Looking for a New Home

We are looking for a new home. We live in 1BHK flat and with children growing, one feels need for extra space, that is an extra room. We, that is me and my wife, thought we could look for a new home in a new city. Some of my friends have shifted some time ago to Thane and whenever I run into them in Ulhasnagar, they say Ho you still live in Ulhasnagar, you should shift to Thane like us and then see how happy you feel. Now that my son Sachin's board exams are over, we thought we could now begin looking for a new Home seriously. Well, so last weekend we went to our friendly neighobourhood real estate agent. We told him our thoughts on purchasing a new home in a new city. The person curiously said that we seem to be nice persons so he will give us a nice proposal. The nice proposal was we should consider buying a home at Hiranandani Estate, Thane. We told him our budget and our requirement of 2BKH flat. He said with our budget we cannot get a 2BKH flat at HE, Thane, but we could get a 1BHK flat. He said the life at HE is heaven blah blah blah, as he himself had shifted there about a month ago and praised to sky his new home (it turned out that he lives on the 10th floor, so it seems obvious).

So encouraged by his smooth talk, my wife and I made a journey to Hiranandani Estate, Thane, last Sunday, which was April 1. It was quite far away from Thane railway station (about 7.5 kms), but once we reached there, we were quite impressed by the imposing buildings and the location. The agent showed his home, and also showed around the housing complex. He then showed our could-have-been new home. Well it was on the first floor of a 12 floor building. The house was quite good, though it was 1BHK, it had two bathrooms. The flat curiously had a canopy which seems little out of place, as only the first floor flats had it. Well, we then went to the Sales Office to find out the total cost of the flat. The total cost of the flat turned out to be quite high than our expectations --- around rupees thirty lakhs!! I asked the Executive is it real quotation or April fool joke. No, no, he said, it is real quotation and not a joke. The icing on the cake was Rs. 2.30 lakhs for the canopy, as additional cost.

Rs. thirty lakhs for a 1BHK flat is certainly a clear case of over-pricing, taking into consideration its location and the long distance from the railway station. Home are slowly becoming luxuries rather than a necessity. The interest rates on home loans too are rising day by day, to keep pace with real estate prices. So where that leave common man like me. Nowhere, I presume.

Meanwhile, our search continues ...