Buying a home? Here's what you need to know

Buying a house is the most important decision a common man makes in his life and with the coming of low-cost housing he can reach his goal with much more ease.

But as it's the most valuable buy of your life you need to be very careful with every step.

Affordable housing has become the new mantra in Indian real estate where builders are luring investors to buy houses which not only come under their budget but also fetch good returns.

However, as a consumer you need to be aware of the fine print before you take the plunge as many consumers are very easily fooled by fancy promotional campaigns and hidden charges.

After recession builders have been reeling under pressure of a credit crunch, thus many projects have either been delayed or some compromises have been made with what was promised and later what was delivered as the final product.

So it is very important to do your homework and a proper research before singling out a specific house.

Pick 5 to 6 projects that may suit your requirements and then finalise your dream house after considering various charges involved and the facilities being provided by the builder.

Visit the construction site and analyse the particulars involving the built up area, carpet area, super built up area and also the room height.

Carpet area is the actual area that would be used; it excludes the area where the walls are built.

Built up area includes carpet area and area of walls and ducts. It should be around 10 per cent more than the carpet area.

A terrace is considered as half the actual area for calculating built up area. Some projects charge dry terrace same as internal rooms.

Super built up/saleable area is the built up area and mark-up for common spaces like lifts and stairs. It is usually 25 per cent more than the built up area.

Super built up area is billed to you by multiplying it with the rate per square foot. So while buying the flat you need to understand the difference between the carpet area and the super built up area.

Thus, you would know what all are you paying for and what is the extra charges. This area should include common amenities that are built but are not directly charged to the consumer.

Verify the sale document being signed with the builder, it should have all the details about the carpet area and other built up area.

While comparing different projects find their carpet area and then calculate the cost being charged according to the rate per square foot being charged.

There are several other charges like electricity backup charge, parking charge, maintenance charge and so on and so forth included in your bill while you select that beautiful apartment.

Do compare and consider these charges before you select the right project.

Height of the ceiling is also an important factor that needs to be considered. Make sure the height of the room is not less than 10 feet.

You should verify that the project has been constructed in accordance with local laws and is free from litigation or is not subject to adverse court orders.

Check whether the plot on which the building stands is non-agricultural and has a clear title.

Study the market for at least a year. Study areas include rates (real and quoted rates), resale rates, negotiation skills, loading factor (carpet vs saleable area), water and infrastructure issues, builder's credibility, delay considerations, EMI and interest calculations.

Don't be emotional while buying your dream. Don't over-stretch on your budget.

Consider rent vs buy calculation and if buying is costly, then reconsider.

Persuade your family members that buying is not favourable in current scenario.

Don't believe in speculation that after couple of years prices will double so you don't need to worry about high prices.

Be smart and don't let anyone eat up your hard earned money. Make wise decisions.

Happy home hunting.

MEMORIES OF CHINA

It was the month of April and I had started off on an official visit to China from the UAE, the third largest economy in the world.I took a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong and a connecting Air China flight to the Mainland. It was a long walk to the baggage collection area and I found my baggage missing on the conveyors.Thus starts my memorable journey to the most populous country in the world.

I was taken to the screening area for enquiry and to my dismay, I found my baggage opened up and shrewn all around. A lady inspector walked towards me and spoke a few sentences and I kept gazing at her to what was being said.Then came the english part. She opened up the talcum powder and aked me what it was? I gave an animated reply as to what it was. A few more questions to know the reason of my visit and then I was let off.

The day I landed in China, my perception of China as a developing country took a beating.All along I had imagined it to be a country similar to my home country India. Both were refered to as developing countries with huge populations with all the issues of a developing country. I changed my mind from that very day.The country can no longer be called a developing country.It matches any European country in terms of technology and development and culture.

My visit to China was for 5 days. I was sent to a place called Hangzhou in south east China.The place is close to Shanghai.The purpose of my visit was to source machinery and tooling for my company with assistance from the local office setup there.I was lucky to have people of my age group to take me around.

