“A million homes in 10 years” – thats what we want to achieve. Think about it, that is a 100,000 homes every year, which means, over 250 houses a day, every single day for the next 10 years. And we think we can!
This doesn’t mean we compromise on the quality of our homes, in fact, when you read about our construction technology and building materials, you will find it hard to believe we are making budget homes …quick! We want to achieve this feat by sticking firmly to our objective – To provide housing that meets high quality standards, delivered at low cost. We believe you, the customer, can take possession of your home within 18 months of booking.
‘Vaibhava‘ is VBHC’s first housing project in Bangalore and among other things, it was the first time we were introducing the concept of affordable housing to a demographic that was never really used to hearing things like this in the housing market.
The pitch was simple – your own house, for a price you won’t believe!
And to make it local and give it the ‘Kannada Touch’, we decided to go with “Ashte Na?!” – the teaser campaign that would start appearing all over the city with hoardings around the city that just had a simple message – IS THAT ALL?!
We even got one of India’s best, music directors, Raghu Dixit, who incidentally is based out of Bangalore, to compose our jingle which was scorching the airwaves on Bangalore’s FM stations and our ads slowly started appearing in the newspapers as well, so we were pretty sure we had Bangalore’s curiosity piqued about us, and it was time to deliver the message!
And the message was as simple – ‘Ashte Ri!’ – which means ‘Thats all!’ – our houses are a lot more affordable than a sedan on the streets, built with state of the art technology, and an unmatched quality, and THAT house comes to you in less than a year from now. Now try beating that promise!
And the results were astounding – we sold out phase 1 in less than 30 days after launching the campaign, thats over 350 houses in a month and are now close to going over 700 houses sold since we launched Vaibhava and we cannot be more excited for the project. Construction is in full swing and its incredible to see one house being built in a day, but we will talk more about it very soon.
For details on VBHC’s ‘Vaibhava’, click to check the project page
The first thing a new house buyer asks anyone is – “What should I be looking at when I go to look at houses to buy?” – and to be honest, that question is never really answered, or rather, there is no fixed answer that works for this question. So what we thought we’d do is put together our top 5 things to look for when you set out to buy your dream house.
Of course, this list is not absolute and is in no particular order. It is just meant to get your started on the path to finding your own dream house!
That said, here we go …
1. Location, Location, Location
The most popular adage in the property business is, that the value of a property depends on 3 factors, Location, Location and Location. Now this is true and while we agree with it, we’d like to add a little condition to it.
“Its not as important to get a house in great location, as it is to get a house in a great location for YOU!”
There is a slight difference in those 2 statements and that difference is YOU. Find a location that works for you and you will never crib about your house again. If your office is on the outskirts of the city, what good will a house on the other end of the city do? however lucrative it was when you bought it?
If you know for sure what you will mostly be doing in the immediate future after buying the house, in your life, in your career, that should play a big part in where or in many cases, if you should buy a house!
2. Quality
For most of us, and I emphasize on the ‘MOST’, a house is a one time purchase. That being the case, the obvious thing to do is to get a house that is constructed well. But it would surprise you to see the number of people who compromise on basic things when they set out on their house hunt.
Yes the wires are popping out of the building, but its a 10 year old building, so thats expected. Yes there is barely any space to walk in the corridors, but who spends so much time in the corridor anyway? – We some how tend to make up excuses to justify a bad purchase.
All we have to say in this matter is – you will, in all probability, buy a house once, and there are no ‘exchange offers’!
3. Affordability
There are debates that rage on the Internet about whether it is advisable to buy a house or should one just live in a rented house forever? You can also find, people who have researched and have mathematical proof, one way or the other. Our take on this matter is, if you are reading this post, then you are certainly invested in the idea of owning your own house. All we ask you to do is make sure you can afford the house you want to own!
A great home at an exorbitant price could cripple your financial situation for years, also, consider extras like the swimming pool and the jacuzzi, and make sure the cost implication is worth it. While it sounds nice to say that you live in a place that has all those things, they may not be used as often as you are paying for them.
4. Home Loans
How much should you borrow, how much should you raise yourself? Which bank should you go with? Which bank has the best deal? How long should your tenure be? How is your EMI calculated? How much of a loan are you eligible for? All these are questions you need to have answers for, and sadly, there is no “One size fits all” solution for these, and it completely depends on your situation.
Here is an interesting resource we found that answers a few of these questions in depth – http://www.guide2homeloan.com/resources/home-loan-faqs.aspx – But again, ensure that you get a variety of options and consider them all and choose one that suits your purpose and your situation best.
5. Documents
A unique facet to buying a house in India is the legal documentation that one has to obtain to actually accomplish the task. Right from the ‘Khata’ to the ‘Encumbrance Certificate’ to the’ No Dues Certificate’ from the apartment owners association or the colony as the case may be, there are a variety of documents required and not all of it is obvious at first glance. Please ensure you have competent legal counsel and have verified all possible documents before you commit to the purchase.
A complete series on the type of documents required for buying a house will be featured on this blog soon, so do keep a watch out for it.
We launched our first project ‘Vaibhava’ in Bangalore recently and we decided to go with a campaign that would arouse the curiosity of the local Bangalorean enough to check what VBHC’s Vaibhava was about and from there, we knew that the product would speak for itself. So we went with the ‘Ashte Na?, Ashte Ri!’ slogan which translates to, ‘Is that All?, Yes please!’
But we din’t just stop there, we went out and got one of Bangalore’s or should we say, India’s best music composers, Raghu Dixit to make the music for the campaign. Raghu did a stellar job as you can hear below and the entire campaign has been met with tremendous success!
Listen to the jingles here and go ahead and download and share them, and also check out photos from our campaign on our flickr page here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/vbhc/sets/72157625322600992/
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“I was on the lookout for a Residential apartment in Bangalore for the past several months. I had the opportunity to visit several sample projects of different developers but in some way or the other they did not suit me, either the cost was too high for...
“It is indeed a pleasure to write in support of “VBHC Vaibhava” – if there was one sensible low-cost-no-frills-but-no-corners-cut project for sensible Ordinary Indians then this must be it. I came to know of it through the newspapers and their website. I did indeed make the effort and...
