Mega Infrastructure projects conceptualized by the State Government of Kerala

Source: http://www.emergingkerala2012.org/mega-projects.php

A number of Mega projects are being conceptualized and developed in the State, the most prominent of which are as follows:

Supplementary Gas Infrastructure Project

A Joint Venture Company, Kerala Gail Gas Limited (KGGL) has been formed between KSIDC and M/s. Gail Gas Limited.  KGGL will take up activities like City Gas Distribution in Kerala, CNG Stations for KSRTC Buses, establishment of Gas Training Institute, laying of Spur Lines from GAIL’s main pipeline, setting up of small Gas based small power generating plants etc. The total investment for the project is estimated at Rs.2,000 Crores ($400 million).

Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport

The Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport is an ambitious project of Government of Kerala, being developed at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram. The project is proposed to follow Landlord Port Model, where dredging, reclamation and basic infrastructure like construction of break-water and quay will be done by Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (a company fully owned by Govt of Kerala). Port Operation will be on PPP model. Terminal superstructure will be built by private operator who will also operate and maintain it for 30 years. The port development along with the external infrastructure work is envisaged to be carried out in phases with the cumulative cost estimated at around Rs. 7000 Crores ($1.4 billion). The port is envisaged to provide in total 2000m of quay length in three phases and is designed to cater primarily for containers transshipment, besides providing for other type of cargo such as Multi-Purpose, Break Bulk.

Kochi Metro Rail Project

The Project envisages construction of a world-class Light Mass Rapid Transit System in Kochi to enhance the quality of life for the Greater Kochi metro area by improving regional connections and reducing overcrowding, traffic congestion, transit time, air and noise pollution. The Project, having a total route length of 25 Km would be having 21 stations, from Aluva to Petta. The construction methodology proposed is elevated viaduct carried over pre-stressed concrete ‘U’ shaped girders. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) by the name ‘Kochi Metro Rail Limited’ has been formed for the implementation of the project. The estimated project cost is Rs. 4500 Crores ($900 million).

Monorail Project in Thiruvananthapuram

This is a prestigious single-rail mass transit project of Government of Kerala having a route length of 28.4 Km, connecting the towns of Kazhakuttom and Balaramapuram in Thiruvananthapuram district. Monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and guideway. The rail will be straightened on a track upon the median that divides the main road. Concerns like land acquisition will be minimum, as only junctions are needed to be widened to incorporate the passage. The running train is to comprise of four cars capable of carrying more than 200 persons at a time. The trains would breeze past through the elevated rails at a safe speed of 40Kmph. The total project cost is estimated at Rs. 3408 Crores ($682 million). The detailed Traffic study on the project is being done by National Transportation Planning & Research Centre (NATPAC).

Emerging Kerala 2012 – Curtain Raiser

Emerging Kerala 2012 – Curtain Raiser (Source: http://www.emergingkerala2012.org)

Emerging Kerala is planned as a biennial Global Connect, the first being ‘Emerging Kerala 2012’ scheduled to be held from 12th – 14th September 2012 at Le Meridien Convention Centre, Kochi, Kerala. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India will inaugurate the three-day event.

Several programmes are planned in connection with and running up to ‘Emerging Kerala 2012.’

These include:

• Business meets
• Sectoral conclaves;
• Domestic and international road-shows
• Discussion and debates.

Besides the inaugural session, the first Global connect will have

• Plenary Sessions
• Sectoral presentations;
• Round tables.
• Business to Business (B2B) connects;
• Business to Government (B2G) connects.
• Cultural performances.

The Event as well as its associated programmes would have the support of the Government of Kerala (GoK), in addition to various Trade and Industrial bodies. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) are event partners.

Kerala state road improvement project – Southern region

Source: Kerala Road Fund Board

Kerala Government has embarked upon a massive State Road Network Development Programme, ie: the State Road Improvement Project, aimed at the development of an excellent state – of – the art road network by improving the existing State Highways and important major District Roads. The objective of the Improvement project is to enhance the capacity and riding quality, ensuring high quality construction, proper maintenance plan, road safety and reducing state and reducing State’s expenditure for periodic maintenance. Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB), Govt. of Kerala, has selected Wilbur Smith Associates to prepare a technical report on short listing the roads for improvement and structuring them into various packages for implementation.

