21 Jun 2009

Drizzle of memories

When i first set out for a shopping mall just for a change to the boring sunday afternoon, little did i realize how wonderful the evening was going to be! When we set out from from, a Nokia guy called me up for N97 demo, so i asked him to reach at the mall itself.. There was mist in the air and a slight drizzle happening..as we drove to the mall. When we reached the mall (R City), there was not much rush as it usually does on sundays. There was buy one get one free offer, and as i came to look for a formal shoe, i began looking for a sports shoe and bought it..along with it came the formal shoe for free. Then we explored the mall a bit and at the time of coming out, there was slight drizzle again. As it was not time for the monsoon and i knew it would not rain harder, we just drove the bike and reached the Levis showroom where we tried out some jeans. We both one each and one undergarment boz was free with it (i wonder which one is more costly )

As the alteration of the pant would take half an hour, we made our way to the nearby Chinese restaurant and helped ourselves with two plates of Chicken steam Momo (10 pieces in one plate) and then ordered a Momo soup and then finally a Pork ribs with burnt chilly sauce. We had a great time exploring in the rain, i guess. We came home a bit drenched and after a hot water bath..here i am as fresh as the desert rose after the first shower. I wish such sundays come every weekend...ok maybe every fortnight... oh ok maybe once in a month. Maybe.. there will be such more sundays this weekend but before the Monsoon. Lets hope the monsoon this time does not spoil the mood

Sleepless in Mumbai

Like anyone else would do and think of, i am not an exception to that! I have spent some 3 or 4 sleepless nights recently..thinking and rethinking ...searching for the perfect solution to all my woes. Like anyone else would be worried about a home, salary, a good life.. i am too worried about the same. Not that what i am getting is well enough for me, but being a human i yearn for more and more. Like everyone else, i like the best for myself and my family. There were many thought of few proposals in mind..and i was just thinking on how to go about it!!

A latest addition to my woe was buying a home in Mumbai. Many people have their own say to it. After looking at my boss and colleague, who are spending almost half of their salary in home loan EMIs, i begin to fear the every word of home loans! And maybe thats why i am scared to sleep over the matter. I would say that ...its been more than a week now and i am not able to come up with a best solution,. Coz the way i think, i overthing the next moment and say..hey if i invest a little more money in it i get a better deal!! And the same greed makes me sleepless in Mumbai ( city of dreams, as it is rightly called)

Whatever be the plan, what i have decided for now is to invest what i have in hand as cash and not take a loan as of now. If i run out of money, i will have to eventually take loan, but i will try to cash in as much as possible. Hope i will be able to stick to my thoughts and not spend one more night sleepless. God!! I hate it....

Colors of life

Bogged down with my usual work life, harnessing all vital essential proteins and energy from within, i dwell in the burning lights of daylight at office. In order to be capable of having a good future for me and my family, i glare at the monitor for hours..as if all answers lie within the corners of the monitor! With a new office setup in a nearby place yesterday, everybody got a new place in a stranger place. Come to think of it, my organization will scrap all other branches after having found this new office of our own..with some 800+ employees in one floor , 4 levels of parking space, and some 9 floors in total for all employees. I took a quite corner near the glass screens, with a beautiful view of the train station and the civilization outside,i am quite happy about it. I was quite busy making hard cash out of the dummy box.

Far away from the civilization, some people are sweating out in the heaps of mud, reaching out to those villagers who havent seen the outside world. Dripping in the thick rain, taking shelter in a shag and warming themselves up with burning logs at night, with thick mosquitoes on the run. No electricity, no safe drinking water, no built roads, no sign of civilization till thousands of miles...what a life it must be! Yet people are happy being there....being their hometown, at least they have something to hold on to! Our guys are enjoying their time reaching out to the poorest of the poor families ..to support some children for education, as a part of a voluntary and no-for-profit organization of ours. What a contrasting life, isnt it?

Some people are just worried about the money they make from the dummy box. Somewhere people are worried that rains will ruin whatever they have for their survival. What a difference in thought, what s difference in perspective, what a difference in LIFE!! I begin to ponder, what it must be life at the other end...which we cannot even think of..as long as we are a part of the civilization?

14 Jun 2009

How risks can get you a home!

Life is a risky business, but when business itself becomes risky - what becomes of life? However, if there were no risk, there would be no fun in life at all. I have made some plans which ought to work, with calculated risks in it. I love the beauty of the synchronization in the plan, hope they do work and dont collapse on me! There were multiple options for the same plan, i will mention one simple plan to make you realize its risky yet simplicity.

