House Rules Property For Sale
Real estate is not a happy business in this cringing economy. The Gurgaon glamour and Bangalore boom have deflated, leaving that ‘3BHK.w/ Jczzi & club, swmg pool in prestigious IT enclave only 80 km from City Hall’ anything but desirable. I love, though, the idea of open houses in countries like the US or Canada. These are typically held on Sundays, when the property up for sale opens its door to visitors to take a peek. Paradoxically, few of the guests are really interested in a purchase but walk in with the sole purpose of copying bathroom ideas or furniture arrangements for their living room.
A handful show up to assess what their property should be priced at for putting up on sale next spring. Most wander in motivated solely by the desire to see how other people live. Right before the big show, the owners would have made themselves scarce, since a buyer-seller interaction would be considered sacrilegious in such situations. The seller’s broker receives you at the entrance asking you to sign in, and hands you a flyer that describes the house and a list of its features.
Meticulous planning goes behind such houses readying up for sale. At the outset, a clutter consultant helps organise items of domestic interest and shed excess luggage. A house inspector would suggest repairs to make the property sellable and an appraiser would tell you how much bang for the buck each home improvement idea would provide. A staging consultant points out how the furniture needs to be arranged in a vignette formation and how best to set up your fruit-bowl on the table.
They would also recommend turning on all the lights and heating up some cookies before the actual showing to give the place that ‘homey’ feeling. In contrast, the Indian property-visit scene is less structured but much more personal. There may be no fancy open events but there are no walls and pretences either. You get to meet the host family in the domestic ambience of their 2BHK apartment with no airs other than enticing aromas wafting from their kitchen. Discussions are held over hospitable coffee and if you are truly interested, you get to join them for lunch and to munch on the delectable fare you smelt earlier.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com