Water Purifiers for Home and Offices:Are They Really Needed? How to Get the Best?

Some of my readers might have read one of my earlier blog article wherein I had discussed some pertinent issues pertaining to drinking water safety in my own country India. [ If you haven't read it, click here to read that blog!]

While drinking water safety is a major concern for my nation, India, it cannot be presumed that it is very good and very safe in the developed nations of our world today. For various reasons, drinking water quality deterioration is a worldwide phenomena and it is directly linked to multifarious human developmental activities. The more the pupulation and the economic activities, the more likely the water of that region becoming potentially hazardous to drink.

I remember drinking water directly from the open well of my village home in Kerala state during my childhood days without any kind of water treatment. Underground water filtered out by the layers of soil had been considered pure and safe in those days! But as the population increased and the number of dwelling units per unit area increased, it is no more safe to presume the quality of any underground well water.

For that matter, no water as naturally available in populated regions can be considered of having reasonably good quality for consuming directly without proper treatment.

Why it is so? Water is a universal solvent and cleaning agent. We use it for drinking, cooking, washing utensils and cloths, cleaning our homes and automobiles, horticulture, piscicultrue, leisure and several kinds of industrial uses. In all those processes, an equivalent quantity of wastewater is generated which we discharge to the natural drainages with or without some kind of waste water treatment.

Normally we do not bother to do any elaborate waste water treatment unless the statutory authorities compel us to do so. In most part of the world, waste water treatment methods for individual homes and small communities either do not exist or are not mandatorily enforced. Even for the industries, water pollution control methods are not strictly followed for several reasons including high costs, ignorance, lack of adequate technology and indifference.

Normally, a good majority of polluting substances mixed in waste waters, such as human excreta, pathogenic microorganisms and many other polluting substances picked up by water when it is used, get naturally bio-degraded provided the waste water gets sufficient time for the bio-degradation process to complete. However, with higher water usage on account of population growth and modern human needs, these natural processes do not get completed before the water is again drawn for further use.

Besides, there are many substances that usually get into water from various sources that do not get bio-degraded or removed completely by natural processes. These include various kinds of fertilizers, chemicals used for pest control, medicines used for disease control, chemicals used for washing and cleaning, hormones used for plant and animal productivity enhancements, radioactive waste effluents from thermal and nuclear power plants, hydrocarbon chemicals from autofuels and chemical plants, waste leaches from solid wastes and inferior plastics, etc.

Even water that looks apparently clean and hygienic, cannot be determined as fully safe, in such a scenario unless it is elaborately tested and certified.

However, high level water testing and certification is not practical. 

When water that we drink contains certain impurities in small quantities, it is sometimes difficult for us to know about it. When the color, turbidity, odor and taste are not upto our liking, we may reject it if we have other better options. But as water is becoming scarce in many parts of the world, we do not necessarily enjoy such a privilege of selecting water of our choice!

Then, how do we safely transform the water that we have to something really safe and pleasurely drinkable?

Large water treatment facilities are indeed expensive and only large industries can afford it. And the industries treat water in large treatment plants when they find it essential for their industrial operations.

For homes and offices, one may resort to getting piped muncipal water or getting bottled mineral water as marketted by the treated water suppliers. There are also several kinds of domestic water treatment gadgets available in the markets all of which claim to convert your available pipe water supply to safe drinking water.

Such domestic water purifier systems are numerous. Some of them use simple catridge filters while some others have a complex series of treatment modules that perform coarse filtration, fine filtration, odor removal, dissolved solid removal by reverse osmosis and finally doing disinfection by ultraviolet radiation or some other methods.

While such domestic water purifier units may do some good, they cannot be considered as a universal solution to all kinds of water purification purposes. That is because of the varying levels of impurities in the source water that may be available from place to place.

I have been examining the various kinds of water treatment products that are available in the world market today. While some companies make reasonably good products, all cannot be considered in the same way. All products have merits as well as demerits. It is difficult for the common user to differentiate between such products.