1) Buying a home
With multiple research results of my friends who already decided on buying a home, i base my plans on that foundation, with some risk that it work out as they have anticipated. I am thinking of buying a home in Thane now, like my friends. House are of two types - one with ready possession and another with later possession

Ready possession (tentative figures*)
1 BHK - 650 sq ft with carpet area of 516 sq ft @ Rs 3000 per sq ft available at 24 lacs
2 BHK- 950 sq f with carpet area 780 sq ft @ Rs 3000 per sq ft available at 30 lacs

Possession by year end or two (tentative figures*)
1 BHK - 550 sq ft with carpet area of 450 sq ft @ Rs 2400-2500 per sq ft available at 17 lacs
2 BHK- 800 sq ft with carpet area of 616 sq ft @ Rs 2400-2500 per sq ft avaliable at 22 lacs

2) Financing the home with Home loan
With all loans taken into consideration (home loan, personal loan etc) the EMI will come to around 15-18k per* month for 20 years (or maybe 20 years**)

Now comes the risky and fun part. Since i would not like to have a major impact on my salary, i have come up with a little adjustment. I need to invest in short term investment plans which can relive me of my EMI. To be able to do that, i have thought of investing in land or real estates whose project is going on. I cannot provide the exact details of the investment, but the returns will pay off the EMI without affecting the salary. Without mentioning about the investment, let me elaborate more on the financing of home loan EMI

3) Financing the home loan with another investment
With adequate returns on the other investment, i am going to create a diversion. Here is a small diagram to make it understand better


Step 1: Accumulate 1/3rd of salary for an optimal amount of time to enable investment that will yield return more than EMI amount
Step 2: Invest in some plan that provides returns for 5 years
Step 3: Give the EMI from the returns for the next 5 years
Step 4: Till the time EMI is taken care for the next 5 years, you can come down from 1/3 of the salary to say 10% of the salary amount and accumulate it for 4 years
Step 5: Invest the accumulated amount in the said investment which gve years returns
Step 6: Enjoy EMI free life for the next 5 years

This will go on until the EMI is over. And for all the risks you have taken so far, the return is even more pleasing - a home in your own name.

Don't go by the looks, think of it. Don't go by the title of the post, read it correctly.
Now i bet, you might have got the idea how all the three ingredients are necessary . Do expect your comments and opinions

Notes:
* The figures provided on land area, rates and place may differ from actual figures
* Calculations and information on home rates are research results of my friends and not mine
* You need to calculate your risk taking capability first
** Loan term for 20 years will have lower EMI but end up paying more

8 Jun 2009

Redefining thought process

So many things in mind..so many thoughts to implement...so many memories to make...in such a short and fragile manner!! I have had my last thoughts on some investment plans...which eventually gave a new twist when my frens asked me to reconsider the amount i am going to invest since it may affect my growth and career..with quotes like...riches do not come in a day...i am bound to think of it..until my colleague siting just opposite to me broke down his experience to me saying he had invested in some small co. and after 6 months the co was no more there.

I am still reconsidering the favor i am going to do to the company i was planning to invest in.I am rather worried about the reaps rather than the initial hard work and homework i needed to do. If he yield is going to be ripe and successful, i guess i dont have issue with catering to the amount which i had fixed earlier. Keeping my options open, i would be talking to other investors of the company and find out what their experience has been all these months/years now! Hope they will consider my request ..not to bounce my cheques at least for the stipulated amount of time thehy have promised. Lets find it out soon. Read my next post when i finnaly decide to invest and what hardhsip i had to face in it! I guess that will be a part of lifes experience.

7 Jun 2009

Need a break

I know what i have been missing these days recently. I was running behind others in the same rat race, watching others back and running towards the finish line. Now i know, i wish to take a break away from the race and have some time for myself.. some time far away from the glare of the computer screen and the blink of the cursor as if time is running out for me.

I wish to take a break, far away from the blinks and glares of the computer. But i guess i will manage for some days without the computer, maybe i guess...but maybe not for long. Like a glutton who keep yearning for food, i guess, i too have become one of that king ! For some time, i will be out of the race and try to look life from a different perspective...without any inferences and strings attached. I would like to travel a lot, but could not get time off from the office work.

Recently i have been googling and recycling news on the web for hangouts and places to travel. Event the thought of traveling makes me fresh..as i scroll down the middle button of the mouse to reveal the greeneries and beauty of new places which i had thought of. As decided earlier when i started to work, i have already prepared a list to travel each year..bit by bit. Now i guess i have changed the rule a bit... i will be taking at least 4-5 days off every 3 or 4 months and cover the places in the list instead of once every year.. howzzat!!

