Friday, August 7, 2009

You too can build your Own dream home!

Do you recall since when we started believing that building or constructing a dream home is something only Builders can do it? Most likely we become so busy in search of earning that we almost molded our mindset and started buying homes at whatever prices they were sold.

Well, I'm an ordinary IT person (like many in Pune) having worked in Mumbai few years then shifted to Pune 2-3 yrs back and like many of you missed housing bus of RE pre-boom best time. I reseached a lot on this whole mentality of owning a home that I don't keep any regrets but at the same time don't feel like I should buy from builders with hefty price. This took a lot of research, homework and studying the market. I traveled around 5000 km in and around Pune in 1 1/2 yrs. I biked from Bhugaon to Wagholi of east and Chakan to Ambegaon on south...couldn't find a nice home within my budget(well I will come to my budget soon) I also tried purchasing a plot of land but decided to wait further due to overall state of economy after meltdown last year. I met at least 200 agents and individual sellers, looked personally same number of plots around 2008. But you guessed right...timing was NOT right and I was learning a lot of lessons!

And as we see finally India Housing bubble finally started bursting. It is yet to be fully exposed but it will, it certainly will.

Anyways, I don't want to start endless discussion of housing bubble but wants to execute a fundamental right to build-and-own a Dream Home in Pune. As our forefathers and prevous generations did build their own homes, in hometown I wonder why can't we?

Our (fellow young IT generation and few NRIs) slight impatience and easy money (or loans?) has given builders-banks nexus a golden opportunity to milk middles class salaries Cow for their lifetime (15-20 yrs) And we middle class just watched increasing home prices 200-300% helplessly! Gaonwallas (for their land), Banks (for lifetime loans) and Builders (for their guts) has become millionaires and how come suddenly we forget that building a home is like building a castle? Time will only tell how long this nexus can swim against real sentiments and market forces.

Anyways guys, lets forget about what we missed in past and take a lesson. The point here I wanted to make is...WE CAN BUILD OUR OWN DREAM HOME TOGETHER!

And when I say build means I mean it..we can form a legal society first (yes thats possible), choose our location, purchase a land with hard negotiations, choose plans to best suit / fit our needs, best in class quality fittings, enough space to our children's and last but not least joy of doing all this and sense of accomplishment! There would be different size, space to each of you depending upon contributions (yes you read correctly, it will not be EMI or huge profit to builder)

So if you are among many of us, feel free to contact us and we will invite you to join beutifull process.

Our earlier generations did so well as they were known to think better financially than us. Don't just keep criticizing builder-politicians-banks nexus and take a step forward. Is not a rocket science, its just building your abode. If you are still not convinced or on fences , then you free to pay huge profits to builders for than tiny so called budget home somewhere in outskirts of city. Yes, thats what you can own with limited budget if decided to leave up to builders.

I will be sharing with you my experience of land searching, some land deals internal tricks over the next few months. Lots to come on this blog..stay tuned...


- Anil

21 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:03 PM

    Hi,
    It is a great idea.
    Would like to learn from your experience.

    Thanks
    Madan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:32 AM

    Hi Man,

    A word abt project management.

    1.Pl be more transparent abt ur self.
    2. State the AIM - already said.
    3. Decide the Way/Process to achieve it.
    4. Gather monies/resources/men for it.
    5. Detail duties to go abt it.
    6. Start the work.
    Enjoy the fruits of labour.

    As for me , i have been looking for house for some time. Let me put it this way -
    The dice is loaded heavily against the Aam Admi.There appears to be no alternative to it. Some employees of companies have got their societies and then the homes, but a set of disjoint individual is a different proposition .

    Sending traffic to u.
    Sansei

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:08 PM

    A good initiative.
    Recently the insignia group of infosys is in process to do group bookings with some builder for considerably less price, this is yet another example.
    Hope you can be in touch with that group pioneers and learn from them too..

    --
    Aditi sharma

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is good initiative, I know couple of such schemes like ITPWAP & INSIGNIA...this is good for the end user...

    I think what is the best way to to it...just look for a good land & then ask some of the existing builder to build this for you (group of ppls)...Just like outsourced (we IT ppls are so used to with this word that this become way of life for us) this to some good builder & we can just do quality control etc..This way we can get good quality homes at affordable price....So, as our forefathers well said..."Ekta main sakti hai" so, in spite of finding home individually,if we can form a large group then we can dictate out terms to the builders & as I am very much fan of word "OUTSOURCING" just outsource your dirty work to some good builder...thats it...I hope I am making sense here:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:02 PM

    Hi Ash,
    I heard about ITWAP but have no clear idea, about what they did and what they are doing in RE space? can u tell me if u know ?

    --
    Aditi sharma

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you friends for well wishes and suggestions through emails you sent. I will try to reply them individually but sending group response for now…

    I’m currently working on guidelines considering location preferences, budget requirements and some other factors and hoping to come up with a draft in a week or so. I will also make some space to display the profiles list for those interested and a Google group for more related activities. With the advent of Google maps and related technology, we can probably share plot locations, key parameters and their attributes (distances from major landmarks etc) so that interested fellow members to take their own call. I’m sure, there are many out there who have gone through no-so-good experience with builders and would like to join hands and give a shot. It’s like open source movement v/s established monopoly of few and we will get there. Instead of we outsource everything to banks and builders , we will probably do the same but differently. By doing that we will have better say and control and a priceless sense of accomplishment after that.

