After about 40-45 days of extensive search for a rented apartment in Mumbai, I have understood the reality of realty here. The fact is, even if you are ready to pay, getting a good flat is rare. If you don’t want to involve brokers (as in my case), the task is even tougher. The idiosyncrasies of owners are just too much:
Some want only those tenants from the same community; even though the society may not be a community CHS.
Religion is a big barrier. Although I never face it, I really find it both insulting and shameful at the same time. Whenever you mention that you may keep a roommate, mostly the quick question is “Is he X?”
Non-Veg is consistently frowned at; even eggs are not tolerated in extreme cases.
The market consists of extremes; there are either some Rs. 4000-5000 per month kind of dingy places where there are no restrictions or Rs. 75,000 per month onwards of luxury flats where there are no restrictions (obviously). Anything in between comes with so many T&Cs that you feel as if you are enrolling into a boarding school.
If you like a housing complex, the society rules will not allow tenants; kind of Murphy’s law. Its true, there are some complexes that do not allow renting.
Although this was my first brush with Mumbai’s real estate market, I sense (and hope) that this bubble is gonna burst in a few years; and burst really hard. There is too much irrationality going on for too long.
