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Hard Deal
The Reserve Bank of India’s decision not to cut interest rates has sent waves of disappointment in the realty sector all over the country. The hard and harsh monetary stance taken by the RBI has resulted in a slowdown in the booming real estate sector in the past couple of years, especially with the home loan lending rate zooming up from 7.5 per cent to 11.75 per cent.
A lot of expectation was building up among real estate players as well as among the first time home buyers over the possibility of the bank easing its monetary policy stance on January 29 resulting in rate cut in housing loans. The banking and real estate sector had hoped that after a 0.75 per cent cut in interest rate by US Federal Reserve, the RBI would also bring down interest rate by 0.25 to 0.5 per cent. However, this did not happen as the RBI decided to maintain a status quo on its credit policy. Real Estate players feel that this decision of the RBI might result in a further slowdown in the demand for housing units in non-metropolitan cities, a trend that could further hurt small-time real estate players, who do not have adequate cash reserve to deal with any possible stretch in subdued demand. The big real estate players, however, feel that they would be able to sustain their growth based on “their value-for-money concept”. Some others feel that these tight monetary conditions would result in some real estate players offering innovative products like “Book Now, Pay Later” scheme to keep their sales counters ticking. “Until and unless there is a further increase in the home loan rates, there may not be a drop in the demand for quality housing. As of now the interest rates seem to have stabilised and may not go up in the near future. So most of the people are still willing to take a decision and go for a commitment for say 20 years,” DLF Ltd vice-chairperson Rajiv Singh said. As for the demand for DLF properties, he said the company had sold about 3,000 apartments in the third quarter of the current fiscal, which indicates that “there is no slump in demand for our schemes”. He maintained that in line with the company’s strategy to provide exceptional value to the customers, the company has kept key focus on affordability and target actual users, thereby disallowing multiple bookings per individual and corporate and lock-in of at least one year. “All these have also helped in attracting genuine buyers and has kept speculation at bay to some extent,” he added. Vishal Rajpal chief finance officer of CHD Developers, which has some mega housing projects lined up in Karnal, Hardwar, etc feels that the RBI’s stringent monetary policy has led to the housing loan rate climb up from 7.5 per cent a couple of years back to 11.75 per cent at present, which has stiffled demand in many segments in the NCR region and if there is no fall in lending rates in the near future then there could be a further correction in the market. “The impact will be felt not only in Punjab and Haryana, where several projects are coming up, but this high interest rate regime would also impact sales, especially in mid-segment, all over the country,” he said. “There has been nearly 4 to 4.5 per cent increase in home loan rates in the past two years, which has resulted in EMIs going up by about 50 per cent making it impossible for many middle class families to invest in a home,” he said adding that small real estate players, who operated on small margins, were the worst affected due to the slump in sales. “There is no doubt that residential segment is seeing a fall in sales and price correction. But large developers with good cash reserves, like us, will not resort to price correction. It is sub-urban and non-metro locations which are facing a slump,” Avneesh Sood, Director of Eros Group said asserting that price correction is not expected in metro areas like Faridabad, Gurgaon, Manesar. “Buiders were basically expecting a dip in interest rates, which did not happen. However, the picture may not be bad for several real estate players as severe price correction is not yet in sight and may not happen as the lending rates have more or less stabilised,” said Sanjay Mathur, Head (Sales) of Pearl Infrastructure Projects Ltd, which is developing an 800-acre township in Mohali and a 12-acre group housing project in Zirakpur. “Demand is not exactly non-existent. As a developer I am quite optimistic of a decent real estate growth during 2008-2010 despite hardened interest rates,” he added. Cities like Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad, which had seen a phenomenal real estate boom in recent years, are now witnessing a prices fall of 5 to 10 per cent. The RBI data on offtake of housing loans during April-November 2007 also indicates a slowdown in demand for home loans. The home loan demand fell by 39 per cent to Rs 32,424 crore during April-November 2007 as compared to the corresponding period last year and project loans to developers also declined by a fourth to Rs 12,563 crore. The dashed expectations of the people over the rate cut also got reflected in the manner in which the indices of top real estate companies registering sharp correction in stock exchanges. While some are still hopeful of a cut in the home loan rates in the near future, India Analyst with Lehman Brothers Sonal Verma strongly feels that increase in liquidity in the economy due to massive capital inflows coupled with inflationary pressures may force RBI to hike the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 100bps by March 2009. “Based on our current house view that the US Fed cuts rates by a further 100bp to 2.50 per cent by year-end and successfully averts a recession, we expect India to attract massive capital inflows, flooding the economy with liquidity, adding inflationary pressures and forcing the RBI to hike the CRR by 100bp by March 2009”, she said. “In this base case we expect the RBI to keep interest rates unchanged,” she said adding however, our US team acknowledges that the US economy is only one shock away from recession (it attaches a 40 per cent probability of recession), in which case we would lower our GDP growth forecasts, expect weaker capital inflow, and a more benign inflation outcome. Reflecting this fluid situation, we place a 50 per cent probability on the RBI staying on hold at its April meeting, with a 40 per cent chance of a cut and a 10 per cent chance of a hike, Ms Verma said.
