[fordday]

Originally Posted by NPV

Query for a friend, hope lawyers on the forum can help here:

He approached his landlord regarding this but didn't get a positive response, so wants to know if there could be apprehensions from a legal perspective that could be preventing the landlord from agreeing. Also, he (rightly) feels 24-26 months validity will help by not having to visit the sub-registrar office as often as 11 months.

Not a lawyer myself but came to know of the following from sources.

Anything that needs validity for one year and above needs to be registered. So our Bengaluru landlords conveniently side step this by making the agreement valid for 11 months. This also helps them to revise the rent every 11 months instead of 12.

As for apprehensions from a legal perspective not to go for it could be, this tenancy can show up or made to show in IT returns. Property taxes are double the amount if the property is tenanted. Some of them conveniently bypass it showing as owner occupied.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

My question is, is it common for a builder to sell at say 15% less than their asking price. Though 15% sounds okay, it is actually more than 10 big ones. I can imagine that it must be common in metros like Bangalore, but may not be in Tier 2/3 towns and in KL given that most people still prefer buying individual houses than buying an apartment.

There is no harm in asking right? I believe the builders generally have a big margin to play around with. Once a builder reduced 10l from the asking price of 90l even before I said anything.

[sagarpadaki]

Builders have very fat margins each flat. A cousin of mine who works for a reputed builder as a civil engineer overseeing the apartment projects says, there is a mark up of minimum 50% over the land+construction cost to the builder. So if land cost and construction cost totals 10Cr, they aim to sell all the properties at a revenue of around 20Cr if not more.

[TorqueyTechie]

+1 to above. I was recently looking to purchase a flat from DS Max properties. At the first negotiation, I got a straight discount of ~4% of the original cost. This with only idea of enquiry and nothing else. During the second discussion I got additional discount of around 10% over and above the 4% discount earlier. Last discussion I had I could get other 3% plus club house charges waived off. So I would say negotiate and negotiate hard. One tip I use is to go with 5-8% lesser value of what I would like to pay (which will anyways be around 12-15% less than quoted value) and give that as my number. Final agreed price will be around the value that I will have in my mind else I walk away.

[Sebring]

DS Max is a poor benchmark. The construction quality is very bad so he has plenty of cushion. A Sobha would never negotiate so deep

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

+1 to above. I was recently looking to purchase a flat from DS Max properties. At the first negotiation, I got a straight discount of ~4% of the original cost. This with only idea of enquiry and nothing else. During the second discussion I got additional discount of around 10% over and above the 4% discount earlier. Last discussion I had I could get other 3% plus club house charges waived off.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Sebring

DS Max is a poor benchmark. The construction quality is very bad so he has plenty of cushion. A Sobha would never negotiate so deep

Even Sobha gives 10%+ discounts on their projects in Bangalore.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

+1 to above. I was recently looking to purchase a flat from DS Max properties. At the first negotiation, I got a straight discount of ~4% of the original cost. This with only idea of enquiry and nothing else. During the second discussion I got additional discount of around 10% over and above the 4% discount earlier. Last discussion I had I could get other 3% plus club house charges waived off. So I would say negotiate and negotiate hard. One tip I use is to go with 5-8% lesser value of what I would like to pay (which will anyways be around 12-15% less than quoted value) and give that as my number. Final agreed price will be around the value that I will have in my mind else I walk away.

Originally Posted by Sebring

DS Max is a poor benchmark. The construction quality is very bad so he has plenty of cushion. A Sobha would never negotiate so deep

Agreed. DS Max is a poor quality builder. Go check their already built apartments. Even 5 year old structures have quality issues. You can only imagine what will happen as years roll by. So if you have not booked the apartment with them, I suggest you have a second look at better properties

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by Sebring

DS Max is a poor benchmark. The construction quality is very bad so he has plenty of cushion. A Sobha would never negotiate so deep

Not giving it as a benchmark and agree on the quality. Just stating the margins I got during my discussion. Takeaway from my post was to suggest negotiation. Also Sobha too has room for negotiation. My sister who had purchased one at Sobha city few years back could get ~12% off the quoted price.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Agreed. DS Max is a poor quality builder. Go check their already built apartments. Even 5 year old structures have quality issues. You can only imagine what will happen as years roll by. So if you have not booked the apartment with them, I suggest you have a second look at better properties

Yes agree on the quality of DS Max. I have not bought it. It was while on the lookout for apartments as an investment that I chanced upon this under construction property and discussed with them.

