Debarati Roy checks out the new holiday homes coming up in the vicinity of Mumbai
At the end of an eventful week, a holiday close to nature can be a welcome break for most stressed out Mumbaiites. But does the idea of deciding on a destination, arranging for transport, accommodation and sundry minute details rob your holiday of its charm, even before its begun or do you balk at the thought of participating in a package tour?
Well, these are no longer valid reasons for you to sit back resignedly, especially since the concept of owning a home away from home is getting popular.
A number of Mumbaiites have lately been investing in built-up properties located a short distance off-Mumbai. Destinations like Panvel, Alibag, or Murud have in fact, become hot-spots for short trips all through the year.
And a number of construction companies like Godrej Properties, Kalpa-Taru are cashing in on this new-found interest. As Subhojit Roy, assistant manager, sales, Godrej Properties claims, A survey conducted by Gallup for Godrej Properties, regarding this novel concept met with an extremely favorable response amongst Mumbaiites.
Of course, this investment does not come cheap. In fact, think on the lines of such an investment only if you can easily cough up dough to the tune of Rs 20-35 lakh.
The holiday homes
The Tatas construction division has been quick to tap this virtual pot of gold. Their Villa paradiso project in Goa has already been launched and is expected to be complete by January 1999. Godrej Properties has homed in on Panvel as the location and expects to launch the project sometime in October this year while Kalpa-Taru has still to come up with the launch plans for its Deolali project.
These holiday homes to be mainly constructed as villas, independent cottages or row-houses are targeted only at the premium segment of the society. Understandable, when you have units like those being constructed by Tata, priced at a hefty Rs 2,000 per square feet.
And if a villa is beyond your means, you could alternately take a look at the one and two-bedroom apartments that the Tata Group is constructing these lie in a slightly lower range of Rs 15-20 lakh.
On the other hand Godrej Properties is firm in its stand against constructing apartments. Roy explains, We are against building flats because we want every owner to have access to open space around. Flats re-create a city ambience that one wanted to escape from, in the first place.
Godrej Properties plan to provide each cottage with a built up area of 1,200 square feet accompanied by 5,000 square feet of open space surrounding the cottages. This Panvel project on 70 acres of land, also boasts of easy accessibility as it is just about four kms away from the highway.
Loan facilities
Godrej and Tata do not offer loan facilities. Tatas reasons for not offering this aid is that their Villa paradiso is a small project where only 56 units are being constructed. Kalpa-Taru, on the other hand, has adopted a more customer-friendly attitude. They are ready to accept loans from the Housing and Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) for the cottages they are constructing at Deolali.
The case of the strange clause!
The Godrej cottages priced to the tune of Rs 30 lakh, however, come with a strange clause. You have no ownership rights over these units.
You simply get possession of a bungalow by buying shares of the company to be floated by Godrej Properties in the near future. Roy explains this round-about process as an attempt to avoid legal imbroglios in the future.
Simply put, a person cannot get ownership rights unless he owns an area of one acre or more. In this case, each buyer will be allotted an area around 7,000 square feet, so, straight-forward ownership of cottages will be illegal. The choice of the cottage will of course, be your prerogative.
The company, of course, claims to offer assistance to the buyers, if faced with any problem. But it would be more prudent to check out your legal standing with a lawyer before you part with the money. If you end up regretting your purchase, the company will only complete the formality of transferring the shares to the new owner, but wont bother to find you a buyer.
Value additions
The Godrej and Tata homes will also have swimming pools, health clubs and various arenas of recreation. Godrej has planned to appoint an organization to take care of these properties.
The Kalpa-Taru group claims to be more nature-oriented. Shantilal Bohra, GM, sales, Kalpa-Taru explains, We will have meditation halls and temples built to ensure a peaceful ambience in the already healthy environment prevailing in Deolali.
Alternative to time share
Even as time-share resorts are getting popular, are these holiday homes an alternative to them? Though the subscription fees for time-shares range from Rs 25,000-Rs 3 lakh, which is much cheaper, you dont own anything.
The problem with timeshares is that you may or may not get the resort of your choice depending on the availability. And quite a few fraudulent companies have entered the timeshare scene, making it a risky proposition. Also, the time share is targeted at a different segment of the society, while these holiday homes are meant for those who have enough money to spare for another house.
The bottomline
It could be a very good investment considering its advantages over other getaway options, where you are a slave to the arrangements of the respective operators. Here, you are king and that is that! The only snag, we think, is the possibility that you might get bored of going over and over again to the same place.
