Property in Bangalore – The scenario on the ground.

(July – August 2015)vProperty in Bangalore – The scenario on the ground.

Areas covered – North and South of Bangalore

(Electronic city, Bannerghatta Road, Hennur main road, thannisandra, hebbal, devnahalli, dollars colony, etc)

Let’s face it there is development happening in each and every corner but still we are running towards the center or nearby areas for social life. Yes there are IT companies in every luken corner of the world but that doesn’t really drive the market. Because if this was the case, places like Anekal would still have been villages. Namma Metro is still a big dream the places where it has started are more crowded than ever. Off course there are no proper roads, infrastructure sucks, there are people who are going to the metro station to park, there are those who are picking up their bikes/cars and coming out of the station. Then there are those who are getting on to the train as well as those who are coming down PLUS the normal traffic. All this is making metro a chaos right now than a commuting solution.

This is more of a situation getting created and then falling victim of it. I wonder myself and ask why would anyone buy a 5Cr villa in devnahalli when there is no life there, no activity and for most it is still a ghost town?

Being an NRI for last 6 years we’ve slowly started to feel the grip of the traffic and we made up our mind to find something closer to the airport or at least in the area from where we can get on to the flyovers and get to the airport in 20-30 minutes. At present I live at bannerghatta road and it takes 2 hours to reach airport. So like many others we zeroed down to north of Bangalore and spent most of the vacation looking out for the property.

My budget – 60-70L for a 3BHK (if possible all inclusive) and expected area is 1500Sqft. I know it is too much to ask for these days J. So I started to take a look at the project and but off course if you are going towards the airport from Bangalore city then you will see all the development is happening on the right hand side of the road post the hebbal flyover. After you cross Hebbal for next 10 KMS you can see a lot of construction going on, it fades away after 15-20Kms and then starts mushrooming again and goes beyond airport as well.

What did I find:

I found that it’s a monopoly of builders and most of them are charging almost the same price and you can get something from the starting range of 4K-8K/sqft. At places it is even higher but I’m not going talk about it as there is no point for me to look at that as I don’t find a point of spending that kind of money for a small piece of land/flat.

I looked at most of the upcoming projects which included:

Bhartiya City – I was amazed by the welcome, its like the guys are trained and know how to convince you to get the money out of your pocket. You will first be greeted in a projector room where the lady will play two movies, showing the dream/basic idea of coming up with such a big township. Then you are escorted out on a discussion table, shown the replica of the township and it all feels great. If you want, they can also show you the model flat which is ready and it is a duplex (they call it Loft) and you will obviously be amazed and itchy to go ahead and sign up for this. All you have to do is pay 4L as the booking amount and the rest of the things are sorted out once you get an allotment.

Another good fact here is all the brokers even those who are selling different builder products are appreciating and liking the so called smartest township of Asia and is supposed to be spread across 130 (approx.) acres. It doesn’t end here, at the time of your visit to Bhartiya city the sales guys will talk about upcoming IT parks, Shopping malls, gardens, etc. and not to forgot the most lucrative thing ‘Time Square’.

Oh but there are a couple of things you will have to consider for this project like – 130 acres, it will take more than 10-15 years for its entire completion. The carpet area they are offering is a big issue, the carpet area is less than 63% (I could be wrong but I’m sure it doesn’t touch 70%) so typically for a 1000 Sqft flat your usable area is only 630-680Sqft. For now they are saying the first phase of this project is sold out which started at 3200/sqft and today it reselling at 4300/sqft. Since, I need a place to live in and not for investment purpose. I don’t think Bhartiya city is the right fit for me.

Ozone Urbana – It is damn next to the airport and fact it is so close that during my visit I couldn’t bear the noise of the plane going above my head. Imagine living there with planes flying all over you day/night. So I arrive here and went into the marketing office, considering it is the largest township and is bigger than Bhartiya/Brigade/Other the marketing team was not at all impressive. I met a guy who just had a brouchre in his hand with no clue as to why should I put my money in it. It is like, this and this is sold out. We’ve only this available if you want to book it. The price here is nearly the same as any other township and obviously it is sold out (at least that’s what they are trained to say). The carpet area offered here is more than 70% but the question here is the same, how much time will it to be constructed completely?

