Dream home or nightmare? Buyers please take note

NEW DELHI: When we look at the why new first home buyers regret their purchase, the reasons given vary widely among people in different parts of the world. When it comes to home purchase, the ‘regret’ factor is quite intertwined with social values - a set of variables where no cookie-cutter approach can obviously apply. After all, what is considered important in Australia or Canada may not resonate very loudly in an Indian’s mindset. Nevertheless, it is possible to come up with a list of regrets which are common to everyone, regardless of geography or culture.

The negative effect of living too far from one’s workplace is especially felt by people who lived in rental accommodation before buying their home.

Before we get into this, it is relevant to reflect on why people wind up making home purchase decisions that invite regret later on. The foremost reasons are impulsiveness and excessive focus on a low purchase price. While impulsiveness can have many reasons, being overly focused on getting a cheap deal needs to real further exploration. In real estate, when you buy cheap, you get cheap.

This means that what you get when you buy the cheapest possible property is definitely not optimal except perhaps in terms of cost price. Property prices are dictated by location, available civic and social infrastructure and the presence of good amenities and facilities. If one chooses the cheapest available property, there is bound to be a compromise on these very important factors and it is these factors that lead to satisfaction with one’s home purchase in the first place.

Another common regret is winding up too far from one’s workplace. The negative effect of living too far from one’s workplace is especially felt by people who lived in rental accommodation before buying their home. Because of the relatively affordable rent structure in India, families can usually rent homes conveniently close to their income earners’ places of work.

While the pride of home ownership after years of living in rental homes is undeniable, this joy can be seriously diluted by the workplace distance factor. This is one of the primary reasons why integrated townships work so well in India.

Such townships have commercial office spaces integrated into the project alongside residential spaces, thereby creating the perfect juxtaposition of residential and commercial catchments. A home in a township which also hosts one’s place of employment is the very definition of ‘dream home’ in India.

An associated homebuyer regret - lack of kindergartens and schools in the vicinity - is often a ‘hidden’ factor for newly-married couples that only rears its head when children are on the way. A home may be quite perfect in other respects, but non-availability of good play schools initially and primary schools thereafter can be a serious spoilsport.

For closely related reasons, inadvertently buying a home in a neighbourhood with a high crime rate becomes a ground for huge regret. While even low-end housing projects usually have at least some level of security for residents, the world beyond its gates is beyond control. Safety and security have become a major issue whose severity keeps mounting in all Indian cities.

Insufficient infrastructure is another major source of regret of inexperienced homebuyers. It is not unusual for people to make home purchase decisions largely based on misleading assurances by brokers, developers and previous owners with regards to the availability of water and electricity. Since the supply regularity of these highly important resources can often not be established on a single inspection - and, in India, even changes with the seasons buyers can wind up regretting their purchase when it is too late.

Now that the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) is in place, misleading assurances have become punishable by law, but only to the extent that there is documented evidence of them. In other words, it is now punishable by law to advertise or otherwise market properties in a misleading manner. However, verbal assurances can obviously not be tracked - and unfortunately, countless property buyers have had reason to regret taking too many verbal assurances at face value.