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Make way for villas
Parasvnath Developers and more recently the Emaar MGF group have brought this new concept to the tricity. A blend of luxurious living and functionality, these villas have caught the fancy of the tricity’s jet set with about 50 of these having been sold in Sectors 108 and 109 in Mohali Hills project and over 10 in Parsvnath’s Pride Asia project. Emaar MGF recently showcased “The Villas” at Mohali Hills, an integrated township being constructed over an area of about 3,000 acres. The villas are classified into deluxe and luxury villas and celebrate architectural grandeur, having the best of Andalusian, Mediterranean and Spanish architecture in our very own backyard. The concept villas, spanning across 300 to 500 square yards are priced at Rs 99 lakh onwards. The apartments (Rs 47 lakh onwards) and penthouses (Rs 90 lakh onwards) have a Middle-East feel. Spread across 3,000 acres (three sectors), Mohali Hills is the flagship project of the group, being developed as an integrated township housing an international school (tie-up with Singapore-based school Raffles), hospital, multiplex, mall and commercial space. “Emaar MGF is looking at building integrated master planned communities in the mid to luxury segment enabling a “Live, work and play” theme within the same development. Residents of these communities will also have access to one or more facilities such as medical care, education and recreation. In addition to these, each of these communities are designed to have a mix of entertainment and retail, which will give a vibrant zing to a world-class ambience of sub-urban living,” said a company spokesperson. Also comparable are the opulent villas offered by the Parasvnath Limited’s Chandigarh project PrideAsia. Spread over 123 acres these hill facing villas will be nestled in the midst of greens.The concept of villas seems to be catching up fast in this part of the region. Going by what some of the top housing promoters are offering to buyers and the way these are being lapped up, the future belongs to villas. Parasvnath Developers and more recently the Emaar MGF group have brought this new concept to the tricity. A blend of luxurious living and functionality, these villas have caught the fancy of the tricity’s jet set with about 50 of these having been sold in Sectors 108 and 109 in Mohali Hills project and over 10 in Parsvnath’s Pride Asia project. Emaar MGF recently showcased “The Villas” at Mohali Hills, an integrated township being constructed over an area of about 3,000 acres. The villas are classified into deluxe and luxury villas and celebrate architectural grandeur, having the best of Andalusian, Mediterranean and Spanish architecture in our very own backyard. The concept villas, spanning across 300 to 500 square yards are priced at Rs 99 lakh onwards. The apartments (Rs 47 lakh onwards) and penthouses (Rs 90 lakh onwards) have a Middle-East feel. Spread across 3,000 acres (three sectors), Mohali Hills is the flagship project of the group, being developed as an integrated township housing an international school (tie-up with Singapore-based school Raffles), hospital, multiplex, mall and commercial space. “Emaar MGF is looking at building integrated master planned communities in the mid to luxury segment enabling a “Live, work and play” theme within the same development. Residents of these communities will also have access to one or more facilities such as medical care, education and recreation. In addition to these, each of these communities are designed to have a mix of entertainment and retail, which will give a vibrant zing to a world-class ambience of sub-urban living,” said a company spokesperson. Also comparable are the opulent villas offered by the Parasvnath Limited’s Chandigarh project PrideAsia. Spread over 123 acres these hill facing villas will be nestled in the midst of greens.The concept of villas seems to be catching up fast in this part of the region. Going by what some of the top housing promoters are offering to buyers and the way these are being lapped up, the future belongs to villas. Parasvnath Developers and more recently the Emaar MGF group have brought this new concept to the tricity. A blend of luxurious living and functionality, these villas have caught the fancy of the tricity’s jet set with about 50 of these having been sold in Sectors 108 and 109 in Mohali Hills project and over 10 in Parsvnath’s Pride Asia project. Emaar MGF recently showcased “The Villas” at Mohali