Recently I have come across a US water treatment specialist company which produce and market domestic water purification equipment in the tradename PureEffectFilters.

Their website provides much information and their water purifier units use high quality microfiltration catridges of appropriate designs to remove all kinds of unwanted impurities from almost all kinds of water while retaining all the essential water salts and minerals in the water.

They call their water purifier units as the water re-vitalizers because these ultra filtration systems only remove unwanted impurities from water while enhancing some of the potable qualities of water by improving its taste and freshness. 

The company's water purifiers are available not only in the United States of America (USA), but also marketted worldwide and can be ordered online.

Those interested in knowing more about water and the differences between various water purifier systems and units should explore their website. 

It is time that we start giving importance to the water we use. Let us not unknowingly cause our body systems to degenerate and cause unidentified sicknesses by consuming water containing unidentifiable impurities. 

Spending some money for getting the best kind of water purifier at home or office, just as the airconditioner or the refrigerator, should not be considered as a wasteful expenditure. I would say, it is an essential thing now.

I would suggest my readers to share this blog with their friends. I would also suggest some of them to be an associate or affiliate of PureEffectFilters in helping them to reach out to more and more people who might think of using a proper water purifier essential for good living!

Some Technically Wise Considerations For Buying and Installing an AC For Your Home or Office!

This article is for the guidance of those thinking of buying and air conditioner for their home of small one room office located in the cities and town of power deficient India.

Being a very populous country, India needs electric power in huge quantities even when its average domestic consumption is much lower than the developed nations. As per the 2012 data, the average domestic power consumption per year was about 750 units (KWh). This translates into about 3500-4000 units per family on the average per year or about 290-330 units per month per family. Since this is an average value, the higher income families must be consuming much higher as the a good percentage of lower income group families might be consuming zero to 30 units per month. It is also interesting to note the wide disparity of domestic electric power usage across the various regions and states of India.

Electricity requirement for lighting, fans, TV, etc are much less as compared to its requirements for the purpose of water pumping, cooking, air conditioning etc. In reality, those homes which use air conditioners consume much more electricity than those who do not have air conditioners.

Again, air conditioners which are of old designs and wrongly selected draw much more electricity. Hence, it is very essential that air conditioners are selected and used with some care. There is ample scope for reducing your electricity bills if you are a bit careful with regard to your air conditioners.

Most people are not very clear about the working principle of a common air conditioner unit. Any one who is thinking of purchasing and installing an air conditioner for home or small office purpose should try to understand the essential principle of working of an air conditioner.

An air conditioner is essentially used to cool air and remove humidity. Humidity in air is due to the presence of water vapor in air. Normal room air conditioner units also remove micro fine dust particles in air using an air filter. Some air conditioners also have electric heating coils in built which could be used for heating the air in winter time. However, cooling happens to be the primary function of a room air conditioner that we use today.

Cooling in air conditioners take place using the Joule-Thomson effect. When a gas is compressed suddenly (the scientists call it adiabatic compression) it gets heated up to expel the heat which it had. If the compressed hot gas in a pipe or container is kept for some time it cools and some gases even become liquids. When this compressed and cooled gas (which might have become a liquid) is suddenly expanded its temperature goes down much below the surrounding temperature. This cold gas can absorb heat from the surroundings which is at a higher temperature. 

This principle is made use in the air conditioners that we use for our comforts in our homes. An air conditioner essentially has a refrigerant gas ( a gas which is easy to compress and has some other desired qualities) contained within a hermetically sealed system of copper tubes attached to a compressor unit. It also has one or two fans for circulating air externally through the two tube coils kept separately. The principle of working of an air conditioner is shown in the figure below:

The refrigerant now commonly used in domestic air conditioning systems is a chemical substance called Hydro-chloro-fluro-carbon (HCFC) which is commonly now known as R-22. This substance when leaked to the atmosphere causes ozone layer depletion in the atmosphere and hence considered as not so environment friendly. Hence, alternatives are being experimented.

