Balador Athena By Sabio Eagle, Talegaon

Monday, August 10, 2015

Current status of the project as of 8th Aug 2015

Happy to share the good news!!

Finally the long awaited news arrived from team Balador in the form of an official email on 8th July 2015, mentioning the completion of project in all aspects and also that the project has received the Occupation Certificate (OC) from Talegaon Dabhade Municipal Corporation. Balador realtors extended the invitation to the flat owners to complete the formalities and take the official possession.

After competing the formalities, I got the possession of my flat on 8th August 2015, and yes it's time for celebration.

Balador Athena: In the lap of mother nature

Current quoted price

As expected, the per square feet price was raised with this good news and currently it is quoted as 4500/- psqft.

Going forward, I will try to post updates on Balador Athena if I have something significant and worth sharing. But I believe as this blog has served its purpose of providing the updates on the Balador Athena Phase-1 project till it's complete and received valid Occupation Certificate, which it has now so, further updates will not be that frequent.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Be smart, take a wise decision while buying a real estate property

In India, people have a distinct craze and attachment for real estate, be it a flat or a plot. Every one wants to live in their own house and yes it is logical also, as in India we do not have a very organised rental market and people have apprehensions about renting a flat due to various reasons. If we talk about the flats, mostly the buyers are from working class and the major source of funding for the purchase of flat comes from bank loans. First and foremost reason for buying a flat is surely for own consumption, the other reasons could be for investment purpose and for rental income.

Through this blog post I intend to highlight the points which one should consider while buying a flat for own consumption, for rental income from the property, or for that matter investment purpose too. Let's first see what all happens once you plan to buy a flat.

So, you have decided to purchase a flat, what are the next steps, first you check your financial condition and your loan taking capacity. Based on that, you decide on the size of flat i.e. 1, 2 or 3 BHK and the locality of your choice that fits in your budget. Next step, you start your search for the flats in the locality through online search, personal visits or by taking the help of property agents (that surely costs you).

Mostly people look for a new property which is in under-construction state, though there are some adventurous ones who decide to go for pre-launch offers by builders. So, once you like a project and you find that it fits in your budget, without wasting further time you pay the booking amount and book our dream home.

Let's see, what kind of information we seek from the sales person or the builder while booking the flat, few informed customers ask for the possession date, the type of amenities offered etc. Very few do some research on the builder's reputation, his past projects or ask for the status of the government permissions required for the construction project. And what response we get from builder for these questions, a verbal promise for a possession date, promise of amenities etc. The innocent flat buyers believe in the builder's promises and go ahead with the booking of the flat and later registers the agreement. So far so good, you are happy and proud of your decision. But wait, this is just the beginning.

After some time, mostly when major portion of your home loan is already disbursed and you have paid major chunk of you own contribution to the builder, you start to sense that not everything is happening as per the promises, plans and schedule. Changes are being made to the original layout plan, construction work is not happening as per the schedule and the feeling that the project might get delayed sinks in. At this point what do you do, you try to contact the site office to get more information, but as it happens, you do not get enough or satisfactory information, and it becomes a norm. And after some time of this continuous follow up, builder and site representative starts ignoring you, you do not get responses to your emails and your calls go unanswered.

Fast forward, few years goes like this and finally you get the possession of your flat. But are you happy, excited and satisfied? Probably not, right, the reasons are obvious:

You got the possession of your dream flat after a long delay from the promised possession date
There were significant changes made to the original layout
In this process you incurred significant financial loss i.e. the income tax benefit you could not claim on the loan interest, rent you paid while waiting for your own flat, loss of rental income if you were planning to rent out you flat etc.
Constant mental stress and fear of project getting stalled or getting completed without the required government permissions
There could be many more

At the hindsight, let's see, what you could have done differently at the first place to avoid all this hassle.

The best solution is, if instead of a under-construction property, one buys a ready possession property directly from the builder or from investors. The benefits are obvious: you get what you pay for as the property is in front of you. It can be examined properly and all the documents pertaining to the property are available and can be verified by a lawyer. But if it is so simple, why not many go for this option, these are few of the reasons:

The foremost reason is, people think that the ready possession property is costlier (or at least it appears to be) as compared to an under-construction one. And few years back this was true to some extent, as the property prices were appreciating at an unreal pace of 15-20% per year but not any more. Also, if considered all the points mentioned above, the benefits of a ready possession flat certainly outweigh an under-construction flat.
People do not want to miss the opportunity because of the impression that there are a very few units available and the stock will not last for too long, also the prices will keep on rising. . But if you look at the stats, there are quite a lot of unsold flats available to be grabbed. Also, in such a situation there are good chances of getting a good price if you bargain hard.

If you still want to go for an under-construction property, do spend good time on research of the property and the builder, his past projects, compare properties in the vicinity. Get the property documents throughly checked by a good lawyer. And its also a good idea to get introduced to other flat buyers in the same project and form a group with some common objectives.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Current status of the project as of 17th April 2015

Site Status

This time when I visited the site I was pleasantly surprised by seeing the work progress. Now, the project looks like it is on the path of completion with most of the major work is already done along with infrastructure work which is on the verge of completion.Frankly speaking after my so many site visits in past it was the first time I have felt this way.

