Old house, go and get it | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Old house, go and get it

Hindustan Times | ByVivek Shukla, New Delhi
Mar 11, 2008 02:22 PM IST

Real Estate experts say that one should not mind buying such houses if your financial position is not up to the mark. There is no point of waiting for your position to improve to buy the new house, reports Vivek Shukla.

Banker Sanjeev Singh was in a soup as he did not know how to own a house in Delhi considering his financial position was not that good. When ever he sees some house of his liking for buying purpose, he found they are five-six lakhs more than his budget. A native of Bihar, Sanjeev, however, was fed-up in living on various rented flats and floors for barely 11 months time. Sometime his lease period was extended by his landlord and many times, they did not. On one lucky Sunday, when he was on search mission for another rented house in Lajpat Nagar area of South Delhi, a property dealer has solved his problem once and for all. That guy told him that instead of looking for rented flat, he should think of buying an old constructed house.

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That would be available from less than 15 per cent compare to newly constructed house.

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That sane advice came as a God send. He really found the advice spot on for him and he brought a floor in Dayanand Vihar of Lajpat Nagar IV. Mr. P.K. Jain, Executive Vice president of PNB Housing finance Ltd, says that it is very much true that the old houses, constructed in not very posh areas, can be purchased at less rates vis-a-vis new houses. '' We can give loan for even old homes if the title is clear. In the recent times, we have given loan to many such people who have purchased houses constructed more than 20 years ago,' says Jain. It is said that except for very posh areas of the capital like Vasant Vihar, Jor bagh, West End, Civil Lines or for that matter in any other part of the country, the old houses are available for less than 15 per cent compare to new houses. In posh areas, the rates of old houses hardly go down.

Real Estate experts say that one should not mind buying such houses if your financial position is not up to the mark. There is no point of waiting for your position to improve to buy the new house. If you can buy an old house than you should go for it. Dr. Devinder Gupta, CEO of Century 21, the real estate advisory, says that the costs of the houses are determined by mainly two factors. a. construction quality. b. The area where the property is situated. For instance, if there is any old constructed house in Darya Ganj, you would get 10 to 15 per cent less compare to prevailing market rates. However, even old houses in areas like Alipore Road or Flag Staff Road won't be available for less rates. There is, however, another view to this whole issue.

Some of the noted experts on Real estate matters feel that if you go for an old house, then you should be aware of the fact that they might not have attached bathrooms with bed rooms, modular kitchen, parking and dedicated park inside the colony or society. Real Estate firm, Land Craft CMD Manu Garg says that he generally suggests people to go for a new house. However, if the person could not arrange the required sum to buy the house, then he should settle for the old house with little pinch of salt. He however, has very sensible suggestion for all those who aspire to buy such a house.

Before going for final settlement, always ensure that your new house does no deluge with water during the monsoon season and there is no seepage in the house. These small but key things can always be checked with those who have been living there since long. If there are no such issues, then one should not mind buying the old flat.

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