Finding a Right Sized Home!

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He is happiest, be he a king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. … Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. And no wonder with that kind of qualities (read as knowledge) Goethe can describe the importance of a home in such simple words as after all a hope is something which is a priority (and a need) also for every living being & not just humans! Though it is the humans only who are the most intelligent species (self-proclaimed though) has not just learnt the art of home building but improvised it & started using it for commercial purpose too as barring humans no other species in the world builds homes for others. There are few examples of the species which encroach or occupy other specie’s homes but ever heard that a tiger sold his house to some other tiger or to a leopard as the leopard gave a better deal!

Sorry for the track I went on though this sharing is not about wildlife or nature but the reference is related to the topic i.e., real estate, rather homes & inspiration is a recent news I read which said post pandemic, the demand for bigger sizes homes has been increased in Pune! You will say what’s big deal, who does not want a bigger home, we all like a home bigger than which we have, even the tigers demand for more area of forest (bigger home, sorry again for wildlife reference) and what there to be a news in it! As a builder engineer, I have been cursed with the habit of not accepting vagueness (which is an inherent part of real estate actually), so I was intrigued with the term “bigger homes;” as, how can you define a home big or small? Means I can understand the language of sq. ft. but then there is no definite scale to say this size sq. ft. area home is called as small & that size sq. ft homes are big, which is not the case. I can understand the difference in numbers of rooms i.e., a 3 bhk home is bigger than a 1 bhk home but the news said bigger size 2 bhk or 3 bhk homes are in demand than the earlier. Here is the cliché (or say, “kida” in marathi) which made me to take on this topic about homes (I never like real estate word, why can’t they call homes, though real estate includes offices also, which we can call work places) as what size of a particular numbers of rooms is right size as bigger & smaller can be individuals’ perspective, right? For a person who has stayed all his life in town where he used to have a bungalow of his own (like my parents) & when they mover to Pune, they felt my 4 bhk duplex is small as the home has just one door to communicate with outside world while back at Khamgaon, their bungalow’s every room has door opening to outer world! Also, they felt my bedrooms are small as all it could accommodate is a bed, a wardrobe, dressing table, that is all, where is the place to put chairs in the bedroom, they asked me! I have to explain to them the concept of FSI, Saleable area, Bylaws of PMC & yes Budgets as well many other aspects (read as restrictions) in not being able to build a home like the one they have in the town, here in Pune. And then there was one more news about the demand for homes has been increased to maximum level in Pune in comparison to other similar cities, making the importance of understanding a right home (on budget as well location & area) for the buyers as well for the builders!

And today when I read that news again those memories flashed in my mind & then what should be the good room sizes, is the subject of debate since long in this industry as all builders & clients also want bigger rooms but then the builder wants to sale the flat at his rate while the client wants to buy that flat in his budget, this is where the definition of good size of rooms starts changing, is the fact! And this is why I do not want to differentiate the rooms sizes of the numbers of rooms or the planning of projects on good size or bad size but right size homes, is the right term! And for that first, as a builder you must make your ground work, here I mean study of the market as well surrounding development (lol, that is a joke, I know) which will make you understand what can be the right size home for a particular location. If you are confused then let me make you clear, real estate is a very local product for which the scale can change not just town to another city but within a city like Pune it changes as per the locality for e.g., a 2bhk home at Prabhat road can be of 1200 sft (all areas saleable only) while a 2bhk flat in suburb like Ambegoan or Sus can be of 850sft & both can be right at their respective location. This is because of the needs as well spending power as well lifestyle of the respective market the right & wrongs has to be decided! Ideally speaking when it’s a 2 bhk flat then Master bed room (with attached toilet) can be of size 12 ft x 15/16 ft in high end locality like Prabhat road while the same can be 10’6” x 13” in suburbs & the scale can be repeated to all the rooms. As a master bedroom however low budget flat it may be must be able to have a Queen size bed (5ft x 6 ft) to accommodate a couple, with a wardrobe of 4 ft width & 15” depth, a 2’6” wide dressing table & a moving space of 2 ft minimum around the bed sides with a passage to attached toilet door, this is right size even for a budget flat or say MIG (Middle Income Group). And if you extend these dimensions for a luxury flat then anything beyond 12 ft in width & 16 ft in length will be wastage of space (read as money) for the builder or the buyer, yet it can’t be tagged as bad size as some may like it & afford what they have liked!

