Month: March 2023

It’s a little strange, but true. Not too many property holders in our country are actually aware of their rights. While a lot is said and written about the rights of tenants, the owners’ legal privileges are rarely discussed. In plain vanilla terms, ownership of a property automatically vests the rights on the owner to use, possess and rent out the premises with proper legal compliance.

What are the basic rights of an apartment owner?

# Right to UDS: While buying an apartment, not only does the homebuyer pay for the flat’s carpet area and common area amenities, but also a part of the land on which the construction stands. This is the right to own an undivided share of land or UDS.

# Right to legal documents: As a homebuyer, you have the right to demand all the appropriate legal documents from the developer/seller, including the signed agreement, letter of allotment, payment schedule, copies of all necessary NOCs and permits, tax receipts, etc. Without valid documents, you will never be able to address disputes/issues with the property that might arise in future.

# Right to repossess property temporarily: The title of a property remains with the owner till such time he/she legally owns that property. The title document is transferred to a buyer only after the entire payment has been cleared. Till such time all dues are paid, the owner can repossess or retain possession of the apartment.

# Right to exclusion: The owner has the right to control trespassing by exercising the right to exclusion which gives him/her control over who gets to enter the premises and who doesn’t. Legally, the owner is not obliged to let anyone enter the property except law-enforcement officers, that too with a valid warrant.

# Right to enjoy responsibly: An apartment owner is entitled to use the premises as he/she pleases, of course without inconveniencing or impinging on the rights of the neighbours. For instance, partying is fine as long as the decibel level isn’t so high as to become a nuisance to the neighbours/fellow residents in the society. Of course, every housing society has its list of dos and don’ts which are expected to be followed by all residents, whether owner or tenant. Also, they are bound by state laws. But as long as they use their premises responsibly, they should be fine.

# Right to rent out: The property owner has the right to rent out the premises to a tenant for residential or business purposes as long as he/she has all the legal papers of the rental agreement in order. The owner is absolutely entitled to earn extra income from the property and also hike the rental amount periodically as per market dynamics.

# Right to sell: The owner of an apartment is perfectly within his/her rights to sell the property as and when desired. The only rider here is that any house loan obtained by the owner must be cleared totally before any sale agreement can be worked out.

# Right to expel: The apartment owner is also well within his/her legal rights to evict or expel any tenant in case the person and/or his/her family has been creating repeated nuisance or breaking rules laid down by the society board. While this was really difficult for landlords earlier with the Rent Control Act, the Draft Model Tenancy Act, 2015 has actually made their job easier to expel errant tenants when it becomes a real problem.

While looking for a new home, you are often faced with the dilemma of whether to go in for a ready-to-move-in property or one at its pre-launch or launching phase. While the first option gives you a real-time look and feel, the second category hasn’t been built or completed yet. It could be under construction or perhaps still on the drawing board. However, most properties start marketing at this pre-launch stage itself, often for the developers to raise interest-free capital to lessen the load of bank borrowing. As a buyer, booking your new abode at this pre-launch stage can yield a plethora of pluses, even if you get to only see the mashed-up model, rendered images or AV walkthroughs.

So, what are the benefits of booking a property at the pre-launch/new-launch stage?

# Early-bird price benefits: Booking your property of choice early can be extremely rewarding financially, since developers usually offer significantly discounted prices at the launch stage. The idea at that stage is to achieve early sales momentum and create a buzz around the project in this fiercely competitive market. So carrying out the transaction at this stage means you save considerably upfront. This saved amount later comes in handy when you are doing up your interiors and fittings. So be the early bird that catches the worm.

# Skip the price spiral: It is quite commonplace for real estate agents and developers to jack up the prices of a property once it gains currency among prospective buyers or once the RERA certification is obtained. Sometimes concurrent infrastructure upgrade in the vicinity or any energizer development like a retail mall or entertainment centre or reputed schools and colleges and medical facilities, etc can provide the kind of traction real estate rate hikes feed on. At times though, just rise in input costs can lead to an upward revision of prices. Of course, market buoyancy can also trigger a price increase when it suddenly becomes a sellers’ market. Again, by booking and securing your property at the launch stage, you can totally wipe out this specter and insulate yourself from such future inflation.

# Make a profit on resale: If you are looking for a secure investment option in the form of a new property, the best stage for you to buy is the launching phase, since you get the best prices and can also get healthy returns when you opt to re-sell the apartment/bungalow at a future date. Irrespective of whether you are a seasoned investor or a first-time home-buyer, you can’t go wrong with a purchase at the new launch phase.

