looking for apartment : any agents out there or just good tips ?

new2chennai

OK, so I've been quoted prices that make me blush [ 285.000/month on Chamiers Rd ], can anyone tell me the "real" market ?

I want :

a "luxury" apart in a modern block, near the centre { wherever that is .... ), near a few amenities { supermarket, bar, resto ..) and preferably near some other expats. All the better if it is in a compex with a pool and gym.

I know, I'm dreaming, but worth a try ...

Don' t care too much about the sq meters , 100 is fine ..

Nick-H

Chamiers Road is the Northern edge of the area called Boat Club. Boat Club is Chennai's most expensive area by far.

Getting The Hindu newspaper on Saturdays is a good start.

Chennai's "Centre" --- Hmmm... technically, I suppose it is Chennai 001, which is around the Law Courts, Parry's, Fort, Georgetown, area, but in practice, and in terms of desirable places to live, it has moved South.

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ISN

Checkout this link this should give you a good starting point.

India real estate portal

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Radjesh

is that 285 Euros/dollars or 285000 INR??

Nick-H

In france they use . for thousands and , for decimal... I read it as 2,85,000 INR, and although that is a horrifically ridiculous amount of money to pay, if it's BoatClub (or a big sea-view house with pool) it is conceivable I suppose.

Price rises: I took the upper portion of an independent house in Abhiramapuram in 2005, 2 bedrooms, one big hall, one small dining hall, kirchen, and a store room that a London estate agent would have called a third bedroom. Small back street, old house, but my place was freshly decorated for me. Rs6,000/ month.

I think the new tennants pay 7 or 8 thousand, and an ex-neighbour tells me it could easily get 12,000 now.

A 3-bed, ground-floor half of a newly-built house in the same street is now been rented out for 27,000! --- I think my neighbour (and my ex-landlady) might be under-estimating the value of my old place!

Chennai is not cheap any longer. Property prices have more than tripled since my 6-thou rent was set; even then, rentals were not a very high percentage of capital, and were due some adjustment. They had to catch up.

elainethomas01

Hi There,

We are also moving to Chennai this coming July. And at the moment we are still looking for the right place to live. ECR location is definitely ideal for us, work wise.

We are constantly comunicating with PRIME LOCATOR Company. My Bf have met the owner of this company and he is a professional.

You can check out their websites at (www.primelocator.in). They have a vast selection of houses and its all in reasonable prices.. Actually, we are going to meet them again before the end of this month to check some newly posted units.

Good luck and I hope this helps you a lot!!

Cheers,
Elaine

SMARTGUY

No No dear you are not dreaming there are several residential apartments having closeby shopping places/departmental stores, banks, restaurants, beach, parks, & lots of fun places I would suggest Mount road,Royapettah and Triplicane areas and believe me Pool and Gym are very common in the modern day apartments.

Even Anna Nagar, Adyar, Velachery, Kilpauk, Abiramapuram, ECR, OMR are nice places to live. As Nick said I would advise you to stay in chennai south cool place with lots of greenery, Beach and lots of restaurants bars and malls nearby.

Adyar, Besant Nagar, Anna Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Kilpauk, Nungambakam are few areas where the cost of living is high and even the rentals may be high but not what you have mentioned if it is INR 2,85,000. You will easily get from 20,000 to 40,000 permonth 2/3 bedroom (Furnished)apartments.Try local newspaper classifieds or if you still find it difficult message here or pm me I will give you certain contacts of Real estate dealers in Chennai who helped us for our corporate venture.

Anyways Good luck !Chennai is indeed a very good place to live and hope you get one of the best flats to live in.

Radjesh

285000 INR per month, this is the first time I've ever heard such an amount. I am really curious to see what that house offers... By any standards, this is an atrocious amount for Chennai

Nick-H

The site elainethomas01 (welcome! ) gives the link to has some very nice properties, and many of them look very affordable for an expat employee budget.

I just looked at the first few pages, and a lot of their properties are ECR --- look for names like Thiruvanmiur, Palavakkam, Injambakkam. Google Maps, Google Earth, Wikkimapia and the like should help people who do not know the city to get their bearings.

elainethomas01

Thank you Nick !! Glad to help !!!

Rockyp44

Can you direct me more quickly? This cybercafe is 41 degrees...

Rockyp44

We ask them if the flat is suitable for North Americans & they say yes--one of us goes and the place is a dive. Any suggestions how to get a straight answer.

Or, one agent we worked with for 2 weeks just disappeared. Not only is broker fee paid for by my employer, but if they do a good job, the broker will get more work as each manager/foreigner comes to town & needs a place.

Nick-H

Except for a few professionals and the larger outfits, anybody in Chennai is a land agent as when it suits them.

But... suitable for North Americans? They're different somehow?

Straight answers? from land agents? especially the part time ones? No... sorry...

ISN

What is your budget and which area are you looking for?

Nick-H

Prices really are shooting up in Chennai, but there should be no shortage of mid-to-high budget company-paid expat houses or apartments.