Factors Should Influence a Homebuyer’s Decision..!

by Mr. Yusuf Turab, Y T Enterprises

The housing market may have had a rough time of late, but there are still plenty of us looking to buy a new house.

Whether it is a first time or / a seasoned house buyer, it is worth remembering that purchasing a house is one of the biggest decisions one can make.

It is not just the financial aspect but also the location, size & style of the home that matter.

It can have a huge impact on the running cost & the ecological footprint of the house.

Factors that should influence a home buyer’s decision:

Location is an important factor.

Consider the commuting distances & proximity of local facilities. With the rising fuel costs, it is always worth paying a little extra to live in a location where the grocery store & some of the other basic amenities are at walkable distance.

Amenities such as swimming pool, gymnasium, jogging track, club house, steam & sauna, spa, games room, movie hall & even a golf course are just some of the value-additions that the developers offer.

What constitutes a good house in the long term is a building that ensures comfort, health, well-being, convenience, resilience, safety, durability, and environmental sustainability.

It should be easy on the pockets when it comes to maintenance, energy bills (EB) &  costs / or hassles associated with water.

The additional amenities will not serve the purpose if they are not well-maintained. These also require well-paid, and trained personnel to ensure safe use.

Check if the windows are single or /  double-paned &  the doors to feel a draft coming through around the edges.

Never buy homes that are not fully day lit or /  have too much direct sunlight coming into the house (in warm climates).

Insist on energy efficiency measures like appropriate shading, cool roofs, high performance glazing, efficient lighting, and controls etc...!

The smaller your living space, less energy is needed to cool &  light it. With some thoughtful, careful interior design, one can create beautiful living environments out of some surprisingly small spaces.

Smaller house are likely to be better maintained &  hence, command a higher resale value per square foot compared to big houses.

Proper Water Management Plan..!

Never invest in a project that does not have a proper water management plan and seems unlikely to be prepared for drought situations.

Check if the project is harvesting the maximum rainwater possible and is treating all its waste water on-site to be reused for landscaping, flushing & external uses. Install water efficient low flow fixtures in bathrooms and kitchen. Water and energy are intrinsically linked. So, saving water saves energy as well.

A good structure should have cross ventilation and should have enough fresh air inside.

Insist on fully operable windows & check if the window area is 13% to 15% of the floor area.

Look for exhaust systems in bathrooms & kitchen. Get a list of all the paints, varnishes & adhesives to be used at house and ensure that these are free of toxic Volatile Organic Compounds.

Any residential development must allow & encourage its residents to segregate domestic wastes and turn it into a resource.

Look for projects that have separate storage area with different bins for recyclables &  a separate facility for composting organic waste to create manure or / biogas. The recyclables can be sold off and the organic manure can be used in the garden.

Look for a landscape plan that is natural to the surroundings, is maintainable, improves bio-diversity & cuts down on non-functional bits. Trees are good for a lot more reasons.

Space constraints should never be an excuse as there are many green roof and living wall technologies available that can help green urban buildings.

A new home should have an owner's manual to explain in plain English issues such as how to operate & maintain heating and cooling equipment, the importance of cleaning out gutters, what homeowners need to know about the various comfort features of a house, the names of products & materials used in constructing the home, and how to inspect for termites or /  other problems.

Any project must enable &  encourage its residents to live in an environmentally responsible manner.

It is the duty of the house buyers to buy responsibly, put in a little extra effort gathering project information & demand highest performance achievable within a budget.

About the author..

Mr. YUSUF TURAB, Managing Director, Y T Enterprises at Coimbatore

Contact Details:

Y T Enterprises, 18A, Hamsa Layout

R.S Puram,

Coimbatore - 641 002

Tamil Nadu

Tel: +91 (0) 422 4368896

Fax:+91(0) 422 2473697

Principal Consultant

Mr. Yusuf Turab

Managing Director

Email: yusuf@ytenterprises.com

Yusuf Turab's Overview

Current:

 Managing Director at Y T Enterprises (Sole Proprietorship) and Co - Owner at Saifee Hardware Mart.

Past -

 Manager of ICT at Institute of Hospitality

 IT Manager at Institute of Hospitality

Customer Service Executive at Wilkinsons retail

A self motivated Ecopreneur &  an accredited Green Building Consultant with a vision of a greener world & a passion for smarter living, an overwhelming desire to make Y T Enterprises a one stop shop for carbon neutral living.

Specialties:

Green Building Consultation, Green Roofs, Waste Management,  Rain water harvesting,Energy Simulations, Web marketing, Project management, business development, IT, Computer Networking and security and HR

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