Archive for the 'Real Estate' Category

House: A great saving tool, lousy investment tool!

Real estate broker: Your house is the best asset that you can expect to create in your life. You can expect it to appreciate well over the long run. What to do: Your home will not appreciate. It is not a wealth creating asset. It will not make you rich. Remember it is an important [...]

Real estate: Hidden costs

It is amazing that financial services – mutual funds, life insurance and banking are seen as villians in terms of charges in a country which has so many real estate deals! Who can become a builder, who can become a broker, how much brokerage to charge, should prices be quoted for built up, super built [...]

Real estate: time to buy?

Should I buy real estate now – now that the market is down or wait for it to get lower? This is a question that everybody seems to be asking. Frankly I do not know. A classmate (Prakash) and I have been having a disagreement about the direction of the housing market. He calls real [...]

Anti real estate

Many people who read my blog ask me one question. Am I against real estate investing? The answer is NO. It is a capital NO font size 72 dark, bold, …what ever else you want. However the common man – or most of the people whom I meet are so poorly equipped to deal with [...]

Real estate or Sensex?

How many of you have grudged your friends who say “My father had bought a flat in Santacruz for Rs. 200,000 in 1977, now it is worth Rs. 20,000,000” – surely you felt pangs of jealousy did you not? Did you think…if I had this I could have retired instead of suffering this boss? You [...]

Middle class losing its homes!

It is amazing that strategies which looked very smart in a bull market can make you look very foolish in a bear market. One ‘house marketing’ company based in the suburbs of Mumbai had a big team to sell ‘second homes’. Obviously the team included marketing people, branding, sales, call centre…etc. These were people who [...]