Kerala Real Estate property investment checklist

For the past few years - Kerala, the beautiful southern state of India is going through a real estate boom. This is the result of the fast development in the economy and the overseas remittance by the NRK's.  Most of the realestate property investment goes mainly on construction of houses and business properties. Kerala real estateinvestment is proven as one of the most profitable investment for most of the people. The property prices have been increased in many folds in the recent times. The following article gives a brief look on the check list that may make your property more value and comfort to you when years pass by.  A) Accessibility Access to the real estate property is critically important. In kerala it is common that to find an affordable property with no direct road access. Quite often the only access may be through other properties. The access to the real estate property may be permitted by the adjoining holders. But this may invite problems in the future, which will eat most of your time, peace of mind and money. There are different types of access from public road to pavements and it is common in villages having foot path to the property not segregated with fence or walls. Before buying the real estate properties you have to make sure that it has deeded access to the property. If there are no properties between yours and the public road the fewer problems will arise. Without a deeded access you can hardly expect this investment making much margins in the future. Also you may find difficulty in selling off when you are in need of money.  B) Water availability Kerala has 44 rivers and a network of inter connected canals, lakes, ponds and other small streams. Still We depend on water for granted and more than 50% of keralites rely on wells for drinking and irrigation water. Though kerala gets good rainfall through out the year it faces acute water scarcity in the summer season. In towns the piped water also available along with the wells. In villages only very few real estate properties are hooked with piped or treated water supply. Depending on your investment plan you may need to make sure that the real estate property will have continuous and adequate water supply. If the real estate property has a well you may need to test the quantity, quality and availability of water. The quality of the water must be checked before you buy the property. This is particularly important when you are planning to stay in a congested place, since in villages the sewage disposal is through the septic system which in most cases may not be properly cemented. If there is no proven water supply you may need to consider digging well or bore well which costs thousands of rupees. It is better to have a study or consult and expert to know about the ground water availability and check the ground water levels in the adjoining plots through the year. This is very important if you are planning to live in that realestate property.  C) Power and Communication Connectivity Nowadays we cannot imagine a life without power and communication connectivity’s like landlines or mobile phones. In kerala, scores of places still doesn’t have power and communication connectivity. While buying the realestate property you may not foresee a need in the near future, but still I suggest that it is better to have a research on the cost to get it connected before you buy the real estate property. It is not uncommon that the real estate property owners claim that the electricity lines and phone lines are available in the nearest properties and you may get it through their plots. But remember we have hundreds of petitions in the court on this issue and may be you never get permission to take the lines through their property even if you are ready to bear the costs. Again it is costly if the connectivity is far from the real estate property.   D) Sewage Disposal  Malayalees usually gives less attention to sewage disposal when buying a real estate property, though they face different health hazards. Kerala is going through many deadly epidemics like chikungunya, dengue, cholera and other seasonal epidemics which took many lives. As we all like to live and brought up our kids in a hygienic environment it is necessary to give necessary attention on this issue. In Almost all places sewage disposal is through the septic tank system. Most cases the sewage is absorbed in the ground. It is a health hazard and may contaminate yours and your neighbor’s water supply. If wells are around, it is always better to have a test done. This is not a joke; since there was a report recently which claims that most of the wells in kerala are contaminated. You can have a visual inspection of the site for obvious leaks and have a test done on your well water.  E) Boundaries and deeded access to other properties. In kerala, you can see many of those real estate property advertisementsspecifies areas like between 10-12 cents, more than 20 cents etc. Most of the properties are not properly surveyed. And if you ask them on the corners they may say like it may be some where here or there. There are no fences to identify the borders. These types of issues have lead to fierce battle among the neighbors. So it is better to confirm the boundaries and corners of your land before you purchase the real estate property. Also you may need to check issues like deeded access to other real estate properties through the specified property which may split this real estate property in to two.   F) Natural hazards and pollution Kerala have good rainy season with a moderate summer season. In some of the areas both goes to extreme and on worst it affects many peoples daily life. Geographically kerala can be categorized into three like highlands, midlands and lowland. The highlands have gorges and deep cut valleys resulted in many mudslides in the past and have lost many lives. Relatively flat costal belt is frequently facing floods in the rainy seasons. Because of mining and draught of the Bharathapuzha River its basin seems to be little prone to seismic activity, and it is reported to have few tremors in the last decade. Since kerala lies in the center of indian tectonic place most of the state less prone to seismic and volcanic activity. Also a lot of unnatural phenomena’s are reported from many part of kerala recently like sliding wells down to the earth, changing color and smell of the water in the well, colored rains etc... Its cities are much polluted because there are only few measures to check the pollution level from the vehicles and industries. Though in most cases these issues may not be directly affecting your property value but still there are chances.  G) Others Soil test: - If you are planning to use the property for agriculture you should do the soil test before you buy the property. Also you must verify the continuous water supply through the year as I mentioned earlier. Enquire on the neighbors, since they are the ones who contribute value to your property in the future.