Looking for an apartment in Delhi

kuri

Hi,

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Delhi at the beginning of August. We will stay in a hotel at first while we look for an apartment. He will be going to JNU so we want to live somewhere relatively close or convenient to the university. We need only a one bedroom apartment, cheaper is better, but not so cheap that it's dangerous.

I've heard that vasant vihar would be a good area to look. Are there any others? We would like to spend around 8000 rupees per month for the rent.. is this reasonable? Or could we find decent places for cheaper in the area?

As well, can anyone recommend any real estate agents? I've heard there are many, so it would be nice to find a few that are reputable.

Thanks!

Haylo

There may be some Delhi members here who know better, but I really don't think you'll find accommodation in Vasant Vihar for anything like that sort of money. We're moving there in a couple of weeks, or at least my partner is, and although his employers have arranged the flat as part of the deal, I did get the impression that it is a pretty expensive area.

Just done a quick search online for 1 bedroom places there, and there wasn't much as most seem to be bigger. No doubt you'll be able to negotiate a better deal once you're there, but the 1 bed studio apartment that I did find is advertised at Rs 40000 a month.

capt_mahajan

Forget Vasant Vihar, too expensive. And Delhi does not have too many one bedroom setups in that part of the city.

In fact, if you are looking at furnished accomodation, you will have to up the budget a fair bit, or look at paying guest accomodation in the area (not vv)

Close to JNU, I would look at the DDA flats in Munirka Vihar or Enclave or others.. Munirka Vihar is bang opposite the JNU gate but will be expensive, and does not have one bedroom flats. Though some people have converted servant rooms and let them out to JNU students and such, that is not really comfortable, though safe.

DDA is Delhi Development Authority, shoddier construction than private but often excellent locations, and some people have done up these flats very well internally.

Besides the Munirka area, you could look at Vasant Kunj, though that will involve a ten minute road trip to JNU.


Munirka is really the best bet, though even that maybe about 25/30% over the 8000 number. But I may be wrong, and it could be cheaper.

PS: All the mentioned areas here are as safe as anywhere else in Delhi, btw.

shashank.aggarwal

as Captain said it...Munirka is the best bet and you can probably find something in your range.

One of my friends live there and she pays Rs.13k as rent for a 3 bedroom flat..

__________________
Travelogue - Around India
Random Reviews

kuri

Thanks for the quick replies! I really appreciate all the help I can get right now!

We weren't planning on looking for a furnished apartment as I thought it would be easier and cheaper to find unfurnished ones.. is this correct? Would it be easy enough for us to find simple inexpensive furniture?

Wow, I didn't think 1 bedroom apartments would be so rare! Would it be easier for us to look for a 2bdrm apartment instead? Extra rooms are fine as long as we're not paying double the rent..

And speaking of rent, I didn't think 8000 was such a low budget considering we're just looking for a simple basic apartment. We don't expect to live as well as we do here in Canada (and here we have a tiny basement apartment!). Is 8000 really too low?

Haylo

Comparing prices between countries is not always a great idea, for instance housing costs in Canada seem absurdly low to me, it's such a shame my career and family are based in England, or I could be living in a mansion! As an idea of costs here, some friends pay £800 (about Rs 70000) a month for a tiny studio flat in a not great area of London, so I should not complain about housing costs up here away from the Capital.

Anyway, my point is that perhaps it would be better not to think about what something would cost in Canada (and I'm sure a lot of other things will be cheaper in India) but to figure out what you can afford in rupees, and work from there.

Good luck finding somewhere you feel happy with.

kuri

Oh, I must have worded that wrong. Sorry, what I meant was that we are prepared for the fact that our apartment itself will not be as nice as our apartment here in Canada. Similarly we don't plan to spend as much for rent as we do here in Canada, because we will not be earning as much. I was merely pointing out that I am aware that what we consider to be an average apartment in Canada is much nicer than an average apartment in India. Does that make sense?

Haylo

Yes that makes perfect sense! I've stayed with a few friends in Canada and they all had really nice homes, and yes I agree that it's doubtful that what you'll be renting in India will compare favourably.

On the plus side, your new flat it will be in India, which I suppose is the whole point!

capt_mahajan

Yes to both.

.

