Tips to negotiate or reduce your property cost

Are you looking for purchasing an apartment? Is this your first property investment?

Well, even before you start with the process of buying the right apartment, you should focus on key factors like the right value of the apartment. Although the developer or the present owner would have told you the property price, it is important that you give a second thought about the right value of the property. There are many aspects of property buying wherein you can negotiate with the builder regarding the cost.

Listed below are some parameters which you can negotiate on before buying a home.

Get started with negotiations

• Decide on the apartment, i.e. its configuration, size, facing, location, floor etc. This will help you negotiate till the last penny.
• Ask for the total cost of the selected apartment unit along with its detailed break up.
• Compare competitive prices of similar projects in that locality and check for the pricing trends of that area.

Charges which can be negotiated:

• You can ask for a discount or negotiate with the builder if the apartment is a pre-launched one.
• You can negotiate with the builder if sale of these apartments is slow.
• You can negotiate if there are only few apartments left.
• You can join a group buying portal that brings buyers together for bulk deals and your chances of getting a discount may increase instantly.

The club membership fee:

Various apartments and housing societies have an array of facilities. One among them is the club membership fee which is customary and varies in price or its functioning policy. You can negotiate with your builder to pay a lesser amount for the membership fee. If you succeed, you can save 20-30% on the fees.

The compulsory car parking:

Since most of the apartments offer services of compulsory car parking, as a buyer you can ask for discount on the parking fee. You can save lot if you opt for uncovered parking for your car.

The floor rise premium:

Builder charges the buyer a floor rise premium for every rise in floor. You can negotiate with the builder on the floor rise premium and save an ample amount of money.

Preferential location charges:

The builder usually demands preferential location charges, i.e. you have to pay an extra charge if the apartment is facing towards a golf course, garden, lake, etc. or if the apartment has a park view from the balcony. You can negotiate on these charges with the builder.

Charges which can be reduced:

The brokerage charges can be waved-off if you research well and can find a suitable apartment that meets your desired needs and amenities by yourself. In case, if you have hired a broker, you can always try to negotiate his service charges.

However, do not try to negotiate on legal procedures as it is very important that you get all the legal documents cleared with the help of a lawyer.

The bank charges:

Although most of the bank related charges are fixed, you can still reduce the price by choosing a suitable bank which can guide you and offer you the best loan scheme with the best interest rates and EMIs. Ensure that there are no hidden charges in the loan process.