Package 1: North region: Kasaragod,Kannur, Malappuram and Wayanad  – 219.30Kms,  4013.10 Million Rs.

Package II: Central Region: Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakkulam and Idukki – 158.90 Kms,  2387.00 Million Rs.

Package III: South Region: Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta,Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram – 173.00 Kms , 2521 Million Rs.

The Package III- South region includes eight road stretches selected for rehabilitation schemes in Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts, comprising 173.00 kms of road stretches. This package covers the south circle of PWD and Palakkad district. This includes SHs of 112 kms and Major District Roads of 61 kms. The roads are presented in the table given below.

Road Name                                         Start Junction         End Junction Type Road Length(km) Approx Total Cost(Milions)

Erattupetta –Peerumedu road    Nadakkal                   Vagamon SH-14 24.60 428.26

Sabarimala –Kodaikanal Road   Erumely                     Kalaketty-Thonnikkal SH-44 48.00 417.05

Alappuzha – Madurai road          Power house Bdg      Thanneermuk kam SH-40 22.50 328.31

Kottayam –Kozhanchery road    Nedungandampally  Pulland SH-09 16.80 482.02

Thiruvalla –Mallappally road   Thiruvalla Mallappally   MDR 14.50 235.20

Kollam – Ayoor road                       Kollam                       Meyanoor MDR 16.80 236.43

Arattukuzhi – Amboori Neyyar   Dam road                Kalunkunada Devapura MDR 15.80 204.82

Kerala real estate bubble or boom? An exploration of truth behind the possibility of a bubble in Kochi

The rapid growth of the housing market in India and especially Kerala in the recent years has raised concerns about its sustainability and implications for financial and macroeconomic stability. As prices continue to spiral out of control in the Kerala property market, many an aspiring customer is beginning to wonder if this is a real estate trend or is it a bubble that is waiting to burst? We explore the nuances of this growth and try and draw conclusions based on available information.

The bursting of asset bubbles in the housing market has often been associated with severe economic crises, especially, recessions caused by sharp reduction in spending as a result of loss in the consumers’ power to leverage against capital gains. The OECD Economic Outlook uses two approaches to evaluating housing price bubbles. One is price-to rent ratio and the second is the user cost of housing. One of the most significant factor that drove the growth of housing market in India in the recent years was the easy availability of bank finance at affordable interest rates. As per RBI, the retail loan portfolios of banks including housing and real estate advances expanded at rates ranging between 22-41 per cent in the last decade. The RBI has also tightened the grip on investments by asking banks only to lend 80% thereby reducing scope of a bubble formation.

Observations

For Kochi and Kerala, the user cost of housing has gone up significantly over the last decade or so. As per the Residex which tracks residential property prices in Kochi and other cities, key indicators emerge:

1. The property market in Kochi corrected by 15% from 2008 to 2009 due to global recession.

2. The market bottomed out towards end of 2009, further falling by 12%. So in net the market fell by 27% over the period of 2008 – end of 2009

3. The year 2010 – mid 2011 saw property prices climb by 35% in Kochi

4. The property market tanks and falls by 32% is last three quarters in Kochi.

Inference

The growth recorded in point 3 above was not unique to Kochi. Chennai, Lucknow, Faridabad, Patna, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi also recorded significant property appreciation. Much of it was due to the flow of capital post recession and positive sentiments about the India economy and GDP growth. Speculative investments by customers and NRIs were at its heights and people felt there was no looking back. From the developers point of view, they wanted to cash in on the lows of 2009 and sell off most of their inventory at record profits – resulting in higher prices every quarter. 

Post mid 2011, no city in India, has recorded as significant a correction in property prices as Kochi. Clearly indicative of the fact that the price increase was a bit too much, a bit too soon in 2010 – 2011. As per CREDAI ” A lot of excess inventory was created which did not sell off. Developers were announcing ten projects a month during that period. “

Key Ratios to consider

(1) Price-to-rent has been on a rising trend since 2003. So although prices have been increasing rents in Kochi have not kept pace. (2) House price to household disposable income also don’t have a correlation as although disposable incomes have increased prices have run too fast.

