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.in In the last two years probably the four words that have made the most frequent headlines in news articles and magazines has been the Indian Real Estate Boom. arious authors have published tables showing !" to #"" percent gains in a year through real estate investments. Reading about this dream money ma$ing industry time and time again has made most to believe that there indeed e%ists the &idas 'ouch. (eople from all wal$s of life have either invested ) in the process of investing or planning to invest there hard earned life*s savings so as to multiply it by at least a factor of two in the recent future. 'his has got the +evelopers laughing all the way to the ban$s. Even though the last three months have seen a price correction of upto !", in resale of properties there seems to be hardly any coverage in the press. Each day you find the dream still sellingpeople who have made investments li$e such headlines as it gives them a false sense of satisfaction. &ost up.mar$et apartments give there occupancy levels to be in the range of /".0" percent. 1owever if you happen to ta$e a late evening wal$ 2when you e%pect at least one member of the family to be present3- 4".5" percent apartments would have there all lights turned off leaving a question mar$ on what is being claimed. 'his collaborates the point made earlier that most such apartments and houses belong to those who have made investments and are waiting for the &idas 'ouch. 'he so called real.estate boom has attracted so many new players in the mar$et that it is a near impossible tas$ for the common man to identify those who follow the laid down rules and laws from those who believe in hood.win$ing the authorities. 'he glossy newspaper advertisements that greet our eyes each morning surely succeeds in ma$ing us believe that buying the advertised apartment would ta$e us into paradise. 1ow many times do we see developers addressing issues li$e earthqua$e safeguards and total land area of colony in their advertisements6 'he agreement between the buyer and developer would certainly contain the clause that if the electricity bills are not paid in time the electric supply to the apartment would be stopped but how many times do we read that that incase it is found that the building is not meeting the minimum Earthqua$e 7afety requirements spelt out by the 8overnment the builder would be held responsible- alternately how many times do we see the area calculations giving out the total area of the colony. 'he municipal authorities generally sanction a 9loor :rea Ratio of appro%imately #.4 for group housing coloniesthis implies that incase the plot area is #""-""" square feet then the developer is authorized to construct #4"-""" square feet. :lternately we can say that if an apartment building has #4"-""" square feet as it*s built up area then the land area of the colony should be #""-""" square feet. 1owever if not most- many developers do not hand over the entitled land to the society and $eep chun$s in their possession so as to be used at a later date. Earthqua$e awareness amongst all- most builders are yet not following even the minimum guidelines for earthqua$e safety. Earthqua$e Resistant is the minimum safety standards that a building should be designed for; 8overnment has laid down these minimum guidelines after great

deliberations so that as a minimum- <ife.7afety is ensured by preventing a total building collapse. Incase the damage to the building is above a threshold level it can be demolished and reconstructed- but at least there will not be any loss of lives. It is time that the consumer starts demanding these clauses to be included in the Buyers :greement in addition to clauses that warn him of the electric supply being stopped. =nli$e other 7eismic regions of the world- today >o +eveloper in India is offering 1igher than Earthqua$e Resistant construction. Even the high.profile pro?ects which want the consumer to shell out e%orbitant sums are claimed to have followed the &inimum Earthqua$e 7afety 7tandards i.e. Earthqua$e Resistant- however even this minimum safety is not endorsed in the buyers agreement. : small additional cost of Rs. @4".!"" per square foot used to install energy dissipation devices) dampers can achieve a 1igher than Earthqua$e Resistant safety standard. &ost manufacturers of energy dissipation devices) dampers guarantee their products for upto !4 years which is further renewed after testing. Ahat the Indian Real Estate investor needs to be doing is deliberately evaluating if he is ma$ing the right investments- not by getting carried away by glossy advertisements but getting relevant provisions endorsed in the buyers agreement.