I was was spending close to three hours in traffic everyday, commuting from New Delhi to Gurgaon for work. The usual tension related to excessive driving and spending less time with my wife and child, prompted me to shift to rental accommodation in Gurgaon.

I wanted to experience the new city, before deciding to buy a house in Gurgaon.
After about six months of staying there, I decided to start my search. I was 30, with a comfortable job, and Gurgaon was fast developing into a fairly good city.
Besides, we are all now moving to a culture of favouring time-to-travel rather than distance-to-travel. It helped that the property prices were generally low compared to Delhi.

I went through some property portals, newspapers, an asked some friends to suggest good brokers. The initial search gave me an idea of the prevailing rates, the kind of options I can expect, given my requirements. These included budget, type of house, security, proximity to workplace, playing area for kid, etc. Ideally, I wanted an apartment with four bed- rooms, and a good standard of living, which means a club pool, playing area, etc. I also wanted a house ready for possession, and was not willing to invest in projects under construction.

I was willing to pay a premium for this, but this mean assurance that a project was complete. However, given my space requirements, the only options coming in my budget were housing societies, and I was not too keen to buy there. Stretching my budget by about 25 per cent, I was given some options on Sohna Road. Though it’s about 10 km away from central Gurgaon, Sohna Road is developing into a prime commercial and residential destination. Proximity to NH8 is an added advantage.

It was a tough decision to stretch our budget, but in most cases, you will end up doing so if you can’t resist a better option. This would also mean greater liabilities, in terms of higher EMIs, but we were willing to compromise as we could finally own a place of our own and not pay rent anymore.

It can take anywhere t between a month to three months to shortlist some property options, for an aver- age end-user.

There are various pros and cons to be considered when buying a home. An end-user typically works with the mentality of “All I want is every- thing”, simply because they are making their biggest investment, and hence want everything perfect. It is a good idea to apply for a home – loan during this process, as it will take some time for sanctioning of the loan. In my case, if I had not got my loan sanctioned by January 31, then I would have incurred higher rates of interest. Also, once you have a loan, it is a positive influence as it energises you to finalise a house at the earliest. It is also important to be aware that the rates may go up or down during the search phase. For example, the apartment I really liked was available at Rs 3,600 per sq. ft., but as I debated and discussed, and took time to make up my mind, the rates had moved to Rs 4,000 per sq. ft. This meant that my budget had stretched further. When this happened, I immediately decided to consider other options. One option was to take a small plot in a HUDA sector, and get my dream home made. However, this would have meant waiting an additional year while the house got built, plus problems like security, water, electricity, which usually accompany an independent house.
Hence, I decided to focus my energies on a builder floor.

One of my main requirements was extra space to establish my wife’s business (she makes children’s accessories), and hence I was willing to consider a builder floor plus a basement in the same building. Luckily for me, this option was available at a lower price, as compared to the apartment. In addition, I was getting to stay in the heart of the city, in close proximity to all commercial areas, hotels, schools, hospitals, etc.

Of the properties shown, the one we liked the most was almost ideal, as it met most of our key requirements. It was a park-facing unit, which took care of the playing area. It was newly constructed, with tastefully done interiors. The security was good, as I personally visited the area at midnight to check myself. I also asked the neighbours, and they were all very happy about staying there. Hence, it seemed, our decision was made.

It is important to note here that a trusted broker can take away half of your headache. So initially, when multiple brokers promise you the moon and start showing you the options, you should go with the one who seems most trustworthy. He should not be quoting exorbitant rates, and should not try to sell you a unit just because he may make more commissions through that option. While it is good to be in touch with multiple brokers, to check on the rates, it may also have a negative implication. During our househunt, the available units were limited, which meant that multiple brokers ended up contacting the same two-three sellers quite often. The seller probably felt that there is increased demand for his property, which made the rates go up! This situation of artificial demand may be avoided by restricting the number of brokers you would want to deal with. It is also important to note that the role of a bro- ker is very important, as he facilitates the negotiation, and handles all the paper- work for you. He is your liaison with the seller, and if any deficiencies are found in the property, he will get them sorted out for you.

The entire process for me took about six months. There were phases, when I kept hoping that a better option would be made available at the same price. There were also phases when I waited for the seller to lower the price.
It is always more time consuming for an end-buyer to finalise a property and far easier if you are only buying to invest for future gains.
Also, future appreciation, though important, is not as big a factor if you are looking to buy a place to stay for yourself.

During this journey, there will be some compromises that you will make, such as investment vs current advantages; plot vs apartment vs floor; secure playing area vs distance from school; club membership vs distance to commute; power backup vs inverter; existing Metro vs planned Metro, etc. In our case, the four most important priorities were: Proximity to centre of the city, including Metro; Additional space to establish wife’s business; More value for money; lower cost of maintenance. There will be multiple occasions during the process when you revisit your original requirements, and gradually eliminate the ones not as important. This will perhaps leave you with about three or four most important priorities, and hence help you finalise your dream home. It is never too early or too late to buy your dream home. You may have to make certain com- promises, for sure, but once you start realising that you actually have a place of your own, that feeling is usually unmatched.

Go on, chase your dream!

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