Buying a property

Purchasing a house (apartment, independent house, etc.), or a vacant land (plot, farm land, etc.), or any property is not a simple undertaking as it involves significant expenditure. So, almost everyone does a lot of research and analysis before concluding to go ahead with buying the property. Usually most people consider the following factors:

• Location, e.g., close to work, schools, hospitals, transportation, supermarkets, banks, etc.
  
• Growth potential, e.g., price increase in next few months, years, etc.
• Payment, e.g., loan, lump sum, installments, all cash, etc.
• Area, e.g., carpet area, parking space, number of rooms, etc.
• Builder, e.g., reputation, quality, time, risk, etc.
• Indirect expenses, e.g., taxes, maintenance, etc.
• Completion status, e.g., bare bones (no shelves/cupboards), fully furnished, etc.
• Agent (broker), e.g., helpful, providing relevant information, helping with negotiation, etc.
  

 Following are a few different options when purchasing a property:

• Farm land - usually the sizes are in a few acres which is great if you're interested in farming (including giving for lease), or as an investment if the land is small (less than an acre).
• Vacant plot - usually the sizes are in a few hundreds of sq. yards, which is good as investment if the location is good.
• Independent house - great option if you want independence, but cheaper would be to purchase a piece of land and construct as per your requirements but that'll be a significant undertaking.
• Apartment - great option if the land prices are too high and/or if you prefer to have neighbors and be part of a close-knit community.
• Villa - great option if the land price is affordable and you don't wish to be impacted by overhead neighbors' jumping (when comparing with apartments).
  
• Commercial - great option if you have adequate knowledge and can maintain it.
  

However, most people don't consider the long-term strategy. Following are the top three important factors to consider which I've found from my experience.

1. Buying vs renting? If you don't need to live in that area, then consider renting somewhere you're comfortable. However, if you'd like to protect yourself from some financial uncertainties such as potentially higher rents in the future, or want the freedom to modify/decorate your house as you wish, or not be asked to vacate by owners, etc. then perhaps it's worth buying instead of renting.
2. Investment vs home? If considering as an investment, then apartments appreciate in value only for a limited amount of time so you'll have to sell at the right time. Sometimes it could continuously appreciate for a few decades (e.g., if the location and/or quality are good), otherwise it's much lesser. Note that the rate of appreciation would certainly not match that of an empty piece of land. So, if you're looking at it as a pure investment then instead buy some vacant land which is somewhat close to the city (preferably at less cost, e.g., less than 20k per sq yd) since that would appreciate a lot more than the apartment. However, if you're buying it as a home but treating it as an investment then it could cause conflicting priorities.
3. Consider the indirect impact of the society. For example, whether the neighbors would be like-minded, would you enjoy their company or be annoyed or don't care, would you be glad to contribute and participate in community events, would you learn and benefit from others, etc. One of the easiest ways to assess is to understand that others also have most likely gone through the same thought process as you, have similar financial capability, etc. If you'd like to have lavish neighbors with better company (especially impacts kids in the long term), then perhaps buy a more expensive unit or live at an upscale rented property.

You might already know these, but just listing out the basic prerequisites before buying a property:

1. Money.
• Assuming you're going to apply for a home loan, you should have a minimum amount of 15% of the total property value. If the property value is above Rs 50 Lakh, then a minimum of 25%. If you're not purchasing an apartment, then add 10% to what I mentioned earlier.
  
• The following are a few typical expenses if you're buying property in Hyderabad:
• Registration: 7.5% of the property registration amount. Note that it's not necessary to register for the full amount!
• Agent (broker): usually 1%-2%. Negotiate that first before seeing any properties!
• Maintenance, corpus fund, etc.: if it's in a community (e.g., apartment, villa, etc.)
• Property tax: usually a much smaller amount when compared to the property value, close to about 0.1%.
• Miscellaneous expenses:water (e.g., HMWSSB connection, bore-well, etc.), electricity (e.g., electricity meter, transformer/pole shifting, extension/laying of wires, etc.). It's best to park some amount (e.g., Rs 5 Lakh) for such unforeseen expenses.
  
2. How to research?
• Start with usual web search. I've found these useful for Hyderabad:
• https://www.google.co.in/search?q=properties+in+hyderabad
• https://www.magicbricks.com/property-for-sale-rent-in-Hyderabad/residential-real-estate-Hyderabad
• https://www.99acres.com/property-in-hyderabad-ffid
• https://housing.com/in/buy/real-estate-hyderabad
• https://www.makaan.com/hyderabad-residential-property/buy-property-in-hyderabad-city
• https://www.commonfloor.com/hyderabad-property/for-sale
• https://www.nobroker.in/flats-for-sale-in-hyderabad_hyderabad
• Go through a few YouTube videos to get an idea of the market conditions, for example check out these channels (as of 2022) and also watch any suggested videos that you find interesting as you're viewing those videos:
• https://www.youtube.com/@KaranReddyReviews/videos
• https://www.youtube.com/@RealEstateWithLaxman/videos
• https://www.youtube.com/@TravelWithLaxman/videos
• https://www.youtube.com/@realestatepatashala/videos
• Shortlist the areas where you want to purchase the property based on your preferences (budget, requirements, etc.). Then shortlist a few properties in the areas where you're interested in. Get the contact details (usually phone numbers) of the owner/agent and call them.
• Visit the properties - this will need some time, usually a few days. It's usually best to do the research, call agents/owners on weekdays, and visit all the properties on a specific day or weekend.
  
