Salesmanship!!

My dream-house doesn’t necessarily contain a large lawn. But it definitely contains at least one tree each of coconut, mango, jackfruit and almond; a flower garden and a small kitchen garden. It will be a 2-storey house with about 6 bedrooms. Like in some Telugu and Tamil movies, in the center of the house there will be an open-top space with Tulasi plant in its center. The floor will have Rangoli patterns as also the walls.

Even cluttering them all together without leaving a space for lawn will require at least 600 sq. yards (5400 sq. feet). Sites in and around Bangalore will be as suitable as any other place including my native place on the banks of the Krishna (of course, I am not sure my wife would be as open as I on the choice of the city/town/village.) The only condition is that trees should grow well unlike in Hyderabad (my observation tells that in Hyderabad trees grow slow and will not be of great size.)

The sites-men have somehow got my mobile number and have been calling me for the past few weeks at quite an irritating frequency and especially at very embarrassing situations. As the thoughts of building own house are active now, I have been receiving the calls and responding as well. I observed a pattern. The salesmen easily grasp the potential buyer’s readiness and quote prices accordingly. Almost always the prices are a tad higher than what I would be ready with – but more interestingly, I would either compromise on my specifications for a less price, or get close to accepting the price. Of course, as of now, all this is on paper, and much more thought would go in before "actually" buying one.

The reality on realty that is revealing is very disturbing. On the one hand, the land sharks are turning beautiful green spaces into residential layouts and on the other hand, they are quoting unearthly prices. Now, a site enough for my dream-house, even in an area far from any livable location in Bangalore will cost me beyond my home-loan eligibility!! One of the salesmen tracking me has recently hiked the price of his offer by 10% within one week.

In the wake of this, my dream-house relegated itself to the back of my mind. I started looking for even 30X50 sites. Out of such a site, I would earmark 30X10 for trees and in the rest I would construct a house. Upon matured reflections I understood that such a plan would be a grave murder of my own dreams – I hate small houses with small rooms. I have slowly gravitated towards thoughts of a less gruesome murder. I am now thinking about apartments of size more than 1200 sq. ft. For greenery, I have the option for Bonsai, and of course flower pots. This compromise can be met within my home loan eligibility. Now I have to start oiling my mental and verbal faculties to face the apartment salesmen and negotiate prices.

Thinking this I collected the last speck of what were a couple of idlies in my breakfast and started for my bike. A small boy and a smaller boy accosted me; one selling magazines and the other, wiping cloth. A pamphlet on real-estate naturally attracted my attention, but I managed myself away from it. Wiping cloth seemed more relevant as the one I was using for my bike was lost in a parking place the other day. A pack of 3 cloth pieces, which was offered for Rs 10/- three weeks ago is now being quoted at Rs 15/-. I declared that I would not pay more than Rs 10/-. The boy bargained and looking at Rs 20/- note in my hand, offered 4 cloth pieces for Rs 15/- and the pamphlet for Rs 5/-. This set me thinking but as I was adamant on 3 for 10 the boy groped to select 3 cloth pieces and passed the 20 note to his companion, asking him to give change. Seemingly inadvertently, this second boy slipped the pamphlet on my bike and dropped down a five rupee coin while handing me another.

Then picking it up he claimed, “Sir, the pamphlet must have belonged to you. That’s why this fiver didn’t reach your hand and the pamphlet sat on your bike.” He left it on my bike and started to leave. I liked their salesmanship. I gave the fiver back and took another cloth piece.