There are two major reasons for me of not putting my money in this township – one is it is right next to airport so you can enjoy it only once you have it completely developed (i.e. after 15 years) and the second is the noise. There will be a plane flying above your head every 3 minutes.

Brigade Orchads – Okay so this is after the airport and the name of the builder speaks for itself. I visited the office and the guy who attended me was horrible. I just asked that how do you compare your project with Hiranandani which is at the main road compared to you guys and I heard they are offering row house at a very decent price. Swallow this – his answer was, ‘Sir if Hiranandani offers at this price, I’ll buy 10 houses right away’. I got the idea that the only reason people buy Brigade is because of their name and not because their marketing team. I wanted to talk to his manager then and there but I realized that there is no point. The township is a ghost town right now with absolutely no social life or anything nearby. Imagine taking a leave from office for enjoying a nice lunch somewhere on the M.G road or in Koramangla where you have one of your famous restaurants? But as per the marketing guy who apparently had the capacity/money to buy 10 row houses said half of the project is sold out already. While all I could see there were a few construction workers only. BTW – they have lovely villas to offer which starts from 2.5CR onwards.

House of Hiranandani at devnahalli– This is right on the main road but after you cross the BIAL. The gentleman here was nice and he told me that please don’t make up your mind by reading the figures given on web portal. They only publish the basic cost and 35% more gets added to the basic cost once you get into final discussion. I faced the same issue here that what will you do for living if you have to buy a house in this project?

Akash Villas – tier 2 builder with row house concept located after the airport. 80L for a 30×40 constructed site but I wasn’t happy to see the quality of construction. Don’t always get carried away by what you see in brochures. The reason I went ahead to see it was the affordability. I mean who wouldn’t want to own an independent house in a price of a flat?

And the list goes on – I saw Salarpuria gold summit, purvankara, shobha’s township which is right next to bhartiya city. Mantari web city and other mantra projects near Manyta tech park, Unishire, Shriram luxor, brigade Northridge, RMZ, etc. The list just keeps getting added but I was unable to settle down for anything which is in by budget and is ready to move or available for possession in next 6 months.

All this while I was going to the airport and coming back home and I realized that why don’t we look for something in the south of Bangalore itself. I started looking and guess what it turns out that you can get a decent flat in the same price in the south as well (esp bannerghatta/begur road or in electronic city). Then I went ahead and consulted a couple of folks in the RE companies. They came to me with options of Sarjapur, Anekel, bannerghatta road, electronic city, Whitefield (west of Bangalore) etc. The prices here are the same 4K-8K/sqft.

So where do we zero in now? Turned out that my holidays were over and I had to leave empty handed. I never wanted to get carried away with fancy stuff and my main idea was to have the value for money which I couldn’t finalize on (I won’t say couldn’t find it, as there are a lot of tier 2 builders offering this).

Lastly, I’m more confused than ever today J

Disclaimer – these are my personal views about the property (mind it 🙂 ).

Basic info about opening an account with the MOI in Saudi Arabia for Expats

Courtesy – mohammed aleemu (mohammedaleemuddin@yahoo.com)

Please log on to site below and register. 
https://www.moi.gov.sa/wps/portal
 
Next Step is to go to passport office or Airport or China Mart or any Mall where MOI terminal is there to activate your registration which you have done online. There are stand alone terminal where you enter the following;
a) you Iqama No.
b) you will told to put for scan your right index finger (press next)
c) you will told to put for scan your left index finger (Press next)
d) you mobile number (press Agree to receive text messages for your profile from NIC)
e) Authentication number will be sent on your mobile which you enter in next screen which will send a validation message that your account is activated.
 
Next Step – You log in to above portal and check your profile – first time after activation it will request you to log out and log in again.
 
After this you will be able to use the portal including issuance of exit entry.

—————————–

How to Issue Exit Entry Visa ( Single – Multiple) on line – After Online  Registration (MOI Website http://www.moi.gov.sa/ ) This is only for dependents – for Self only company is authorized.
 
