Archives: January 29, 2012

ApnaComplex
January 29, 2012

Housing Society Maintenance – Start the Year Afresh After a Garage Sale

Garage Sale
If you have been thinking of providing your home a huge makeover, New Year is the best time to do so. Remove the thought from your mind that it will cost you a bomb; denial won’t help you achieving the makeover you want. Re-invent your home by deciding the perfect theme you want for the rooms.

To carry out a successful garage sale you need to first figure out what you do not need, that is, the items you need to dispose off. There can be many things in your house that are cluttering up your home space unnecessarily and do not have much use such as old boxes, extra clothes, unused furniture or more. Here’s a list on what can be thrown out.

The unused stuff above the shelves and beneath the beds, storage spots in the backyard; every place that has been cluttered with household items needs to be figured out.

Things to Do

  • Clean all the items you plan to sell out so that it is presentable and neat.
  • Check the online sources such as eBay on how much they are selling the same items for. Always remember that people want garage sales to be way cheaper than the others.
  • Price everything decently with clear labels on each of them.
  • You can use stickers in case you are pricing everything individually. Make different labels of the prices and put the items having the similar price range at a same place.
  • Make signs to direct people to the right spot when you put up a garage sale. But make sure you do not put them up before you have organized the sale.
  • Maintain a cash notebook and note down what you have sold and for what amount.
  • Keep a change bag with you, which you can clip on yourself.
  • Get packaging material such as boxes, plastic bags and other basic amenities so that you can carry things back home easily.
  • Group selling with neighbours is a better possibility to sell off your old stuff as soon as possible.
  • Make a list of all the people who would co-ordinate with you for the sales. If more people are selling off the stuff reach an agreement on the profit percentages to be shared.

Spice up Your Sale

  • Don’t forget selling drinks like coffee, tea, cold soda to the buyers during the sale.
  • You can add to it with having a sausage sizzle along with the garage sale. This attracts customers and also gives you new avenues to make profits.
  • Cakes, cookies, muffins can also be sold along with the packaged items
  • You can also put plants and pots from the plant cuttings in your garden, for sale. If they don’t sell it doesn’t really dent your selling plans.

How to Present

Set up the yard in such a way so that it’s easy for people to walk around and sell your stuff. Don’t clutter up the space where you have set up things for sale. Make sure you label the things so that people find it very organized and easy to sell.

This article aims at collating and providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. While ApnaComplex has taken every care to ensure the information is accurate, we suggest to please use it only as a guidance for further discussion and action with help of relevant professionals.

Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

Leave a comment InApartment Apartment Management Articles Housing Society Maintenance Tips Smart Living Tips
ApnaComplex
January 28, 2012

Housing Society Knowhow – What You Should Know About Prepaying Loans

Prepaying Loans

Prepayment Penalty is a nightmare that is suffered by the individual borrowers who take home loans for buying apartments. A prepayment loan generally means that all debts have to be paid before the due date. Prepayment penalty usually ranges between 1% or 5% on the total loan taken depending on the bank.

The NHB (National Housing Bank) sent out a notice to all the HFCs (Housing Finance Company) recently to levy any prepayment charges. This decision has been greatly applauded by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). The ban is not only levied on the prepayment of the floating rate home loans but also the borrowers of the fixed rate home loan schemes

However, if you have taken a Prepayment Loan you just need to follow a few simple rules. Here’s a look at them

Rule #1 Negotiation With Your Bank

Before transferring your home loan, do let your bank know regarding why you have planned to pay your loan beforehand. If the EMI on your home loan is unaffordable to you or the interest rate is sky high, then the bank might grant you certain options like extension in tenure, partial repayment or a relaxation in the home loan EMI.

Rule #2 Switching to a Floating Rate Scheme From a Fixed rate Loan

Some of the borrowers let you choose a floating scheme of payment if you are finding a difficulty in paying your home loan. The floating loan scheme comes 1 or 2 percent cheaper than the fixed rate loan scheme.

Rule #3 Partial Prepayment

If the pre-play is taking a toll on your budget and the interest rate is too high for you to pay up; talking to the bank is always an option. The bank can allow you to make partial prepayments and lower the principal amount; they can also reduce the outstanding loan amount. Many banks have the option of a partial prepayment of the loan, which does not exceed 25% of the total loan amount.

Rule #4 Prepayment of the Home Loan from Your Source

In case you decide to go for a full loan prepayment or opt for a foreclosure with own funds, no penalty amount will be levied on you. These funds can be a maturity of bonuses from sale of assets and employment or life policies.

