Hello Everyone,
I am back with a new topic in mind.
Anyone who is in their midlife can correlate to this topic very well. I have been dealing with this situation for the past 6 years now ! Yes, you read it right. It has been 6 years since we have made up our mind to buy a house and till date have not been able to do it.
There are 4 major pointers to consider while executing this mammoth task.
1. What is your requirement
Our requirement of a house started from a 3 bedroom house.
Soon my brother-in-law got married and we felt the need of a spacious 3BHK i.e. (BHK=Bedroom Hall Kitchen). We Indians believe in joint families and siblings stay together as long as possible. Since our parents house was a duplex(2 storied) house, we were used to living in a spacious place.
So to start with, we started looking for duplex houses, row houses and pent-houses which fall under the luxury category. However we kept falling short of the capital needed by small margins. While we were trying to manage funds my brother in law had a cute little baby 👼. That incidence changed our need of house from a luxurious 3 BHK to 2 different houses. Now we had to come up with a revised plan !
After thoroughly weighing the pros and cons of a joint family we decided to buy 2 different houses next to each other, i.e. in the same building or same premises. With the hope to get enough personal space and still having the loved ones close to each other.
Thus our journey to find our "Dream Home Sweet Home" was extended. We have been firm on this requirement for the past 2 years. So starting from square one, hoping that this doesn't change any further. Fingers crossed 🤞.
2. Budget
As our requirements changed, our budget of buying house also changed drastically. First it was just my husband and me who were to contribute to the finances. Slowly my brother-in-law joined the forces. However as soon as he got married, our requirement also changed and thus the addition got nullified with the additional requirement.
As we were juggling the balls, saving very single penny possible, we had a setback. I had to quit my full blown Dentist job as a result of severe backpain. Ironically, a gift by our profession.
The meticulous work we do, involving a good eye-hand coordination, gets strenuous often. Though efforts are made by an individual to follow a healthy and ideal posture, using higher magnification equipment, there are times we land up stooping and slumping to get optimal results.
I started getting early signs of the same, so included Yoga practice in my schedule, but somewhere at the back of mind I knew, I had to slow down. Therefore I made this decision, keeping health as the first priority.
We were taken aback...
During the course of time, with God's grace, my husband and I got an additional remote job. This acted as a catalyst in our journey. We were pretty excited that we could bridge the financial gap pretty fast.
It was an adhoc job and paid hourly. We got back to work with complete dedication. We continued the job for 10 odd months. I was enjoying a remote job which a dentist can never ever imagine.
But god had different plans for us. That job ended abruptly due to the FTX disaster. Yes, you can imagine that it was related to crypto. That is how I got acquainted to Hive, Splinterlands and Cryptocurrency.
Then came the slowdown which impacted IT jobs in India. My husband had few setbacks due to that too.
You can imagine the rollercoaster we have been through. We had lost hopes quite a few times but got back strong believing in the central authority controlling the universe (THE GOD).
3. Manage your finances
Staying in a rented house is an absolute no brainer.
Real estate investment appreciates way slower than other asset classes. However on the other side, buying a house is emotional accomplishment. It gives a sense of achievement and psychological stability.
Now that we have seen so many ups and downs in life, it makes us wiser to make informed decisions about the risk we can take while buying a house. At my remote job I did learn about a lot of financial stuff. I started reading more about finances as it interests me now. After the remote job I also picked up trading in Indian stock market. I have been able to be moderately successful so far. But it is well said that stocks is a game of patience. It transfers wealth from the impatient hands to the patient hands.
Given all the above situations, we should consider planning for unforeseen circumstances like layoffs and medical needs.
Given all the risk evaluations we do, I have also noticed that flats which I turned down 4 years back have appreciated 2x in price. Obviously not all flats appreciated, but that also encourages me to take increased risks and buy a property today. Because we can never defeat the inflation worm. It feeds on our money and keeps on growing.
4. Specifications
a) East-West facing
This one is the top most priority for us. While we were going through these roller coaster, our specifications of the house also kept on evolving. I learnt the importance of a house facing east-west. I did notice that it has a huge benefit.
Here is a sample layout which I look for :
The plot should be elongated across north and south directions.
Due to this the flats get broader exposure to the east and west directions. Having east open gives you early Morning sunshine.
The natural sunlight makes your living room and kitchen very pleasant.
It also gives an opportunity to absorb the natural and free intake of
vitamin D. I am surprised to see more than half of the world deficient of vitamin D even if the source is absolutely free.
The exposure to west direction often brings in cold breeze in the evenings. It was a well known fact in olden days(at least in India). Managing such a basic can go a long way, getting together mental satisfaction along with health benefit.
b) Amenities
With the new born in our family, we felt a need for space for kids to play. With the urbanization happening aggressively there is lesser and lesser open space available. Cities are turning into concrete jungles.
Some areas still have open spaces and playgrounds.
Some areas brought the playgrounds and gardens inside the society premises calling them amenity space.
There is a third weird type of arrangement where amenities are on the rooftop. I personally find this arrangement a namesake thing. I am sure such amenities won't be appreciated by people in due course of time. Humans go to playgrounds and gardens for fresh air. Now if the gardens are in confined spaces itself then we will end up being claustrophobic instead.
c) Connectivity
The cost of houses is directly proportionate to the accessibility of the location.
We can have huge and luxurious houses in remote locations. But I cannot imagine spending hours travelling to market places and work locations.
Sure the basic requirements get provisions as the occupancy of the locality increases. But being used to living in proper city areas, we can't imagine giving away that benefit. All our relatives and relations are also developed in this locality.
Sure it makes sense to buy cheaper real estate in remote locations if it is purely for investment. Because roads, water facility, hospitals and schools eventually find their way to areas where people stay.
But my need is for immediate availability.
Summary
This journey of buying a house has been so long that it feels like a new developed hobby 😉
My husband dedicates all his free time for this activity. Sometimes we joke that we won't have anything to do once we buy a house. Though I get irritated by the process of finding the house sometimes, it is experiences like this in life which makes us wiser. And often the journey is more enjoyable than the destination itself.
Thanks for reading till the end.
Stay happy and keep smiling