There is still some work pending in few corners but nothing that cannot be completed in few days.The site representative mentioned that the inspection by government officials for granting the Occupation Certificate (OC) will happen in next few days and they are hopeful of getting the OC by April-2015 end.

Balador Athena: The main entrance gate

Balador Athena: The F, G, H buildings

Balador Athena: The B, C, D building and children play area

Balador Athena: The decorative water body

Balador Athena: Glimpse of the greener side of the project

Balador Athena: The club house entrance gate

Balador Athena: View of the garden, children's play area and club house

Balador Athena: Site at a glance

Balador Athena: Shops too are ready

Expected delivery date

The builder has officially communicated to the flat owners that they will hand over the possession of flats between 1st and 31st May 2015 along with valid OC.

Current quoted price

The current quoted price is 4250/- per square feet.

If you have any updated information on Balador Athena and would like to share with me and others please use the comments section below. Also, if you have latest pics of the site, you can send me on my email id and I will post it on this blog.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Current status of the project as of 9th April 2015

Site Status

Well, it's the start of a new financial year and we the flat owners in Balador Athena phase 1 are still waiting to get the possession of our dream home. Though, there is a marked difference in the work done between Jan 2015 - to date and the project looks pretty and complete. But, a closer look reveals that still some work is yet to be completed in every nook and corner. We can see labours working at the site, still one can sense that the labours strength is less than desired.

Expected delivery date

After repeated calls and communication with the site representative and Balador directors, they finally agreed to call a meeting in which Balador directors will share the updates on the status of the project and listen to the concerns of the flat owners. This meeting was held on 24th Jan 2015 at the site. The take away from the meeting was, directors promised to complete all the work at the site and give possession of the flats with occupation certificate (OC) by 31st March 2015.
But as mentioned above, the work in not yet 100% complete and occupation certificate (OC) is not yet obtained, now the date is quoted as 30th April 2015. That's an addition to the long list of promised possession dates till today.

Current quoted price

The current quoted price is 4250/- per square feet.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Current status of the project as of 3rd Jan 2015

Site Status

In the new year, I visited the site and was hoping to see some real progress in terms of the pending work completion. But just like my last few visits I could see work is progressing but at a slower pace. Infrastructure work related to club house and internal road was on but not yet completed. The entrance lobbies of the building were not yet fully complete.

Balador Athena: The view of C, D, E buildings

When I reached the site I was also up for a surprise, they have started constructing flats on the ground floor (stilt level) of 'B', 'C', 'D','E', which was not known to me when I last visited the site in Nov 2014. I remember, the sales representative (he is not with the company any more) told me that this place was reserved for rest rooms for the visitors (like drivers) for temporary stay.

Balador Athena: Construction of flats (new development) at ground level

In all they are constructing 8 flats consists of 1 and 2 BHK units, two flats per building. This new development certainly raises few questions:

Will it further delay the already much delayed date for overall possession? The current date for possession of the project is now quoted as February-end 2015 but looking at the current state of pending work it looks unlikely.
Also, as the lobby work for the buildings 'F', 'G' and 'H' is not yet complete, are they planning to construct flats there too?
When the wait of flat owners of Balador Athena project's possession with completion certificate and occupation certificate will be over?

Balador Athena: Internal road and parking space at the back of A-E buildings

Balador Athena: Club house and roof top garden area

Balador Athena: Slab work of I building

Expected delivery date

As mentioned earlier, they have changed the expected delivery date again and it is now quoted as February-end 2015, by that time they are hopeful that they will get the occupation certificate. At the same time they mentioned that the club-house related work and some infrastructure work will continue to be on and will further take some more time to complete. They have started giving part-possession of the individuals flats and some have already moved in.

Current quoted price

The current quoted price is still 3950/- per square feet and as a matter of fact I believe it has not changed since last 6-8 months.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Current status of the project as of 22nd Nov 2014

Site Status

It was the time again to visit the Balador Athena site to take stock of the progress. And just like my last few visits I could see work is progressing but at a slower pace, which is really hard to understand. Work related to laying of the paving blocks in front of all the buildings was in its final state. The paving blocks were laid at the back side of A-D building. Now they are planning to start laying the blocks for the parking area at the back side of A-D building.

Balador Athena: Paving blocks at the back side of A-D building

As I noted earlier, there was quite some work remaining in the 'D' building (and I think other buildings are no different) like a final coat of paint in the staircase area and also the construction material scattered all over the place in the building, also still quite some work in the entrance lobby was yet to be finished. Unfortunately, I did not notice anything changed between this and my last visit.

Balador Athena: Entrance lobby of D Building

I could see some work done near the ground floor elevator area, they have installed wall tiles which looks classy. Also, as I mentioned in my earlier posts, they have installed good quality elevators from schindler.

