Ladies & Gentlemen! Luxury is my middle name - sumangalam

Dec. 23, 2010 - PRLog -- Judging by the advertisement pitch, every new development is a luxury home, but the exact meaning of “luxury” is unknown. What makes a property premium—location, amenities or something else? In the absence of a definition and price band, here is the Top Floor take on what this means and if you should pay up the extra money per sqft.
If you asked us, the definition of exclusive luxury property should be: a home that meets all your real and hidden aspirations and desires - the latter being subliminal, real or perceived. Depending on the property under consideration, the sum of the parts being greater than the whole, i.e. individual features must seduce the owner into believing the product excellence - the joy of ownership (either privately or to 'show off' if that is your bent). A hidden feel-good factor that the ownership of 'this' says to the owner, “I have succeeded, I am proud, I have met a goal, I have achieved a desire.”
For the young and the braggart, luxury is about possession and the ability to demonstrate ownership. For those of us that appreciate, it is something to cherish, behold and sigh with accomplishment and quite contentment. “A project will be called a luxury housing project only if each house in it has 2,500-3,000 sqft of space,” says a broker dealing in the premium segment. For him, typically a 3-4 bedroom flat of 2,500 sqft and above come in the luxury category. “But that’s luxury of space,” corrects another real estate consultant.  For Anshuman Magazine, CMD of CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt. Ltd, a property consultant firm, “Location remains the key parameter to classify a property as luxury. Swanky addresses near the city centre gather the most premium, good addresses in suburbs are next,” he says.
Magazine says anybody related to property sales whatsoever should know that the property value is only a reflection of the area that it is in. One must check the location of the property being advertised as luxury. “The area should be in a premium location and not in a lower-value cluster of buildings. Besides already established city centre areas, luxury locations are near a golf course, a waterfront, or overlooking a place of visual delight. Notice that nearness to a Metro station is not an advertising pitch for a luxury apartment—we assume that you have your own fleet of cars and do not rely on the Metro.”
If you believe him, top of the line fixtures alone don’t make a project premium. So if some years ago, tiled floors were luxury, these stand at the bottom of the residential project pecking order. Housing projects now come with basic fixtures that would have been luxury in a flat some years ago. Luxury will mean the best brands in the world that money can buy. “If a luxury project developer mentions Kohler and Roca in his brochure, he doesn’t waver later on and look for their equivalents,” says a real estate expert. “It also depends on the executing capacity of the builder. For instance, a small developer will probably use material from a local vendor and the unorganised sector. However, a reputed developer will use material from an authorised manufacturer that has an international exposure and expertise of design.”
He says basic fittings account for about 12-18% of the cost of a regular apartment. But in luxury apartments, fittings could be as much as 20-30% of the cost of the flat. “Then there are add-on features such as imported flooring, air conditioning, Jacuzzi, modular kitchen etc. External luxury amenities and features such as gym and spa can cost another 15% of the cost of the apartment.”
So assuming that the average cost of construction of a premium apartment is around Rs 2,000 per sqft, 20% of this would add up another Rs 400 per sq. ft. The price would be around Rs 2,400 per sqft. Preferential location charges, which vary between Rs 100 per sqft to Rs 500 per sqft, will add more to the cost. Also, the developer will put a price tag on the apartment in such a way that it will cover his investment on the land, too.
“Apart from the basic cost of construction, the associated cost comes from overheads such as PLC, club membership, parking and amenities such as shops, gymnasium and spa,” says a developer. “But since costs of these overheads vary between projects and locations, a developer can increase or decrease the cost depending on expected profit.”

source: www.topfloor.in

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