I recently met a 85 year old man who has all his investments in bank deposits and post office deposits. This is a good portfolio – and he has about Rs. 12 lakhs. As his income is below taxable level he does not pay Income tax, nor does he file his IT return. He had […]
I think this is not an article, this is a caveat. When you read my articles, please understand that I suffer from the following biases: 1. City bias: I have lived my life in the comfort of a city with good infra. The infra has been deteriorating over a long period of time, but I […]
This week had some interesting events…. – a friend was offered a 30% discount on a retail purchase of a flat in one of Mumbai suburbs – a lovely property belonging to Hindustan Unilever Ltd. did not find any buyer in an auction – at Worli – one girl was killed in Delhi by a […]
Why do I find so many attractive targets to write about? Just found an article on Rediff.com saying ‘Six reasons why property prices WILL NOT FALL in your city’. Let us look at it reason by reason? “Property prices across the country are unlikely to see significant price corrections of more than 10 per […]
I am convinced that there is a mafia out there of loan givers, steel manufacturers, cement manufacturers, etc. who want you to buy a house. I have been talking to a couple of builders, financers, investors….and frankly not convinced that the real estate market is any where near mouth watering levels. Same is true for […]
I have been hearing from friends about good real estate deals in US and UK. Not that real estate there is a good deal or a bad deal, but when you compare it to Indian prices, it surely looks attractive. It may also be some kind of a protection for people investing only in India. […]
A friend called me with a surprising question. Let us call him M.D. He bought a house in Navi Mumbai for about Rs. 80 Lakhs, – of this about Rs. 55 lakhs was funded by a loan from the State Bank of India. Over the last 4 years he had paid a lot of interest, […]