Constructing Home In India Only To Use When We Visit..pros And Cons

If you are frequent traveller like once in 3 - 4 months then it is ok but if it is only once in year it is not worth to keep t closed for a year. It will adversely affect the house and the house will deteriorate unless you want to keep a care taker .

Instead try to check if there are any good service apartments if you want the feel of the home .

 

Depends on your travel plans and home maintenance.
Once year, it's totally waste to lock for 11 months, with Indian humidity, temperature, electricity etc etc.
Once you build house, tax, electricity bill and water tax are levied.
Plus the cost of maintenance.
In major cities there Rental companies who look after the rental property and manage them. They incur 3000 RS per month, not sure how much they charge now.

You can buy 2 bhk apartment in outskirts of city. Or do get serviced apartments.

 

Fully furnished studio apartments with kitchen... Like residence inn in us usually given for long term stay .. But you have to search little bit to find a good one

 

Agree with Other posters, renting a fully-furnished service apartments for your stay is better than investing on constructing a home. And, now a days construction is no joke in India, lot of follow-ups with workers/builders need lot of time and efforts from trusted parties.

 

Hey ya!

The feasibility depends on what a hundred dollars per month means to you. Is it "oh my $100" or "oh just $100". Going by today's fx rate, it is Rs. 7424.00, sufficient to pay all the standing bills and maintenance fee of your vacant property in India (villa or apartment), unless you are opting for a Hiranandani landmark. But as the construction costs 30 lakhs, I am assuming it is a modest property.

Would you be blithe to earmark a hundred dollars from your monthly budget as some miscellaneous expense? Then, fine.

Next, house or apartment.

House: Spacious! No common walls. Distance/fence.
But, the day you visit India and unlock the door, you would be greeted by an insect army that you might not have studied in biology in school ...what the heck is this tailed insect. Same vibes for termites and other crawlies. Vacant house imposes protection and overhead monitoring to combat the squatting by strange insects. You should forge amicable relations with your neighbors in the community to regularly eye for creepy/crawly invasions. Any house constructed on ground is vulnerable to this outbreak of nasty insects and pests followed by mice and cockroach infestation. Be careful! House needs active supervision from neighbors. Theft? Goods theft? No gold nuggets but the cat burglars are happy with what ever they could lay their hands on. That said, a house is welcoming with patio and terrace.

Apartment: Safe! Neighbor's tv punctures your ear.
But, apartments also clamor for maintenance ravaged by pollution and dust. Chances of infestation and invasion are slightly lower though if you buy in a good gated community.

But, for both house and apartment, the day you visit India after a prolonged absence don't expect water from the tap to roar like Cauvery as it would only trickle tooh tooh toohoo.


Bottom line:

1. Assess the monthly overhead of $75-100 in maintaining a house/apartment in India and a not so sizable house tax on a 30 lakhs property.
2. Procure help in the form of neighbors to look after your property during your absence, which means you leave the keys with someone/watchman/family. They visit and inspect the floor, ceiling, walls, unattended leaks.
3. And, if you intend to stay during your visit, the property should be furnished. Think about it: gas, white goods, furniture, upholstery, drapery, linen, glass, bucket, mug etc.

Alternatives:

1. If you intend to holiday for a month in India, and would like to have personal time, book Airbnb in advance. As your native city has an airport, I am assuming it is not in some boondocks. Family time in a villa is affordable through reasonably priced Airbnb properties.
2. Have you ever checked hotel offerings esp. the newly launched ones, even the four star hotels give huge discount. Book in advance the 60% discounted premium room and spoil yourself with "Madam, what newspaper would you like tomorrow morning along with your coffee".

I am not trying to dissuade you from building your personalized getaway in India but nudging you to approach it with known and educated risks. By all means, I want you to indulge in a well-planned holiday pad as the feeling of coming to your own villa/apartment is priceless over all the expenses and exterminations (of insects) that you would have endured — I grasp that sentiment.

 

My personal experience don't do it. My husband bought a home so we can use it during vacation time. But apparently one family member was renovating their and moved in. Eventually they rented their place and now living in that home. My husband doesn't feel comfortable asking them to move out and every time we visit we feel like outsiders. Although they keep saying it is our house, we still don't feel like it. Personally I would say find a hotel near your mom's place where husband can stay and you can stay in mom's place. My biggest lesson in whole process was to keep life simple. By thinking of adding this comfort to our life we did nothing but more problems. And worst part after the house was built was we couldn't even visit every year like we planned. Every time we make plans and inform the other party something happens. It was a wasted investment of money and add to that the mental stress. It is not worth it.

 

If you visit India only once in 2 years then it will be more cost-effective to rent a furnished flat for your stay, do AirBnB or homestay, or even get a hotel room. IMO, it is not financially worth constructing a house just for this purpose unless you someday plan to retire there or want your children to have a home there.
Homes in India cannot simply be left locked up for months and years on end. You will have to hire someone to periodically clean and maintain the place since dust, insects and pests will rapidly accumulate otherwise. You will also have other maintenance costs. An empty property is also a security risk. The construction process itself will be a hassle. I would personally not do this.