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Residential real estate is the best form of investment. It helps you play the long game as an investor and gives you a regular income source. But if you want to ensure that you get the best ROI from your residential investment then there are a few factors that you need to consider before cutting that cheque.

Research

Become a natural sleuth when you want to buy a residential property. Don’t just go by popular opinion or other’s people’s tales of success. Learn about the location, visit it and understand things like accessibility, distance, neighborhood, and social infrastructure. Assess the builder before purchasing the property. Learn about his previous works, maintenance of the property, appreciation of the properties, and commitment to delivering on time. All these factors need your personal attention.

Average rent information

Conduct a survey on your own to estimate the approximate rent values in the location? Ensure that you match the average rental yield to your outflow on loan payments, maintenance, and other expenses that you might incur as a property owner. Check for items such as property taxes in the area also as they will also have to considered while calculating your total outflow. Vacancy rates are also a good indicator of the health of the rental market in the location. If you can access information on vacancy rates, then it will be a great indicator of how your rental yield will be affected.

The COVID-19 has created a worldwide crisis that is set to change the world order in the most dramatic way. Whether the outcome will be good or bad is something that we need to wait and see. It is likely to change how we travel, buy homes, invest our money, view savings, adopt to new surveillance techniques and our mindset to take risks.

The coronavirus has us contained in our homes. It has shut businesses and individual spending has been brought down to the bare minimum. There are changes that are expected in the coming months that will unsettle nations and the way we do business. But every crisis also brings its own set of opportunities. Technology is testing its limits and finding new ways to engage customers who are home-bound. People are today more appreciative of the outdoors and have a changing view of being outdoors.

The two major economic crisis – the great depression and the Asian financial crisis brought about visible habitual changes in the way people treated money. This time a public health crisis has brought the wheels of the world economy to grinding halt with every nation developed or developing struggling to cope with the crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India has cushioned the impact of COVID-19 by offering a three-month moratorium on loans for individuals and companies. The choice of taking the RBI moratorium was left to the individuals and those who choose to opt for the moratorium will not be penalized with a default which would affect their overall credit rating.

This move has given a breather to buyers and developers. The non-payment of EMIs will not affect future credit and will not turn them into bad loans or NPAs. The 75 bps (basis points) rate cut combined with a reduction of 90 bps in the reverse repo rate, will definitely infuse more liquidity. One section of the developer community views this as an indicator that more loans will be offered to customers thus resulting in an increase in demand. The developers are also hoping for a fiscal stimulus package that would help them handle the immediate liquidity crunch that they might face due to the lockdown and reduced economic activity.

The Novel Coronavirus has spread faster than anticipated and has crept into our cities, communities, and homes. Across the world, countries are in lockdown hoping to stem the spread of the virus and protect its citizens. While we may not be able to assist the governments in their massive efforts to battle COVID-19, we certainly can do our part by protecting our families and ensuring that they stay safe and away from infection.

There are two aspects that need to be covered while protecting yourself and your family from Coronavirus, one is in terms of personal hygiene and the other is in terms of keeping your homes and surrounding clean and infection-free.

Personal Protection

The best way to prevent illness is by avoiding being exposed to the COVID-19.

Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Ensure every family member follows the same.

Carry a hand sanitizer with you and use it whenever you don’t have access to soap and water.

Avoid touching your face, especially your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Coronavirus has literally stopped the wheels of the economy and there is a complete halt in terms of business across industries. Everything under the non-essential category has shut shop and even the essential commodities are strained due to the restrictions on movements of vehicular traffic.

The residential real estate was a sector that was slowly hopping back to normalcy at the end of 2019 and moving into a positive phase. The COVID-19 has knocked back this progress and has pushed residential real estate into a state of weakness. The economic slowdown has put everyone including banks and financial institutions in a liquidity crunch and we cannot expect large purchases at a time like this. Banks have been asked to place a moratorium on loans of individuals and companies, thus making it harder for them to process further loans.