The list goes like this (tentatively and not in order of travel)
1) Lakshwadeep
2) Andamans
3) Pondicherry
4) Himachal/Shimlaa/ Dharamsala
5) Manali/Kullu
6) Goa (maybe for the 6th time now)
7) Kanyakumari
8) Alleppey/Munnar (Kerala)
9) Srinagar/ J&K
10) Ladakh/ Leh
11) Tibet/ Lasha

This is the tentative list as of now..the list will go on adding as suggestions keep pouring..
Hope my post next month will feature a travellogue of one of the places mentioned above, you can bet on it for sure..

5 Jun 2009

Let me the one you know, not what i wish for!!

The moment i wrote two posts on investing in a home in Mumbai, many people have been making faces at me, staring me with those microscopic and rudimentary eyes as if i have evolved just now! People make sneers and talk about me in the back..."hes going to buy a house in Mumbai".. and people would somehow react in a casual manner in the professional field. Though this thought is quite customary, i wish to rephrase my words again.. i said, i am thinking about it. I dint say i am buying a home. Well i guess that's the true value of land here in Mumbai.. like people making their mark in the New World after Columbus discovered America!


Like the saying in an old hindi film (translated), which goes like this... land sells at the price of gold, gold sells at the price of mud (land).  (बिकता है मिटटी सोने की बोल, बिकता है सोने मिटटी के बोल )True to its worth, land rates today have risen to such a height that if i decide to buy a few months later, i would have to shell out more money for the same land. In the end, let me take the honor to be known as the poor old guy, who would keep begging for money each month from everyone..rather than raise a false alarm with the very thought of buying a home.

2 Jun 2009

Difference between Investment and insurance in real estate

I have been thinking...for a long time now.. i have dropped the very idea.. i began to think of it recently...dropped the idea...and now rethinking over my decision...which way should i go?
I am thinking of the options in hand..available money...how much cash i will need... and especially.. what do i need? Is buying a home only the product of my whole career? Initially i was thinking of taking a rented place somewhere in some cheaper place but eventually...when the monthly rental crossed a little over my HRA i began to think WTF!!! Why should i be paying more money for such a room at such a place? Then i began to slow down my thoughts and made some research..took suggestion and advise from my friends and seniors... now i am wrapping all up and trying to align all those thoughts to effectively give an action..

Since i am working in a bank and have been provided serious drop in interest rates for housing loans (but with a limit) i am reconsidering again and again on how to go about it, if i have to and supposed to cross the bridge!! I can avail housing loan, vehicle loan and personal loan to buy the house, and take up rest of the amount as employee loans from the bank itelsef a slightly higher interest rate. Now all these LURING options are making me delirious and tempting me much more.

Despite this investment in home, i have invested in rea estate for short term finance (everyone knows of it). Here i wish to emphasize that such short term investments are investments whereas investment in Home is Insurnace. And financially speacking (being an MBA student) i have to decide between Insurance and Investment.. i have already invested a huge amount in the scheme, now i have to relive that yield into insurance in a smooth acquisition...insurnace over investment. Since it takes a lot of calculation and i am not much far behind in such investment calculations, which my friends are quite aware of...i am still sleeping with my RIM mobile in calculaor mode :)

Eventually, its all a matter of choice and not chance...like Matrix. Take the blue pill and you will wake up forgetting everything, take the red pill and you will wake up in reality with the vision to see the matrix. Unfortunately for such investment problems in life, there is no Red or blue pill nor there are any books on finance that can suffice the needs pratically. Hence that leaves me and my plain simple logical mind, which has not been able to come up with a simple logic with what i need. If i dont have the requirement, why take the long route and worry for what is not needed and can be afforded , maybe with a little extra money !! It will lead me to the same event of happiness, in the scafold of life. Whatever be the reason i wrote this blog for, i bet , the one who has been following it has got the reason and idea why!

Oh by the way, i am planning a trip to either of the following destinations. Lakshwadeep, Pondicherry or Dwarka in Goa. If you guys know anything or have ben there before....please please please... advise me for a convenient stay and wonderful time. See you around guys

Difference between Investment and insurance in real estate

I have been thinking...for a long time now.. i have dropped the very idea.. i began to think of it recently...dropped the idea...and now rethinking over my decision...which way should i go?
I am thinking of the options in hand..available money...how much cash i will need... and especially.. what do i need? Is buying a home only the product of my whole career?

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