Last year when we were looking for apartments, it was mind boggling to see how dirty and filthy the apartments and homes were. It was either because they were still under construction, uninhabited for many days or the family simply didn't bother to clean the home. At the beginning of our search, we were discouraged, the only complex that I was impressed with was the one we're living in now and even then the apartments were dusty and dirty. Most of the time, I couldn't even enter the bathrooms for fear of what I would see :-) The relocation expert assured us that the bathrooms and kitchen would be acid washed. After a few weeks of searching, we became accustomed to viewing unkept apartments and started visualizing how they could look rather than looking at them at face value. Considering how cheap labour is, we don't understand why people don't hire someone to keep the property clean, I can understand if the apartment is under active construction but if not, there is really no excuse.
We also found out that pretty much everything didn't work (water, electricity, internet connections, gas connections, etc..) and we should have planted ourselves at the apartment every day rather than waiting till the day before we moved.
Tips and what to look for:
1) Talk to your neighbors and find out how active the community is, whether they allow tenants to join their alias, (if you're renting), whether they have a cultural communitee and how often they have events. Unless you're local to the city, the best way to enjoy your stay/move is to socialize with your neighbors. If you don't think you'll be on the same wavelength with them, think twice before moving there.
2) Smells, you need to visit the complex at different times to see if there are any odd smells or if they burn the garbage next to your complex or something odd like that.
3) Check the complex between 5-6pm, if it's bustling with children, you know that your children will have a lot of fun, if it's quiet and hardly anyone is out, they likely won't.
4) Check the clubhouse on weekends or evenings to see how active it is. If the gym is not being used, then likely the equipment is not in good condition.
5) Ask repeatedly if there are any other clubhouse or maintenance charges other than what is listed on the lease. It should be stipulated in the lease that no other charges will be made. We were told after moving into our first home that we had to pay another 10K Rs to use the clubhouse, we were not pleased.
6) Get to know the maintenance staff and be nice to them, they'll be your saviours as something or another will go wrong every few weeks, namely your power will randomly be turned off either because some fuse has blown or because you were late in paying the bill (they will turn off the power 2 weeks after you paid the bill as a warning not to make a late payment or even if you weren't late, some computer error will trigger the shutoff).
7) As soon as you move, maids, drivers, cooks will come calling, initally, I was worried about how to find them but they find you.
8) Check to see if the community has a water problem. If a tanker is the primary source of water, you should probably avoid that complex.
9) Make sure the complex has an automatic power backup system that works, it's a must!!
10) A gated community is the way to go. You will feel safe, your kids can roam safely and there is usually enough space for walking or doing other sports in a somewhat pollution free environment.
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