HONEST but LENGHTHY REVIEW: Covering different aspects as per my knowledge, understanding, some mistakes done and of course some lessons I learnt(In short biggest lesson: DO NOT BUY ANY APARTMENT WHICH ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION IF YOU ARE AN END USER). Details are below.
If you are looking for a good quality product and ready to pay a premium for it then straightway skip this review as DS Max is not at all a builder for you to consider and look options in A/A+ category builders.
This review is for those who are having budget constraint and are ok with compromises. My family requirement was a 3BHK with 3 toilets with spacious balconies and my budget was tight. That’s the only reason I opted for this property. If you do not have these criteria and challenges then DS MAX is a strict NO NO.
I am trying to keep this review as honest as possible to help out genuine potential buyers. Not sure if all the good reviews for DS Max in this forum are genuine or not(having all 4-5 STAR ratings). If not then those are from the marketing/sales team of DS Max. Just go through the different reviews in this forum which are carrying 4-5 STAR, you will come to know most are from their employees(who have shared their feedback as an employees of the company, their work/growth etc and also some have praised some apartment projects simply without any facts or any detail info for buyers to know). The agenda is simple. To keep the average rating very high and attract more and more customers by fooling them. As a matter of fact you can see that average customers rating of DS MAX is much higher as compared to all other builders. Average rating of DS MAX is very high as compared to large builders who belong to A/A+ category and CREDAI members such as Prestige, Sobha, Brigade, Salarpuria, Mantri, Puravankara, Shriram, BREN, Skylark, SNN, Godrej, Nitesh etc. Surprising.NO?
Just compare the different great saying reviews and you will know many are duplicates/little modifications of language but same reviews from different accounts. Another set of such false reviews are from the actual buyers who have bought the units for investment purpose so they won’t say anything wrong at all as they have to sell the unit to get profit. The pain is actually with the end users who buy flats for their residence purposes. Investors and sales/marketing people give very positive reviews and feedback(most are lies only) to attract new customers. That’s all.
Spacious flats. There was good open space around the building. But recently they have utilized a big portion of it making a sky walk and parking under it. So that extra parking space they can sell to generate revenue. So forget any empty space in this project.
Even they are saying that they will be providing few(may be 5 slots) visitors parking in this project. I don’t believe this. They are selling parking slots as and when buyers are opting for it. So I won’t be surprised if in future there will be no visitors parking in this project and visitors have to suffer a lot as they have to park their vehicles outside of the complex and on the road. Again the adjacent road has got an approval for widening so I am curious it will touch exactly to the front boundary(entry gate) of the property leaving no space for parking at all. In all small projects visitor parking is shown only in brochure/advertisement but not in actual. Hence, don’t count on it.
Spacious balconies. Nice ventilation and spacious units. All 3 BHK units. Only positive part: Spacious units.
Pros: Suits your budget so far as units are considered. Not a crowded complex as only 108 units.
Area is going to develop with Prestige Augusta villa project nearby. Also Total Environment started In That Quiet Earth project just half a kilometer away and also Rohan Upavan is too started recently. DSR Waterscape and Willow Park apartments too came up in this area. Connectivity is good though Rampura is considered still interior. A straight road connecting to ORR at Horamavu junction(Approx 5km). To KR Puram(7.5km via Ramamurthy Nagar and OMR).
Don’t think any water issues in that area as 2 big lakes are nearby.(Kalkere lake and Maragondanahalli lake) Both lakes are visible clearly from the higher floors of Skyscape. Good agriculture is going on around adjacent land parcels and nearby area. Peaceful environment and clean area. Not sure for how many years it will remain so.
Points of concern and headache: Construction quality seems just average.
Less Carpet area as compared to the huge Super Built Up Area. This could be a big reason of the competitive price.
Bathroom wall tiles are different from wall to wall and bathroom to bathroom. Seems like they have used left over tiles from other projects. Some balconies in certain units are crowded with bathroom/toilet pipes giving a very dirty look.
Lack of amenities like outdoor games ex: tennis court/basket ball court/skating rink/amphitheater etc(Since land parcel only 1.83 Acre).