• Inquire about the sellers' expectations on how you'll need to pay before negotiating. E.g., some sellers may not be comfortable with all amount transferred online since they may expect some percentage to be paid in liquid cash.
• One piece of advice when negotiating: "cash" means physical cash! If you're going to transfer online and not going to hand over bundles/bags of cash, don't say you'll pay cash. Be clear how you'll exactly pay to avoid any misunderstandings later.
• Write down on a piece of white paper about your agreement and get both the parties to sign it. Usually the agent (broker) takes care of that, but sometimes if the agent (broker) is immature or new, you'll need to use your best judgement.
• If it's going to take time to arrange the amount, then specify when you'll pay the full amount, when you're planning to go for registration of property, how you'll pay, etc. If the payment is going to take significant amount of time or if there are per-requisites to arranging the money (e.g., if you're going to start home loan process) then formally do it on a bond paper with revenue stamp.
  

I hope this helps in arriving at a better decision instead of adding to the confusion. Good luck and all the best!

 

Improving Health

I've perhaps discussed these multiple times with many people, but never thought of writing about it. Here it goes, finally. These are the list of top 5 items I've personally found to be useful in improving my health. YMMV. Also see https://todaypurpose.com/posts/time-money-health/

1. Food

It all started with Hungry for Change (2012). To summarize, we should have a meal containing only raw foods. Choose items usually served raw in salads such as carrots, beetroot, cucumber, watermelon, pomegranate, etc. Also include other non-toxic items such as raw bitter guard, bottle guard, mint, etc. Note that some raw foods are toxic (usually in large quantities), such as lima beans, potatoes, seeds of apple, etc. So exercise caution when choosing the items.

If it's not possible for you to eat such large quantities of raw foods in one go, then just blend it and drink along with the pulp. It's not necessary to have this as a meal everyday, but at least try to consume a few times every week.

Apart from that, put an end to all packaged or processed foods, i.e., most of the items that are sold in bottles, packets, boxes, etc. such as soft drinks, wafers, chips, instant noodles, biscuits, cookies, cakes, puffs, bakery items, chocolates, ice creams, etc. Especially avoid foods that contain trans-fat!

With these minor dietary changes, there would be significant improvements in health.

2. Exercise

Next most important change is to exercise regularly. That doesn't mean to exercise daily with great intensity! Just a minimum of a couple of hours' exercise per week is sufficient. That too not intense. Just walking fast to sweat a little and make your heart beat faster than usual is enough.

However, do not exercise daily in exactly the same way! The body will get used to the routine and you'll see diminishing returns. So, always keep surprising your body for best results. For example, take a break for a day in a week instead of repeating the same routine exercises everyday. Also try different exercises. Perhaps create a weekly schedule with varied exercises on different days of the week if you wish to exercise daily. However, elaborate plans and measures are not needed if you're only aiming for good health and not to become a body-builder.

3. Sleep

Make sure that there are minimal or no disturbances while sleeping. Also, wake up without an alarm so that your body is adequately rested. Waking up with an alarm for one or two days in a week is perhaps fine, but not everyday! See https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/24/health/sleep-debt-health.html

4. Sunlight

On an average, try to expose yourself to at least 15 minutes of sunlight everyday, even if it's the early morning or evening sun. It's fine if the sun exposure is on limited parts of the body, such as only the arms, neck and face. However, if the exposure is in harsh sun such as a hot summer afternoon, then go prepared with sunscreen. Note that sunlight exposure inside a vehicle (e.g., car), or inside your house, from glass windows is harmful and ineffective because the useful rays from sunlight are mostly reflected by glass although it appears transparent.

If daily exposure to sun is not possible, then perhaps aim for a couple of hours per week. For example, going for a long brisk walk every week on a Sunday morning could accomplish the weekly exercise and sunlight goals.

5. Weather

The ambient temperature affects our health in several ways. For example, we sleep longer and lighter during winters, but shorter and deeper during summers. Our immunity goes down when the temperatures are low, which is why there's a higher chance of getting infected with seasonal flu during winter. There are other factors and different ways the weather affects our health.

We cannot always control or change the weather (e.g., temperature), although sometimes we could use fans, air conditioners, or humidifiers, etc. One of the effective ways to make our bodies adapt to the weather is to take the usual daily shower, i.e., bath, with cold tap water directly without heating. That is, especially during winter, do not heat the water unless it's freezing cold. If you're able to wash your face, hands and feet without feeling much discomfort, then you should easily be able to take bath with the water without heating it up. Just imagine going to swimming pool. The tolerance built by the body helps in many other ways too.

If possible, live in a city where the average temperatures are always in the comfortable range, i.e., below body temperature during summer and not freezing cold during winter. In India, Bengaluru is perhaps one such metropolitan city where the weather is great, with Hyderabad not too far behind.

Note: I'm sure you'll find evidence for pretty much everything I've mentioned in this blog post. I've accumulated several of these insights based on many HN articles (YCombinator HackerNews). Some of them are based on my interpretation and extrapolated common sense from the vast amount of advice found on the internet! Don't assume or completely agree with what I said. When in doubt, do your own research and question the obvious! That's how we gain wisdom. Wishing you all the best.

ICICI HPCL Credit Cards Are Deceptive

I've used the ICICI HP Coral Credit Card for more than a year but always wondered why some transactions got the 2.5% cashback but most of the others did not. I thought it was because some of the Petrol pumps might be claiming to be HP but could be franchised, so they might not be eligible for the offer. I had read the Terms and Conditions* before, but failed to notice this:

 

As it says, the card must be swiped on ICICI Merchant Services machine! How many petrol pumps have that?! It's ridiculous for ICICI to claim this card provides the 2.5% discount along with 1% surcharge waiver. This is extremely deceitful, and I think it's borderline fraud given how it's advertised.

I'm going to cancel this card since we've ended up spending more via surcharges than we got any cashbacks, given almost no Petrol pumps have ICICI machines.

* Refer page 4 in https://www.icicibank.com/managed-assets/docs/personal/cards/credit-cards/MITC_cc.pdf