If you are still on the fence about investing in residential real estate and wondering how it would benefit your overall investment plan, then this is a must-read for you. Residential real estate has been an investor favorite for time immemorial and it is not going to be written off anytime soon. With the ability to generate regular income, high appreciation value and tax breaks, residential real estate investment comes with a whole host of attractive features for the investor.

Here we will look at 7 key reasons that you can consider if you are still undecided about investing in residential real estate.

Less Sensitive to Economic Conditions

Unlike commercial real estate which sees a huge swing whenever the economy is in flux, residential real estate does not suffer as much. People always need a place to live thus giving the opportunity of a constant income. A good location and a well-maintained residential space will always fetch a good rental yield for the investor.

Affordability

Residential real estate offers a plethora of options for the investor in terms of the total cost. Depending on the location, size of the home, builder reputation, and amenities, the price of the residential investment will vary and so will the rental yield. But overall, the cost will stay in a range that is affordable to the investor. With India setting out to create more affordable homes, many investors are looking to invest in this market for creating a larger holding of residential real estate.

Real Estate has traditionally not attracted many foreign players as it was largely unorganized in the past. Today with developers becoming more organized and protection laws like RERA coming into place, international real estate developers are looking to create their own space in the Indian real estate market. Things are becoming more open and digital and the investment into real estate is more transparent thus attracting more attention from foreign players. The investment from foreign players needed local partners earlier but today several firms are setting up on their own. Their investments are not a restriction to construction alone — they are looking at infrastructure projects like warehousing, logistics support and also setting up interior firms.

Last year saw a slew of foreign developers investing into India such as the Japanese property firm Sumitomo Realty bought a three-acre plot in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla complex, the Australian firm LOGOS ventured into the warehousing sector, Hong Kong-based Risland Holdings is developing commercial hubs and townships and Dubai’s Danube Home introduced its home interiors services. Reports state that private equity firms have invested over $4.2 billion into India’s realty market in the first half of 2019, up 10% from a year ago.

The larger interest from foreign players has been in mass housing projects and with the push for affordable housing, there is a lot of interest to invest in different cities in India.

Property prices in Bangalore are seemingly to step up soon because the stamps and registration department is proposing to revise guidance value by 8- 10 percent this year.

The draft for guidance value revision has been sent to the state government and is probably going to be approved within the budget session once that’ll be enforced, a senior revenue department official seeking namelessness told The New Indian Express.

The aim has been set high this time to assist the cash deficit, state government raises funds for various schemes and projects. For the year 2019-20, the state government had given the revenue department a target of Rs 11,828 crore. To date it has collected Rs 10,100 crore for stamp duty, registration and taxes.

“The largest increase is going to be in the areas of north and east Bangalore wherever there‘s most development and also the demand for properties is extremely high. It’s conjointly been noted through the micro-market analysis and growth poles. Property in the outskirts of the town will also see a rise in guidance value. The rise in guidance value is larger driven by the growth rate that is 7 percent compared to last year,” the official said.

Guidance value in some places can rise by 10 percent however can stay flat in others as it has already reached its saturation. Special attention is additionally being paid to places wherever there has been undervaluation and places wherever giant infrastructure projects are coming up such as Rajajinagar, Basavanagudi, Electronic city, Hebbal, and Yelahanka, etc., the department has conjointly noticed gaps in tax collection of 5 – 10 percent that is additionally being set right, the official said.

As the total number of foreign students enrolled in India has risen by 36 percent since 2012-13 because of a slew of recent government measures, the demand for student housing has never been higher.

To boost the ‘Study in India’ initiative, the government has declared an Ind-SAT program in the previous Budget, proposed to be held in Asian and African countries to attract overseas students to Indian universities.

In the recent Budget, minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 99,300 crore towards the education sector and Rs 3,000 crore for skill development.

The government expects to draw in 200,000 international students to India, quite fourfold the present number. Currently, the entire number of foreign students enrolled in India is 47,427 from 164 different countries.

The last three years have seen a reasonably decent growth of 6.55 percent in terms of the number of beds in hostels across the highest ten states. However, it’s not kept pace with the rise in student enrolments.