In summary, the information available at our disposal for Kochi clearly points to a speculative real estate bubble which was created. However, in the back drop, the market has also corrected significantly over the last year with the real housing demand coming into picture today. The bubble which was created was predominantly in the luxury segment since most of it was speculative investment by NRIs, but it was not much in the budget segment.

To conclude, although assumptions (1) and (2) above appear to be true, the prevailing correction in Kochi, gives hope that prices would stabilize. If they don’t and prices continue to rise we could be in for an asset bubble break down in a year or two. If not we could be in for a stable future. But that would be talking too soon.

The Pre-Launch property game. Proceed with caution.

What is a Pre-Launch project

A pre-launch project is one for which either the entire land has not been acquired (that is, the developer does not have full legal sanction of the title), or clearances (like licences, land conversion and site plan) have not been obtained, or both. Developers are allowed to launch a project only after all clearances, and full ownership of the land have been obtained. But when a developer cannot raise the entire amount needed to launch the project from internal accruals or equity, he turns to private financiers, investors and end-consumers by ‘pre-launching’ it. He works on the premise that full legal sanction will come through by the time the project is ready.

Techniques used by Developers

The marketing technique used in a Pre-Launch project is quite simple. It is “Enter Early and Buy Cheap”. The temptation and carrot offered by the developer to a customer mostly are:

1. You get to choose your site or apartment you want to live in before everyone else. So you can choose the right floor, best view, road side etc. etc.

2. You get the best rate possible for the property only now

3. The pre-launch rates would only be valid for about 3 months and then rates could be up by 200 or 300 rs. per square foot.

From the developers point of view , every four to six months, as the approvals trickle in, he can keep hiking the prices. Post full legal sanction he can launch the project and by then he has enough bookings in his kitty.

Perils of a Pre-Launch project

One of our customers, brought a project called “Salarpuria Senorita” in Sarjapur Road, Bangalore in 2010. The Project was in Pre-Launch. Salarpuria being a reputed builder, put up huge sign boards at the sight of the property and hoards of people walked into enquire. The project was being offered Rs.300  per square feet lower compared to launch (which was scheduled 4 months away). The promise was some one who books now, would get about Rs. 5 to Rs. 10 Lacs benefit depending on final price and size of the unit. The booking amount for pre-launch was Rs. 5 Lacs.

As the story goes, despite waiting for one year, the project was not launched. The person’s money was stuck because in the interim other builders launched projects and he did not take the money back in the hope that Senorita project would launch. Salarpuria finally returned back the pre-launch booking money with bank interest, leaving the person in question flummoxed and exasperated.

This is typical of most pre-launches which do not take off. Six months would already be gone by the time you realise that the promises are not being kept and the construction is not happening as promised. By then, you would have sunk in between Rs 5-15 lakh . If you buy a plot in the pre-launch stage and the project is shelved, the only exit route is to approach consumer forums or courts, unless the developer returns the money. The riskiest move is buying into a project for which the developer has not acquired the entire land.

Checklist to avoiding perils in the Pre-Launch game

1. Check the title deed. Reputed and credible developers start the project only after acquiring 100 per cent of the land and will not shy away from showing the title deed

2. Look for the developers residential housing track record.

3. Be proactive and pull out if you start getting feelers that the pre-launch project is not going to launch in 4 to 5 months or if developers keeps giving excuses that approvals are coming shortly.

Seaplane Services in Kochi, Kerala. Now you can fly out of water!

God’s own country would now also offer its tourists and country men, a sea plane facility, so that you can take right off from water!
 
The Sea Plane services are being launched in Kochi, Kerala. The state government has decided to introduce this facility in September this year as part of the Emerging Kerala Global Connect program. The government has taken measures to identify the area needed for this project. Once introduced, the service is expected to boost the water tourism of the state.

Emerging Kerala 2012 is scheduled to be held later this year in Le Meridien Kochi from September 12 to 14, 2012. Kerala, expects to close down investments by business magnets in projects such as Kochi Metro, Mono Rail, NIMZ project, High Speed Rail corridor and others through this conference.

The water transport terminal and office complex of Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA) is coming up at the authority’s land on Goshree- Chatiath road. The GIDA has proposed to utilise the inland water resource available and would introduce modern and fast boats that provide residents a cheap, fast and safe mode of transport.

