Every home owner only shares the happy parts of owning a flat. I’ll share you the parts that left a bad taste in my mouth.
- The buying process involves bribe towards sub-registrar and if it’s your first time, your builder might be scamming you with low circle rate to lower stamp duty.
- The interiors cost good money. Big name interior firms take money in advance and deliver sub-par work with 1 month more than the deadline they give you. (Their work starts breaking after 1 yr)
- The transformer they give you cannot support all the flats together at max capacity. New transformer costs 5L.
- To buy the new transformer, the residents suddenly act all poor and delay the decision with extreme blame game.
- The bathroom area needed grouting within 6 months. Builder claims he did the grouting and doesn’t respond.
- Even after grouting, the water marks around the walls are already there
- Power cuts every day in the area. Generator only covers 1 light and 1 fan in the hall. (Need to buy inverter)
- STP issues pop up every 2 months
- Motor issues pop up every 2 months.
- Water is almost nil, the panchayat has stopped offering water, so the entire apartment is only dependent on tankers
- Tanker guy’s bill has been pending since 2 months, and residents don’t want to pay. They want everything to be included within 1.5K rupees monthly maintenance they pay.
- Monkeys come and break the pipes, so water is stopped until the pipes are repaired in like 25 mins max.
- Lift issues monthly once (mainly due to the transformer at peak office times)
- Security guy sleeps off at night. So people come near the gate and honk hard to wake the guy up to enter society at 1-3am which inturn wakes me up too. → this has reduced since we spoke on Whatsapp group.
- While buying furniture the furniture guy will delay your sofa by 10-15 days but will take all advance before only.
- Kitchen interiors are getting loose
- One day a fan makes noise, the other day the bathroom has flying insects issue
Does it give me the “peace of mind” that it’s my home?
Not until the EMI is done.
Did it give me, “YES, I’ve accomplished something in life” feeling?
YES, during the first time you bought it.
Does EMI feel heavy?
Even if the EMI is radically low, it simply feels like a noose around your neck lol. It’s just too looose but still there.
The society has old people, children and women.
My uncle who lives in another society in HSR, says all of these struggles are common in buying real estate in BLR and that his society’s builder didn’t even give parking lot for no. of apartments (they had to draw lines manually later)
So, you need to ask yourself if all of this pain/hassle is worth it for you?
For me?
I got used to it and it became worth it slowly.
In the end I realise, even with all of this, you know you can clear the EMI and have a house for your parents to stay as they get old.
But these are things they don’t tell you after owning your own flat.
I thought I should share.
Actually bro, this is a honest review. Like you even I was disappointed very much during registration. The whole bribe thing at the sub-registrar office really hit me hard. We should mentally prepared for all these things before buying a home.
Hey, while reading this I felt like déjà vu. Even I faced the same issues with interior and water tanker fights in Bangalore, while staying in small apartment. Later we switched to gated community and bought a flat from reputed builders. There still I didn’t face any problems like water shortage, lack of power supply and lift issues.
From my experience, the main reason these issues keep coming up is because of low maintenance fees and the lack of a proper society formation. Without strong management and fair contributions, even basic facilities can’t be maintained properly.
Yes, I agree with you. When buying a flat from reputed builders, you don’t need to struggle with petty issues or daily living problem. In gated communities, residents usually pay maintenance charges ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹25,000, and because of that, they expect accountability. If any issues arise, the community will immediately question the management.
One of the main reason the smaller societies face constant problem is because of low maintenance charge. Even people in the societies are also not ready to pay decent amount and they are expecting the things get sort out. How it will happen without doing anything?
Security guy sleep at night… This is not only happen in your society…
In my society, they even sleep during the daytime.. We residents already complaint about that several times, but no action has taken..
Basically, we’re paying maintenance for professional sleepers instead of actual security. At this point, I feel like we should just provide them mattresses and call it a “sleeping service” instead of security.
Even if it is built by reputed builders, there are also some common issues people are facing like you….Most of the people speak about the property appreciation, but fail to expose the bitter truth to the world. Even in the some premium gated society, residents are also facing the problems like water, maintenance, power cuts and society politics are true and not related to smaller societies. These issues are becoming day-to-day part of urban living..
Everything in life has pros and cons, without some hassles we don’t get the pleasure either. Despite the hassles, you are owning your own flat it is still better than renting forever.
You can rent a flat for your life long,but end of the day your paying that something not yours. Then what is the use of spending money.. Even in the rented flat also you are going to face the same issues.. Then why’re regret for buying a flat on own..
Owning a home is still dream for many people.. Just think about it… Wherever you go, problems are there.
Even if you face issues like maintenance or society politics, the satisfaction of having your own home and the long-term security it provides outweighs those struggles. Despite the hassles, owning your own flat gives stability, pride, and financial growth that renting can never match.