The air conditioner unit has two pipe coils, called the vaporizer and the condenser interconnected using and incoming and out going copper tubes passing through an electric motor operated gas compressor. The coils and pipes are filled with the refrigerant gas such as R-22. When the compressor starts, it continuously compresses the gas coming from the vaporizer coil placed inside the room to be cooled. The gas inside the vaporizer expands and cools and the room air is blown through it by a fan becomes cool. The expanded gas from the vaporizer moves to the compressor to get compressed and the refrigerant gas at the outlet of the compressor becomes hot due to compression . The hot compressed gas then moves to the condenser coil kept outside the room and its heat is dissipated to the air outside from the condenser coil. The compressed thus gets cooled in the condenser coil to become a liquid. The liquid refrigerant moves to a liquid gas separator from which only the liquid refrigerant is sent back to the vaporizer coil to repeat the process.

So long as the compressor keep working the refrigerant takes out the room heat and expel it to the outside through the condenser. The condenser is sometimes called the radiator as it radiates or discharge heat to the outside air. 

In a window air conditioner all these systems are suitably kept inside one packing. The vaporize and the fan or blower that circulates the room air is kept inside the room and the condenser is placed outside through the opening made in the wall. 

Now-a-days, split air conditioners are common. In this, the compressor, condenser and its fan unit are placed in one pack while the cooling unit (vaporizer) with its fan is placed in another pack. The cooling unit houses the electrical and electronic controls and connects to the compressor unit using electric power cables and refrigerant piping which are connected skillfully after installation without the gas getting leaked. The window air conditioners come as factory fitted and tested with initial refrigerant filling.

The air conditioners also has a thermo-stat switch which keeps keep the compressor unit on or off depending upon the temperature of the cold air in the room.

The capacity of air conditioners to cool is designated in terms of ton refrigeration (TR). One TR is equivalent to a cooling rate of 3024 Kilocalories/hour (kcal/hr). Standard sizes of room air conditioning units used for home and small offices are 0.75 TR, 1 TR, 1.5 TR, 2 TR etc. Commonly, TR is simply called ton. So we hear about one ton, 1.5 ton, 2 ton and higher rated AC s. 

The compressor is the key moving machinery of an air conditioner. The compressor technology has advanced much in recent years. In old air conditioner, the compressors used to be reciprocating type. These used to be big and heavy and used to draw much electricity. In modern compressors, rotary compressor technology is used. The power consumption for rotary units are much lower for the same TR.

Air conditioner traders usually try to sell higher tonnage machines which are costlier and draws much higher electric power. As a simple thumb rule, a room of size 10 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft high which is only exposed to direct sunlight only on one or two sides can easily be managed with a 0.75 TR AC. However, people might be tempted to go for an AC of 1.5 TR quite often. Of course, the cooling rate of the higher ton machine is faster. But ACs are designed to work on-off using the thermostatic temperature control. A lower ton AC works a few minutes more than a higher capacity one under similar conditions. 

Electric Efficiency rating (EER) with star ratings are used for designating energy efficiency of electric appliances. The highest rating is 5 star and it has the lowest power consumption. But between a 2 or 3 star and a five star rating, the practical net savings on electricity is not much for an average user because the cost of the machine with higher star ratings usually much higher than the lower star rated machines. When the cost difference is in thousands of rupees, it is not prudent to go for the highest star rating unless the machine is intended for continuous working throughout the year which seldom happens.

Window ACs are to be preferred in place of split ACs if your room layout allows installation of window AC. Split AC should be the choice only if Window AC cannot be installed suitably with its condenser radiator in the open. Again, use a split AC when there is a risk of some one intruding through the window AC opening.