The scenic beauty of the place coupled with the man made beauty mesmerized me.the lake with the dancing fountains was a treat to watch in the darkness of the night.I had never seen any thing like that before. The lights & the fountains were dancing to the tune of the music being played and I was in awe.We were at the lake for more than an hour and then retired to our hotel rooms.

The next day ,we left for an interior place early in the morning . It was far off from the city and was as per our official plan.We had taken a highway and the road was terrific. I could hardly feel a jerk. I was amazed  to see both the sides of the road covered with lush green grass.  it looked like a green carpet with one side of the road having a chain of mountains all the way and the other was lined up with houses of exotic colours and designs , the traditional chinese ones. I could hardly control myself from taking in numerous number of snaps and recordings.

We reached the place around noon and soon got into business. On completing our work in 3 different places, cudos to the organiser - the visit was well planned to club the places of visit. Late in the evening we started on our way back. The distance was long and the day tiresome. I had put my host into a spot of bother with my food intake. To be frank, I had a tough time for the first two days of my trip with no Indian food available. On the first day I had ordered Salmon ( the only item in the entire menu that was familiar to me) It was served raw and that was the last I had of it. It tool some time for me to get over the experience.The next day I was living on bananas an my host was getting more concerned about my health.

To be continued .......

HANDY TIPS ON MS WORD

ü       Adding Horizontal Dividers in Word

To add a variety of horizontal dividers in Word, type three characters and press enter.

Hyphens ( --- )
Underscores ( ___ )
Equal Signs ( === )
Hash Signs ( ### )
Asterisks ( *** )
Tildes ( ~~~ )

ü       Type Out a Table in Word

You can create tables in Microsoft Word by simply typing out a string of PLUS SIGNS (+) and MINUS SIGNS (-).

Start the row with a PLUS SIGN (+) and then type MINUS SIGN (-) until you have the column width you want. To add a new column type PLUS SIGN (+) again. When you're done type a final PLUS SIGN (+) and press ENTER. Word turns your text into a table. To add more rows to your table, move to the last cell in the table and press TAB.

ü       Filling Word Documents with Pretend Text

If you want to fill a page(s) with text to test something like printing, but don't want to spend time pasting the same phrase over and over,

Type in =rand(x,y)  and press "enter" .

Where x and y are replaced by numbers.
X would be the number of paragraphs
Y would be the number of sentences in a paragraph.
The text that gets generated is ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.’ 

ü       Select a vertical block of text

      Press Alt + drag

ü       Quickly Replicate Text or Graphics in Word

            Here's a quick way to make copies of text or graphics in Word:

1.                  Select the item or text you want to copy.

2.                  Press and hold down the CTRL key.

3.                  Then use the mouse to drag the item to the desired position.

A copy of the original item is made right where you want it. This is helpful when you're creating a document that will include a lot of repeated text or images.

ü       Quickly Change Font Size in Office

            To quickly change the font size in your Office application (Word, Front Page,        Publisher or PowerPoint):

1.         Highlight the text you want to change

2.         Press:

            CTRL+SHIFT+> - To Increase the size
            CTRL+SHIFT+< - To Decrease the size

ü       Use your keyboard to quickly change the case of text in Microsoft Word

Select the text you want to change and press SHIFT+F3. Each time you press the F3 key, the text case switches between Title Case, UPPERCASE, and lowercase.

ü       Insert Current Date and Time in Word

            You can insert the current date or time in a Word document using keyboard           shortcuts. Here's how:

1.Position the cursor where you want to insert the date or time.

2.Do one of the following:

·                     To insert the date, press ALT+SHIFT+D.

·                     To insert the time, press ALT+SHIFT+T.

ü       Close all word documents without closing Word

Shift + click the File menu then select Close All

Shift + clicking on the File menu give one more option Save All

ü       Return to the last place you were working

Return to the last place you were working or the place before that or before that.

Press Shift + F5 repeatedly to return to last 5 cursor positions (even if one of those positions is in another open document).

This one’s even cleverer, when you first open a document, press shift + F5 to jump to the last place you or someone else edited before closing the document.