The tender proceedings of the Rs 6.33 crore project was completed by KITCO and according to GIDA officials Aluva FIT would initiate the project. The project is slated to get completed within one year, by August 2013.

Onam, Kochi Metro and Emerging Kerala expected to usher in property appreciation in Kochi real estate market

As Malayalees get set to celebrate their most awaited annual festival of Onam in the end of August, real estate developers in Kochi are the most anxious as well as exuberant. In stark contrast to the property correction which has been witnessed in Kochi over the last one year, developers believe that the gloom prevailing over the sector  will soon fade off and prices would again rise by 15 to 20% after Onam due to the triple bonanza – Onam , Emerging Kerala and the Kochi Metro launch.

In anticipation of a rise in price and demand for property near the Kochi metro stations, most developers have already bought parcels of lands in the proposed vicinity of where the stations have been announced. We had mentioned earlier why improvement in accessibility to mono rail or metro or LRT augments the real estate prices within a radius of 1-2 Kms of the station.

The end of Karkidakam masam and the onset of Chinga masam is considered an auspicious time for Malayalees. Most marriages, new business launches take place in this season and it is also an auspicious time to register a property. So Malayalees who are on the look out for property at the moment in Kochi, might be spoilt for choices by many developers. Developers also are hoping to close many new bookings in the Onam season and are preparing welcome bonanza’s and discount schemes for home buyers. The key trend that is beginning to emerge however is that after the NRI driven demand, Kerala’s real estate market is now slowly turning in favour of the working class with a gradual shift towards the affordable housing segment.

Since common sense states that most users of the Kochi metro will live and breathe in the city, (than an NRI who would sit abroad), the demand for housing in areas near the metro station is expected to be real and measurable. There is a growing belief that the correction seen in the Kochi real estate market over the last many quarters, might be the prelude to a phase of stability in property prices.

In the interim some malls like Abad Nucleus at Maradu have also started selling individual shops, which is seen to be a new trend in the real estate sector. As per CREDAI Kerala, “Building rules which were amended three years ago, is the main reason behind the collapse of real estate sector in the state. Because of over supply, 40 per cent of residential properties have not been sold.In 2008, 10 new projects were announced in a month but now only one new project is announced in six months. In Thiruvananthapuram, the most happening place in real estate in the state, the property prices have doubled in 4 years.”

For the sake of the investors, the developers and those aspiring to own their home in Kochi, we hope the predictions come true and the prices reign in, in Kochi and other parts of Kerala and offer stability.

Onam 2012, can then finally be one to savour and remember!

Kochi real estate market – Down but not Out. Fears of a bubble still strong.

If the statistics are to be believed, the real estate market in Kochi has seen a declining trend over the last 3 quarters starting June 2011. The drop itself is a staggering 32% over the quarters from Apr -Jun 2011 to Jan – March 2012 (data below) as per the RESIDEX index.  This also raises alarming noises amongst a section of the populace, who feel the real estate bubble in Kerala and specifically Kochi might be about to burst. The significant price correction along these lines in Kochi, can in no way be correlated with other 20 odd cities in India, some of whom have shown considerable growth over the same period for e.g. Chennai and Delhi.

NHB Residex is a housing index and first of its kind in India, provided by the National Housing Bank (which is wholly owned by RBI) on a quarterly basis. The objective of the index was to provide transparency to the real estate market in the medium to long term. The index tracks residential price movements and is currently available for 20 cities in India and is proposed to be expanded to 63 cities, covered by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The index currently has a lag of about one quarter in providing data about the real estate market pertaining to a city.

As per the National Housing Bank “Actual transactions prices are considered for the study in order to arrive at an Index which will reflect the market trends. Primary data on housing prices is being collected from real estate agents by commissioning the services of private consultancy/research organisations of national repute; in addition data on housing prices is also being collected from the housing finance companies and bank, which is based on housing loans contracted by these institutions.”