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In split ACs since the compressor unit could be located quite at a distance (such as the roof top) the likelihood of room noise could be much lower. The only noise you hear is of the fan of the cooling unit. However, split ACs are not a well suited choice if the unit is required to be shifted quite often. 

COMPARE PRICES OF WINDOW 

A/Cs ON SNAPDEAL

In my opinion rotary type window air conditioners should be the first choice for small and medium homes and offices having rooms which are not so big. It is also better to limit its size to 0.75 TR or 1 TR. This is because, the lower TR machine draws much lower current from the house hold electric circuit. For example, a 0.75 TR window a/c consumes less than 1000 W of electric power if it is a rotary compressor type with at least 2 star rating. It may cost around Rs.15000/- while a 1.5 TR machine of similar rating would cost around Rs 26000/- and consumes about 1800 W of electric power. Obviously the lower rated ones are better both on account of initial costs and running costs. The higher rated ones would start and stop more making your home's electric wiring prone to higher sparking and burn outs. Again, the machines with reciprocating compressors for the same TR rating draws much higher electric power. Such second hand and reconditioned a/c machines are available in the grey markets in India at throw-away prices. However, their running costs would be very high if they are regularly to be used.

In places where humidity is low and water supply is not a big issue, the evaporation type coolers are much preferable both on account of initial and running costs. As the summer heat goes up with lowering of humidity in the air, these coolers give very comfortable cooling. However, they are not useful when humidity goes up during the onset of rains after summer. They are also not very effective in the coastal areas of India due to high humidity.

It is also not a very prudent decision to spent much money for fancy features of air conditioners. Of course, such fancy features are for those for whom money is not a big issue.

The best brands in air conditioners in India are Voltas, LG, Carrier Aircon, Samsung, etc. Voltas is totally an Indian brand and the current market leader.

Though I have advocated for window a/c of one or 0.75 TR, such machines are apparently in short supply as the traders normally do not seem to be keen in selling these for obvious reasons. So, if you are thinking of low tonnage AC, you have to be a little persuasive with the dealers. 

My Personal Reasons for Liking and Disliking Big Homes !

One of the biggest fascinations of human beings have been their fascination for building homes. In the animal kingdom, though there are a few other species of animals and birds who might be devoting time and efforts for building shelters or homes, human beings are the only kind who devote much time and efforts for building homes for them in sizes and facilities much exceeding their genuine needs. Perhaps the involvement and addiction towards clothing and shelter makes human beings a unique species of living beings different from other species of animals. 

Given the opportunities and the resources, every human being would naturally aspire and desire for making homes for them. Usually the individual who venture in to home making might even try to make such huge homes called palaces or mansions having facilities for sheltering not only for him and family but also for his servants and even for their future generations. The homes people make becomes larger and larger and is an indication of money and wealth the person has at his disposal.

For example, the following is the picture of the Biltmore house built by a wealthy american in the USA some time in the 1890's.

This building is now an american historical monument and a tourist attraction.

In the recent times a successful Indian businessman surprised every one in the world by making the most expensive home in the world in the Indian soil. It is a high rise building having a height equivalent to a sixty storied building built for a family of five and a staff of six hundred. However, the look of this building in the sky line is too ugly. Look at this picture:

Perhaps in another few decades this building too would likely become a national amusement!

I have given just two illustrative examples to make my readers understand more about this human passion with home making. 

Invariably, all human beings would spend huge sums of money for making homes for them. The degree of their passion and obsession with home making is directly proportional to their wealth. But there are some exceptions to this.

For example, one of the wealthiest persons in the world, Mr Warren Buffett, lives in a modest house in the USA. Let us have a look at his house in the image below:

It is indeed a simple house and such homes are common among middle class and moderately rich persons across the globe.

If you ask me about my personal opinion about big homes, my answer would be both in the affirmative and in the negative. I admire the architectural beauty of creativity that is seen in some big houses, mansions, palaces, bungalows, sky scrappers and row houses. But I dislike staying in big houses.