Step – 1
a) Log in to your bank account – ( This Procedure is done using Saudi British Bank Internet Banking – It may be similar with other banks Please check before you proceed)
b) Select Go to Payment – Govt. Services
c) Select MOI Service
d) Select Alien Control
e) Select Exit Entry (Multiple or Single)
f) Make payment
 
Step 2
a) Log in to MOI Portal
b) Select Dependent Services
c) Select your family member  – Click more details
d) select Issue visa 
e) Enter by days or date 
Important Note: 
 
1) for date you can use Girgorian date also but should be less then 1 month before Iqama expiry (try for for more then 15 days before expiry)
2) If the family is holding mutiple exit entry visa and visa validity is still valid for few days to expiry in that case you cannot issue new exit entry visa (Single or multiple) unless you cancel the existing/current/Valid visa which has to be done by company HR representive through passport office, you cannot cancel it online.

 

Thanks Mohammed Aleemu for your great efforts.

What kind of bank account does an NRI need?

Okay – First and Foremost, I’m just going to copy paste this from another site as I have no idea about this. But I’m sure this can help others 🙂

Link – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2010/06/short-nris-guide-to-banking-insurance-investments.html – Originally Written by  Manish Chauhan

(Thank you Manish for this, I appreciate your effort)

BTW – I read some articles on this site and it turns out to be one of the best sites out there to help you understand the investment language and carefully park your money.

Read On:

There are a huge number of Indians who are working abroad or will go abroad one day and work there. Even you might go out of country one day and become an NRI, so here’s a very short, to the point guide for NRI investments.

Today we discuss the most important NRI investment options and we’ll focus on four things – Basic Banking Accounts , Insurance , Mutual Funds and Shares. That’s all.  The rules and information here are basic, but further study can be very detailed. Let’s quickly look at some important concepts every person should know. Even if you are not an NRI, you can at least advice your other friends  The first step every NRI should take, is to get the correct Banking accounts opened. Here are the options:

What is a NRE account?

NRE bank account is an external savings bank account opened for Non resident Indians and hence called Non-Resident External account. Any money lying in NRE account can be taken outside the country or in other words, the money lying in an NRE account is fully repatriable. This money can be converted into any foreign currency and can be remitted outside the country. For opening these accounts, the funds are required to be remitted to India through any bank from the country of residence of the prospective account holder. The accounts may be maintained in any form e.g. savings, current, recurring or fixed deposit account etc. (How to find best Fixed Deposits in India)

What is a NRO account?

NRO bank account is an ordinary saving bank account opened for Non resident Indians. This is why it is known as Non-Resident Ordinary account. You open an NRO account, when you want to transfer money from your overseas bank account to Indian account in Indian Rupees. The money lying in NRO account cannot be taken outside the  country or in other words, the money lying in NRO account isn’t repatriable. This is can be in form of Fixed Deposit accounts also (compare rates)

What is FCNR account ?

A FCNR account is a Fixed Deposit account with maturities of minimum 1 yr to maximum 5 yrs of tenure. FCNR stands for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) Account. The money in this account is always maintained in foreign currency, so it does not carry a currency risk (your $10,000 is always worth $10,000). The money lying in a FCNR account can be taken outside the country (or in other words, it is repatriable.)  Deposits in these accounts can be made by remiting funds from abroad.

Comparison Table

 

 

Criteria	NRE	NRO	FCNR
Account type	Saving , Current or  Fixed Deposits account	Saving , Current or  Fixed Deposits account	Fixed Deposit only
Money maintained in which currenc	Rupees	Rupees	Any of U.S. Dollar , Pound Sterling , Euro , Australian Dollar , Canadian Dollar
Repatriable  (can money be taken outside country)	Yes	No	Yes
Money can be  Deposited from	From Abroad through Bank account	India or Abroad	From Abroad through Bank account
Tax	Exempt	Taxable	Exempt
Joint Account with Indian Residents	No	Yes	Yes
Suitable for	NRI’s whose income source is only fromabroad	NRI’s how have income source from both India as well as Abroad	NRI’s who dont want to want to take currency risk

 

 

 

Can NRI take Insurance ?

