Pishna69
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| Fri Nov 09, 2007 9:17 am Falling flat on MAINTENANCE |
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Investment in a house or flat is a capital expenditure. Yet, it sets off a series of revenue spends that usually go under the name 'maintenance'. While most of us do detailed planning and also debate a thousand times before buying a roof upon our heads, one thing that goes out of the window is a careful consideration of the recurring outlay.
In general, maintenance expenses are inversely proportional to the quality of materials used in construction and directly proportional to the age of the building. Older it gets, more is the outflow for repairs and upkeep, as perhaps with any other capital equipment or human body. Again, maintenance expenses are directly proportional to the size of the initial investment.
There are no benchmarks. If a barebones flat costs you Rs. 10 lakhs, a monthly expenditure of Rs. 300 may seem reasonable. By this yardstick, if you are planning to buy a flat for half a crore, and the block you are eyeing enjoys cutting-edge facilities such as gym, swimming pool, Internet den and so on, don't expect your monthly maintenance bill to be only Rs. 1,500, but considerably more.
There are two types of people in Kerala flat. Type 1 inmates knock, knock on day one of the month and give their due share of maintenance. They must be the favourites of the association conveners, but there is a flip side: Most of these people feel their job is over with paying maintenance and don't involve in the block's problems. What is the other type? You have to keep running behind them and remind them that there is something called maintenance amount that has to be given every month to meet the recurring expenditure. They make life miserable since you need to keep doing this every month though they continue to enjoy all the facilities without a pinch of strain, either physically or financially. They wouldn't involve in any common activities. |
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