If the moneyed people spend their money to make big homes, let them do it. That way they are providing opportunities for the building architects, engineers, masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians scope to work and create buildings. In turn many fold economic activities are generated and it is good. These buildings, both good and bad, add up to give some contrasting views of human creativity on our lands. So, it is good. However, if some of these moneyed people exploit their workers in any way as was the practice during the periods of slavery, it is a matter which is repulsive.

Personally big houses are not good for a comfortable living. It generates some kind of a phobia for me. If big houses could give me a comfortable sleep, I could get such a sleep even in the open, the biggest shelter nature has given us!

Big houses prevent privacy. It cannot be maintained by one or two of the family. You have to depend on scores of others having different mindsets living with you in the same building. It is like living in a hotel room. Better own a hotel and keep a reserved room for you always rather than living in huge homes! But those who are driven by passions of  for a royal living let them fulfill those passions.

My home state Kerala is now a place of big houses. High value of foreign currency in India has enabled emigrant workers and businessmen of Kerala to enhance the value of their foreign earnings to enormously high proportions in the home land. They have been passionately making use of this opportunity to make larger and larger homes in their home state.

This has helped many young Kerala based architects to express their creative talents in designing big homes for the wealthy Malayalees. This Kerala Home Design website illustrates this.

But home building is an affair which causes heavy depletion of natural resources such as sand, wood, minerals, etc. Big palatial homes drains these resources considerably and these resources become too expensive for those low income groups to build their small dream homes. And the the practical utility of big homes is very low except that it perhaps elate the ego of the owner for a limited period.

Hence, people with some sensible and saner mind should not build palatial houses for them.

They could use their money for much more sensible things.

But homes are essential and people keep dreaming of having good homes built for them. Home building is indeed a costly affair.

Construction costs keep varying in India across the cities and places due to the cost variations in building materials and labor.

How much money would be required to construct a home? The estimation is a time consuming exercise and most often one may need the help of an engineer or architect for this. There are thumb rules which are commonly known to many who are a bit familiar with this.

But recently I have come across an Indian website which gives many useful information about home construction. This site has a very useful tool which helps people to calculate the approximate home construction costs online with just a few clicks. The site also gives a detailed cost estimation sheet also and one can compare the costs across a few select cities in India. 

This is where you can calculate your home construction cost online.[Click Online Home Construction Cost - Quick Calculation & Detailed Calculation] This site gives the present cost of steel, cement and sand - Click for today's indicative prices! You can also get some essential ideas about the important home construction materials.

In short I would advice all to be a bit careful while planning their home construction. Make it beautiful, useful and modest. That is what sensible people should do.

Forget about those insensible fellows!

Low Cost Pre-fabricated Houses: Something For Indian Entrepreneurs to Try Seriously !

A couple of days ago, I happen to see a website of a South African company specializing in the design and construction of low cost houses that could be made in just three days ! Later I have found information in the internet about the existence of many such firms who are specialists in this field. The idea they are promoting and implementing is nothing complex as compared to the high tech industries. But they are simple and most useful for human beings.

There are many unconventional options and designs. Pre fabricated and cast in site versions. The beauty is that these designs are very easy to make and are decent and more importantly, inexpensive.

[You may click these links to find it yourself : 1. Cast in-situ houses  2. Modular Homes  3. Modular Home Designs  4. am-cor pre-fab ferrocement kits]

If you search the internet you find that the world is much progressive in this except perhaps this large nation, India.

Indians are now consuming Chinese manufactured things in large quantities. The Chinese have gone ahead in this area too. There are many small and big manufacturers who make various kinds of panels for house construction.

Another important aspect is the large scale use of unburnt soil bricks of various kinds in house construction. Some efforts in this line could be seen in India here and there, but not in an organized manner.