Yes, NRIs can buy Insurance in India; however they have to be present in India, while taking the Insurance. They should therefore plan for buying the insurance when they are on a trip to India. One important point, is that the premiums should be paid from NRE account, if the maturity value is to be repatriable, else only the partial amount will be repatriable,(for which premiums were paid from NRE account.) One has to make sure, they have all the necessary documents in place before they come to buy insurance.

Documents are

• PAN Card
• Income Address proof
• Overseas Proof of Address
• Proof of Income  (Salary slip, Bank Statement or ITR for last 3 yrs)
• you will also have to fill a seperate form called NRI Questionnaire-Annexure II

NRI investment in  Shares ?

Steps required by NRI’s to start trading in Stock Markets

1. Apply for a PAN card (you can do it online.) You will get it within a week.
2. Open a NRE/NRO account. You will require this account to fund money for your stock market transactions. Make sure you choose the account carefully, depending on your requirement (Repatriable/Non-Repatriable basis etc.)
3. Apply for a general approval for investment in Indian Stock Market through it’s designated bank branch, this is called PIS (Portfolio Investment Scheme) (PIS rules  in detail)
4. Once you have a PAN card, you’ll have to open a Demat account with any bank or a brokerage firm – you will require this for trading.
5. Finally, you need to have an online stock market trading account for investing in the stock market directly. Generally, you can get a combo Trading + Demat account at the same place.

Note that NRI’s are not allowed to do intra-day trading (can’t buy and sell on the same day)

NRI investment in Mutual Funds

NRIs can invest in all Indian mutual funds, except in funds promoted by Asset Management Companies based in the U.S. (Fidelity, Franklin Templeton and HSBC.) The payment can be made from any of NRE/NRO/FCNR accounts. If they make payments from NRE/FCNR account, then it can be on repatriable basis (They can take the profit and principal out of country.) But, if they make payment from NRO account then it will be on non-repatriable basis. However, the dividends can be on repatriated. No prior or extra permission, needs to be taken from RBI for this. This is allowed by default. There is no tax on dividend income, and long-term capital gains tax is zero in India, when investing in Indian equity mutual funds.

More details please visit – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/2010/06/short-nris-guide-to-banking-insurance-investments.html

VISIT VISA Procedure for KSA

This is from the inputs of quais_mujawa
Read On:
There are a lot of expatriates in the kingdom who are currently without their
families, but would like to bring them on a visit visa. This post is meant to
guide those.
The most important factor which decides whether you can bring your family or
not, is the profession mentioned in your iqama or residence permit. Note that
this may not be your actual job title. For example, it is quite common for an
engineer to be hired on a labor visa. But for all government transactions, it is
the profession mentioned in your iqama which matters, not your job title ~X(
Unfortunately, you are eligible to bring your family only for certain types of
visas (like engineer, doctor, technician, etc) =(( If your have arrived on a
labor visa, you have absolutely no chance of bringing your family, and it is
better to get the profession changed to some other category – this is not an
easy task though.
Coming back to the visit visa procedure for bringing your family into the
kingdom, I would like to clarify at the outset that the procedure itself is
quite simple. The only difficult part is the profession mentioned in your iqama,
as already mentioned above.

Before you proceed to fill in the online form, you must have with you the
following documents ready.

Your original iqama (keep a copy with yourself for records)
Your passport photocopy
Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your
salary
Passport copy of the visiting member (parents / children / in-laws) (Note that
a separate application has to be made for each individual family member whom you are going to sponsor)
For sponsoring your in-laws, the following additional documents are required
#:-S

Certificate from a hospital in case your wife needs support for any reason,
eg., pregnancy
Wife’s passport copy – this is to prove the relationship between your wife and
her father / mother
Copy of your Marriage Certificate, translated in Arabic and attested by the
Saudi consulate / embassy in your home country

Once you are ready with all of the above, proceed to the next step as below.
Have a person who can read Arabic next to you. Then click on this link

https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/VisaFamilyApp/FamilyApp.asp.