ü       Cycle through all open documents

      To cycle through all open documents press Ctrl + F6 +F6 +F6….

      It works for Photoshop and others applications as well.

ü       Whether you’re saving a file or opening a file try these shortcuts

      Alt + 1 Go to previous folder

      Alt + 2 Go up one folder level

      Alt + 3 Search the web

      Alt + 4 or Delete deletes selected file.

      Alt + 5 Create a new folder

      Alt + 6 repeatedly Cycle through all views.

      Alt + 7 Display the Tools menu

ü       Determining Formatting in Word

To determine what formatting is applied to a particular paragraph in Word:

1.      Go to Help / What's This?

2.      When the cursor changes to a question mark, click on the paragraph.

3.      Information such as font and size, alignment, indent, spacing and margins will show.

ü       Reducing the File Size of Word Documents

If you have make documents using MS Word and you make many formatting changes for the paragraph, fonts, page etc., you will see your file size gets bigger. Microsoft Word saves files by blocking, so any change you made for your document it will create a new block with the new formatting and disappear the old block without deleting it from the file.

You can solve this problem.

1.If you open your file and select File \ Save As and give your file a new name, it will save only the active blocks with out the old ones.

2.If you compare the two files you will see a difference in size

There is, however, a much easier way.

1.Choose Tools

2.Options... 

3.Open the Save tab 

4.Uncheck Allow Fast Saves

This makes Word rewrite the entire document file from scratch each time it is saved. The save command takes slightly longer, but your files can be drastically smaller (especially if you've done lots of formatting changes).