On the overall, house construction in India so far in the organized sector has been in the conventional manner. Burnt bricks, cement mortar, steel reinforced cement concrete, some glass, some aluminium, tiles, etc all labour intensive, time consuming and expensive.

None of the present designs of houses in India are eco friendly. A independent house of say, 900 sq.ft carpet area takes at least an year to complete and costs as high as Rupees two million. On the other hand, a dwelling unit of similar size in a multi storied apartment building in urban India takes more than three years to complete and costs anything in the range of rupess three million to ten million.

Even though India is the second most populous country in the world, more than half of its population of 120 billion people live without a proper shelter. These populace is classified as the below poverty line (BPL) people whose average family income is less than Rs 5000 per month. It is just unthinkable that such people can even afford a housing unit even if it costs only one tenth of the cost of a small house that I mentioned above.

Besides, India has a serious shortfall of skilled labour in the house construction field. There is serious shortage of masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, construction supervisors, planners, experienced engineers and architects.

It is foolish to think that the Indian government can do some thing to sort out such issues. The governments in India now are too short of visionary leaders who could foresee such problems and use their leadership to do some thing !

It is not true to say that India does not have any governmental organizations to do research work in this field and popularize such useful technologies. Organizations such as the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) and many state government sponsored housing boards and other such governmental organizations have been in the field of house research and business for many decades. However, none of them have deviated much from the conventional methods of construction and could not popularize any practical and aesthetic housing designs which are affordable and also good to live comfortably.

Rapid growth of concrete constructions have caused serious depletion of river sand in many regions in India. Kerala is a good example in this regard. Here, river sand has become a scarce commodity that it is being imported from far away countries like Combodia. Even factory made sand, which is nothing but crushed rock, is also getting used as an alternative. The cost of river sand which used to be a few hundred rupees a couple of decades ago is now costing over Rs. 10,000/- a cubic metre. Cost of standard burnt brick has also increased many fold.

Concrete buildings are not at all comfortable to live due to its thermal characteristics. Homes built with RCC roofs absorb all the heat of the sun during the day and radiate it inwards in the night to the discomfort of the dwellers. People who can afford, then spend much on air conditioners and consume so much electricity making India a power hungry nation already, even with half of its population sleeping in the open skies !

All these call for urgent actions to popularize alternative design and construction technologies with regard to the future houses in India both for the urban and the rural people.

All over the world, changes have been brought about by dynamic and visionary entrepreneurs. This is an area where such people can think differently and evolve a business model that is useful to them, the users and the society.

Why not we think about designing, manufacturing and marketing completely knocked down (CKD) houses which could be assembled at site in a few days with the help of trained personnel ? Such houses should also look better aesthetically, comfortable, affordable and maintainable with a long life.

It is not difficult technically. Technologies and know how already exist in the world elsewhere.

What is needed is willing entrepreneurs who can take up the challenge to make a change !

The possibilities and opportunities are immense !


Note dtd 18-10-2013

For those who are interested in knowing more, I am including some prefab home and building manufacturers in India with their web address links:

1. Sri Vijayalakshmi Engineering Works, Bangalore 
2. Sintex Industries Limited, Kalol, Gujarat
3. Pre-fab Engg Consultancy, Bangalore
4. Champion Pre-fabs Goa
5. NCL Industries Ltd, Hyderabad
6. Shadows-Bison Prefab houses, Coimbatore
7. Smartec Build Systems, Hyderabad
8. Everest Industries Limited, Nashik, Maharashtra

Yet, it seems that no builder has apparently thought of bringing this technology to the convenience of the rural and sub-urban folks in India by making it popular and affordable. Those entrepreneurs having an urge for doing business laced with service should think about it.

The question is how a genuine person in India, thinking of building an affordable and durable home can have it constructed and delivered to him in about a month's time? Who will market the concept to such people ? And would such a home of say, 500 sq.ft be available at a cost less than that made using the prevalent technology using burnt bricks and cement and yet stylish and comfortable ?