Date of possession keeps on changing. Earlier it was Mar-April 2017. Then it moved to July 2018. Then it became December 2018. Recent update from their CRM is the possession in March 2019.
A new update received from Sales team now: Delivery is delayed further. It will be around July 2019.(March 2019 became July 2019 now). That to without any amenities. Pathetic DS MAX. Stay away people and remain in peace.
Skyscape project started in April 2014 but still not finished. For 108 units on 1.83 acres of land with few amenities such a long delay is very pathetic. A small project like this is taking so much of time for DS MAX with never ending delay, so just forget about the delivery of their bigger projects.
The sales people are giving reasons saying civil work delayed and sometimes saying considering quality we are not making any hurry etc. This is quite disappointing.
They are collecting 3 years maintenance amount at a time which is a very big concern and is a significant amount of money(Rs.3 per square feet for the flat for 3 years). Another issue with these people is they don’t allow any flat to get the interior work done from outside, meaning they force customers to use their in house interior only for the wood work, plumbing and other work. This is another revenue model they follow to make sure to suck customers further.
Both forced interior by DS Max and 3 years of maintenance payment in advance are part of their agreement. So if you are not OK, then skip DS Max properties and look for other options. Moreover, even if you pay 3 years maintenance and the corpus fund of Rs. 50K in advance, the agreement still says that apart from this the purchaser has to pay additional club house maintenance charges if any as demanded by the builder. So you never know in how many different ways you will keep on paying and paying. Moreover, for their completed projects also they provide amenities minimum after 2/3 years of possession despite customers paying 3 years of maintenance in advance. They keep on working on the amenities after possession and you never know when those will be ready for use. So if you see total delay including all the promised amenities then it will be not less than 4-5 years. So almost half a decade delay. Quite shocking but it’s a fact. OC may be an indefinite delay. I don’t know any timeline for that. Neither anybody from the completed projects too. So I
assume God knows this.
Do ask for a draft copy/soft copy of sale agreement before booking itself just to verify the clauses or later if you find something fishy after paying the booking amount, then you are trapped. So it’s always better to get everything clarified before booking itself.
Sales/Marketing folks say reasons like "Sir for next 3 years it will be maintained by us, so any issues will be resolved very promptly without any follow up, and the complex will be trouble free. Outside interior team is not aware of our building structure, its internal wiring and plumbing etc so they may mess up stuff during their work and it’s difficult for us to manage unnecessary damages if caused any. But our interior team knows all the details(what is where) so there are no chance of unwanted damages." Not a very convincing logic which just justifies their revenue model.
Another feel good fake answer for delaying by the sales guys over there is "Sir! Forget about the delay. The price has appreciated a lot since last one and half year. Even if you are paying rent and EMI both, the property value has gone up drastically. Before possession only your property price will become double. All builders are making delay not only we."
One more feel good but dirty answer by the sales guy over there is "Sir, you have booked your flat from DS-MAX. Don’t worry. You are in safe hands. There may be delay but definitely you will get a flat at some point of time. If you see in other cities or other builders they are not delivering Sir. But with DS -MAX you will surely get your flat in future." Quite sarcastic isn’t it?
But at the time of booking they told it will be delivered very fast(March 2018). Also they told by April 2018 you can plan house warming function. DS MAX is the only builder who deliver on time. Even in their brochure you will find this note "We have never delivered on time, we have always delivered before time." Now since more than a year my EMI and rent both going on. To be precise I have already paid more than 6 lakhs of interest only to bank for my home loan. So if you are coming across such situation to buy an under construction property where your interest payment to bank is more then 4-5 months till flat delivery then it’s much better to buy a complete ready to move by paying little extra(this extra will be much less as compared to the amount of interest and House rent for that delayed period put together). It’s a big lesson for me. Please do not fall prey to the fake promises at all.
If you search on Internet you will find lakhs of unsold ready to move apartments across different cities in India. In Bengaluru only there are more than 1 lakh unsold ready to move in flats available in inventory. It’s better to look options in those too. This case is most suitable for those who are looking for residential purpose for self use and not for investment purpose.