The name of your family member AND the name of the sponsor (i.e., YOU) should
be filled ONLY in English. All the remaining data are to be filled in Arabic.
Remember, YOU are the sponsor for your family, and NOT your employer. In case
more than one family member is visiting you and are coming by the same flight,
enter their names in the same form, otherwise use separate forms.
In the column asking for the number of days of visa required, type “90”. If
you are lucky, you will get a 3-month visit visa, otherwise it will be only a
1-month visa. There is no hard and fast rule. Everything depends on the mood of
the officer who decides the visa validity. However, you can always renew the
visit visa twice, and each extension is for one month only. In the column asking
for the purpose of the visit, type as “famly visit” in Arabic.
Once you fill in this form and submit, you will get an acknowledgement number
on the screen. Print two copies of this. Keep one copy with yourself as a
reference. You will be needing this soon. Take a printout of your filled-in
application form, sign it in the place mentioned in the bottom along with the
date. Don’t forget to take the signature and stamp of your company sponsor. Once
this is done, attach this along with the remaining documents mentioned above and
submit it to your nearest Ministry of Foreign Affairs office (not to be confused
with the passport office (Jawasat, as it is known locally). Renewal can be done
in the Jawasat, but for the first time, you must submit it in the MOFA office.
Most important point: You must submit the above documents within 3 working
days of filling in the on-line form, or else all your effort is a waste.
Remember, Thursdays and Fridays are weekly offs for Government departments in
the kingdom, so keep this in mind before filling in the form ~X(
Wait for about a week and the visit the above mentioned link once again. Type
in your iqama number and the acknowledgement number which is mentioned in the
printout you took earlier. If you get the same page after hitting the ‘Enter’
button on your keyboard, it means that your visa is still under processing.
Otherwise, you should get a so-called ‘Yellow slip’. Take two ‘COLOR’ printouts
of this, and keep one for your reference, and note down the URL address.
You have now crossed half the journey. The next step is to send the following
documents to your home country :)]
The ‘Yellow slip’ color printout mentioned above
Copy of your Iqama
Copy of your passport (remember, you are the sponsor)
Copy of your marriage certificate (required only when you plan to bring your
in-laws to prove the relationship between your wife and her parent(s) – this is
to ensure that the visitor is really your in-law
Printout of your last 3 months’ bank statement
A letter in English addressed to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate of your home
country stating that you will be present to receive your guest
Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your
salary
Send all of the above by courier to your home country. Along with the above
documents, the following should be attached by your family member and submitted
to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate in your home country:

Original passport of each family member who plans to visit
Passport copy of your wife (incase your in-laws are visiting – this is to
prove that the visitor is indeed your in-law)

Some Classic Cars collection I came across in Jubail, KSA

The cars were in immaculate condition, and what I mean is that you can just take the keys and go for a long drive. Wonder how much they would be spending to just keeping them alive.

Click to checkout out all of them

Classic Collection

It’s been two months

September 15, 2010 – it has been exactly two months since I heard his voice. I went back to India to complete the last rituals and came back after finishing almost all the pending work that he had left for us but it is still hard for me to believe that my beloved father in law is no more 😦

We miss you dad!

15 July 2010

I really wish this day had never come in our life
15th July, 4.00AM Jubail, KSA: – the morning that brought us the saddest news and left our hearts broken for life. The phone rang and my brother in law asked for me, as he never wanted to tell my wife about it. Since, it was 4.00 AM I was sure something real bad has happened but wasn’t prepared for worst. The voice on the phone was tensed and scared and he said ‘Papa is no more’ and because the phone’s volume was loud, my wife heard it and she looked at me & said WHAT? Before I could say anything, tears started coming out of my eyes and I told her that her dad has left all of us. Never I have thought that I will have to say something like this to any of my dear ones. Esp. not to her but it was true, my beloved father in law, the man who was loved and respected in the whole family, the man whom I use to admire, the man who my wife loved the most in this world, the man who cared for everyone and never failed to call and wish them at their b’dys and wedding anniversary, the man who was the driving force behind everything my wife has accomplished today, the man who was always giving us more and expected nothing in return, has left us.
It was real hard for both of us to believe and we started calling up people back in India to check on her mum and to see if it was really true. While the fact couldn’t be denied, my wife refused to believe it. She had spoken to him a day before and he said he was fine and will call her tomorrow (which will never come now). She started crying and it got worse, thankfully we had her visa ready with us and I found a flight to send her back at the earliest. It was very difficult for me to believe and calm her down. While at present she’s in India and with her mother and I’m still stuck here due to various reasons, I can’t help myself but to keep remembering him and thinking about him. It has been 34 hours since we have heard about it.