Hills, an integrated township being constructed over an area of about 3,000 acres. The villas are classified into deluxe and luxury villas and celebrate architectural grandeur, having the best of Andalusian, Mediterranean and Spanish architecture in our very own backyard. The concept villas, spanning across 300 to 500 square yards are priced at Rs 99 lakh onwards. The apartments (Rs 47 lakh onwards) and penthouses (Rs 90 lakh onwards) have a Middle-East feel. Spread across 3,000 acres (three sectors), Mohali Hills is the flagship project of the group, being developed as an integrated township housing an international school (tie-up with Singapore-based school Raffles), hospital, multiplex, mall and commercial space. “Emaar MGF is looking at building integrated master planned communities in the mid to luxury segment enabling a “Live, work and play” theme within the same development. Residents of these communities will also have access to one or more facilities such as medical care, education and recreation. In addition to these, each of these communities are designed to have a mix of entertainment and retail, which will give a vibrant zing to a world-class ambience of sub-urban living,” said a company spokesperson. Also comparable are the opulent villas offered by the Parasvnath Limited’s Chandigarh project PrideAsia. Spread over 123 acres these hill facing villas will be nestled in the midst of greens.
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Mohali-City of future
Pradeep Sharma Given its strategic location and development of infrastructure, Mohali is the city of the future and it would give a tough competition to Chandigarh in the years to come, feels Gursharan Batra, president of Chandigarh Overseas Private Limited, promoters of the Fashion Technology Park (FTP) in Sector 90 of Mohali. “With the international airport project getting clearance and several major realtors, including Ansals, Parsvnath, Emmar MGF, and TDI, developing mega projects, the city is witnessing unprecedented urban growth and set to emerge as the favourite destination for global investors and end users”, Batra told The Tribune in an interview. “In fact, this satellite town of Chandigarh, is fast emerging as the new architecturally-planned and modern green city of India with realtors sparing thought for quality and environment. Besides, the development of infrastructure such as well-planned roads, sewerage, power and water supply by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in the 27 new sectors in the Mohali grid, is set to further make the township a favourite destinations for a cross section of people, including the NRIs. Keeping these factors in mind, our company had decided to develop the FTP on an area of 13.76 acres in the strategically-located sector 90. The FTP aims at propelling the Indian Fashion industry into the international limelight”, he said. “It is India’s strategic response to the rapidly expanding global fashion market as the Indian fashion industry is in the process of building future brands,” he asserts. Once developed the FTP would give a further fillip to the real estate sector as the land in and around Mohali had been acquired by the major real estate players. With large chunks of land at their disposal, the developers can plan their projects in a better way than in the neighbouring cities of Chandigarh and Panchkula, he claims. “At the FTP, we are developing two set-ups simultaneously. One is building construction, the physical infrastructure, and the other is the business development, intellectual infrastructure. Both set-up would integrate to make Mohali the fashion capital of the country”, he added. Interestingly, the FTP is well-connected to many booming industrial centres having a large number of textile and garment manufacturing units like Ludhiana, Amritsar and Baddi besides Delhi. Batra says that with infrastructure in place the starting of international flights from Mohali will act as a catalyst for urban development. This, coupled with the new development initiatives undertaken by the Parkash Singh Badal government for the development of Chandigarh’s periphery would only instill confidence among the investors in Mohali”, he adds.
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Buildings likely to be rated on energy
Coimbatore: The union ministry of new and renewable energy is in the process of introducing a rating system for buildings, based on energy efficiency mechanism installed in there, a senior official informed mediapersons here.