The real trick for these people are "They construct the naked tower very fast, slab after slab. So after the structure is complete they can take almost 90% and above money. Then the work will be delayed. From structure completion to project delivery is more than 50% time of the entire project duration time. As per my knowledge Skyscape structure was ready almost before more than 2 years but still work is progress status till date."
A small example(not exact numbers but you will get an idea):
From ground breaking to Complete superstructure(with all slabs put) builder suppose takes 2 years. Since all slabs are done you pay 90% or more money.
From completed slab structure to ready to move in builders takes 3-4 years. You pay remaining less than 10% of money during this period.
So you pay huge Home Loan Interest+ House Rent for that 3-4 years without having your flat ready. Suppose during this period you have paid approx 15 lakhs(EMI+ Rent put together for 3-4 years), do you think the property appreciate more than 15 lakhs over that duration. Just THINK ON IT. Decision is yours. But I am finding myself on a losing side for an under construction property. So if you are looking for self use, then go for a complete ready to move flat where you will get what you see and also no delay. When you pay EMI, there is no rent as you are paying EMI for the house where you are staying. Even newer ready to move resale properties(1-3 years old) too are not bad options at all. You get to know the exact quality/facilities/challenges/services offered/issue resolution etc there and then can take a decision.
Seeing the progress of my apartment work of last 1 year a big question in mind is whether it will be ready by End of 2019 or not?
Since Skyscape is still under construction and my flat in Skyscape is not delivered yet, can’t provide review about the actual living experience/maintenance problems faced/issue resolutions if any etc. But will definitely share the experiences after the flat is delivered and we move in. Surely this is not going to happen soon as they are champion in making delay.
My suggestion is never listen to the big liar sales people there. I am hearing their lies every time whenever I ask regarding possession time. You need to have ample amount of patience to follow up these people for any update. Remember, they are very aggressive for their payments(Loan amount) making you completely restless. But once the payment is confirmed, they won’t pick up your phone, won’t call you back, won’t respond to any of your communication by any means. You have to run all the time tirelessly to these people to hear their fake promises and lies. Only their customer desk will pick your call thinking that it could be a potential buyer for a fresh sale who won’t provide you any answer after knowing that you are already a customer who seeks some info regarding the project. I am experiencing it since more than 15 months.
As you are investing a lot and lot of hard earned money to buy a house, better visit some of their completed projects. Visit their website and find a couple of such completed projects.(Example: DS-MAX Sigma nest in ECity, DS MAX Sheltons in Mallatha halli(Nagarbhavi), DS MAX Skylish on Sarjapura-Attibele road etc and some other completed projects as well). Talk to the residents there, see the condition of the building/interior works, car parking, DG power back-up issues(whether Power Backup is covering only common facilities or even inside flat to what extent), club house condition, gym instruments, swimming pool functional or not, other functioning amenities etc. Remember they charge a big amount for amenities and parking as well. Check how much UDS(Un Divided Share) land they are giving for your flat. There are plenty of info in Google to calculate your UDS according to your flat size. UDS is very vital. So verify it with before buying whether you are getting exact UDS or not based on your flat size and project land size. UDS offering is quite less in Skyscape project. Similar dimension apartment in other providers you can get more UDS. A reason behind their competitive price.
Carpet area another important thing. Compare with other builders how much carpet area they are giving. More carpet area(actual living space), better is the flat. Mostly builders’ per quare feet price is for the SBA(super builtup area) which includes common areas like corridor, lift, stair case, wall thickness, balconies, etc. Particularly in Skyscape the carpet area offering is quite less. You can compare with other builders offering for similar dimensions. But yes, as I mentioned Skyscape price is competitive.