[rohit choudhary]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Builders have very fat margins each flat. A cousin of mine who works for a reputed builder as a civil engineer overseeing the apartment projects says, there is a mark up of minimum 50% over the land+construction cost to the builder. So if land cost and construction cost totals 10Cr, they aim to sell all the properties at a revenue of around 20Cr if not more.

As somebody who is from the opposite side of the fence here what your cousin referred to would have been the base land and construction cost, the mark up of 50% mentioned here would include costs of government premiums and charges (which is a substantial cost in a city like pune & is linked to the ready reckoner rate of the area), consultancy fees of various agencies, Marketing and Brokerage costs (todays market is broker driven where mnc's offer unheard brokerage percentages), Interest costs, Price escalation of raw materials in the last 6 months etc.

[TorqueyTechie]

One thing which some of the builders add to the final cost is the bribe () to be given at the time of registration. This is non-negotiable according to them as the officials insist on the amount. Few builders quote it as legal + miscellaneous charges while some say it as govt charges (). That is a given atleast in Bangalore. I have not given any when registering property in Hosur (TN).

[ValarMorghulis]

From my experience with Salarpuria, Purvankara & Sobha, once you are serious, they wont go below 5% of the actual price.
They might shave off 5-6% from the "quoted" price in the online forums or from the first or second visit to come at the actual price.

The popular societies in good locations have a pretty good demand and they won't hesitate even if you walk off. I walked off from Purvankara, Prestige and Sobha in a couple of places. They did not bother. They have ample demand. This is for a 3BHK. For a 1BHK or 2BHK it is a mad house in these societies. 1BHKs disappear on the day of pre-pre-pre-pre-launch in Sobha. In Sobha Royal Pavillion in Sarjapur (to be delivered starting Dec 2024 & which has a pretty poor approach from the main road), all ~3000 flats (1, 2, 3 & 4 BHK) are sold! ALL!

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

One thing which some of the builders add to the final cost is the bribe () to be given at the time of registration. This is non-negotiable according to them as the officials insist on the amount. Few builders quote it as legal + miscellaneous charges while some say it as govt charges (). That is a given atleast in Bangalore. I have not given any when registering property in Hosur (TN).

This is a first. None of Sobha, Puravankara or Salarpuria accept any form of cash (at least that's what they told me). In fact a Salarpuria guy was present at the registration office for registration of the flat and all I did was present three demand drafts, as mentioned in the sale deed/ loan documents. The only additional price I paid was Rs. 500 as printing charges (for Xerox of all the documents in triplicate).

[fordday]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

One thing which some of the builders add to the final cost is the bribe

Few builders quote it as legal + miscellaneous charges while some say it as govt charges

Right. I too have paid this to the total cost for my flat. When queried with the builder he said he can remove it provided I do the registration myself, at the sub registrar office.

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

This is a first. None of Sobha, Puravankara or Salarpuria accept any form of cash (at least that's what they told me). In fact a Salarpuria guy was present at the registration office for registration of the flat and all I did was present three demand drafts, as mentioned in the sale deed/ loan documents.

No, they do not accept in cash. It is built into the total cost, you may see it if you ask for the cost breakup.

As Salarpuria guy did the registration for you, all the money changed hands under the table. Its a well oiled machinery. The builder did not bother you with the trivial stuff

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by fordday

all the money changed hands under the table. Its a well oiled machinery. The builder did not bother you with the trivial stuff

Need not be money either. One or two free flats to the relatives of the officials is enough. The innocent buyer will not realise that the bribes are factored in the cost of the apartment

[adithya.kp]

Does anybody have some feedback on HM Tropical tree, RT Nagar, Bangalore?. Pricing looks reasonable considering the location. But the construction quality looks average.

[highwaypatrol]

Hello Guys, I am in look out for a flat to purchase in Bangalore. Can you please suggest me some top builders who I can trust based on your experiences? My budget would be 75L , preferably a 3BHK configuration. I recently came across this project called Godrej Ananda who is offering me a good price which falls in my budget. Anyone has experience with Godrej properties? Your feedbacks will surely aid me in my purchase decision.

Regards
Highwaypatrol