I was looking to buy an apartment near HOSA Road. The MyGate app popped up an advertisement about 3 BHK in Bren Woods. The price looked attractive to me, and I hence called the marketing person, Mr. Shrinixxx, who posted the advertisement. Apparently, this person is from the marketing team for Bren Woods. I went to look at the flat. Honestly, I liked the flat and the society at first glance. Shrinixxx showed me the amenities and spoke about the greeneries in the society. Everything was great until now.
The next day, I revisited the society, and Shrinixxx connected me to the owner, Mr Gauxxx Agnixxxxx, who apparently is an investor looking to sell his flat. He quoted me 68 lakhs for the three-bedroom, 1333-sqft flat. After a few seconds of negotiation, we agreed on Rs. 66 lakh. Gauxxx asked me for an upfront token of 10k and suggested that I should start calling bank officials for a loan so that we can close the deal asap. I got caught up in FOMO and followed what he suggested. I paid him the token amount and reached out to my RM at HDFC Bank to initiate the loaning process. Gauxxx also sent the required documents to the banks, and had it not been the Dusshera holiday, the loan would have been sanctioned because the papers were good.
Now comes the interesting part. On the Dussehra holiday, I visited the society again and thought of greeting my would-be neighbours. They were very courteous and offered us tea. We discovered that they have been living in the apartment for 5 years, so they were well aware of the situation. They asked us to follow them to the balcony, and to our horror, there was a giant BBMP GARBAGE PROCESSING PLANT right 100 m away from the society. They mentioned that the builder cheated them and convinced them that the plant would shut down in a few days. Some of the things they mentioned about the plant were: the plant is emitting an obnoxious smell that has made the lives of inhabitants in this area miserable. Residents are now used to it. It is causing pollution in the nearby environment and in the underground water. It poses a severe health risk to people living in its surroundings. And because of the plant, there are no new developments in the area, and the property rate hasn’t appreciated in 5 years. Residents often protest in front of the plant to get it to shut down or moved to a different location. I have found many online links confirming the same.
Thank you to these kind neighbours who have saved me from committing the biggest mistake of my life. I called the marketing person immediately to ask why we were not informed about this hazardous plant nearby. To this, his response was, "The smell is not persistent and occurs mostly when the garbage truck passes by!
Well, I immediately decided to call off this deal and informed the bank to not proceed further on this. also called Gauxxx about the same. He blatantly lied to me and said he was not aware of the plant since he had not lived there. But from the neighbours, I learned that he has been very desperate to sell his flat and has been posting lots of development plans around the area in the society group so that someone can buy it. I did more research and discovered that he had been posting advertisements for months and had quoted a much lower price than what I was offering him.
Later, Gauxxx ghosted me and refused to return my 10, 000 token payment after learning I was no longer interested in purchasing his property. Well, I consider it learning for me. I paid a very low price for the mistake I was about to commit. I thank almighty that, on the occasion of Dusshera, he saved me from this crook.
People considering buying this property because of its low price should read about the Solid Waste Management Plant at Chikkanagamangala, Electronic City Ph 2 Bengaluru.