The ministry has entrusted the work to evolve the system to the Energy Resources Institute and based on its report, it would recommend to the government for operationalising it, V. Subramanian, secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy told reporters, on the sidelines of a conference on Energy Efficiency, organised by CII, in Coimbatore. Based on the type of installation of energy conservation mechanism in the buildings, the ministry would rate the building and recommend to the authority concerned to fix or provide rebate in house/building tax, he said. The ministry wanted the system in place before the end of this year, Subramanian said. —
PTI
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Buzz on Bourses
New Delhi: Aiming to turn a ‘conglomerate’ from being a real estate major, Parsvnath Developers has announced an investment of Rs 60,000 crore ($15 billion) in next five years in diversified areas like SEZs, airports, express ways and retails business “We shall be bidding for upcoming airports like Udaipur, Greater Noida, Maharashtra and other states. Besides, SEZs will be another major investment area in the coming three to five years,” Pradeep Jain, Chairman of Parsvnath Developers Limited, told PTI. Asked about the source of funding, Jain, who started as a broker about 15 years back and grew to become India’s leading real estate developer, said “funding for new businesses will not be an issue... we shall leverage from our huge large land bank”. Among the major projects, Parsvnath would be focusing on development of SEZs, hotels, highways, retail and telecom, he said adding the company has 191 million square feet of developable area, including six SEZs.Though it has been denied entry into telecom business as Parsvnath’s application for Unified license was rejected by the Department of Telecom (DoT) last week, Jain said “we will get into telecom sector and our investment will be in the range of up to five billion dollars (Rs 20,000 crore)”. —
PTI
Indiabulls Q3 net at Rs 303 crore
Mumbai: Real estate major Indiabulls Real Estate has posted a net profit of Rs 303.3 crore for the quarter ended December 31. The figures are not comparable with those in past year as the company was demerged in March, 2007 from Indiabulls Financial Services, the company said in a press note. The company has been shortlised as a qualified bidder for the Dharavi redevelopment plan and CIDCO’s integrated complex Seawoods Railway station project in Mumbai. The company is planning to partner with Strabag AG for CIDCO’s project, the release said. —
PTI
Vipul registers 42 pc fall in net profit
New Delhi: Real estate player Vipul Ltd recorded 42.39 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 12.72 crore for the third quarter ended December, 2007 compared to Rs 22.08 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The total income of the company increased 15.86 per cent at Rs 78.37 crore for the quarter compared to Rs 67.64 crore in the corresponding quarter, according to data available with the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company recorded total income of Rs 210.28 crore for nine months period ended December 31, it said in statement. Net profit for the nine-month period stood at Rs 32.71 crore, the statement said. — PTI
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Get fair value of house determined to save tax on capital gains LTCG
By S.C. Vasudeva Q. I purchased a plot for Rs 7,000 in 1976 and constructed a house on it by spending about Rs 50,000 in 1977 and started living in it. With the passage of time, it became inhabitable and dilapidated. In 2007, I sold its debris (malba) for Rs 45,000 and sold the plot for Rs 4,00,000. Kindly calculate the LTCG if there is any. — P.N. Singhal, Bathinda A. On the basis of the facts given in the query, the total cost of house would be Rs 57,000. You have the option to get the fair value of the house ascertained as on 1.4.1981 so as to take the benefit of rise in prices between 1977 to 1981. Since these figures have not been given in the query, the long term capital gain has been computed taking into account the cost of the house at Rs 57,000. The indexation has been done from 1981-82 taking the cost inflation index for the said year at 100. The cost inflation index for assessment year 2007-08 has been notified at 551. On the above basis the indexed cost would work out at Rs 3,14,070. The total consideration being Rs 4,45,000, the long term capital gain would work out at Rs 1,30,930. In view of the above I would advise that you must get the fair value of the house as on 1.4.1981 determined so as to get the benefit of price rise between 1977 to 1981. This would help in reducing the taxable amount of capital gain. Computing the cost of coop
society plot
Q. I acquired a plot (residential), in or around the year 1979 for a small consideration of about Rs 4,000. Thereafter minor developments like levelling and providing marking pillars, were carried out at a cost of Rs 2,000 approximately. The exact value is not known as the land was purchased by a co-operative society and distributed among 42 members and no cash receipts are in hand. I have only a copy of the registration papers for the total land in my possession. Can the purchase value be taken as: Total cost shown in the registration papers plus registration fee divided by 42 or in second alternative to obtain a certificate from the society for the payment made by me as a member or should I consider the acquisition cost as zero for the calculation of long term gain? This plot may fetch around Rs 4 lakh at present. — P.N Gupta, Sangrur A. The cost of plot should be calculated by taking into the account the amount paid by you towards the same plus the registration charges to be incurred for transfer of the plot in your favour by the society. It has not been clarified in the query as to how the ownership of the plot is to be conferred on members because it may not be possible for you to sell the plot in case you do not have any ownership papers or any right to transfer the plot in favour of the buyer.