I completely understand your pain of dealing with the bribe and circle rate. Even I have been through the same situation. As a first time buyer I was an easy target, because I didn’t know about the system well and desperate to get the paperwork done. Due to my lack of awareness made me vulnerable and I ended up paying extra just to move things forward. It’s frustrating but unfortunately it happens to the first-time buyers.
Bro, honestly you picturize the real apartment ownership experience. Not only in Bangalore, I’m staying Chennai, whatever you said I’ve experienced my life. Especially water shortage, even though I’m staying in a gated community for drinking water I’ve to rely on water takers.
I don’t know when these situations will change, but I still have hope. At the end of the day, these are small hurdles in life, and we just learn to pass through them.
Thank God, I didn’t buy a flat in Bangalore. I feel like I just saved my money from a scam…
When I moved to Bangalore, I planned to buy a flat. After facing so many issues in the societies, I came to know about the drawbacks of owning an apartment in tier 1 city.
Now I’m looking to buy an apartment on the outskirt of Bangalore, it gives me a peace of mind and keep me away from all these daily hassle..
Sometimes stepping a little outside the city is the best way to enjoy both ownership and a calmer lifestyle.
Bro, this is not just a Bangalore problem. This is pan-India issue.
Don’t worry, you are not alone, like you millions of people facing the same issues in their daily life.
I laughed while reading the monkey pipe issue.This happens only in our India your water supply be at the mercy of wildlife. However jokes apart, whatever you said is 100% real.
No one will talk about the post-possession headaches. The builder just shows the glossy brochures and you fall in that and buy the flat. I’m in Hyderabad and had the same grouting issue. I tried reach the builder, he picked up the phone once before booking flat and once never again. That’s it. Gone
This is the sad reality of real estate in India and more people need to talk about it openly like you did.
Every type of housing has its own headaches…Its just the nature of the problem that changes…
If you’re renting, yes, you can escape from some the problems like water leakage? Call the owner. Burst pipe? Owner issue. But end of the day, you’re paying EMI for someone’s asset. You have no control over rent hikes, sudden eviction notices, or an owner who decides to sell the property overnight. This insecurity is always there at the back of your mind.
If you have an individual house. I’m sure you will have no apartment drama, no whatsapp group wars. But keep in mind every single problem becomes 100% yours.
At least in an apartment, when the STP breaks down or the lift fails, you have a committee, a maintenance fund, and 50 other residents pushing for a solution together. The politics can be annoying, No option is perfect. Renting gives you flexibility but no security. An individual house gives you freedom but full responsibility. An apartment gives you shared support but shared drama.
In the end, you’re not choosing between problems and no problems. You’re just choosing which problems you can live with.
In my point of view, the root cause of the most apartment is simply low maintenance. I have experience in both small society and premium apartments.
In small society, people are not ready to pay maintenance charge but expect premium facilities. In gated community when you are paying high maintenance charge, you can have right to question them and demand accountability.
If any issues you can contact management, they will respond. Because there is proper fund to fix the issues. The facilities are not the problem. The willingness to pay for them is.
People while buying a flat, check proximity to school, hospital, shopping malls and local markets. But most of the time forget to ask “Does the panchayat actually supply water here?” or “Is this area groundwater dependent?” Water is more basic than a modular kitchen, yet it becomes an afterthought. It is always important to check for water facilities in the society before buying a property. Not after that..
The “loose noose” feeling is something every flat owner understands. Actually it is not crushing you, not suffocating you, but it is still there quietly, every single month.
One thing I wanted to share with you all. I never think that I’m paying EMI as a money leaving my account and started thinking of it as rent I’m paying to myself.
Yes, some months the noose feels tighter than others. Those months are genuinely hard. But every EMI paid, that noose gets a little looser. Once you paid all your EMI, it is your asset.
Even in reputed gated communities, fights and conflict are inevitable. Small society residents fight for water supply, lift breakdowns etc.. Meanwhile premium community residents fight for making dirty of the swimming pool, gym politics and parking privileges. So when compared to both small and premium communities, problems may vary but chaos are there.
Bro, don’t think too much. Wherever you go problems are there, it is unstoppable. Every project has its own pros and cons. Just think you are the owner of a flat and learn to live happy with your parents. When you feel your home as heaven everything around you begins to feel happier…
Nowadays we people used to normalize even horrible things. Even though we’re paying highest taxes , pay stamp duty, registration fee, GST on under construction properties. We still quietly handover bribes at the sub-registrar office just get our own paperwork done.
The saddest part is the nobody questions it anymore We just factor it into the budget and move on.
This is not normal. We just made it normal. And that is the real problem.
When you’re paying 1.5k as maintenance charge, you should not wonder when the security guard sleeps, STP breaks every two months, the transformer cannot handle the load. You get exactly what you pay for. Nothing more, nothing less.
When you underpay for everything and everything will underperforms.