How I purchased my first home in under 30 days?

How focus and clarity helped me make the biggest decision of my life

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“What? You bought your house already?’’, asked my boss with a certain amount of fascination. He was one of the few people I had confided in when the first seed of ‘buying a home’ germinated in my mind about a month ago. And he had sat me down with elaborate excel sheets, telling me why I shouldn’t rush into buying a home. That I should let my money compound and create a huge wealth versus investing in realty which gives average returns and wasn’t a necessity for a single, unmarried successful professional like me.

Cut to now, when I had purchased my first home at godspeed — for a huge decision like that.

That logic was strong and sound. Nope, I did not need my own home really since I was a gypsy wandering around in different cities depending on the job I was working on. My parents had their own home and hence I had shelter over my head.

However, my parent’s home was at least 15 years old. How long would that go on for? And it was meant to be passed on to my sister and me. So it wasn’t mine. What then?

Plus the other way to look at it was that I was single, unmarried, a successful professional, and a master of my own money. I had no liabilities so far. So if anything, at the age of 35, it was the right time to take a plunge.

Because in this age of digital, our careers were at best assured till the age of 45. After that either we would be too tired of corporate slavery or would want to do something of our own.

I mulled over it for a week — day in and day out. Thinking of scenarios, thinking of reasons not to buy, and then thinking of how buying a home would make a difference.

I arrived at a feeling — I wanted to buy my own home. Time and circumstances were on my side. I know it means less compounding of money, but the time to live is now — not 50 years later. So the time to buy a house was now.

As soon as I knew I had to buy a home — I had the focused drive for it too. Here’s what I did:

1. Researched the market to understand configurations and budgets to get an idea. On this basis I shortlisted an ideal budget for myself. An ideal set of configurations (2/3 BHKs)
2. Researched probable areas that suited my budget. Given that I knew my budget, the shortlisting of areas was relatively easy since most other locations were ruled out due to expensive pricing
3. Amongst the shortlisted areas, I did a pros and cons analysis and took some generic market feedback. I ruled out most areas except two. Now I had arrived at my absolute shortlist.
4. I defined my criteria of a good home: Brand new construction, class amenities, and good connectivity + area above 650 sq. ft. if within my city. And branded construction, world-class amenities, area above 800 sq. ft, and high appreciation potential if outside my city (there was another city I shortlisted where my sister lived — which was 4 hours away from my city).
5. I started seeing projects that fit my criteria. I first researched them online, read reviews, and then started creating my list. I spent about 2–3 days visiting projects within my city. I liked a couple of projects, however, those were under-construction and slated to complete in a year or two.
6. Next, I started seeing projects in the twin city. For the first time, I went alone to see these projects since my sister was out of town. The salesmen were surprised to see a single girl arrive and ask for buying a house like it was no big deal. I guess in India, buying homes is still considered a man’s domain and I was amused to see the look of fascination on the faces. Nevertheless, I shortlisted projects in the twin city as well.
7. Next was time to compare. To now shortlist the location and projects of choice. And the twin city emerged as a clear winner for someone like me. The homes were bigger. Prices were lower. It was able to offer me the dream homes I envisaged for my budget. Given that I had no liabilities all I had to ensure was good appreciation potential and that the city was worth living in, which it was.
8. Having selected the city, I started narrowing down projects. Since I was not buying a home in my city, I wanted the home in another city to be world-class, worth a buy.

It was in this journey, that I was joined by my sister and brother-in-law to help fine-tune my decisions. Together we visited many projects in a matter of a couple of days. Some were good area, smaller homes, some were average area, bigger homes. It was around this time, that through a friend, we came across a project that embodied everything and more I wanted of my dream home.

How did I know it?

The moment I stepped into the house and took a tour, I knew it was something special. The project was exactly what I had been looking for. Even more than that.

BUT

Dreams always come with the big BUT. The budget was easily 10 lac overboard what I had accounted for. It was like I had to clip my wings. My face faltered and I got stressed. With limited resources, was the luxury of that dream possible?

That’s when sometimes, being alone hits you. Because the weight of the decision is on your own.

And that is when I decided to share my dream with my family member. My dad’s brother who was as good as a dad to me (given that my dad was a dementia patient and hence unable to advise). My uncle welcomed my dream with open arms and encouraged me to pursue it. He made the additional finance sound manageable and simple (and it was true).

I started getting my wings back again. My dream back again. I was scared but it was doable. It was not foolish. It was thought-through. Loans were the instruments that gave wings to middle-class dreamers like me.

After careful deliberation and some angelic help from a friend’s sister (pssst! insider acquaintances ALWAYS are a big advantage), I was finally able to close the project — in a ready-to-move state. Not only did I save on cost, but I also saved on government taxes (the government was giving discount until 31st March and I wasn’t going to be left behind) and I also saved on the risk of buying under-construction projects which are usually delayed, leading to you not getting any return on investment.

Now as I figure out lending modalities, I feel this focused effort of seeing a dream come true was a good one.

And not necessary that big decisions need a big amount of time. If you are clear on what you want, sometimes it’s the best thing that can ever happen. Your strong intent makes the best case scenario happen.

Do write to me in case you have any queries on this topic. Happy to help.