# Ease of payment: While you can avail of tax benefits when you take a home loan, many developers are now offering the option of no ‘EMI till possession’, which can come as a massive relief and you can get yourself organized with a structured plan of loan repayment for the months and years ahead. Also, in most cases, you are required to cough up just 20 to 25% of the property value at the time of booking, and since the developer is paying the interest on loan till your EMIs kick in, he is under pressure to complete and deliver the project on time. So that’s a safety valve against time overrun as well.

# Easy to customize: You can maximize your early-mover advantage by choosing the floor and flat of your choice with the best view, ventilation, location, accessibility, etc. Importantly, you can set up your home with the exact interior solutions and fittings that best serve your purpose. Such customization/alteration can be best carried out at the initial phase when you have booked early.

To sum up

While any investment in real estate, like in any other domain, carries an element of risk, you can minimize your hazards by doing a thorough due diligence on the track record and reliability of the developer. At Pioneer Property Management Ltd, we help you navigate the choppy waters of the real estate ocean by doing all the homework on your behalf and laying out a plethora of options before you to choose from, as per your budget and location preferences.

In today’s era of apartment life in big cities and small, having a small terrace garden is often all the luxury we can afford, thanks to the want of sprawling spaces. This is one of the key reasons why the bonsai form is gaining currency.

The concept of bonsai, which originated in China but is widely known as Japanese art, is the craft of growing a plant to assume a miniature form through special training methods involving techniques of extreme dwarfing. Some bonsai trees are known to live up to 100 years and more.

Globally, there are a few specific plants which can adapt to extreme dwarfing treatment, common among those being juniper, pine, elm, maple and cypress. However, in tropical climatic conditions like we have in India, for bonsai culture we need to turn our gaze towards species like sapota, tamarind, manilkhara, bassia, ficus, etc.

Bonsai plants bring a plethora of pluses to your home and give much more than they take. Not only do they enhance the aesthetic appeal of your apartment, bonsai plants have a positive impact on your health and give you psychological benefits as well. Yet all they need is some sun, some water and a little care.

What are the known benefits of bonsai?

# Purifies air: By whittling down indoor air pollutants, these plants significantly enhance indoor air quality, some breeds more so like the ficus tree.

# Reduces stress: Since they act as companions, indoor bonsai trees provide you the comfort of active interaction while you tend to them. It’s almost like having someone around to converse with. This has a profound effect on stabilizing our blood pressure, alleviating stress and leaving us with a general sense of wellbeing and positivity.

# Helps maintain humidity: These indoor plants can increase the humidity level in your apartment, which in turn can prevent or reduce symptoms like dryness, coughs and sore throat.

# Teaches us patience: Since bonsai trees grow a lot slower than common indoor plants, it requires an enormous amount of patience on your part to tend to them daily, which includes pruning and trimming and honouring the cycles of growth. It’s like an investment for the future and you don’t get instant returns. You naturally develop the virtue of patience in the bargain.

# Stokes creativity: You can literally shape your bonsai and goad it to grow the way you fancy, using appropriate techniques. This can often require a lot of improvising and adaptability, like rope-training your bonsai or guiding its growth with cages, structural pruning, etc. The best part is you learn as you grow your bonsai plant, because you realize along the way what works and what doesn’t. This process can inspire creativity you never thought you had.

# Promotes self-awareness: Bonsai is not just an art form, it’s a hobby which grows on you and helps you relax your mind. In that sense it has much the same effect as yoga or meditation does, by helping you converse with yourself and look inwards to find solutions to external problems. Bonsai teaches us to face challenges with equanimity and overcome those.

# Boosts self-confidence: As you tend to and grow your bonsai, you come across various problems and riddles you must solve and plan ahead. So you are constantly improvising and learning new techniques along the way. This not only does wonders for your confidence, it also inculcates a steely resolve which tells you to never quit. Nothing can be as rewarding when you see the results of your perseverance.

# Teaches compassion: A bonsai tree needs constant nurturing and methodical care to stay alive and live long. This will include chores like cutting off a few branches here and there to aid further growth and a lot of other repetitive tasks like pruning and trimming and watering and shaping. All these activities are devoted towards nurturing a baby plant into an adult tree and requires a lot of care and compassion.

# A family heirloom: Since bonsai trees are known to often live long and can span several human life-spans, it’s actually a wonderful family heirloom you have created to be passed onto future generations to be loved and cherished. It’s like creating a legacy and can be supremely rewarding.

# A wonderful gift: Last but not the least, a bonsai is a wonderful gifting idea on any occasion, be it a wedding or a birthday or any other milestone. It’s unique as a gift in the sense that it embodies all the love and care that goes behind sustaining it and in a way, it brings us closer and exudes an aura of positivity.