Home Loan is a major source of fund when you buy a property. The Home Loan EMI or the interest rate varies from one bank to another. Hence, it is very necessary to plan and choose an interest rate or an EMI or a home loan prepayment.

This article aims at collating and providing information for benefit of ApnaComplex customers and blog readers. While ApnaComplex has taken every care to ensure the information is accurate, we suggest to please use it only as a guidance for further discussion and action with help of relevant professionals.

Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trail as well so that you can try before you buy!

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ApnaComplex
January 27, 2012

Housing Society Living – How to Make Your Home More Spacious

Spacious Homes
Having your own home is definitely a priority in life. One of the first impressions while buying a home is that it should be large and spacious and that can burn a hole in your wallet. You start compromising on your shopping, partying and other luxuries when you plan to buy a spacious apartment.

However, when you actually move in to your new place with all the furniture and other storage boxes, the house looks crammed up. Figuring out the right places to store all the old and unwanted items is definitely a challenge. Following are some useful tips on how to effectively make your house more spacious.

Placement of Furniture

The furniture needs to be in the perfect place to efficiently partition a room into two. For example, you can use a big wardrobe to separate a large room into two, which will offer more privacy. A kitchen platform is a nice way of dividing an entire kitchen into a cooking space and a separate dining space.

Storage Space

You can always reduce the storage area by keeping all the container boxes and seasonal items below the beds or underneath the furniture. Buy beds or tables which have drawers or storage spaces in them. You can use shelves and hooks behind the doors or wardrobes to hang your clothes.

Colors and Paints

Using pastel and light colors makes your room look bigger. For better illusion you can use colors like cream, yellow, icy blue and white. Dark colors absorb most of the lights and hence make the room look darker. You can paint your room with light vertical paints to give a high rise look.

Natural Light

Avoid placing big furniture in front of the windows; it blocks the natural light from entering the room. It is always advisable to install high rise windows at your such as French windows to give your room a more spacious look. Don’t clutter up your window sill if you have smaller windows.

Installing Adequate Mirrors in Your House

Placing a mirror in your apartment makes it look more spacious. A mirror reflects both artificial and natural light. Using cabinets, which have mirrors, can be used to store a lot of small stuff. You should keep the mirror at a place where light falls on the mirror.

Electronic Goods

Making use of electronic goods can clutter up your home space a lot. Take optimum care when you plan to place the TV or the LCD in some room. Laptops are more useful than that of personal computers.

Interior Décor

The walls should not be cluttered up with many photo frames and pictures. Using one or two pictures on the wall is a better option. Feng Shui or Vaastu Shaastra can be implemented in your place to bring in a good ambience to your apartment.

Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!
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ApnaComplex
January 27, 2012

How to Set Up an Eco-Friendly Kitchen in an Apartment Complex

Eco Friendly KitchenWhile setting up your house, remodeling the kitchen according to your need is an important factor. Eco-friendly updates to the kitchen are some of the best ways of reducing power and using the entire workspace. Transforming the kitchen into an eco-friendly one leverages the value of your apartment and also helps in conserving the environment. There can be a whole lot of aspects that can be kept in mind while upgrading your kitchen.

A kitchen can be easily made into an eco-friendly one by using many energy-saving equipments and appliances such as water-saving faucets, eco-friendly lighting and energy efficient windows.

Ventilation and Natural Light

You can save unnecessary wastage of electricity and save power by working closer to skylights and windows. By setting up your kitchen that way, you save a great amount of light. If your kitchen is not well ventilated and does not receive a good amount of light, then you should opt for LED or CFL bulbs. Installing an exhaust fan in the kitchen is very necessary; it fans out the entire bad odor in your kitchen and does not let the fumes stay. This in turn increases the amount of fresh air in the kitchen and removes any dampness. Using daylight controllers and energy efficient bulbs is a great way to save energy from being used.

Making use of Energy-Efficient Appliances

Energy consumption depends a lot on the appliances that are being used. Usually, new appliances always come with more efficient energy-saving technology than their previous counterparts. All modern electronic appliances use considerably very less amount of energy than the older equipments. All the Energy Star appliances use less energy and are more efficient to operate.

Cooking at a Time

Instead of cooking many times, try cooking once. Multitasking while cooking such as cutting vegetables can help you save a lot of fuel and time. Cutting of vegetables into small pieces increases the taste of the dish you are cooking and at the same time also cuts down the preparation time. The USP of cooking at a time is that you save a lot of fuel.