    Madan, I would certainly share my personal experience over a series of posts. I believe through sharing only you can take whatever you know to further level.

    Sansei, I agree with you – some other industry employees are better united than IT ,especially established manufacturing companies, PSU companies etc They are not High Net Income (HNI) class but they are united and don’t easily get into competition, no show off, and understand ground realities. We IT employees have so much advantages - working in team, professional attitude, leading and managing teams, social networking presence. But somehow we are lacing exploring all these for our own benefits which we will discuss in this forum.
    Btw - I’m not PMP certified but did some formal training, understand and practiced, have deep respect and most important ready to utilize these for greater cause than just routine IT projects

    Aditi, I have been hearing about such initiative they started and set an example for others. Also, couldn’t get latest happenings at ITWAP but certainly share with you if I get more updates from friends. At the same time, I have opted out of the flat-race (sounds like familiar rat-race and that’s true) and would rather wait for dream home.

    Yes Ash, well said, “Ekta main sakti hai” and this certainly making sense. This looks, seems so simple principal but we people probably are the most exploited due to various reasons.. And thank you for suggestions. Look forward for more information about this self help group through posts.


    Thank you once again!


    Lot more to come, stay tuned…

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:09 PM

    Anil,

    Good blog...!!!
    I am interested if the choice is Baner/Balewadi or Wakad/Hinjawadi area.
    Count me in... mandar_kr@yahoo.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  8. Me too, if the location is Baner/Balewadi....

    We have couple of such examples like INSIGNIA & ITWAP...we can take good from them & avoid mistakes what they did initially...This way we can manage it better...

    ReplyDelete
  9. One more point I would like to point out here, today was watching a property show program at NDTV business, I saw a property in Indore with most lavish specifications & rate was Just 1791Rs /sq ft...so that mean construction cost for such a lavish flat wont be more than 1000-1200 Rs including staff cost ( I mean project management cost) & if we take land cost at 100-200 Rs/ sq ft ( as land is still cheap in Indore at least in that area) builder is making around around 500-600 /sq ft as profit or maybe more than that...

    So, the point here is that construction cost to have best in class amenities & specification wont cost us more than 100-1200 /sq ft (As my father is a civil engineer so he also confirm me the same, he even gave me figure 0f 800 /sq ft)....

    So if take 1200 /sq ft figure( including construction & managing staff cost) & we can add 500-600 for land cost ( in Balewadi-Baner area) then also we can get our house built in 1700-1800 /sq ft cost)..and the same flat would cost you around 3500 /sq ft from builder in the same area...so at least saving of half the price so, a 60 lacs 3 BHK we can get in 30 lacs & a 40 lacs 2 BHK in just 20 lacs, thats affordable, isn't it????

    Anil & others comment on this please....

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Anil,

    Please count me too as I was waiting for such a project for long. My advice will be to hire contractors/engineers rather then givign the whole contract to a single builder. These guys are used to work on higher margins & never ever spare their expertise at a lesser rate. So, better hire professionals & keep auditing their work on a regular basis. That way, we can save massive money & no flashy amenities required I guess, except green space around it.

    Thanks,
    Abhishek Sharma.
    abhi134@gmail.com
    9822928007

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous7:36 PM

    Hi Anil,

    I am also interested in joining this group. I am looking to buy one flat from last one year but could not able to by one as because the unrealistic price which these builders lobby coated. The price hike in pune for RE has only increase because of IT people as any NRI IT person comes here and gives any price which these builders wanted. Hence with our hard earn money these builders are becoming millionaire and we are end up paying the huge monthly EMI. SO let get together and be UNITED.


    Manish Joshi

    ReplyDelete
  12. ash, thats correct - its well known fact that builder bobby has enjoyed at least 100% margins in boom time and still trying same thing desperately. Add to that the scalability advantage and volume negotiations for building materials through strong union in all major cities. that is the reason most of the builders have manager create huge land banks. well, let them do and we build our own nest which is not a rocket science. just keep some patience and look around like minded friends/ relatives. We will try to help as much as we can through collective intelligence. Also, as we go through this process , we will learn more practical lessons and that would act as reference book for rest of the followers.

    Keep posting ideas / comments / concerns

    ReplyDelete
  13. gr8 initiative...count me in too

    keep me in the loop : thatsnick001@gmail.com

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous12:52 AM

    Another Insignia in making..good one..as suggested by others, we can take suggestions from Insigina group. I'm sure they would help.

    I'm interested in North-West,count on me as well..

    friendsameer@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. please consider me in too.. bhoyar.amit@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous7:55 PM

    Hi Anil,

    Thanks for efforts, please count me in, i would be intrested to work with you guys.

    Regards
    Umesh
    umcagrienvmkt@rediffmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Very well said Anil.

    I am with you. Count me in for this.

    Thanks and regards...
    Shrikant.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous9:01 PM

    Thanks for this initiative. Count me too.


    Thanks,

    Progyan
    progyan@rediffmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. count me as well.Please write me about next step.

    Dharmendra Chouhan
    chauhan.icse@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous7:26 PM

    count me in .. for west pune ......nice work keep it up ...

    ziblu
    ziblu.bhoot@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous1:54 PM

    Please add me as I would be interested in exploring this. anshucp@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete