The Hindu Business Line : Book your flat

Investment World - Real Estate & Construction
Industry & Economy - Real Estate & Construction
States - Andhra Pradesh
Book your flat — fully furnished

Interior design is coming within the reach of the home buyer. There are packages to suit all needs and budgets.

— Mohammed Yousuf

Furnished apartments…leave it to specialists and save on time and effort.

K.V. Kurmanath

Ms Vijaya Bharati, wife of a Government official who came back to India after a foreign assignment, was looking to buy a flat in Hyderabad. That was the easy part , what foxed her was finding the right team to furnish the house.

She talked to a couple of people, but ‘horror stories ’ from friends and kin dissuaded her from giving the assignment to the local guys. The next option? Going for a furnished flat to save on time and effort.

“I’ve succeeded in locating a seller at Attapur (near the new airport) and settled for a deal,” she told Business Line.

Going in for a furnished apartment is a trend that suits the well-heeled, and also the new young employees, who’ve just bagged a high-income job and got married. The dearth of skilled carpenters is making people more open to the option of a fully furnished house. “People don’t want to undergo the hassle of finding a carpenter/designer, making a deal with them and waiting for months to get the work done,” Mr Anand Reddy, Executive Director of PBEL, says. The company has just begun work on a Rs 1,200-crore project, comprising 13 towers. Initially, two towers are planned, with 500 fully furnished flats.

Ms Rekha Shivani, an interior designer, says awareness is growing among the home buyers that some jobs are best left to the experts.

“They know they are good at their jobs. But when it comes to designing their houses they may not be that good. Professional designers can visualise and advise the customer on how to go about the furnishing,” she says.

“All that people think after buying a house is, they should look for a carpenter for the ‘wood work’. But the concept is slowly changing. It is not just ‘wood work’, there are several other factors that make your house look good,” she explains.

Better utilisation of space, using different colour patterns for different parts of the house and using wall papers are some of the things that spruce up the home.

Ms Saipriya, who runs Shrishti Interiors, says there were times when people thought interior designing was for the rich. “But now, there is a craze among the middle-class too. At least, they are going for designer furniture to begin with. In the upper segment, it has become much more common to hire an interior designer,” she says.

According to her, it would cost up to Rs 8 lakh to have a two-bed room flat ready with a perfect design and furniture. This includes the consultant fee.

Mr V Marutish, a real-estate analyst, feels that roping in an interior designer is possible in the premium segment of residential development. “It is not possible in the low-end of the spectrum, keeping in mind the high interest rates. Also, there is no flexibility. Also, there is a possibility that all houses look alike,” he points out.

Mr Anand Reddy, however, has a different view. “At PBEL City, we are offering a furnished flat at Rs 3,600 per sq. ft, a price that is considered to be premium in the present day scenario. Besides, we have roped in a Malaysian company with expertise in doing furnishings to take care of that part,” he says, showing a model furnished flat.

He also says that people could always opt out. “They could go ahead with their own plan and we will reduce that part from the flat cost,” he adds.

Different packages

Ms Shivani argues that it is not all that expensive to rope in a designer. “There are plans to suit different needs and budgets. If you have a small budget, designers can suit that budget," she observes.

Mr Hari Challa, Managing Director of Aliens real-estate company, feels that it is mostly the time factor that draws people towards fully furnished apartments.

“People with high disposable incomes are fond of good life and would like to spend significantly in doing up their home decor but lack the time to do so. Also, NRIs buying homes in India also opt for fully furnished apartments with options available online, so that they do not have to come down every time to get things done,” he adds.

“The main cost advantage is the cost of time. As the apartments come fully furnished with home appliance and conveniences, the buyer is spared the time spent in hunting for materials for the decor. Since, interiors come as a package deal with the apartment, the actual cost gets considerably reduced. The developer usually goes for bulk buying in such deals,” he says.