Rebate on house rent
Q. I am a salaried person and am paying a rent of Rs 6,000 per month. I am staying in Kolkata these days. The employer is not paying any HRA towards my house rent but I am getting a consolidated salary of Rs 50,000 per month. Am I entitled to any deduction of house rent paid? Please advise me whether I can get any deduction for the house rent paid by me. — Akash Jain A. In accordance with the provisions of Section 80GG of the Act the deduction in respect of the house rent paid by an assessee is lower of the following amounts. (a) Rs 2,000 per month. (b) 25 per cent of the total income for the year excluding long term capital gain. (c) The rent paid by the assessee is in excess of 10 per cent of the total income before allowing any deduction under this Section. However, above deduction is not allowable where (a) a residential accommodation is owned by the assessee, his spouse or minor child or HUF of which he is a member at a place where the assessee ordinarily resides or performs duties of his office or employment or carries on his business or profession; (b) the residential accommodation is owned by him at any other place and the assessee claims that the same is self occupied property thus having nil annual value; (c) in case the assessee is receiving house rent allowance from the employer. Presuming that you meet the conditions for allowability, the deduction allowable to you would be as under: 25 per cent of Rs 50,000 12,500 Excess 10 per cent of income
Rs 6,000-5,000 1,000 Maximum amount 2,000 The deduction allowable in your case thus would be Rs 1,000 p.m. For claiming deduction you should file a declaration in Form 10BA along with the return of income.
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Realtors spin housing dreams in Punjab
With the city and its periphery now reaching a saturation point in terms of realty development, most realtors are now looking at cash ‘n’ land rich towns of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda.
Though earlier these towns were seeing a realty boom in terms of a “mall mania”, the realtors are now discovering their potential for a residential realty boom. Most of the major real estate developers Ansal API, Soul Space, DLF etc are now creating their land bank in these cities. In fact, most of these groups have allocated huge funds for giving shape to their realty dreams. After having initiated several projects in Chandigarh and its periphery, Ansal API, is now planning investments worth Rs 4,000 crore in the cities of Punjab. The group is planning to come up with various projects in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar, which include integrated townships, shopping malls and industrial parks. Deepak Sachdev, COO, Punjab , Ansal API, said the unplanned growth in these townships will see a lot of takers for the planned development that real estate developers will herald in these townships. “There is more scope in these towns than in Chandigarh and its periphery, as a lot of urbanisation has already taken place there,” he said, while adding that the company already has its land bank and will now be launching its projects in these cities. Soul Space, the realty major from South India, too, is looking at the Punjab cities to expand its operations. Shruti Chowdhary, director of the company, said the deep pockets of Punjabis was one of the main reasons that had made the company launch its operations in Punjab. The company has already initiated two projects worth Rs 100 crore in Mohali and Amritsar. “We are looking at big time investments in Jalandhar and Bathinda. As of now we are consolidating our land bank in these towns and shortly will be announcing projects here. Since a lot of NRIs are interested in buying properties here, we will be creating integrated townships with villas and exclusive flats for this category of consumers,” she said.