In compilation of NHB RESIDEX the cities have been suitably stratified by administrative zones or municipal wards according to availability of the data. The sample size of price observations consists of 500-600 observations for each city. The index is computed by using Price Relative Method (Modified Laspeyre’s Approach). Under this method price relatives are calculated only once (at the basic stratified unit) and the weighted average of these price relatives leads to the index at next level. (Source: Hindu)

 Source: NHB Residex

 So how does one interpret the NHB Residex. The index is currently fixed with the year 2007 as the base and base index value as 100. If the value in Bengaluru was 100 in the previous quarter and 92 in the current quarter it shows an overall drop of 8% in real estate prices for the quarter.

DRILLING ONE LEVEL DEEPER INTO THE KOCHI REAL ESTATE DATA
 

A further drill down into the data provided by NHB on the Kochi market by locality is given below. As per the data, Fort Kochi Vili, Karugapalli, Vennala & Mammankalam has seen the biggest drop in real estate prices in the last quarter of around 23.75% (From 80 to 61) followed by Mattancherry, Chakkamadam, Cherralai; Panayapalli & Edakochi South which has seen a 20% drop in real estate prices.

Possible reasons that could be attributed to a slump in property values in Kochi are:

1. Slackening of demand due to high interest rates and inflation

2. Property rates hitting their peak from where they have started going downwards

3. Postponement of decision to purchase property on the part of the buyers

4. Oversupply of inventory and less sales velocity (number of units sold vs. number of units created)

5. Drop in speculative investments by HNIs and NRIs prompting a correction

CONCLUSIONS

Although the NHB data provides a good indication about the state of the market, it predominantly covers transactions which involve financing institutions. Thus a complete picture cannot be drawn from this data alone. Also since NHB looks at the overall market, there is no clear indication if specific segments like luxury apartments, villas have been more affected compared to budget properties which trade in the 30 – 60 Lacs bracket.

Our recommendation for investors looking at Kochi as a property destination, would be to “not resort to speculative buying”.  Since most fundamentals in Kerala for Kochi and Trivandrum are still strong, segments which have seen drop in property rates in Kochi, could further see a drop till the demand – supply mismatch is rectified.

Some protagonists also argue that the overall Kerala market is a real estate bubble waiting to burst. The NHB residex at present does not cover other cities in Kerala for us to compare if the Kochi phenomenon is something felt across Kerala. Going by the request of many of our customers, we are going to showcase an article about the so called housing bubble in Kerala and examine whether it is truly a reality or just a figment of somebody’s imagination.

You can write to us with your comments, suggestions or requests for any specific information on Kerala or Trivandrum real estate to nandanamconsultants@gmail.com

7 factors which determine the value for your property – Proven by research

Research studies conducted across the world, especially in developed economies, have used multiple methodologies to determine real estate values and the parameters determining it. The most popular among these is the hedonic model which ascertains value based on the distance from the central business district (also referred to as CBD), access to light rail transport and expressways amongst many other variables. The formula given below, shows the price function in the Hedonic regression model as a combination of factors like structural characteristics (s), neighbourhood characteristics (n), and environmental characteristics (e).

Price Function (P) = f (s1, s2, s3…sj; n1, n2, n3,…nj; e1, e2, e3,…ej)  Source:Wikipedia

Drawing from some of the best research worldwide, we list down seven critical attributes which have been proven to affect property values: 

1. Access to Light rail transport (LRT) – ‘Al Mosaind, Dueker and Strathman’ claimed a positive correlation between distance to LRT and property values. They argued that properties which were within 500 meters of the LRT got a much higher value, since it improved citizens accessibility to CBD and other job areas within the city. A perfect example is the monorail development within Trivandrum which could improve access to the CBD for the smaller suburbs and amplify real estate rates in areas which are in the vicinity of the proposed station. The correlation with accessibility seems to become void if the property is more than 1.5km away from the station of interest. 

2. Distance to CBD – A study done in Ohio (United States) for a period of five years and another done in Sydney (Australia) point out that distance to CBD is a critical determinant of real estate prices. Most researchers argue that this variable is more critical than accessibility mentioned above,although positive correlation does exist for the latter. However as cities become poly centric with multiple CBDs instead of being monocentric, real estate prices would be determined with respect to proximity to a particular CBD in the zone or the suburb. At present only MG road could be considered as the central business district within Trivandrum with a majority of banks, retail and business houses located in the area. With new retail and business hot spots emerging at Vellayambalam, Pattom and Kazhakuttam, new CBDs could emerge within the next decade in a poly centric model within the city and change the real estate pricing pattern. 

