3 things you must have in place before buying a new home

We list the three important factors to consider before selecting your dream home.

Buying a house, whether for the first time or the third, is always an emotional decision. One buys a house not just as a permanent shelter over one’s head, but as a space to grow with their loved ones. The decision cannot be made lightly, and many factors such as your finances, personal tastes and the kind of house you envision, come into play.

But the three most basic factors to consider when buying your dream house are:

1. The right location. Your home must be located conveniently from the main modes of public transport, entertainment spots (cinema halls, shopping malls, cafes and restaurants), schools and hospitals, etc. A friendly neighbourhood with green spaces and gardens for you and your loved ones to unwind in, are a must. Your proximity to all these spots matters, especially when you need to quickly nip out to buy groceries or have a late dinner at the restaurant on your way back home from work. Even your travel time is considerably cut when everything you need is close by.
2. The right residential building project. Often, buyers are taken in by glitzy buildings and tall promises by real estate developers. Though the market is sluggish at the moment, the real estate sector offers tremendous scope for potential developers, because every person requires a home in a growing population like ours. There is always a need for housing, but not all developers are worth investing in. Thus, selecting the right developer is important. For instance, if you are looking for a good residential project in Thane, you could check out Puranik Builders’ range of projects in that suburb. Opting for a reputed developer firm such as Puranik Builders ensures that buyers get what they pay for, and that all necessary permissions and documentation are in place.
3. The home that best fits your immediate requirements. This is a tricky one, and it needs close assessment. A newly married couple may be content to live in a one-bedroom unit, but if they are planning to expand their family, they may soon need a two-bedroom unit. Similarly, a retired couple needs a space that they can maintain properly and which is not too large. Meanwhile, a family that frequently has relatives and friends over to stay needs a larger space. Selecting the house is also dependent on such factors as the house’s future value, current market rate and amenities provided.

Thus, taking the three factors mentioned above into consideration before moving ahead with the house purchase, will help steer your decision in the right direction.

Escrow accounts: The basics

We present an overview of escrow accounts and the list of documents needed to open them.

The business world is a complex entity, made up of both straightforward transactions and highly complicated ones. The underlying theme of business, that of accruing revenues for both short term and long term purposes, remains unchanged whatever the nature of the company’s work or its scale of operations. This theme is worked upon in different ways, from the mortgage of assets to raising cash, to the simultaneous dealing with two or more entities at the same time.

This last is often seen even in dealings between individuals, when two or more parties are engaged in reaching a financial settlement over an asset, product or service. The payment terms may be set out prominently in such cases, however the actual channels of receipt of revenue can pose a problem. How can monies change hands when there are multiple parties involved? Escrow accounts are set up for such eventualities.

What are escrow accounts?

Take the example of two or more parties involved in the sale (on one side) and the purchase (on the other side) of a piece of real estate. The land is an owned one and there may be two partners who are sellers while the third is the buyer. The transaction cannot take place in one day, and the payments for the same are set up in stages.

Ordinarily, the payments would be sent directly from the buyer to the seller, but in this case, a third account is set up that holds these monies till the transaction is complete. This account is known as the escrow account in India, and it is a bank account that all parties mutually agree to open. The bank manages the funds therein on behalf of all parties concerned. Normally, the bank will also impose certain restrictions on the use of the account. 

The escrow account is opened for operation over a period of months or years, and only when the seller is convinced that the buyer has the capability to stand up to their end of the transaction till the end. It can be used for everything from real estate dealings, to holding payments for shipments and goods. 

How to open an escrow account

Reputed banks in India open escrow accounts for their esteemed customers and offer this account as part of their range of services for wholesale banking. Broadly, the following documents are required to open an escrow account in India:

• Request letter from all parties to open the account with the bank
• Signed copy of MoU entered into between all parties
• List of items under the transaction. These can include items for export and import, or sale details of assets at market value, etc.
• In case of account being created between a domestic party and a foreign one, an NOC from the central banking authority of the foreign country. 
• The companies’ documents proving place of operations, assets, annual income, IT returns, etc.
• Application form from the bank

Why go to China for a great wall?

The wall art you pick personifies you and by extension, your home. Here’s a handy guide to what’s new in the world of wall art.

The chicest homes are those that add deft touches to the décor such that each room and each element in it makes sense in conjunction with each other. A lot of this has to do with visual symmetry – and most of the flourishes you can adopt come from wall art.

Here’s taking a look at five of the hottest wall art trends you could consider for your home:

1. Geometric shapes. There’s something young and quirky about geometry, isn’t there? Imagine a framed wall art piece featuring nothing else but concentric circles, or a line of squares. Apart from lending quirk to the wall, the piece becomes a conversation starter (‘Oh, that’s…interesting,’ ‘Yes, we love having random triangles on the wall…’) and a focal point for the room. We suggest leaving the rest of the wall bare if you have a big bold geometric print up there – the print can get overpowered by competing patterns in the vicinity.
2. Bohemian designs. You might want a more free-flowing wall art to reflect the boundlessness of your own personality. Have you considered buying an unframed canvas with floral patterns, or wavy coloured lines or even the picture of a cute little girl clutching an even littler puppy? Bohemian chic was a major talking point last year, and we anticipate that the trend will continue this year.
3. Wallpapers. Before you cringe and say, ‘People are still doing wallpapers?’ you might consider that when we say wallpapers, we don’t mean the shiny ones with the cloying patterns on them. You can get wallpapers in a matte finish and you can also have them customised. Just imagine an awesome bedroom with all the walls papered to show floor to ceiling bookshelves. Or one wall that is a montage of your favourite family photographs.  
4. Paintings against black walls. Most people wouldn’t paint their walls black, but then most people wouldn’t know the stark beauty that black walls provide. A matte black wall becomes the perfect backdrop for a brooding painting or even a cheerful photo frame. It lends an air of sophistication and mystery to the room, though you might consider painting just one wall black instead of all of them. 
5. Stripes. Striped walls were a major trend about two years ago, but the style has now evolved to bold blockish stripes inside large framed wall art. You can break the pattern with a photo frame or a wall clock – this accentuates the stripes even more. Try this: create a pattern with stripes and intersperse with photo frames. This can become an interesting element in the living room. Plus, you can buy both the framed wall art and photo frames online at great prices.