Best way to get it assured is to measure the carpet area in front of the sales guy. Ask them to show the measurement in actual before proceeding for any booking. Sometimes they say carpet area a higher value than what you get in actual. Many ignore this and end up paying for extra square feet which they never get. Compare the dimensions showed in their brochure with actual flat. Example: If a bedroom is 12 x 14, measure that bedroom if it’s actually 12 x 14 or not and so on for everything from Bathrooms to balconies. Measure and add up to get your actual livable area or the carpet area. Actually almost all buyers go with the numbers printed on the brochure, on their papers and never ask for a measurement before booking but that is one thing which must be done.
Also check with the buyers from the completed projects whether they have received CC and OC documents. This is very important. Also you can ask your doubts regarding the Sale Agreement clauses to the existing customers from delivered projects.
Investing couple of weekends on these are extremely vital or else you will repent later.
This review is specifically for Skyscape which is a bit decent project as compared to other low height projects of DS MAX, and if you like the property, do not hesitate to negotiate properly considering all the above factors before cracking a deal.
Now some generic guidelines: Spend some time on Internet to go through different articles on how builders trap customers in different ways. Find different negotiation techniques to get the best deal for your apartment. How builders make profit by cheating customers in different ways by making many fake promises and adding different components on the cost sheet. Check how much profit a builder makes from a flat. How a cost sheet is made for an apartment etc. Do GOOGLE and spend some time.
If you visit DS MAX Skyscape project, you can easily relate all the facts those I have described above. If you are targeting Skyscape project then better visit some other DS MAX completed projects in the nearby areas to talk to the existing residents there(to find out whether they have got what had been promised by the builder or are they feeling cheated in terms of quality, amenities, services and maintenance etc) before taking any decision.
Some nearby completed projects are:
DS MAX Springdale, Banjara residency layout, Horamavu.
DS MAX Springfield, Doddagubbi, Hennur Road.
DS MAX Solitaire, Kalkere-Agara Main road, Horamavu.
Use Google Map to get to these projects. Lastly, be very much careful. DO NOT PURCHASE ANY OF THEIR PRE-LAUNCH, FRESHLY LAUNCHED APARTMENT PROJECTS. YOUR WAITING PERIOD MAY BE INDEFINITE(THEY SAY ONLY FAKE DELIVERY DATES FOR THESE NEW PROJECTS. LATER MANY NEW REVISED DELIVERY DATES YOU WILL GET FROM THEIR CRM. SKYSCAPE IS NO EXCEPTION TOO). ANY PROPERTY YOU WANT TO GO FOR MAKE SURE IT IS COMPLETED, IT IS RERA REGISTERED(CHECK THIS ON KARNATAKA RERA WEBSITE) AND OC IS RECEIVED THEN ONLY YOU CAN CONSIDER TO PURCHASE. IN MANY CASES THEY PROMISE OC AT THE BEGINNING BUT LATER THEY WON’T LISTEN AT ALL. REMEMBER THIS ELSE YOU WILL CRY FOR YEARS TOGETHER.
DS MAX market themselves mostly by their competitive price as compared to other nearby projects, but the less price factor comes with equivalent compromises in terms of quality, amenities, carpet area, UDS, 3 years of forced maintenance payment in advance, forced interior, indefinite delay, and so on etc. So take all these factors into account before deciding anything.
Another note: "If a project is RERA registered, it does not guarantee in any way that it will be delivered on time. Sales/Marketing folks may tell you that since RERA has given a deadline, there is no question of delay. Don’t believe. It’s the biggest lie. By this lie they will take booking, do agreement and you will be trapped for years. There are different delay clauses(like unavailability of materials, shortage of manpower, weather issues, power issues etc) of which builder may take advantage of and keep on getting extension dates(new buffer period) from RERA. There is provision for this. You can find in RERA Website the different projects which are already delayed and are in the process of getting extension/renewal of revised dates. The fact is only a project is complete when YOU see it complete, that’s it. No body else can certify it."
This is my experience from the DS-MAX SKYSCAPE project which is getting delayed and delayed and I am observing it since long and long.
Also the articles below are worth reading and worth knowing before diving into any apartment purchase deal. I found these very very relevant.
https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/be-careful-while-buying-an-under-construction-property-5827
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/rera-activists-builders-sell-unfinis