On the same criterion, we can decide right living/dining sizes, as nowadays many families prefer not to have TV in the living area but in respective bedrooms which allows you to reduce living room size & use that extra sq. ft in the bed rooms to accommodate the TV. Yet by me it’s a wrong plan as a bedroom is for sleep & you can have a small TV in case someone (usually the house lady or elder members) wants to watch TV while there are guests occupying the living room! But again, for this you must study the lifestyle of the people you are targeting as your prospective home buyers & then design the flat which only will make you able to decide the right size of the flat! For the most important areas of the home also we are too ignorant & they are toilets as well kitchen as we think more numbers of toilets are bigger flat or bigger size toilets. Most clients ask me about fitting a bathtub or jacuzzi in the toilet which needs a minimum 6 ft width & 9 ft length, for a right size of both these units. And most clients end up using the bath tub or jacuzzi only once in a month making it the wrong toilet size as nearly 350 days out of 365 days the space is unused! Right toilet size is 3 ft x 4 ft shower area, 2’6” x 4 ft commode & 2 ft x 4 ft for wash basin, for budget flats toilets, making minimum length of toilet as 7 ft & width 4’ 3” & maximum you can extend this as 5’ 6” x 8’6”, anything beyond this is waste (I am referring to 90% of the homes, 10% are always exception, i.e., super rich, lol)! Again, there is a debate about whether living dining should be combined or kitchen dining should be together & again my answer is the same, study your own lifestyle. Dining Table in kitchen area where house wife cooks by herself will be left with less space for movement & then if there are frequent guests for dinner then it’s embarrassing for house lady to work around while guests eat! But if there is a house maid in the home & you don’t have many visitors for dinners then you can have dining with a kitchen, so living will be much cleaner & simple to manage. One most important aspect for the builders as well as home buyers, never go by the furniture layout shown in the presentation drawing by the sketches but confirm that the furniture is shown to the scale of the flat’s room dimensions! Means if the dining is 8’ x 6’ then how it can accommodate a six people dining table even that is shown on the presentation drawing, is the question you must ask, which many home buyers don't & then it's too late! As well in making the furniture fitted, we often neglect cross ventilation, another aspect in right size flats which both, the builder & homebuyer are ignorant about!

Along with right size home, the building also should be of right size i.e., outside of your flat, & here our (read as clients as well builders too) ignorance is at its best as nobody ever asks questions like how much open area is there around the building or what size of space is available on top terrace (supposedly kept common), what is size of gym or club house, what are common passages widths etc. Because, right from the car turning into the parking lots to manoeuvring your furniture through common passages, all these things also matter a lot when you buy a flat in a right sized building! As at least 14 ft wide driveway is a must for turning of the car into the parking lot & this can be 15 ft also for mechanized parking. As well passages width ideally must be 5 ft depending up on the length to be covered it may increase & this is for residential buildings! And if you are wondering where this right size if applicable apart from all these things, then for lift cabins also it is applicable as I have seen people squeezed in the lift cabin which are of inadequate size or waiting for their turn to come to hop in the lift, that is why all these sizes matters & unless you ask these questions you won’t know whether you are getting a right dela or wrong deal! As well do mind right size definition comes with right dimensions of the rooms also along with planning of these rooms, as then only you can utilize the room properly for your furniture layout, as 100 sft room can be 10’ x 10’ & 100’ x 1’ also, but can you use 100’x 1’ size room ever, here lies the answer about importance of a right size home!

As an engineer I always think, the home buyer is the key person (read as family) to decide right size of the flat which doesn’t happens as we Indians always buy even vegetables (or shares) riding on emotion or speculation & a home is also not exception to this “law of buying”! that’s why high time for the home buyers to understand their exact needs of which even budget can be the part , but then only you will be able to choose a right size home for yourself! As a right home is never an accident but its outcome of study, knowledge, planning & innovation all of which needed to be done by both sides entering into the deal, so go ahead, define your needs & choose your right size home!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at You Tube link below..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2023/01/defining-good-home-real-estate-in-2023.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2023/02/blog-post.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

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https://secure.mygov.in/

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