Delhi Trip

Last week of August went in a jiffy. As I was chosen for the SABMiller due diligence, we had to go to South America to get things done. We went to Delhi to get the business visa (BV) as we thought personal appearance (PA) will speed up getting the visa. To our surprise, the visa officer said, it will take 3 working days and said PA is not required. We went to Delhi by Indigo and returned by Kingfisher. I must talk about the service of Indigo here. The cabin crew served food in cabin temperature. Imagine having Parata in cabin temperature. Kingfisher food was not so good. But it was served hot.

In Delhi I found some traffic regulations appealing. The good part is people obey that. Almost every two-wheelers and pillions had put helmets on. To some extent, people do follow the lanes. Even in the heart of Delhi one can finish the lunch in 30 rupees. We stayed in Parkland Hotel. We avoided the hotel food as it was very costly and wanted to taste the local food. One must mention about sprawling Delhi airport. It is amazingly world class!

High Rise Buildings...

Today on ET Wealth I read an article on high rise buildings. Why cities started embracing this new realty idea is out of no surprise. The builders claim people look for better view and cleaner air. Many builders such as Hiranandani, Hafeez Contracter say high rise buildings are safer than normal buildings. They can withstand upto 6-6.5 magnitude in richter scale. The materials used are fire-proof. One builder claims high rise give iconic status. A 117 storey building in Mumbai will rewrite the history of Indian realty scenario as the dwellers have preferred 10-20 storey buildings so far. 

The cost associated with high rise buildings is huge as the time taken to complete a project is around 4 years unlike the time taken for normal buildings which is usually 18-24 months. As the builders face the huge construction cost, they pass the cost burden back to the customers. Though a flat in a high rise costs almost twice the amount that it would take to own a flat in other buildings, high rise building offer no economic value. Undivided share is next to impossible for high rise buildings. Maintenance cost is huge and the builder does not walk out once the construction is over. He runs the maintenanace as a profitable venture since running an association by the oweners will be very difficult.

Apart from view, pollutiom-free air and state-of-the-art amenities, high rise buildings are not for the ones who want to invest in a property that will remain in his name forever.

My suggestion is if you are a HNI and willing to shell those extra bucks and pay wealth tax, go for it. Otherwise invest in a flat which makes good economic sense.

Reverse Mortgage

We have heard about mortgage-loan against property. Then what is reverse mortgage. Exactly the same but the EMI is paid not by the benificiary. Where as in mortgage, the benificiary pays the EMI for a property for the loan availed. In reverse mortgage, a flat which is occupied by the applicant is mortgaged and a monthly payment is given by the bank. With every payment the bank's ownership of the house increases.The money received is a loan hence it is tax-free.

After the benificiary's death, his/her heirs start servicing the loan. Only senior citizens are eligible for this facility. Also they should be living in the house that is mortgaged. For people in their sunset years, it is a godsend scheme.