What are society layouts

[bdalogin]

Hi,

I am relatively new to Bangalore real estate (particularly on a site perspective )

I am looking for sites around sarjapur circle for investment purpose as of now. (I might move there if things become better in next 3-5yrs)

I can see no of society sites like telecom/railway/drdo/ hal etc around sarjapur.

I also heard these society layouts are relatively cheaper (just heard but not sure) than private layouts and non employees can also buy.

My queries are

1. Are these layouts really cheaper compared to pvt layouts?
2. Can really a non employee buy site in these kid of layouts? (after becoming a member i guess)?
3. what are pros/cons of these kind of layouts?

Thanks

[rkrishna]

1. Are these layouts really cheaper compared to pvt layouts?
yes- you buy them when the projects get kicked off and lock in at a lower price than private developers as society's are expected to be non profit. Societies pool money from a large number of applicants and buy land in bulk through a developer in general. Since they are not for profit, in theory, prices will include only the cost of land acquisition + cost of development + cost of running the society. Societies are expected to run annual general body meetings and provide transparency around operations to members.
2. Can really a non employee buy site in these kid of layouts? (after becoming a member i guess)?
Some societies allow non employees- but not all. Varies from society to society. Non employees are associate members with no voting rights. Some societies do not call associate members to general body meetings.
3. what are pros/cons of these kind of layouts?
a. One needs to wait a long time from paying the money to allocation. Some projects take even 10 years
b. There is certainly a risk of project getting derailed at any given point due to litigations, government approvals and even fraud by society members. One needs to study the society and developer's past record and take an informed decision. It is sort of like mutual funds- past performance do not guarantee future returns:-)

[bdalogin]

Hi rkrishna,

Thanks for the detailed response...