What goes into the pricing of your apartment?

Apartments are as unique as the stories they hold, and when it comes to their pricing, the story is no different. A number of factors go into consideration before raising that final ‘apartments for sale‘ sign.
Let’s breakdown various parameters that go into account before an apartment is budgeted.

Land cost

Who doesn’t love an apartment in a posh residential locality or an apartment with a view? But this so-called “location” & “view” is what accounts to the pricing primarily. The proximity or visibility of the building from the main road, the width of the road, the locality, accessibility to amenities such as schools, hospitals, grocery stores, and the views from the property – everything decides on the pricing. In Kerala, 20-30% of the total cost of the apartments comes from the cost of the land; the remaining 70% is the construction cost, overheads and profits.

Construction cost

Construction costs for apartments vary based on the changing economic and market trends every year. Prices of some commodities like steel and cement keep fluctuating and cost of labour is ever increasing. It also depends on the quality of materials being used. The estimated construction cost of a building is the sum total of other predominant variables such as:

1. Foundation

Being the whole support system to your building, the foundation requires an even stronger support system, determined by the strata or soil condition. Kerala, varying significantly by its rock, chalk, clay, gravel and peat terrains, vary accordingly in its apartment pricing.

For instance, most areas of Kochi have sandy soil that requires deep pile foundation extending upto 50 meters, whereas majority areas Thrissur and Calicut have hard rock strata thereby requiring only 8-10 M of pile depth and even no pile foundation (only isolated footing or raft foundation). Hence the cost to build apartments in Kochi will be different than that of apartments in Thrissur. Soil testing is mandatorily done to understand soil behaviour. Based on the behaviour of the soil, foundation type differs and so does the underlying costs. It can vary between Rs.100 to Rs.400 per Sq.ft.

2. Steel & Cement

Steel and cement are the major purchase costs in a high rise building. These are critical aspects for the longevity of the building and choosing a good brand of the materials and using correct quantity are critical. There are ISI marked and non-ISI rated materials. Only the best builders in Kerala will know the right one to choose from. The average steel consumption of an ideal high rise building should be 5.5 kg/sq ft of the built up area. Also, a building’s durability will be cut down from 50 to 25 years if one uses low quality, low-cost cement. We know that. That is why we use Vizag, Tulsyan steel and cement like Ramco,Chettinad or Ultratech.

3. Plastering

Plastering is what gives your walls the smooth finish and covers all the electrical conduits. Chicken wire mesh has high strength and durability and prevents cracks between the block work and concrete. Also, a good finishing to your walls, ceilings, and roofs would require a precise plastering with 12 mm thickness.

4. Fittings & Fixtures

Fittings and fixtures give life to your interiors. They play an integral part in transforming your humble abode to luxury apartments. According to projects and budget, our recommendations span out from Cera, Roca , American Standard for Sanitary fixtures and Jaguar, Kohler, Grohe for CP Fixtures.

5. Tiles

Tiles elevate the aesthetics of your interiors. Their prices normally range from Rs. 30 per sq.ft. to Rs. 125 per sq.ft. and vary in terms of size and colour. These days, people prefer vitrified tile flooring as opposed to granite and marble. We use double charged vitrified tiles (size 80X80 or 60X60 – according to the project) as they ensure high quality. We use brands such as Somany,Kajaria, CERS instead of the Chinese imported ones, which are of dubious quality. We lay tiles with 3mm spacer and epoxy/equivalent which gives a superior finish for the flooring.

6. Painting

Painting perfects all the drama you need for your apartment. Premium brands add to the pricing and quality of an apartment and that’s why we use Asian paints [Premium Emulsion or Equivalent] for interiors and Asian paints [Apex or Ultima] for exteriors. For primers, we use those are alkali resistant, and putty for the interiors we used cement based putty [JK or equivalent], to add that touch of perfection.

7. Electricals/Switches

Often builders reduce the number of electrical points to bring down the costing, but this accounts to the issue of overload. Usage of cheap quality switches and wires can put apartments in danger, that’s why we use either Legrand or Schneider for switches and sockets and Finolex or RR Kabel for wires.

8. Doors

Doors not only provide safety but adds a sense of style to your dream home. Depending on projects, our options for doors vary from Teak to Veneer and Laminate doors [Jackson or equivalent] . We use to Hindalco Aluminium Algerian series or equivalent (for windows).

9. Amenities

The more amenities an apartment has, the more luxurious the living and the more it adds to the pricing. Swimming pool, party hall, fitness center, 24×7 security with CCTV camera, rainwater harvesting, state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant, intercom facility, digital cable TV provision, centralized gas supply, children’s play area and restrooms for servants are the key amenities you’ll find in some of our projects.

10. Waste Management

To us, health is of utmost importance and hence effective waste management is our take on social commitment. All our projects have been installed with a sewage treatment plant to dispose of sewage in a healthier way and an organic waste convertor [in all upcoming projects].

11. Intangible

The strength of our construction is backed by the effort of our labourers. We always route for skilled contractors to ensure better workmanship at our sites which in turn reflects in the stability and aesthetics of the buildings that we own.

12. Fire Safety

All of our properties are well equipped with smoke alarms and escape routes. But the main cost comes from the highest quality pipes we use. But as they say, you can never put a price on safety!

13. Sewage Treatment Plant

The most beneficial initiative one can put a checklist on, to safeguard his apartment and to ensure better treatment of sewage and wastewater. Hence we have installed premium quality sewage treatment plants in all our buildings to promote good health.

14. Plumbing

We provide water supply through an underground sump tank and overhead tank with sufficient storage capacity. And we strictly adhere to the usage of the following pipes: Astral, ASTM and CPVC pipes.

15. Security

Safety is the one of the main aspects while living in a flat. We use state of 3 tiered systems, which combines Video Door Phones, CCTV camera, access control along with security guards.

Your luxury apartment is always more than a luxury, if you’ve checked off all of the above from the list. And with the best builders in Kerala, best builders in Trivandrum the pricing on your apartment can never go wrong.