Look beyond the glossy advertisements of real estate

Currently real estate prices have escalated to a price range well beyond the reach of common man.  The real estate industry has now become a predominantly high price to the customer and high-margin development for the builder.  Most of the time buyers do not get their value’s worth in terms of quality and design of the building.

With festive season on us most have one more reason to buy or book an under construction home for the family. Advertisements with glossy pictures of aesthetically beautiful buildings, lush green gardens and jogging tracks are printed in leading newspapers to lure the buyer to the booking office. Builders offer sparkling bathroom fittings, amenities like swimming pool and gym, throw in discounts for festivals and early bird offers.

What the builders don’t tell you are the type of materials being used in construction, the codes adopted for building design, the strength of concrete or type of concrete.  Much of northern India and western regions fall under medium to high probability earthquake zone but there are very few builders who design buildings taking into account the effects of an earthquake.  There is every likelihood that within two to three years of completion of constructing the building the plaster may start to peel off or water starts leaking in the bathroom or from terraces in to the top floor slabs.  Continuous usage of building will require maintenance but given high initial costs we as consumers want our property to function without much maintenance.  Unfortunately builders get away from providing a guarantee that such damages will not occur because municipal bye-laws do not require them to do so.  The real estate industry is largely unregulated despite being the largest contributor to national growth. The government requirements for authorizing a residential or commercial building are very minimal and poor at best. 

How long a building will function safely with bare minimum maintenance schedules is dependent upon quality of materials used, quality control and quality assurance adopted at site. Superior quality finishes and aesthetically pleasing structure does not always result in good quality construction. Quality assurance from builder can be relied upon either based on past 20 + years of performance of his buildings or by assessing a paper trail maintained during construction site.  Most builders are fly-by-night operators and don’t necessarily maintain a paper trail to track back quality assurance on site. In the absence of any real estate regulatory authority or an appropriate consumer redressal forum it is essential that the buyer is well-informed about expected requirements from the builder.

As an informed buyer it is necessary to ask for information about construction materials, techniques and time span from the builder.  Most buildings in and around Mumbai these days have 8 or more storeys.  From a quality standpoint for high-rise buildings it is necessary to use ready mix concrete (RMC) technology for concreting.  RMC involves mixing of concrete under controlled conditions at a ready-mix plant and transporting it to the building site in a truck .  Such plants are available in India but very few builders make use of this technology. RMC insures that quality and desired strength of concrete are consistently maintained.  RMC can help in reducing weak zones or empty air pockets within the concrete thereby reducing leakage issues to a large extent.  Many new buildings experience leakages from terrace slab during monsoon within about 2-3 years of construction.  Typically, well done water proofing on the terrace should last a minimum of 7-10 years. Ask the builder to provide five years written guarantee for it.

While buying directly from the builder request for an authorized structural plan of the building.  An authorized plan should have a seal from the local municipal authorities. Many a times builders accept booking amounts for a certain type of plan and sometimes even build a few floors before going back to drawing board and adding a few more floors to the building.  The builder does not necessarily go back and increase the strength of foundation safety levels similar to prior design. This means that the building is now standing precariously on minimal design and safety requirements.  Such a building can easily fail even due to minor damage. It is essential to have some written contract with the builder which will restrict any changes to the plan after you have booked the flat for a given approved plan.

All these factors and a few more are important behind the glossy advertisement that need to be looked into before buying real estate.  Look before your leap in to the quagmire of buying real estate. 

(An edited version of this post appeared in mid-day)