Written By: Sumita Roy
If you talk about amenities within homes, the possibilities
are endless. In fact the more money you spend the more charming assortment of
amenities you can enjoy. It can range from private pool, wine cellars,
pet spas, staff suites, skating rinks on roof decks, well equipped athletic
gym, bowling alleys and so on.
But with rents escalating 10 percent every year, most of us
need to revise our budget and choose smartly. Our ordinary budget cannot afford
extraordinary homes with luxury amenities.
Therefore, in order
to make the best use of living in a good apartment complex, your money must get you
bang for the buck.
So, here is a list of amenities that can help you save
extra costs, yet live conveniently and enjoy life within the periphery of your home.
State of the art gymnasium
A good gymnasium in the
neighbourhood is a great idea. It saves you the time of commuting to the gyms
outside and saves you the cost of expensive membership card. Being a member living in the
community, you can get great discounts on membership fees.
Also if you are a lazy lad, then walking to the gym within
the compound would not need your Herculean effort, plus it will save gas and also give you time flexibility. You can work out whenever you want to, and stay
there for as long as you need.
A tight packed schedule is what greets you at regular gyms, outside home. Also some of the community gyms have swimming pool and
outdoor work out facilities as well. While searching for a home on rent, be on
the lookout for such kind of facilities.
Wi-Fi connectivity, or better, a Business centre
Today with
the increasing ratio of people preferring work from home, getting an internet connection within a housing society is becoming a
common trend. Next time when you start house hunting, keep tabs on the
community offering internet services.
If you live in a housing complex offering similar services, you can disconnect your broadband services and save yourself the hassle of calling customer care service whenever your internet is not working properly. When it is a combined connection, more people get involved and jobs get done in a far more urgent basis.
Or better, you can also hunt for an apartment complexes which have community business centres so that you can have video conferencing facilities nearby your home whenever
required. And if the community pays for the maintenance and internet charges,
the total value you need to pay for it would not amount to much.
Residents' facilities
Due to the different types of new ideas,
you can exactly find an apartment which completely matches your privileges. Though chances are low that you will get whatever you need, but it never hurts to look for something extra.
For
example, a few years ago a project was launched which was made kid friendly. To
buy a unit within the complex would have been a lot for most people, but for renting one of the offered units, would have cost you something around 1-3 percent of the total property value.
If you have a child in your home, and want to give home
everything his childhood demands, opting for a home within this complex would
have been completely convenient- from a parent’s perspective.
Party hall/ community centre
It is always an A+ quotient when you have a community centre at your
disposal. You can clean it and make arrangements for your baby’s birthday party without making a
wreck out of your own house.
Same goes for an anniversary. You can invite
family friends, neighbours and have every one enjoy within the familiar
premises. You also do not need to worry about kids loitering here and there,
because the boundaries of the community keep them safe from going out.
And since most community centres have kitchen facilities,
you can either cook the food in the same or order food and keep it stacked there. With a help of a few friends make your party awesome.
Cab service
This is a thing that you should go for, or, at least, propose to your community members. If you find there are not many people who have personal
commuting medium, they will definitely go for this option.
A daily cab facility from your doorstep to your office, with
shared fare can help make your life easier.
In a car sharing
service, you have a reliable vendor who guarantees to pick you up every morning
and drop you off on the same spot.
This service will definitely make living in the community profitable from an end user and daily office goers perspective,
Special offers
This is a new one- well not entirely new
if you look at the diversification. Some
apartment complexes have grilling areas, sky deck, pet lovers’ park, car
washing zone and so on. So while going house hunting try to check out what a
particular complex has to offer as a speciality factor.
Sometimes, special facilities may not entirely relate to pleasure and luxury. It may also mean a necessity like automobile repairing, veggie
markets, grocery stores, laundry etc.
These will keep you from going everyday to the
market to get new supplies, whenever your family needs it. An automobile repairman,
or for that matter any other repairman, like a plumber, gardener, lift
repairman etc. can be life savers at times of necessity.
Guest suites
Accommodating guests for a night when you
have no space in your home can be a hassle. Many a times, for a friend's get
together in your studio home, you invite friends to come over and have a good
time.
But many do not feel like going back all the way to their houses. What will you
do in such cases? Offer them your couch?
Well, for one person this will do, but for two or more, you will need to have some space. You can do it
easily if your community has guest suites, which can accommodate guests for a night,
and sometimes, for more than one night.
At a minimal cost,
your friend can stay the night in close proximity to your home and sleep
peacefully. Not many
condominiums offer this convenience, but if you have the eye to search for it, you
can always find one with such flexibility.
Toddler room
This comes as a blessing to most young parents.
When you are a moderately new couple with few years old baby, at times you feel the necessity to
have some fresh air to keep going.
But being a parent is like a 24*7 duty. To such parents toddler’s room/ crèche come as blessings. These have the best hands where your baby can feel at home, play
and learn- or do everything at the same time.
Having a toddler’s room saves you the cost of
first searching and then finding a reliable baby sitter. With your baby in the
neighbourhood, with familiar people watching over her, you can easily have a
pleasant night out, without worrying about her safety.
Though most of us
search for apartments with conveniences like finance, distance from office and
social infrastructure as major issues in mind, it never really hurts to
search for something extra as well. These small things add a great value to
your life, if you take a closer look.
Of course, not all of these go for
everybody. Crèches would be preferred by only young parents, gyms are for people
who have the habit of working out, cab service is for people who do not own any
means of commute and so on. To select what is best for you and using it
conveniently is something I would suggest when you are in the lookout for a
new apartment on rent.
