Monsoons provide a welcome respite from the scorching sun that prevails from March to June or July in most parts of the country. For those planning to buy property, what better time for house hunting than during the monsoons? While the common belief might be to postpone home-buying plans until the end of the season, experts actually suggest that house hunting during this time works in a buyer’s favour in many ways. The monsoon season is the best time for due diligence—investigating the project, the developer, and the location. If everything checks out, one can confidently move forward with the investment. In this guide, we highlight important points to explore while house hunting during the monsoon season and explain why this time of year is favourable for homebuyers.
Monsoon house hunting: What are the key points to check in a property?
When you begin house hunting, there are certain key factors to consider:
- Infrastructure and amenities in the area
- Quality of construction
- Issues related to leakage and seepage
- Connectivity in terms of transport
- Issues of water logging
- Drainage and seepage issues
While these are points to check when buying a home at any time of the year, the monsoon season offers an opportunity to truly assess and analyze how these factors impact the project you’re considering.
Top 6 reasons why monsoons are best for house hunting
1) Evaluation of site: Water logging
Monsoons are the best time for a site visit as they reveal a lot about the location. During this time, you can assess whether the area where you are considering buying a property suffers from water logging. You can also evaluate the quality of the roads, the presence of drainage systems, and other important infrastructure leading to the project site. For instance, in a city like Mumbai, which experiences heavy rainfall, visiting a site during the monsoon season gives you a clear picture of the area’s conditions.
2) Evaluation of site: Traffic jam
A site visit during the rains helps you gauge traffic patterns, particularly during adverse weather. You can evaluate the impact of road quality, water logging, or the absence of proper drainage on traffic. Furthermore, a visit during the monsoons gives you an idea of how easy or difficult it is to reach the area. A daily traffic jam outside a residential complex can severely impact mobility and, ultimately, the livability of the complex. This also provides insight into connectivity—whether there is proper public transport available to and from the area.
If you are visiting a builder’s project during the monsoon season, inquire about free pickup and drop services that could assist with transportation to the site and allow you to better assess the site’s connectivity.
3) Evaluation of construction: Leakages and seepages
The monsoon season offers a good opportunity to assess the quality of the construction, particularly regarding seepages and leakages. Identifying such issues early is crucial because they can negatively affect the property in the long term. During dry months, these problems may remain hidden. For instance, some homebuyers in Mumbai experienced significant seepage issues in a well-known builder’s project, which became apparent during the first monsoon season. This scenario could have been avoided if buyers had checked the site during the rains. It’s essential to inspect newly constructed buildings, as well as ready-to-move-in or resale properties, for seepage and leakage issues during the monsoon season.
4) Getting an idea about natural surroundings
Monsoons transform the entire area into a lush green landscape, giving you a better understanding of how the complex and surrounding area will look in this season. This contributes to the livability quotient, especially if you value natural beauty and greenery around your home.
5) Amenities in the society
The monsoon season allows you to assess whether the amenities offered by the developer make sense in terms of accessibility. Are they usable during the rainy season, or are they restricted to just the dry months? For example, a premium housing complex may promise a badminton court, but if it’s not covered, the court may be unusable during the rains. Similarly, an Olympic-sized swimming pool may lack temperature control, limiting its use during the rainy and winter seasons. It’s important to give due consideration to amenities, as they form a premium component of the property you’re purchasing.
6) Connectivity through transport
Check if the property you’re considering is well-connected by public transport to ensure daily commuting is convenient. Some residential complexes even provide shuttle services to nearby areas, which is very resident-friendly.
Why you should select a house during the monsoons?
There are several advantages to purchasing a property during the monsoon season:
1) Less competition, better opportunities
The monsoon season sees a decrease in the number of homebuyers, as many prefer to stay indoors due to the weather. This reduces competition in the real estate market, which means there’s a larger inventory to choose from. In other seasons, options may be more limited.
2) Discounts offered by developers
The monsoon period is considered a lean season for sales in the real estate market. To boost sales, developers often offer discounts that homebuyers can take advantage of. Additionally, buyers may have more room to negotiate better deals, whether dealing with developers or homeowners selling their properties (resale).
3) Better services
Since developers are dealing with fewer clients during the monsoons, the home-buying experience tends to be more exclusive. This means you can expect better customer service, with developers giving more attention to your needs and concerns.
4) Move-in during auspicious times
In India, the festival period after the monsoons is considered auspicious for new beginnings. If you buy a house during the monsoon season, the home-buying process, including signing agreements, securing home loans, and registering the property, will take a couple of months. This allows you to move in during the festive period, which is considered lucky and auspicious.
Housing.com POV
The monsoon season is an excellent time for homebuyers who want to ensure better choices, higher returns, and superior service. Since competition is lower, developers are better able to focus on servicing homebuyers. Monsoons also offer a chance to closely examine every aspect of a property, allowing buyers to make informed decisions in a more planned and thorough manner.
FAQs
What are the things to check while buying a flat from a builder during the monsoons?
When buying a property during the monsoons, check for issues such as leakage from the terrace, seepage, drainage problems, water stagnation, and other water-related concerns.
What are the things to check while buying a resale flat?
When buying a resale property during the monsoons, examine the quality of construction, how well the property has been maintained, whether the area is prone to flooding, and the availability of public transportation in the locality.
| Got any questions or point of view on our article? We would love to hear from you. Write to our Editor-in-Chief Jhumur Ghosh at jhumur.ghosh1@housing.com |