3.Clustering – As per the spatial distribution phenomenon, properties of a similar value appear clustered together than widely spread out. 

4. Promixity to Highways and Expressways – Properties located upto 2kms from major highways and expressways showed a much higher value and appreciation across many global studies. 

5. Proximity to Regional Shopping centers – Research has also shown than real estate which is in proximity to malls, and other regional shopping centers are more expensive than rest of the sample. At the same time, properties located too close to the shopping units saw a drop in real estate rates due to higher levels of noise, pollution and crowding on the streets. The buffer zone was usually about 2kms from the shopping area, within which, the prices seems to be lower due to above factors but increased incrementally after that. 

6. Comparable Sales Approach – ‘Can and Megboulougbe’ in their research proposed the comparable sales approach wherein they said that price history in the immediate neighborhood of the given property will have a spill over effect on the given property’s market value. The lesser the distance between the anchor property (which got sold at a higher price) and the given property, the more the impact on the value. This correlation seems to nullify if the anchor transaction happened before six months or if the anchor property is more than 2kms away from the given property. 

7. Structural attributes – This refers to the size and type of the property. International research concludes that number of bedrooms and washrooms tends to have a positive effect on the property value given that all other factors are the same. Strucutral attributes by itself pales into insignificance if spatial parameters mentioned above are not favorable for the given property. Centralised air conditioning and even presence of senior citizens in a property tends to more propitious as per research. 

In summary a host of factors typically decide property rates and you can get a realistic approximation of value based on these. Since studies of a similar nature spread across many years have not yet been conducted in Kerala or for that matter Trivandrum, the true sense of if any of these seven factors have a particularly significant influence for real estate in the city is left to be ascertained. These 7 factors could act as guiding principles in helping you choose your dream home or property in the Trivandrum or Kerala market.

Don’t get carried away by a sample flat

Although seeing is believing and experiencing your new home through a sample flat might be a pulsating experience for a home buyer, there are fallacies with this approach. A sample flat is one of the marketing techniques used by builders to convince customers of what they can expect when they get to live in their proposed house. To the buyers misery, not many are aware of tricks which could be used by builders in the sample flat. The marketing practice itself is not wrong and is more effective than traditional brochures or websites or emails from the builders point of view.

Factors to be considered while seeing the sample flat

1. Sample flats outside of the original property – A sample flat constructed outside of the original property could be deceptive. Most builders use the first floor of the property to showcase the sample flat to customers. A sample flat outside of the property might offer two or three balconies, great views and look more spacious than the one which you are planning to buy, which is not standalone but in a bigger apartment complex.

2. Great interiors – Sample flats usually come with exquisite looking furniture, well finished walls and paintings. More often than not your home won’t come with the same embellishment or you would end up paying for the upgrade. To supplement this, the lighting and other artistic wall hangings used in a sample flat improves the aspirational value of the flat in the mind of the buyer. Some builders might even choose furniture sets which fits just well enough in the given space, so that it gives a feeling to the buyer of having enough space within the apartment

3. Thinner walls – Walls made of out wood or even gypsum boards could be used in sample flats which gives an impression of higher floor space. Gypsum which is used in the cement industry as a retarding agent, can also be customized in making the wall finish much more superior compared to cement plaster.

4. Taller ceiling – A sample flat could also look bigger when it comes with a taller ceiling compared to the original flat.

Nevertheless customers don’t have much of an option since most of the sample flats are demolished before construction begins. And builders can put terms into the sale agreement that specifications might change later.

Ways around getting deceived by a sample flat
 
1. Look at 2 or 3 properties from the same builder to get an idea of the overall finish

2. Look for builders who offer sample flats in the apartment complex than outside so that it is more realistic

3. Don’t be mislead by the aesthetics and interiors of a sample flat. Use the sample flat as a reasonable guide to how your home might finally be. To get a clear picture of your flat, look at the architectural drawing and layout plan and discuss with the builder to avoid future disappointment.

4. If you want to factor in the looks of the sample flat into your own flat, prepare a cost estimate for the same or consult an interior design firm or a real estate consultant privy with the matter.