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Prudent Pruning
Making topiaries involves much more than a nip here and a cut there, this art requires an understanding of the plant species and deft pruning and trimming, says Satish Narula Pruning or training a plant in a home garden is usually more of a compulsion in order to contain and keep it in discipline but when it is taken up in large gardens, it is to give the plants a definite shape and size, to create topiaries to enhance aesthetic value of the landscape. You cannot, however, resort to cutting every tree and shrub as proper knowledge of a particular species is essential to avoid indiscriminate cutting. The first and the foremost thing to be kept in mind is that a tree should not be treated like an umbrella, closing it in winters and opening it in summers to keep out the sun. The rule of thumb is to use clippers only as a last resort. This is true in case of fruit trees where these have overgrown and become out of reach for plant protection measures or are getting improper sun or air circulation. This is also done where dead, diseased and strangulating branches are to be removed. In case of shrubs, however, you can be liberal to regulate the growth or flowering. The pruning is also done to develop topiaries. Topiaries are developed with the help of shrubs or climbers. These are developed with or without the help of desired base structures usually created by using wire and steel. The plants are trained on these structures to fully cover its contour lines with growth to take the exact shape of the structure. In case of shrubs repeated cutting is required and in case of climbers, they need, in certain cases, direction and support to grow. The shrubs selected for this purpose should take repeated pruning well putting forth new growth in no time. Plants with needle like leaves or small foliage are more suitable for this purpose. When such topiaries are developed, it is better to have them in groups and with varied hues. Plants like those of Clerodendron (hedge plant), Chandni, variegated Chandni (see the accompanying picture), Ficus benjamina, Ficus panda, Ficus variegata, Duranta (all species; golden, green and variegated), bougainvillea, etceteras are most suitable. When such plants like bougainvillea etc are used for such purposes, then one should either forget about getting the blooms or be very sure about the time of blooming and pruning so that the terminal buds are not clipped when these are required to give flowers. The self clinging creeper, the Ficus repens, is also excellent for this purpose as it can be let loose on any structure to give a complete green effect on the surface and form the exact shape. In case of tree species, Moulsari and Casurina form good topiaries. For the formation of topiaries, one has to be very regular in pruning. Care also has to be taken to keep the topiaries in a group of similar species plants, of the same shape and size for mass effect. In case of a group of different species plants, you can create different shapes and sizes. Topiaries created with exact precision and grown near the water bodies form an essential part of Japanese style gardens. The writer is a senior horticulturist with Punjab Agricultural University at Chandigarh and can be contacted at satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
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Now, tea tourism in Dooars
With an eye on attracting both domestic and foreign tourists, the state government has embarked on an ambitious project for the development of an integrated tea tourism circuit.
“The Centre has sanctioned schemes worth Rs 6 crore for the development of infrastructure and accommodation in North Bengal to promote tea tourism,” Managing Director of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, T V N Rao told PTI in Kolkata. Eight areas in North Bengal, including Malbazar, Murti, Hilla, Mohua, Samsing, Nagrakata, Batabari have been selected under this scheme, he said. Hospitality major Ambuja Realty is taking keen interest in developing properties in North Bengal to promote tea tourism and has also identified land for setting up hotels, company sources said. — PTI
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Doorway to success
Harsimrat Kaur A decked up and impressive entrance door says a lot about the owner of the house. It not only fills the heart of visitors with delight but also ushers in success, peace, prosperity, happiness and wealth. Even in ancient times palaces and temples in various parts of our country had magnificent entrances. They had carved doors embellished with jewels, gems and idols. The peacock doorway inside the City Palace in Jaipur is one of the finest examples of ornate doors. Houses too had huge ornamental wooden main doors with brass knockers. In the present day modern homes the entrance has become a virtual synthesis of tradition and modernity with international decor trends rubbing shoulders with age old principles of vaastu and feng shui. Exquisitively carved teak doors or ornate metal ones, there is a lot to choose from when it comes to selecting the material of the front door. House owners have become very conscious about the look of main doors making architects and interior designers toil hard to come up with an attractive as well as auspicious entrance. Panchkula-based Vaastu consultant Renu Mathur says that principles of Vaastu, when applied to the entrance of a house, can harness happiness and wealth. She says that Vaastu is not only about directions but about positive and negative vibrations too. She lays stress on knowing about the history of the house and its former inmates before moving in. She suggests not buying a house where someone has committed a suicide in the recent past as the