Hometruth – ‘Dream House Or A Nightmare’

A decade ago, Sanjay Kaushik, 45, took pride in calling himself a real estate consultant. He would often tell his clients and potential investors that this was the sunrise sector where money only grew in leaps and bound, better than gold, better than stock market. He is a broken man today.

I lost my savings to two real estate projects that were abandoned by the promoter – JayPee Group – and my wife committed suicide due to depression. Were it not for my children, who knows, I could have also taken a drastic step too.

I got married in 2003. My wife was employed with a Central government hospital in New Delhi and we stayed in government staff quarters. I was self-employed as a real estate professional. With two children from our marriage, life moved like a dream. In 2009, I became ambitious.

I used all my savings, dug into all bank fixed deposits and secured a bank loan to invest in two housing projects: first, a two BHK to move in and the second, a one BHK as investment. Knowing the realty field, I believed it would be wise to put my savings in separate housing projects.

But I made one mistake – of choosing the same builder, JayPee, probably because of its reputation then. Those days, property consultants in Noida and Greater Noida would say that JayPee had such deep pockets that even the (Mayawati-led BSP) government was functioning from there. The shift in power in Uttar Pradesh brought an end to the rising fortunes of JayPee (In 2012, Samajwadi Party took over and ordered an inquiry into several of JayPee real estate deals).

My ambitions crashed with it. We were living in a government accommodation and had planned to leave it 2013, when the possession was scheduled. We were hoping that by leaving staff quarters will save us a substantial amount as HRA (housing rent allowance). As the date of delivering the housing project drew closer, the real estate market saw a huge crash (2012). My earnings dwindled.

This began to tell on our family life. Loud arguments between my wife and I were a daily routine. We dreaded the date of our EMIs, school fees and other monthly expenses. Every time, an unseen expenditure cropped up, we felt humiliated.

Even though the matter moved to court, there was little progress in terms of repayment of buyers’ money. To avoid domestic fights, and probably being an escapist then, I separated from my wife. Yet, there was no peace. The demand in realty sector dried up, so did my income.

Three months back, I was met with another shock. My wife committed suicide. Today, over Rs 30 lakh of my lifetime savings is stuck in the housing projects. I have lost my wife. I have a 14-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son. On top of that, I have bank loan to repay. I had to relinquish government accommodation. My children ask me when we are moving into our own house. Life is miserable. Would JayPee promoters ever know how many lives they have destroyed?

Also Read: Home Truths II – Affordable Housing Is A Major Sham