Balador Athena: Elevator area in the ground floor lobby

Balador Athena: Elevators from schindler

The club house construction work was on, and as you can see through pictures, club house is taking shape and the layout looks very good. As the club house will have roof top garden, it looks more or less ready for installing the grass bed and plants.

Balador Athena: Club house view

I also visited the 2 halls in the club house, I could see the plaster work was complete, the sliding windows were installed and also the false ceiling channels were installed. The tiling work is remaining in both the halls.

Balador Athena: View of one of the club house hall

They have started building the front boundary wall which is a combination of bricks and stone wall and it looks solid.

Balador Athena: Front boundary wall

Expected delivery date

There is no change in the expected delivery date and they are still promising to hand over possession by the end of December 2014. At the same time they mentioned that the club-house related work and some infrastructure work will not be finished by then and it will take couple of months more to complete. They have started giving part-possession of the individuals flats. Some have already moved in and few others are in process of taking possession of their flats and are planning to move in coming days.

Current quoted price

The current quoted price is still 3950/- per square feet and as a matter of fact I believe it has not changed since April 2014.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Current status of the project as of 2nd Nov 2014

Site Status

It was the time again to visit the Balador Athena site to take stock of the progress. And just like my last few visits I could see things are moving but at a slower pace and this is something which is not a very good sign. Work related to laying of the paving blocks in front of all the buildings was in its final state. Also, paving blocks were being laid at the back side of A-D building.

I visited my flat in 'D' building and I could see, as per my request they have installed the bathroom sanitaryware and kitchen fitting and also fitted all the electric switches, though few small things remains here and there. The representative informed me that the the elevator of 'D' building was also ready and once owners take possession of their flats and move in, the elevators will become operational.

But, I could see quite some work is remaining in the 'D' building like a final coat of paint in the staircase area and also one can see the construction material scattered all over the place in the building. Also still quite some work in the entrance lobby is also yet to be finished.

The club house construction work was on, and as you can see through pictures, club house is taking shape and the layout looks very good.

The Foundation work of the 'I' building was complete and I believe they will soon start the slab work.

Expected delivery date

I inquired about the delivery date of Athena and they mentioned it's by end of December 2014. At the same time they mentioned that the club-house related work will not be finished by then and it may take some more time. Now, they have started giving part-possession of the individuals flats. I could see atleast 5-6 owners have taken the possession of flats in various buildings and already moved in. Few others have also taken possession of their flats and are planning to shift in coming days.

Balador Athena: Paving blocks in front of A-E buildings

Balador Athena: Paving blocks in front of A-E buildings, view from top

Balador Athena: Club house got a coat of paint

Balador Athena: Work is progress for paving blocks at the back side of D building

Balador Athena: Back side view of A-D buildings where paving blocks are being laid

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Current status of the project as of 13th Sept 2014

Site Status

I revisited Balador Athena site on 13th of Sept 2014 to check the progress. And yes, I could see things moving but slowly, understandably due to the rainy season. Work related to laying of the paving blocks in front of building F, G, H was in its final state. The representative informed me that once its done in next few days they will start laying the paving blocks in front of the other buildings. Workers were working on leveling the other internal roads and open parking lots.

I visited my flat in 'D' building using the elevator of 'E' building. They have installed Schindler branded elevators in buildings and these are of quite good quality and very quick. Testing of the elevators of 'D' building was going on. The ground floor lift lobby looks quite attractive.

The club house construction work was on, and as you can see through pictures, club house is taking shape and the layout looks very good.

The Foundation work of the I building was almost complete and I believe they will soon start the slab work.

Expected delivery date

Well, this is some thing which disappointed me, they have again postponed the delivery date to December 2014 from the earlier promised Oct 2014.

Balador Athena: View of the club house and garden area

Balador Athena: Paving blocks getting laid

Balador Athena: Foundation work of I building in progress

Balador Athena: The clubhouse getting shape

Balador Athena: Decorative ground floor with installed lifts

Balador Athena: Another view of the walkway with paving blocks

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Current status of the project as of 7th June 2014

Site Status

I visited Balador Athena site on 7th of June to check the progress. I could see workers were working on the site. Mostly they were busy in painting the outer walls of the buildings. The coloring of 'F', 'G', and 'H' was almost complete. And few days of coloring work was remaining for the other buildings.

The club house related construction work was on. Also, they had laid the layer of stones for the internal roads. The site representative informed me that the next step is to lay the paving blocks on the internal roads.

Expected delivery date

As this is what we all are eagerly waiting for, I asked about the expected delivery date. She informed me that they are planning to handover the flats by end of October 2014.

Early possession

While talking with her, she informed me that they are also thinking of giving early possession to few flat owners on owners request, by sending an email to them. As they are planning to apply for part Occupation Certificate (OC).

I sent them an email and later when I inquired about the early possession status, they informed me that it would not be possible. The reason they gave me is, Talegaon Municipal council wants them to finish the remaining work first before granting them the OC.

Some pics of the site taken on 7th June 2014