Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Do not buy parking spaces!

Builders have been taking the gullible home buyers for a ride. For a very long time builders have been selling open and covered parking spaces. Most of these transactions are without any legal documentation being executed between the buyer and the seller and in cash.

These transactions are in contravention to the laws of the land and thus illegal.

Builders sell apartments on Super Built Up area basis. Such a sale includes all the amenities and plot on which the building stands. Open spaces are thus already sold through the basic sale agreement. Stilt parking also come under the ambit of open spaces which can not be sold as per Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act.

A recent Bombay High Court judgment has affirmed this position.

Click here to see the judgment.

If you have already bought a garage/open parking /stilt parking, then the only recourse is to get a refund from your builder within 3 years. If you do not do this within 3 years a statute of limitation applies.

Friday, February 05, 2010

Rahul Gandhi takes the local train

Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress Member of Parliament and Prime Minister in waiting visited the city of Mumbai (Bombay) in the face of threat of disruption by Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena has been claiming that Mumbai (Bombay) belongs only to the local Marathi Manoos, while all other political parties, including its one time allay BJP has distanced itself from the Sena on this issue and subscribe to India for Indians doctrine.

To rub in the slat into the raw wounds of Shiv Sena, Rahul Gandhi boarded a local train from Andheri Sation and changed over at Dadar to travel to Ghatkopar where he is meeting the youth from a slum

When was the last time Uddhav/Raj/Bal Thakkrey traveled by local train?

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Real estate bubble building up again in Mumbai

Mumbai: Mumbai’s real estate prices have begun to run amok once again, suggesting that another realty bubble is in the making. In a quick reversal from last year’s recessionary trends, residential property prices which had dropped by almost 35% in some areas have risen sharply in the last nine months and are now close to their earlier peaks of 2007-08.

The rise has been sudden both at the premium end of the market and the deep suburbs, suggesting the return of speculators and investors to the property market.

A three bedroom-hall-kitchen (BHK) apartment at upmarket Warden Road was recently sold at Rs93,000 a sq ft (built up rate) when it was quoting at just Rs 50,000 in early 2009. Apartments (mostly owned by investors) in Beaumonde, a building by Sheth Developers at Prabhadevi, are now quoted at approximately Rs50,000 a sq ft as against Rs35,000 and above in 2008. Apartments at Planet Godrej, developed by Godrej Properties at

Mahalaxmi, are being quoted at approximately Rs27,000 a sq ft, close to the peak rate of Rs30,000 a sq ft quoted in 2008. Prices in 2008-2009 had dropped to almost Rs16,000 a sq ft.

Raheja Vivaria at Mahalaxmi is now quoted at Rs26,000 a sq ft, close to its high of Rs30,000 a sq ft in 2008. It had dropped to Rs16,000 a sq ft at the trough earlier in 2009. Similar was the case with Ashoka Towers at Lalbaug which is now quoting Rs 25,000 a sq ft. Prices at Cuffe Parade, Nariman Point and Altamount Road, which had dropped to almostRs40,000 a sq ft, are back to their earlier rates between Rs50,000 and Rs70,000

Read rest of the article here

Societies can get conveyance with single document

Mumbai: Here’s heartening news for housing societies struggling to obtain titles to the land on which their flats are located. Once proposals submitted by a state committee become law, societies will merely have to submit a list of flat purchasers (members) to be eligible for deemed conveyance.

A draft notification, formulated earlier by the state housing department for granting deemed conveyance of the land and the building to housing societies, had proposed the submission of 21 property and title-related documents. The provision of deemed conveyance was thought of in cases where there were long delays by builders in this regard.

Following objections raised by several housing societies and individual flat purchasers, a state-appointed committee working on the draft notification has now modified the clause. “Possessing even one of these 21 documents will now make the society eligible for applying for deemed conveyance,” said Sitaram Kunte, secretary, housing department, who is also chairing the committee. Kunte made this announcement during a convention on deemed conveyance organised by MP Sanjay Nirupam for the benefit of housing societies in the western suburbs.

Read rest of the story by clicking here

Towards a just society....

Pure human greed is ruining our lives. We have become exploitative of our fellow human beings. Those who are involved in this game, cre...