In 2017-18, the entire enrolments were estimated at 36.6 million, while the hostel intake was 6.5 million. In 2018-19, the number of enrolments rose to more than 37 million, while hostel intake still stood at 6.5 million, it said.

Hostels and residential facilities in Indian educational institutes can meet only a fraction of the scholar housing demand.

When one makes an investment into real estate, it is for a singular reason for profit. Experienced or novice, real estate is seen as the perfect playground for investors looking to rake in clear profits. The real estate industry is definitely the most lucrative and there is no shortage of supply of properties in the form of land, residential homes, and commercial properties. In order to better optimize the return on investment from the property you have invested in, one will have to ensure a few things are in place

Market the property the right way

If you have a property in a prime area, then it will practically market itself but if you have a good property that isn’t downtown then a good marketing plan can help secure good tenants. There are several ways to market properties today online and offline, but the best would be to sign up with an agency that can do a host of services like screening clients, arranging walkthroughs and assist in legal requirements. This will also help in finding the right of a client for your property.

Screen your tenants

Knowing who you are renting the property is vital to ensure that you are receiving your rental income on time. In the case of commercial properties, it is best to check the credit history of the company and its past record as tenants. A criminal background check is also good for both residential and commercial properties. Taking in an unqualified tenant and then trying to collect rent or evicting them would create more problems. Also, a good tenant tends to stay for longer, reducing your stress on trying to constantly find new tenants.

High Cost of Tenant Turnover

It is best to understand that there is a cost implication of having tenants changing frequently. New tenants will have different requirements and all tenants might not maintain the property well resulting in extensive repairs and refurbishment work. Keeping on a good tenant will always give a better return on investment.

Ensure our property is well-maintained

Inspect your property and ensure all aspects are in place before showcasing it to a client. You can also earn extra revenue by maintaining the property at a cost to the client. This will ensure no unnecessary changes are made to the property and all the original equipment is better maintained. This works well when you have a commercial property or own a large residential complex. Regular maintenance also avoids large maintenance bills and keeps tenants also happier.

Be Strict about Payments

Ensure that you collect rent on time from tenants on a fixed day every month. Lay down the process of rent payment clearly and intimate them in advance about the same. Sending reminders to the tenant before the due date is also a good idea. It is better to establish this expectation at the beginning so that you don’t end up with a non-paying tenant who becomes a burden. A delay in receiving rent will work against your investment and reduce your ROI also.

The funds-starved real estate sector is enthused with the government’s announcement last week regarding the easing of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in the construction sector. A 100 per cent FDI will now be permitted under the automatic route and this gives them the liberty to invest in all real estate classes.

From the perspective of the overseas investors, the removal of the lock-in period of three years, which was a major deterrant, is expected to significantly kindle their interest. So investors can exit on completion of the project, or after completion of support infrastructure in the project like water supply, street lights, internal roads etc. are completed.

The minimum built-up area requirement has been reduced to 20,000 square meters from the earlier 50,000 square meters, increasing the scope for smaller projects in crowded metros.

While 2014 was a quite year for Real estate in India, 2015 is expected to be full of action. Here’s four reasons why we feel things will turn for good for the real estate industry in 2015

Inflation: Finally India saw a zero inflation figure and the same will have an impact on borrowing rates in future. This will encourage a lot of buyers who are looking for home loans.

Growth in market sentiment: The new and stable government has been able to bring back positivity in the sentiments which is visible in growth of GDP and metrics like hiring, income etc.

Affordable homes: Budget made affordable homes a buzz line which every builder today is wanting to work towards. This will surely help bridge the gap between the demand and supply.

Stable prices and good deals: 2014 being a slow year has ensured that prices have been more stable and realistic and with builders offering great offers, its surely a good time to enter the market.

Our homes are defined by our sense of taste, lifestyle and even our moods. The energy that we receive from our surroundings can help us feel positive or negative. In a home it is very essential to maintain positive energy to enjoy a happy and healthy life. Positive spiritual vibrations can have a constructive effect on our health, finances, relationships and overall mental well-being. This can be achieved by following some basic tenets from the Vedic science of Vaastushastra. This ancient science is based on energies and their influence on a person and his place of residence or business. Vaastu pertains to the physical, psychological and spiritual order of the built environment, in consonance with the cosmic energies.

