Buying A Home? Here Is Why Good Location Matters

The choice of location is the toughest part of making a real estate investment. It should be far enough from hustle bustle to allow for peaceful existence and also have the amenities in place. There are a host of other factors that make your flat a home.  
Here are the points that make location very crucial for both rental homes and residential projects in India:

1. Good and safe neighborhood: Make sure the new area where you are moving in does not have a history of crime, especially burglary. Even enhanced security will not help if the area is known to harbor criminal elements. It would also make you nervous about travelling late and cut off other comforts if it is otherwise.

2. Proximity to schools: This becomes the biggest attraction while you are hunting for a new apartment in Delhi, for instance. If a home is too far away from schools, it becomes uninhabitable. While elders can survive two to three hour-long commute to work, children will not be able to survive a bus ride which is more than half-an-hour long. That should be the thumb rule while zeroing in on a location.  

3. Amenities and utilities: A location is good enough to reside only if the civic body provides water. Also, it should be in an area where the electricity board gives regular power supply without power cuts. Without these utilities, a home would be a dud investment and it will be unlivable. Even in metro cities, homes with lack of water supply go for a huge discount to the existing property value of the area. Make sure that these do not affect your property.

4. Ease of transportation: A good residential project should always be well-connected to the city. Buyers of upcoming properties in India look for good roads or flyovers that connect the area to main city. If there is a metro or an AC bus service, it makes it even better. Areas where autos and taxis do not ply or are tough to find are shunned by people. Even if you own a car, lack of public transportation can be a very drag on the property you live or rent.

Even if the location where you are buying a home does not have all these currently, make sure that it will evolve into an area that could have all the amenities. If the property is close to the highway or is being developed by a builder who has forayed into educational institutions and malls, be sure that the location will become a full-fledged residential location in a few years.  

(The writer has been working as a business journalist for the last nine years, and has covered beats across banking, pharma, healthcare, telecom, technology, power, infrastructure, shipping and commodities)