Can I buy a villa?
We asked architect G. Ganesh about the pros and cons of single house, villa and apartment. He said…
“Houses like villas are now increasing in the market. This makes people welcome. The reason is their beauty and convenience. (A villa surrounded by a garden, a house like a bungalow in the middle, and a swimming pool is called a villa. But now, individual houses in a row within a common compound are marketed as villas.) This is also called a ‘gated community’. These houses look like individual houses. Compound, garden, parking facilities are all there. At the same time, there is a common swimming pool, playground, park and recreational facilities to relax. Prices of villas vary from city to city. Villas are priced from Rs.50 lakhs to crores.
There are many advantages of buying villas.
1. Villas are meant to give us solid future value. Even if you have to sell, you can sell for a good price.
2. Villas feature a secure, fully equipped private home. Interferences from others will not be too great. You can be independent in your own home. Only in common places will have to follow the relevant rules.
3. In villa houses, living room, bed room, kitchen are all built according to the structure of the house.
4. Since the space around the house and within the compound is yours, you are also free to use the space as per your choice.
5. The important thing about it is that there is no major lack of security as there are facilities from security to CCTV.
Problems: 1. Beautiful and luxurious villas attract people. If you maintain the villas with the same beauty as when you bought them, their luster will last forever. Therefore, the maintenance cost of villas is higher than other houses.
2. Villas are a little far from the city as they require a large amount of space. It should be seen whether the location of the villa is convenient for going to office and children’s school and college. If the trip takes too long, you won’t have enough time to enjoy yourself no matter how beautiful the villa is. Then, that creates stress.
4. Villa houses have a fixed floor plan. In addition to these, permission to build a site is likely to be denied.
5. Even though villas have all the facilities, how much we use those facilities is important. There is no need to opt for villas if no one is using any of the facilities in the house.
Can I buy a separate house?
Although cities are full of apartments, most people have a strong preference for a detached house. The reason is the value of the land, and it has many facilities like building additional floors and renting them out if needed. In a detached house we can rest easy as no one will bother us and there are many more amenities.
Advantages: 1. In case of a separate house, we can take any decision entirely depending on the house. We can maintain it as per our need and as per our convenience.
2. As for the individual house, we can buy the plot and design the house completely according to our choice. But buying a plot and building a house in the cities is not that feasible. So, you can buy a plot a little outside the city and build a house. If you are buying a detached house that is already built, we can make the necessary changes in it if you like.
3. We can rent the remaining floors for our needs in individual houses. This can also generate income.
Problems: 1. The budget is high if it is a private house. Even assuming a minimum size of 1,000 square feet, the value of individual houses can range from Rs.60 lakh to Rs.1 crore.
2. Mostly detached houses in cities are newly built and not available for sale. Old houses are for sale. If their value is already high, the cost of renovating them will also be quite high.
3. Detached houses cost more to maintain. Water facility, sewerage facility, electric connection etc. should be monitored regularly.
4. Private houses do not have the same amenities and entertainment features as in villas.
5. Detached houses are less secure than apartments and villas. Private houses are more prone to theft and robbery. You can’t go anywhere for long periods of time, leaving home alone. Someone always has to be home. Even if there are people in private houses in undeveloped areas, there is a possibility of danger.