Under-construction homes used to be the wise choice for home buyers until a few years ago. With their lesser cost, attractive offers and ultra-modern amenities, end-users preferred putting their money into an under-construction project rather than a ready-to-move-in property.
However, the past couple of years has been very disappointing for the buyers. And the National Capital Region (NCR) has become India’s central district for incomplete housing projects.
Regions like Noida, Noida Expressway, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway are masked with stalled projects. Apart from projects of the Unitech Group, Amrapali Group and Jaypee Group that are getting mainstream attention because of ongoing court battles, there are more than 2 lakh housing apartments worth Rs 1.31 lakh crore are currently delayed by at least a decade in the NCR region.
In fact, four out every 10 (39%) delayed housing projects in the country’s top seven cities is present in NCR, Money Control reported.
No wonder, ready-to-move housing is the new flavor of the season. This is not only because ready-to-move-in homes offer instant gratification, involve no completion timeline risk but they also negate the rental expense.
Since ready-to-move-in properties do not attract goods and services tax (GST), which makes them a lot more attractive. However, the fact remains that the gap in prices between under-construction and ready-to-move homes might have reduced a bit but have not vanished completely. And that is why end-users often end up buying an under-construction property in after being aware of all the risks involved.
However, a little set of precautions taken while selecting the project can go a long way in protecting the buyer’s interest:
- Do not compromise on the brand value. Trust only reputed developers who have an unblemished history of completing their projects on time.
- Ensure that the project is duly registered under the applicable state’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and has been allotted a RERA registration number. Also, do a double check to make sure the details provided by developers match with the ones on the RERA site.
- Always go for under-construction properties that are already 30-40% complete and shows visible construction progress. Do not rely on site pictures shared by developers or brokers. Personal site visits over at least a couple of months will give you a fair idea of how a project is progressing.
- Don’t be enticed by payment schemes and offers which are obviously too good to be true since many of these schemes have hidden clauses. Steer away from developers who offer guaranteed returns of any kind other than a completely-finished home.