Choosing Cookware

Be choosy while buying your utensils; do not just go for the cheap ones as they increase you cooking time. Low quality utensils take time to heat up and hence consume huge amount of fuel or gas. Try not to use disposable products as they are made of low-quality cast iron, which affects your cooking process.

Adopting a Green Living

Keeping a separate dust bin for recyclable and non-recyclable wastes will help you do your bit for the environment too.

Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

Leave a comment InApartment Apartment Management Articles Eco Living Housing Society Smart Living Tips
ApnaComplex
January 25, 2012

Housing Society Republic Day Celebrations – What You Can Organize

Republic Day is the perfect time for residents of a housing society to forget their differences and quarrels. After all, celebrating the unity and brotherhood of the country should encourage each of us to follow the same principles. Most housing societies have at least a flag hoisting event on Republic Day. Others have more elaborate functions. What your society chooses to do would depend on the budget – and more importantly on the level of enthusiasm among residents.

Republic Day Celebrations

What You Can Organize on Republic Day


(i) Flag Hoisting: No Republic Day function is complete without the flag hoisting ceremony. The flag hoisting is normally held early in the morning. A senior citizen of the housing complex could be asked to hoist the flag. Organize a choir to sing patriotic songs and end with the national anthem.

(ii) Sports Meet: A sports meet is a good way to get better participation. Most children are eager to sign up and you can be sure that parents will come to encourage and cheer their kids. A couple of contests can also be organized for adults.  A prize distribution ceremony at the end will wrap up the function perfectly.

(iii) Honoring Heroes: Republic Day is also an occasion where heroes are honored. It is a good idea to have a small ceremony to honor those people in your housing society who have contributed time and effort for good causes. This need not be restricted to just society activities. Residents of the housing society who have worked for upliftment and empowerment of the disadvantaged in society can be given a small token of appreciation.

(iv) Fancy Dress Competition: Fancy dress competitions are regularly organized in housing societies as part of the Republic Day celebrations. You can make the competition a little more interesting by introducing a theme – for example, children can be asked to dress up as national leaders involved in our freedom struggle. Other competitions like singing competition, dance competition or coloring competitions revolving around the theme of patriotism can be organized.

(v) Residents Meet: Republic Day is also a time when residents get a chance to network and socialize with their neighbors. A residents’ meet organized on this day will ensure good participation since almost everybody takes a day off work on Republic Day. The Residents Meet can also be used to discuss and thrash out petty problems and troubles between various individuals or groups.

(vi) Cultural Programs: A cultural program in the evening is normally organized in most housing societies. Aspects of life from various regions and parts of India can be showcased during this program. This will help residents of the housing complex to understand each other’s lifestyle and will encourage brotherhood.

The country celebrates Republic Day in order to bring about a sense of identity, patriotism and unity among people. After all, a country can grow only if people have pride in themselves and their country.  The same holds true for a housing society, and a grand Republic Day celebration is a good way to encourage harmony among residents.

Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

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ApnaComplex
January 18, 2012

Apartment Complex Essentials – Tips for Organized Moving

Apartment Complex Essentials - Tips for Organized MovingMoving in can be an overwhelming experience. It is difficult to keep a track of everything even if you take time for organizing and packing things. Hence, it is always a good idea to make a checklist that will help you reduce stress and also keep a track of loose ends. Here’s a checklist that can be used while moving in to a new place.

Things to Do at Least 6 Weeks before Moving

  • Make a checklist or maintain a notebook to keep track of all the moving information at a single place.
  • Plan on whether you plan on hiring a moving company or you want to move out on your own.
  • If you plan on hiring a moving company, then do a well planned research on which company you plan to hire.
  • If you plan on moving to a place, which is far off from the current place you are staying in, cross check whether you need any special considerations such as arranging for auto shipping.
  • Make an appropriate estimate of the costs you think you would incur.
  • Run a check on the lease agreement for the current apartment and get an idea of how much you would have to pay to move out.
  • You have to find out if there are any formalities before moving in to the new place.
  • Set up a meeting with an insurance agent and get your renter’s insurance figured out for your new apartment. Make sure you cancel all your current policies when you plan to move out.
  • Prepare a list of all the people who need to be intimated and contacted before you move out. The list should ideally include doctors, creditors, friends, former employees and schools.
  • Start moving smaller items into boxes.
  • Give a notice to the owner of the current apartment.

