer a concession on the charge for homebuyers.

"The move will re sult in benefitting small and affordab le category homebuyers in extended suburbs, Mumbai metropolitan re gion and also tier-II cities of the sta te," said Zaheer Memon, partner at Zara Habitats, which has projects in Mumbai and Nashik.

"Combined with the recent Union Budget proposals favouring affordable housing, this would prompt end-users to buy homes and help the government achieve its vision of Housing for All."

Ready-reckoner rates are assessments of property value by the state government on the basis of which stamp duty and registration charges are paid. The government usually revises these rates every year.

The planned waiver is expected to offer relief to buyers of small and compact homes, while the revenue collection gap is likely to be filled by increased charges on larger apartments.
Officials from the state government's revenue department declined to comment.

"Increasing ready-reckoner rate is not in sync with the current market and economic scenario and would dampen the property market further," Memon said.

The state government had deferred a decision on revising ready-reckoner rates to April from the usual practice of December end in the backdrop of a sluggish property market, providing relief to homebuyers in Maha rashtra already coping with unaffordable prices. An upward revision in ready-reckoner rates leads to homebuyers paying more stamp duty.Apart from this, developers usually pass on increases in project expenditure to consumers.

Various levies and charges, including premium for floor space index and development charges paid by builders, are calculated based on ready-reckoner rates. Any rise in these levies would increase a project's cost, which developers would try to recover from consumers. Accor sumers. According to developers, government taxes linked to ready-reckoner rates have increased five-fold between 2008 and 2015.

The real estate bill mandates developers to deposit 70% of the collections from the buyers in a separate account to meet construction costs including that of land

Liquidity issues for real estate developers, particularly smaller players, is likely to worsen during the initial transition phase after the real estate regulatory bill comes to force, said credit rating agency ICRA.

“Restriction on sales without registration of a project and restriction on acceptance of deposits without registering the agreement for sale are likely to add to developers’ funding troubles,” said Rohit Inamdar, senior vice-president, ICRA, adding, “Having a standard rate of 70% for all projects may prove to be harsh for developers in projects with high land cost component.” The real estate bill mandates developers to deposit 70% of the collections from the buyers in a separate account to meet construction costs including that of land. The bill also requires builders to register their projects with regulatory authorities disclosing details of promoter, schedule of implementation, layout plan, land status, status of approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architects, structural engineers, etc. Registration is mandatory where land proposed to be developed exceeds 500 square metres or number of apartments proposed to be developed exceeds eight.

ICRA feel there needs to be increased coordination among multiple authorities for quick regulatory approvals. “The real estate regulatory bill only has provisions for penalising developers in case of delays beyond indicated timelines, but no distinction is made in projects that face delays because of delays in getting approvals,” it said in a statement.

“Although the Bill requires the Regulatory Authority to make recommendations for setting up of a single-window clearance system, no firm provision has been included for expediting the approval process,” it added.

ICRA also highlighted the existing ambiguity in the bill with respect to implication of bringing the real estate projects currently under construction under the ambit of the Bill.

The Real Estate Regulatory Bill 2016 moved one step closer to reality with the Rajya Sabha passing the Bill with unanimity on March 10, 2016, almost seven years after it was initially introduced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) as a Model Act in 2009. The Bill will now go to the Lok Sabha and then for Presidential Assent, before it becomes a law.67