house can have negative vibes that can give stress to the new inmates. Mathur advises her clients to buy a house facing east. “So that when we enter the house our back faces west”. The main entrance holds a unique position in relation to the rest of the house. Hence, additional care is required in attending to it. One usually sees idols, pictures of Lakshmi, Ganesha or Kuber adorning the entrance doors. According to Bimal Verma, a Ludhiana-based Vaastu consultant, Ganesha idols should be hung on both sides of the main door, one outside the main door and the other inside it. “This is very auspicious and brings good fortune”. According to a Chandigarh-based astrologer P.K Khurrana, the position of the main door in accordance with one’s Sun sign can help one in choosing a house that promises happiness. According to him persons with Aries, Leo and Sagittarius Sun signs should have the front door facing east, while south is a beneficial direction for those born under the signs of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Houses of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius persons should have front doors facing west and north is an auspicious direction for Cancerians, Scorpions and Pisceans. If the main door in the prescribed place cannot be fixed as per the Sun sign of the person, at least one window must be fixed there in general. It can be said that to fix the main door facing west is good and the one facing east north is the best. The door-facing west is good and the one facing south is usually not considered good. This proposition of fixing the main door according to one individual’s sign may not be feasible because the life of that particular person may be much shorter than that of the house and other members of the house may continue to live there or the ownership of the house may change subsequently. Embedding silver wire on the threshold is a trend that is catching up but Renu Mathur is not in favour of this. “Silver is moon and represents peace thus stepping over it is not auspicious. However, a pure silver wire put across two brass screws above the inner side of the main door is auspicious. When the inmates pass below this wire it is a good omen,” she says. One also sees horseshoes hung at the entrance of many houses. But its height and direction should be taken into consideration for the right effect. Mathur says that a horseshoe should be hung on the right side of the entrance door at a height higher than the tallest person in the house.
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Insurance of property title deed will mitigate
In order to make land deals fool-proof getting the land title deed insured before selling the property is likely to become mandatory for the real estate developers. This will provide security to buyers in case something goes wrong in the deal later.
The move will also mitigate the financial risk of the buyer in case of a litigation in future. The ministry of housing is understood to have processed the case for Cabinet approval, with the twin aim of protecting the interest of buyers and encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI) in this sector. Title insurance is a cover that protects a potential owner of a property against loss due to defects in title. The policy is a retrospective one, where the insured is protected against losses arising due to events that had occurred prior to the date of issuing the policy. However, there is nothing new about the clause, as mandatory land title insurance has already been tried out in the USA and some European countries. Besides providing financial security, the law would also ensure that the property has a clear title. An insurance company will carefully complete the due requirements before insuring the property. Insurance companies will further ensure that properties having fictitious ownership titles are kept out of the ambit of insurance. Insuring a property will also certify the type of land use. No one will be able to dub agricultural land as commercial land and dupe an investor. At present none of the property transactions, be it large acquisitions or a simple sale of a plot or a flat, is covered through an insurance policy by insurance companies in India. It is because Indian insurance companies do not have the expertise to offer title insurance products. Bajaj Allianze and ICICI Lombard have initially started the process and are trying some foreign collaboration in this regard. The value of the title insurance cover will be equal to the price of land or flat that has to be acquired. The value at risk has grown proportionately as the land cost has increased for the real estate developers. Title insurance makes a project bankable and saleable to customers. This system is likely to boost private equity market investment in Indian real estate since most of the institutions are very particular about clear titles. In India institutions do not give loans if the title of the property is not clear. It will be very helpful for international investors wanting to invest their funds in the developing property markets such as India. It has been found that foreign investors have expressed apprehension about investing in India due to lack of transparency in title deeds. Fearing various claimants for the same property, followed by lengthy court cases, foreign investors are hesitant to invest in India. Insurance of land deeds would address the issue to a great extent and help both domestic and foreign investors/buyers. The writer is a senior banker
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The concept of villas seems to be catching up fast in this part of the region. Going by what some of the top housing promoters are offering to buyers and the way these are being lapped up, the future belongs to villas.