Tapestry

Unfortunately it seems logical that Delhi would have relatively low rents but it's a real slap of reality once you start looking into it that rents here are fairly expensive and are going up fast. I agree that your best bet around the JNU area would be Munirka. If you live in Vasant Kunj you'll have to arrange transport every time you go to and from campus, and rents here in V.K. are going up very fast. My rent in V.K. has gone up by about 50% in 3-4 years. Vasant Vihar is way out of your range (Try Rs.50,000/mo). Look in Munirka and if you can't find anything, you can branch out from there.

Good luck.

kuri

Thanks for the advice! Does anyone know any good real estate agents in Munirka then?

nitin k

hi kuri,
i have done that dealer thing, you could land up getting a costlier deal with crooks

the places which have a clear access to JNU are vasant vihar, munirka DDA, vasant kunj,
safdarjang enclave, green park, shanti niketan , satya niketan (in 3-5 KM radius) maliviya nagar & saket ( both in 5-8 KM radius) these are mostly posh areas with bungalows and embassy kind of structures but there are lot of hoses which rent their top floor or ' barsati' to students and young people.
when do you plan to shift ??
i can see your attitude towards the apartment is good! you are looking for a good, clean, basic appt! which should not be a problem ...
you can also check
99acres.com
magicbricks.com
bharathrentals.com

these sites have good options . search through, with authorized dealers also putting up ads, call them up...mail them...
get back with more specific question.
i would be able to answer them as i have done that for myself tens of times...

__________________

Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me...
--Sigmund Freud
Austrian psychologist (1856 - 1939)

kuri

Thanks for the help! I've looked for apartments many many times, but never in India before, so I'm a little baffled as to what I should be expecting. Here are a few more questions that just crossed my mind..
What kinds of appliances should I expect an apartment in my budget to come with? Fridge? Stove? (What kind of stove?)
How is rent usually paid? Cash? Bank transfer? Cheque?
Do most people sign leases or rent month-to-month?
Are there problems with lack of hot water or low water pressure?
Are there any other things we should look out for when checking out apartments? Or things we should make sure to ask the landlord about before moving in? Any tips?

Thanks!

nitin k

i would say 'expect nothing like that in budget of 8k around JNU..'
you have to buy all those stuff if you need...that i think you will
fridge you can get on rent from few places but you may need to buy...beddings, stove,utensils, mats...and what ever you need... there are nearby markets where it is easy to do the same...
and for renting the stuff ...let me know when you are here...
i will try to help out.

rent is usuallly prefered in cash or chq
you may need to sign a lease agreement of 11 months.
water is a problems in some areas...please check it positively and make sure about the pressure thing@
check out the nearby market. distance from the auto or bus stand, which floor( if it is top floor you may have head burn in summers ,
prefer the apartment where the landlord is not in the same building.. landlords can act as a dog watchers sometimes... which can be a problem to your privacy...(you any way will be a center of attraction with your white skin in India! but not for long if you stay for sometime )

anything else??

Boomerang Girl

I just concluded my search for a 1 bedroom in south delhi and searched many areas near JNU. I'd say you'll find the cheapest housing in Malviya Nagar and Saket. Saket listings are rare. Malviya Nagar has many - I found nothing below 12000 even there. Further, what I did find for 12000 was frankly uninhabitable. The apartments were al the same kind in this price range - long and narrow with a windowless corridor along the length, off which windowless rooms open. The only windows are on the two ends of the apartment, above the two main doors. This isn't just unaesthetic, it will also present problems when you want to aircondition the place in the summer - the center rooms will not get cooled. A tip - always ask the broker if the apartment is of "old construction" - that's a comprehensive code word for generally uninhabitable apartments. Other uninhabitable floor plans include apartments where you have to step out into a public balcony to get from one part of the house to another, for instance bedroom to bathroom, living room to kitchen. I looked at about 30 apartments all over South delhi - anything below 15000 was as above.

In Kalkaji, Chittaranjan Park and East of Kailash (all far from JNU), I found decent apartments for 15000. However the landlords were fairly bigoted and had issues with everything from single women (and thus, possible boyfriends) to Muslims and meat. Oh you may want to tell landlords that you are a married couple, rather than boyfriend and girlfriend.

I did find a sweet beautiful place in the end, with un-bigoted landlords, in Soami Nagar, near Panchsheel Park. The 750 sq ft apartment last rented for 20,000 but the landlords happened to like intellectuals and academics, so they rented it to me for 17000.

You may want to look at the listings on makaan.com. I know an excellent broker: R. S. Yadav - his mobile number (which he told me I could share) is 9873335723. He's very good at understanding one's requirements.