ü       Complete list of word short cut keys

Command Name	Modifiers	Key	Menu
About			Help
All Caps	Ctrl+Shift+	A
Annotation	Alt+Ctrl+	M
App Maximize	Alt+	F10
App Restore	Alt+	F5
Apply Heading1	Alt+Ctrl+	1
Apply Heading2	Alt+Ctrl+	2
Apply Heading3	Alt+Ctrl+	3
Apply List Bullet	Ctrl+Shift+	L
Arrange All			Window
Auto Correct			Tools
Auto Format	Alt+Ctrl+	K
Auto Format Begin			Format
Auto Summarize Begin			Tools
Auto Text		F3
Auto Text	Alt+Ctrl+	V
Background Fill Effect			Format Background
Background More Colors			Format Background
Bold	Ctrl+	B
Bold	Ctrl+Shift+	B
Bookmark	Ctrl+Shift+	F5	Insert
Bookshelf Lookup Reference			Tools
Break			Insert
Browse Next	Ctrl+	Page Down
Browse Prev	Ctrl+	Page Up
Browse Sel	Alt+Ctrl+	Home
Cancel		Esc
Center Para	Ctrl+	E
Change Case			Format
Change Case	Shift+	F3
Char Left		Left
Char Left Extend	Shift+	Left
Char Right		Right
Char Right Extend	Shift+	Right
Clear		Del	Edit
Clip Art			Picture Menu
Close			File
Close Pane	Alt+Shift+	C
Column Break	Ctrl+Shift+	Enter
Column Select	Ctrl+Shift+	F8
Compare Versions			Track Changes Menu
Copy	Ctrl+	C
Copy	Ctrl+	Ins
Copy Format	Ctrl+Shift+	C
Copy Text	Shift+	F2
Create Auto Text	Alt+	F3
Cross Reference			Insert
Customize			Tools
Customize Add Menu Shortcut	Alt+Ctrl+	=
Customize Keyboard Shortcut	Alt+Ctrl+	Num +
Customize Remove Menu Shortcut	Alt+Ctrl+	-
Cut	Ctrl+	X
Cut	Shift+	Del
Date Field	Alt+Shift+	D
Date Time			Insert
Delete Back Word	Ctrl+	Backspace
Delete Word	Ctrl+	Del
Do Field Click	Alt+Shift+	F9
Doc Close	Ctrl+	W	System
Doc Close	Ctrl+	F4	System
Doc Maximize	Ctrl+	F10	System
Doc Minimize			System
Doc Move	Ctrl+	F7	System
Doc Restore	Ctrl+	F5	System
Doc Size	Ctrl+	F8	System
Doc Split	Alt+Ctrl+	S	Window
Double Underline	Ctrl+Shift+	D
Draw Group			Draw
Draw Picture Automatic			Image Control
Draw Picture Black and White			Image Control
Draw Picture Grayscale			Image Control
Draw Picture Watermark			Image Control
Draw Regroup			Draw
Draw Set Arrow Style			Arrow
Draw Shadow Color			Shadow Color
Draw Shadow Customize			Shadow
Draw Shadow Semi Transparent Toggle			Shadow Color
Draw Show Auto Shapes and Drawing Toolbars			Picture Menu
Draw Snap to Grid			Draw
Draw Ungroup			Draw
Draw Word Art Align Center			WordArt Alignment
Draw Word Art Align Left			WordArt Alignment
Draw Word Art Align Letter Justify			WordArt Alignment
Draw Word Art Align Right			WordArt Alignment
Draw Word Art Align Stretch Justify			WordArt Alignment
Draw Word Art Align Word Justify			WordArt Alignment
Draw Word Art Kern			WordArt Tracking
Draw Word Art Spacing Loose			WordArt Tracking
Draw Word Art Spacing Normal			WordArt Tracking
Draw Word Art Spacing Tight			WordArt Tracking
Draw Word Art Spacing Very Loose			WordArt Tracking
Draw Word Art Spacing Very Tight			WordArt Tracking
Draw3 DColor			Extrusion Color
Draw3 DCustomize			3-D Effect
Draw3 DDepth Infinite			Extrusion Depth
Draw3 DDepth0			Extrusion Depth
Draw3 DDepth1			Extrusion Depth
Draw3 DDepth2			Extrusion Depth
Draw3 DDepth3			Extrusion Depth
Draw3 DDepth4			Extrusion Depth
Draw3 DLighting Flat			3-D Lighting
Draw3 DLighting Harsh			3-D Lighting
Draw3 DLighting Normal			3-D Lighting
Draw3 DParallel			Extrusion Direction
Draw3 DPerspective			Extrusion Direction
Draw3 DSurface Matte			3-D Surface Material
Draw3 DSurface Metal			3-D Surface Material
Draw3 DSurface Plastic			3-D Surface Material
Draw3 DWire Frame			3-D Surface Material