The technology is available. What is lacking is the will to market it to those who need it.

[Please also take some time to come back and read my previous  blogs and blogs on other topics as well. You can reach to those by clicking the links in this page. I would be happy if you take some time to express your views using the comments facility down below. Please  use the same comment facility to interact with me for any doubts or clarifications that you might have. Here is the page link which gives the   list of all my blogs  where you can open all my blog titles.]

Thinking of owning a home in India ? You may consider these too !

There are basically two kinds of people who consider owning a residential property in India. The first types want to have a house of their own to live in happily ever after. The second types are those who consider houses as real estate assets that can be acquired and accumulated as means of wealth whose value rises with time. The first types would not dispose their houses come whatever may. On the other hand, the latter types might dispose off their houses at the most opportunistic moment of time. The former have sentiments attached to the house while the latter may not have such a soft thought.

The first types might be willing to spend a good fortune in building or furnishing their dream homes. For them home means many things such as a symbol of status, power, sentiment, pride, comfort, luxury, security, peace, showpiece, etc, etc., in addition to being a mere shelter for a living.

Whatever be the case, owning a magnificent home, unique in many ways is the dream of any human being. Whenever man gets enough money he looks towards making a house. For most people, whenever their incomes exceed the levels that are required for sustaining their lives with regard to food and clothing spending on home starts. The only thing that may precede this activity would be perhaps spending on jewelry.

In my home state, Kerala, a good number of people for the last two three generations have got opportunities to earn a few times more by working in foreign countries than their local cousins who toil similarly at their motherland. This excess incomes have translated into palatial homes in the nook and corner of Kerala for the last few decades. Those who could afford it made such huge brick and concrete buildings of all possible shapes and looks in just about fifty years time that consumed all the river sand this coastal state had accumulated ever since it came into being as a geographical entity! House building is such a craze with the Keralites now that all the natural raw materials for making a house such as sand, brick and timber are expensive materials for which the Malayalee would perhaps die or kill !

Taking a cue from the Malayalees and seeing their affluence as reflected in their palatial houses built from monies earned from hostile countries and regions abroad, the rest of India too got into action. Others from Bihar, Bengal, Punjab and Gujarat too began to venture out of India in search of incomes that their home country administrators would not allow them to make at home.

India is the only country in the world which has two types of citizens. Those toiling at home with lower incomes and higher taxes and those doing the same outside with higher incomes and lower taxes with the latter spending their excess in building homes as show pieces to show off their affluence to their less privileged country cousins.

Of late some of the foreign employers of Indians have realised this and began to set up their shops in Indian metros where they could employ them spending lesser than their own countries which have stringent laws in favour of the workforce than India. This has resulted in a spurt of demand for more comfortable shelters of international standards in the Indian metros.

Real estate business that used to be a phenomena of the Mumbai metro culture is now a booming industry all over India. The biggest gainer from this industry is the Indian governments and the colonisers (official name given to the private real estate business men)

Whatever be the case, there are more and more Indians who have excess incomes to divert to their dream homes. Some have more than enough to fulfil their dreams, while a greater number are with a comfortable earning more than that they need for their life routines.

Now the big question for the latter group is whether to venture into owning a residential property by committing their future excess income potentials to bank loan equitable monthly instalments (EMI) or not.

This blog is for this group of people.

My advice for them would be this.

If you have a house any where else such as a likely share from your parents and your income excess is just enough to meet you EMIs, I would advice you not to go for a house. It would be better for you to live comfortably in a rented accommodation and save you excess incomes to accumulate in other safe manner. Never ever make an EMI commitment which is just matching your excess income or higher even marginally.

If your excess income cannot afford a home in your place of work, for example in a metro city near to your work place,  but can comfortably afford one located in some other location, you may think of owning that as an asset. In this case, you should be prepared to dispose it when you are in need of cash or when you find a reasonable appreciation of your savings.