Things to do 4-5 Weeks before You Move

  • Make a list of all the valuable items that need special care while moving.
  • Donate away items that are not needed.
  • Finish off all the detergent and frozen food items before moving out.
  • Transfer all your newspaper and magazine subscriptions.
  • Inform your employer that you would want to take a day off for moving into a new apartment.
  • If you are moving to a different state, make sure that you get your car tags and driving license updated.
  • Close all the accounts that are not to be moved such as checking, savings, P.O. Boxes, safe deposit boxes, etc.

Things to do 2 to 3 Weeks before You Move

  • Return any library items or other material that you have bought on rent.
  • Make a meal chart that helps you make use of all the food items that is stored in your refrigerator.

The Final Week

  • Confirm your meeting with cable or other Internet services.
  • Confirm moving out details with the movers company that you have hired.
  • Pack all the essentials that you would need immediately after moving in to the new apartment.
  • A final apartment check is needed to make sure you have not left out anything.
Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

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ApnaComplex
January 17, 2012

New Feature: Housing Society Inventory Tracking Made Easy

In yet another first, ApnaComplex launches Inventory Tracking Module for Housing societies.

One of the biggest pain points for any society is to track how various consumables (such as Diesel, Electrical Fittings, Plumbing Fittings, Salt/Chemicals for Water Bodies etc.) are being utilized. Things like when was a stock bought and at what price, when and how are they consumed, what is the current balance is very difficult to track all along – but no more.

ApnaComplex has now a new “Inventory” module that would help you track inventory.  Asset Administrators will now be able to:
1. Define various stock items such as Diesel, Water, Bulbs, etc.
2. Ability to add purchase and consume transactions of every item – along with date of the transaction, the quantity and the price (for purchase transactions).
3. View Statement of each stock item for a given date range which gives an overview of how an item was purchased and used.
4. Generate month-wise consumption reports for a given date range for all stock items.

We are postive that our customers would find this module very useful. Like with all other features, this feature also will evolve based on the feedback from our customers as days pass by.

Happy and easy tracking!

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ApnaComplex
January 8, 2012

Oota from your Thota – Greening Bangalore’s Terraces and Balconies

ApnaComplex organized the Oota from Thota event on Sunday, 8th Jan, 2012 at Electronic City, Bangalore and here is the participants perspective of the event.

There was a sizable crowd of green enthusiasts with personal passions of greenery, gardening, no-plastic, organic farming and community well-being, bonding together through a common thread on this platform. Delighted to see participants coming from far distances such as Hanumant Nagar to attend the event and that’s true passion!

The pace got set with a talk from Dr.Viswanath of Garden City Farmers Trust – who presented some hard facts on the kind of food that we eat today. The dangers of consuming pesticides-ridden food taking their toll over a period of time was emphasized to create awareness. Though the speech was an eye-opener, all hope was not lost yet. Be it a terrace or a balcony, Dr. Viswanath & Laxminarayanan, also from Garden City Farmers Trust, showed the basic steps of planning for a garden, soil, grafting, seeds, seasonal plants etc. Pictures and success stories were shared on how even amateurs grew their own vegetables like capsicum and brinjal and fruits like the papaya and grapes in as little as 2ft by 2ft by 2ft space.

Oota from Thota by ApnaComplex - Session in progress

Oota from Thota by ApnaComplex - Session in progress

Following this, was another inspiring session from the Ms.Vani Murthy, another go-green expert who gave an actual demo of the materials that can be segregated in our day-to-day rubbish from our homes. Simple things like dry leaves, vegetable peels that can be separated out and mixed with soil and shredded newspapers to create nutrient-filled compost for plants. The difference between recyclable and reusable materials was also spelt out for the rapt audience.

The way the questions and queries from the audience till the very end were answered reflected the passion of the speakers.

Finally there were the packed stalls relevant to the theme of the day. Kids and their family thronged to the tasty organic chaat and snacks stall put by In the Pink. Then there was the unique and surprising flavours of homemade jam from Nature in a Bottle that teased your taste buds – you couldn’t resist taking home a bottle or two. For those looking to start their own kitchen garden, they were spoilt for choice of the garden tools and instruments, and exotic seeds by Varsha Enterprises. There was on display and sale, a variety of very informative and cost effective composting products and solutions from “Daily Dump” right from offices to homes to communities. Also present was Opron Biotech providing digital diagnostic equipment such as Thermometers, Blood Pressure Devices.

All-in-all a very satisfying and different way to spend a Sunday – one small step for the conscientious citizen. Heartening to see the pockets of change and hoping that this cascades into the right direction for Bangalore and rest of the world.

The event was supported by Garden City Farmers Trust, Celebrity Paradise Layout and Citizen Matters along with ApnaComplex.

Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

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