A look at the pros and cons of
opting for a first sale vis-à-vis a resale one in the current scenario.
There are many situations where
a couple residing in a leave and licence flat falls in love with it and decides
to buy it outright. Similarly, one may be visiting the flat of a relative or
friend and feel that it is an ideal complex to buy a home and raise a family.
It may happen that a neighbor could even be looking to sell his flat, which
means getting to stay very close to a relative or friend. So should you go for
the deal or not? Let’s look at the implications of both options.
Your choices
With a new project, you have
multiple options to choose from including the direction the flat faces, the
particular floor, garden facing or car park facing and so on. With a resale
flat, your choices are limited to ‘take it or leave it’.
With a new project, even if
existing options are few, you can wait a bit longer and book a flat of your
choice in the next phase or a new building coming up adjacent to it. With
resale flats, you would have to take up what is available since there is no
assurance just when another flat would be up for sale.
If you need a larger flat, an
extra room or a combination of two smaller apartments, it is still possible at
the launch stage of a new project. With a resale transaction, it is very
difficult, if not next to impossible to find adjacent vacant flats for sale.
Raising funds
With a new project, you have
some time to raise funds and the payment is released by the lending bank or
housing finance company as per the slab constructed. In many cases, the home
loan repayment only begins after you receive possession of your home. With a
resale flat, its 100 % payment right away. Your initial funds, home loan
application, everything needs to be rushed through in order to raise funds
within a limited timeframe.
Concern areas
With a new project, you get to
see the building coming up at each stage and have a general idea about the
materials used. This is not the case with a resale flat, however. Attractive
tiles on a wall could be concealing leakage that would entail a huge repair
bill later on.
Customized home
The biggest advantage of buying
a new flat is that it can be made to order. You can specify your new home just
the way you want it, by asking for a ‘bare shell’ flat and paying the extra
cost for what you need in advance. It could be a false ceiling, or installing
hooks for a swing in the living room, upgrading tiles or opting for laminated
wooden flooring, going with the right combination of interior colours that
suits your furniture and much more. Try to do any of this in a resale home and
you could end up getting complaints from neighbours and become a pariah in the
entire society.
Also, if you want to change the
internal layout of a new flat without affecting any of the beams, this too can
be specified and accomplished in advance. Merging two adjacent flats can also
be done without any hassles. Try to do either with existing flats and you may
end up doing some serious structural damage to your concrete asset before even
moving in. It may take a little longer to receive possession of a new flat, but
it is well worth the wait.
5 Aspects to focus on
1. Preferred
floor and position
2. Scope
for customization
3. Flexibility
in payment
4. Small
layout alternations
5. Specified
décor scheme