Once you have decided to buy a property, check the reliability of the seller and the details of the property thoroughly. In India, property related litigation and troubles are many. Just because the property is cleared by some authority does not mean that it is a safe investment. In India there are too many authorities who could cut each other at your costs !

Never buy a property which you cannot look after. You should establish your credentials in the locality where you are proposing to own the property and do all such things to physically take possession of it by making your ownership known to a few of your neighbours.

Ensure that all the property documents are properly made  with regard to the identities of the seller and the buyer. Ensure also that your property is well defined in the documents. Checking the details of the property with some legal practitioner experienced in this field is a wise idea.

If you are thinking of buying a new flat or apartment in a multi storied apartment building from a builder, you should know that there are certain things for which you are responsible. There are many things which are common facilities which need to be managed and maintained well for all the years later if the property need to be a good dwelling place. This includes the regular cleaning, garbage collection, lift operation and maintenance, management of security, water supply system operation and maintenance, parking space management, etc. As per the prevailing Indian laws as applicable in different states, these are responsibilities that are to be handled by the association of the owners themselves. These are not the responsibility of the builder of the real estate developer.

In India many buyers of apartments are pretty unaware of this fact. They are made to believe that the real estate company which sold the flat would take care of this always. The real estate company would not tell the buyers about this and they keep telling and advertising these in such a clever manner that the buyer would know about these only by hard experience later.

It is a wise idea to know the details of the other buyers of flats in the same apartment building. If the majority of the owners have just bought it as an investment, the place many not be a good one for a comfortable living, unless there is a responsible society which is in place to manage it.

The apartment owners societies are a type of local government and are formed by democratic principles. For the same reason, there is all possibility of vested interests or incompetent persons managing the affairs from time to time later making things not so palatable to the individual owners or residents.

But awareness of these things by the owners and their tenants would make things much easier for all.

The multi storey apartment management is not an easy thing. There should be a dedicated team of employees and a responsible management who knows fundamentals of good management. If not there will be hardships for the residents.

Future value of an apartment in a multi storied apartment building depends much on the way it is managed and maintained in the future years after the builder has sold the individual units. Much of this depends on the mutual understanding among the owners who form the management association of the apartment building. Mutual distrust and infighting between the owners can cause great damage to the individual owners. It is in the interest of the owners to encourage the few among them who volunteer to take the responsibility of forming their association. If no one comes forward they should be prepared to take up this responsibility themselves. If you are not willing to do this, you should not consider buying a flat.

If you are thinking of making a house of your own in a piece of land, then you should check the details of the land. All lands in India are not suitable for residential purposes. It is better that you check all these matters carefully.

My purpose of writing this blog is not to give all the details concerning property matters here. It is only to remind those thinking of owning a residential property regarding some of the important aspects that they should keep in mind before actually venturing in to it.

Buy or build homes that are of a size that you actually need. Huge sized homes are a liability even for those who have surplus incomes and wealth.

But if those of this kind want to indulge in showing off their riches, let them do it. After all what would such people do with the accumulation of money with them. If they spend those huge sums of money in making palatial buildings that would benefit the architects, artisans, contractors and the governments besides beings eyecatching delights to the commons. In one or two generations time those buildings would either become museums or ghost bungalows or hotels or government offices, if we take the cue from the past !

But ideally a family comprising of less than four members does not need a house which is more than 1500 square feet of carpet area. Any thing half that size I would say just a necessity and any thing double or more I would say an extravaganza.

I am a common man and I cannot think like aristocrats. But I do pity those neorich fellows who do everything in life to live like aristocrats of the past by building palatial buildings, some of them much bigger and stylish than the palaces of the royals of the past. Pitying because of their desparate dependency on servants and household staff on whom they have sold off their self esteem, privacy and personal hygiene. Real big houses are indeed prisons, may be even worse than prisons !

In one way you should be happy if you are not of the vulgar rich type who can afford a palace !