The energies that affect a home include solar energy, lunar energy, wind energy, magnetic energy, light energy and the personal energy of the resident. These energies combine to create the positive spiritual frequencies in the home. Alignment of the house in relation to the directions plays a very important role in the science of Vaastu. Frequencies that flow through the house depend on the interaction of these factors

You may take out Indian from India, but you cannot take India from Indians and that’s the reason no matter where the Indian community stays, they generally prefer to have an abode in their home country. But there is something more, which is driving the community to invest in the Indian property market. Recent surveys indicate that the interest of NRIs in the Indian property market has surged by 35%. Captured below are some of the factors which are stimulating the interest of NRIs in the Indian Realty sector.

Sound Investment Sentiments: With a stable government coming to power last year, there is a positive sentiment in the Indian market. Such sentiments are reflecting in the property market as well with an anticipated 10-15% rise in the housing units to be sold in 2015. Likewise promising returns are expected in the mid to long term.

Easy Regulatory Principles: The overall regulations in India are conducive for the acquisition of land by NRI and PIOs (Person of Indian Origin). NRIs and PIOs are allowed to acquire any number of residential and commercial properties other than agricultural land without any prior permission.

Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent move to revise the repo rate could be a great boost to the overall sentiments in the Indian realty market.

The reduction in rate which has been quickly followed by surge in stock market prices of some of the leading realty entities such as DLF, HDFC, Unitech and India Bulls Real estate etc., can stimulate growth in the Indian realty sector through multiple ways. Firstly, it will ideally be followed by cut in home loans by the banks, thereby enhancing demand. In fact, United Bank of India has announced to cut their home loans rates and similar moves are being indicated by other leading banks such as SBI and ICICI.

Secondly, it will translate into low cost of capital for developers, which should result in price cuts in houses.

Thirdly, the rate cuts are also indicative of the fact that inflation has been put under check and now the government intends to implement strong economic growth activities, which will further infuse positive sentiments in the market.

There are several benefits of going green at your home. Not only does it ensure better health and give a sense of immense satisfaction, but also cut down on utility bills. Here are eight simple techniques which will ensure a green home:

Switch all your light bulbs into CFL. It will roughly use one-fourth of energy as incandescent bulbs.

Stop using disposable plastic bags. In place try reusable ones.

Save electricity as much you can. Turn of light when you leave the room. Likewise during daytime open your curtains and enjoy the natural sunlight.

Installing a skylight on the rooftop will also help in getting loads of natural sunlight.

Use clothes for cleaning as much you can instead of papers.

If possible, have a green garden that can make you feel close to nature. Make compost in the garden. It will not only provide healthy nutrition for your plants, but will also help in avoiding fertilizers.

Rather than replacing something, check whether it’s possible to repair. It can drastically cut down on waste.

Stay tuned to Pinclick Blogs. We will keep on publishing interesting articles on better house- keeping J

Project Snapshot: Godrej E-city is a low rise residential construction being developed by Godrej Developer, located at Electronic City Phase-1, Bangalore. The elegant project offers 1, 2 & 3 BHK configuration designed for a smart and comfortable living. Currently under construction, Godrej E City apartment sizes ranges from 638 sqft to 1,652 sqft and is expected to be ready next year end.

Launched in 2012, the overall project is being developed in an area of 15 acres and encompasses a total of 860 units. The project is equipped with a range of amenities such as gymnasium, swimming pool, tennis court, squash, health club, landscaped garden and party hall etc.

 When launched the project was priced at INR 3,300 per sqft, however thanks to the trusted brand name of Godrej and the elegant design of the development, the project has experienced an appreciation of over 30% in the last two years and is presently priced at INR 4,300 per sqft, which puts in the higher bracket, when compared to numerous other properties in the location such as Krishna Gold Fields, Concorde Group Tech Turf, Concorde Group Epitome and Prestige Birchwood.