Drawing Object Wrap None			Text Wrapping
Drawing Object Wrap Square			Text Wrapping
Drawing Object Wrap Through			Text Wrapping
Drawing Object Wrap Tight			Text Wrapping
Drawing Object Wrap Top Bottom			Text Wrapping
End of Column	Alt+	Page Down
End of Column	Alt+Shift+	Page Down
End of Doc Extend	Ctrl+Shift+	End
End of Document	Ctrl+	End
End of Line		End
End of Line Extend	Shift+	End
End of Row	Alt+	End
End of Row	Alt+Shift+	End
End of Window	Alt+Ctrl+	Page Down
End of Window Extend	Alt+Ctrl+Shift+	Page Down
Endnote Now	Alt+Ctrl+	E
Envelopes and Labels			Tools
Exit	Alt+	F4	File
Extend Selection		F8
Field			Insert
Field Chars	Ctrl+	F9
Field Codes	Alt+	F9
Find	Ctrl+	F	Edit
Font	Ctrl+	D
Font	Ctrl+Shift+	F
Font Size Select	Ctrl+Shift+	P
Footnote			Insert
Footnote Now	Alt+Ctrl+	F
Footnotes			View
Formula			Table
Go Back	Shift+	F5
Go Back	Alt+Ctrl+	Z
Go To	Ctrl+	G	Edit
Go To		F5	Edit
Gridlines			Table
Grow Font	Ctrl+Shift+	.
Grow Font One Point	Ctrl+	]
Hanging Indent	Ctrl+	T
Header			View
Header Footer Link	Alt+Shift+	R
Headings			Table
Help		F1
Hidden	Ctrl+Shift+	H
Hyperlink	Ctrl+	K
Indent	Ctrl+	M
Index and Tables			Insert
Italic	Ctrl+	I
Italic	Ctrl+Shift+	I
Justify Para	Ctrl+	J
Language			Language
Left Para	Ctrl+	L
Letter Properties			Tools
Line Down		Down
Line Down Extend	Shift+	Down
Line Up		Up
Line Up Extend	Shift+	Up
Links			Edit
List Num Field	Alt+Ctrl+	L
Lock Fields	Ctrl+	3
Lock Fields	Ctrl+	F11
Macro	Alt+	F8
Mail Merge Check	Alt+Shift+	K
Mail Merge Edit Data Source	Alt+Shift+	E
Mail Merge to Doc	Alt+Shift+	N
Mail Merge to Printer	Alt+Shift+	M
Mark Citation	Alt+Shift+	I
Mark Index Entry	Alt+Shift+	X
Mark Table of Contents Entry	Alt+Shift+	O
Master Document			View
Menu Mode		F10
Merge Field	Alt+Shift+	F
Merge Revisions			Tools
Microsoft On The Web1			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web10			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web11			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web12			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web13			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web14			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web15			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web16			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web17			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web2			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web3			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web4			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web5			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web6			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web7			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web8			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft On The Web9			Microsoft on the Web
Microsoft System Info	Alt+Ctrl+	F1
Move Text		F2
New	Ctrl+	N	File
New Window			Window
Next Cell		Tab
Next Field		F11
Next Field	Alt+	F1
Next Misspelling	Alt+	F7
Next Object	Alt+	Down
Next Window	Ctrl+	F6
Next Window	Alt+	F6
Normal	Alt+Ctrl+	N	View
Normal Style	Ctrl+Shift+	N
Normal Style	Alt+Shift+	Num 5
Object			Insert
Office Drawing			Picture Menu
Online			View
Open	Ctrl+	O
Open	Ctrl+	F12
Open	Alt+Ctrl+	F2
Open or Close Up Para	Ctrl+	0
Options			Tools
Other Pane		F6
Other Pane	Shift+	F6
Outline	Alt+Ctrl+	O	View
Outline Collapse	Alt+Shift+	-
Outline Collapse	Alt+Shift+	Num -
Outline Demote	Alt+Shift+	Right
Outline Expand	Alt+Shift+	=