Our dad was a diabetic patient and had been sick from past 8 months, he was hospitalized a couple of times during these 8 months and thankfully we all were there then to take care of him but not even once the doctors mentioned anything serious about his illness that might take his life. He was sick but was responding well to the treatment and always had a smile on his face. Despite of all those heavy medicines and injections he never used to complain. He hated doctors for only one reason and that was from stopping him from having spicy food. He used to say that I cannot eat food with only salt in it, you have to add chilly!
I remember the gala time we had when he came to b’lore for the first time after we got married and the fun he had with us. He was always supportive and never said NO to me for anything. There have been times when he went beyond his limits to help me out and now all that are over. I really wish God had given us some hint or some more time, there was a lot that we wanted to tell him, share with him. I wish we had a chance to be with him during his last time, hug him, let him know how much we respect and love him. But all we can do now is just think about him, miss him and cry. More than me it’s his daughter who will miss him for her entire life, the bond that she had with her dad was different. My wife has never bothered much about anyone in this world but her dad, to her he was like her safety net, someone on whom she can always count upon, when things are not in her favor.
Though he is physically not with us today but has left memories of a lifetime to remember. While I and my family are saddened with this loss today, I’m sure we’ll remember him each and every day thanking him for everything he did for all of us in his short life span, and regretting that we couldn’t return even a fraction of those favors by loving him, taking care of him and being with him.

I’LL MISS YOU DAD, YOU ARE THE GREATEST!

MidRange

These guys are absolutely amazing!!
With each of them having a full time job and family with kids in their teens, they are an absolute pleasure to watch. I’ve been a regular to this place at church street called ‘java city’ and have seen quite a few local bands perform there on weekend basis. But this one got me glued to them.
The Vocalist, lead guitarist and the driving force behind the band – Angelo has just turned 45, has a son and a beautiful daughter. This guy (trust me) is capable of creating the chopper sound (the one you have heard in the Pink Floyd’s no.) from the guitar itself. He himself is a big fan of Ritchie Blackmore
Santo (or Dr. Santosh) is the drummer and has a PhD in bio – plays drums.
Clinton – Who can actually play guitar as well plays keyboard and is the vocalist as well!
Jerry is the bass guitarist in the band.
Bands they cover – Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Doors, Rolling Stones, Queen, Rainbow, Aerosmith, Santana, AC/DC, Scorpions, Dire Straits and so many more.
My personal favorites have been the floyd covers and Eagles (esp – get over it) and Dire Straits.
While I’ve now known Angelo personally for more than 2 years, I’ve to say that he’s a great guitar teacher as well. (Though I’ve forgotten all the chords that he had tought me 😉 )
I’ve to say that I really miss ‘namma bengaluru’ at times, all those things are hard to find in my present location.

If you are in B’lore then you can contact Angelo @ +91 09980478790 to check about their schedule and I guarantee that you will enjoy it.

MID RANGE ROCKS

How Google Works

Infographic by PPC Blog

Chargeable e-paper? (Sad Move)

Dear Timesgroup,

I’ve been a reader for timesofindia from past two decades. And now when I’m out of the country, the only chance that I’ve to know what’s happening in my state is to read the paper online. Until a while ago it was free and now all of a sudden you have started charging for it? How Sad is that? Is timesgroup going so bad on their finance sheets that they want to make money with everything they can find? How about an enter site page with a $3 charge on it? Also, I’m positive that as people will voice up on this issue, one of your competitor will take the advantage to drive the online traffic to their site and taking away all the ad revenue that you were getting when I was clicking on the ads shown in the e-paper.

Real Bad move 😦

Instead, start charging only for the current day addition (if you are so out of cash) and let us read at least the old additions (because they are as good as Rs.5/kg of old timesofindia’s hard copy). Archiving all these papers is only occupying space on your servers but is not helping the readers or you in anyway, does it?

Response AWAITED

Regards,
Misser