Outline Expand	Alt+Shift+	Num +
Outline Move Down	Alt+Shift+	Down
Outline Move Up	Alt+Shift+	Up
Outline Promote	Alt+Shift+	Left
Outline Show First Line	Alt+Shift+	L
Overtype		Ins
Page	Alt+Ctrl+	P	View
Page Break	Ctrl+	Enter
Page Down		Page Down
Page Down Extend	Shift+	Page Down
Page Field	Alt+Shift+	P
Page Numbers			Insert
Page Up		Page Up
Page Up Extend	Shift+	Page Up
Para Down	Ctrl+	Down
Para Down Extend	Ctrl+Shift+	Down
Para Up	Ctrl+	Up
Para Up Extend	Ctrl+Shift+	Up
Paste	Ctrl+	V
Paste	Shift+	Ins
Paste As Hyperlink			Edit
Paste Format	Ctrl+Shift+	V
Paste Special			Edit
Photo Editor Scan			Picture Menu
Post			Send To
Present It			Send To
Prev Cell	Shift+	Tab
Prev Field	Shift+	F11
Prev Field	Alt+Shift+	F1
Prev Object	Alt+	Up
Prev Window	Ctrl+Shift+	F6
Prev Window	Alt+Shift+	F6
Print	Ctrl+	P	File
Print	Ctrl+Shift+	F12	File
Print Preview	Ctrl+	F2
Print Preview	Alt+Ctrl+	I
Proofing		F7
Properties			File
Protect Unprotect Document			Tools
Record Macro Toggle			Macro
Redo	Alt+Shift+	Backspace
Redo or Repeat	Ctrl+	Y	Edit
Redo or Repeat		F4	Edit
Redo or Repeat	Alt+	Enter	Edit
Repeat Find	Shift+	F4
Repeat Find	Alt+Ctrl+	Y
Replace	Ctrl+	H	Edit
Reset Char	Ctrl+	Space
Reset Char	Ctrl+Shift+	Z
Reset Para	Ctrl+	Q
Revision Marks Toggle	Ctrl+Shift+	E
Right Para	Ctrl+	R
Routing Slip			Send To
Save	Ctrl+	S
Save	Shift+	F12
Save	Alt+Shift+	F2
Save As		F12	File
Save Html			File
Select All	Ctrl+	A	Edit
Select All	Ctrl+	Num 5	Edit
Select All	Ctrl+	Num 5	Edit
Select Column			Table
Select Row			Table
Select Table	Alt+	Num 5	Table
Send to Fax			Send To
Show All	Ctrl+Shift+	8
Show All Headings	Alt+Shift+	A
Show All Headings	Alt+Shift+	A
Show Heading1	Alt+Shift+	1
Show Heading2	Alt+Shift+	2
Show Heading3	Alt+Shift+	3
Show Heading4	Alt+Shift+	4
Show Heading5	Alt+Shift+	5
Show Heading6	Alt+Shift+	6
Show Heading7	Alt+Shift+	7
Show Heading8	Alt+Shift+	8
Show Heading9	Alt+Shift+	9
Shrink Font	Ctrl+Shift+	,
Shrink Font One Point	Ctrl+	[
Shrink Selection	Shift+	F8
Small Caps	Ctrl+Shift+	K
Sort			Table
Space Para1	Ctrl+	1
Space Para15	Ctrl+	5
Space Para2	Ctrl+	2
Spike	Ctrl+Shift+	F3
Spike	Ctrl+	F3
Split			Table
Start of Column	Alt+	Page Up
Start of Column	Alt+Shift+	Page Up
Start of Doc Extend	Ctrl+Shift+	Home
Start of Document	Ctrl+	Home
Start of Line		Home
Start of Line Extend	Shift+	Home
Start of Row	Alt+	Home
Start of Row	Alt+Shift+	Home
Start of Window	Alt+Ctrl+	Page Up
Start of Window Extend	Alt+Ctrl+Shift+	Page Up
Style	Ctrl+Shift+	S
Style Gallery			Format
Subscript	Ctrl+	=
Superscript	Ctrl+Shift+	=
Symbol			Insert
Symbol Font	Ctrl+Shift+	Q
Tabs			Format
Templates			Tools
Thesaurus	Shift+	F7
Time Field	Alt+Shift+	T
To or from Text			Table
Toggle Field Display	Shift+	F9
Toggle Master Subdocs	Ctrl+	\
Tool	Shift+	F1
Toolbars			View
Un Hang	Ctrl+Shift+	T
Un Indent	Ctrl+Shift+	M
Underline	Ctrl+	U
Underline	Ctrl+Shift+	U
Undo	Ctrl+	Z
Undo	Alt+	Backspace
Unlink Fields	Ctrl+	6
Unlink Fields	Ctrl+Shift+	F9
Unlock Fields	Ctrl+	4
Unlock Fields	Ctrl+Shift+	F11
Update Auto Format	Alt+Ctrl+	U
Update Fields		F9
Update Fields	Alt+Shift+	U
Update Source	Ctrl+Shift+	F7
VBCode	Alt+	F11
Versions			File
Web Go Back	Alt+	Left
Web Go Forward	Alt+	Right
Word Count			Tools
Word Left	Ctrl+	Left
Word Left Extend	Ctrl+Shift+	Left
Word Perfect Help			Help
Word Right	Ctrl+	Right
Word Right Extend	Ctrl+Shift+	Right
Word Underline	Ctrl+Shift+	W
Wrap Boundary			Text Wrapping

* Shortcut key to mouse right click Shift + F10.