Second Homes In Celeb City: Consider Alibag if you want something close to Mumbai

Suhana, who will be seen as an actor for the first time in Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies, bought the land from Anjali Khote and two of her family members. The land parcel is located at Thal village in Alibag, in Raigad district, the agreement for sale said.

Earlier, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and her husband Ranveer Singh had bought a second home in Alibaug for Rs 22 crore.

In the past, former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and his actress wife Anushka Sharma had purchased an eight-acre land parcel in Alibag for around Rs 20 crore.

Several celebrities and industrialists have bungalows in Alibaug, such as Navin Agarwal of Vedanta Resources, Gautam Singhania of Raymonds, Prakash Mody of Unichem Labs, Salil Parekh of Infosys, Sanjay Nayar of KKR, Falguni Nayar of Nyka, and equity investor Deven Mehta, among others, brokers said.

Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan has a bungalow overlooking Thal beach, they added.

How far is it from Mumbai?

If you take the roll on-roll off (roro)-cum-passenger ferry service available between Mumbai and Mandwa, near Alibag, it takes about 45 minutes to reach Mandwa, from where it takes another 30 minutes approximately to reach Alibag. The Roro services were launched in 2020 and can accommodate 145 cars and around 500 passengers.

Also read: Govt spending Rs 1,900 crores to support 45 Ro-Ro ferry projects

From south Mumbai, Alibag is around 110 km, and from Dahisar — the northernmost tip of the city — it is about 125 km. It takes around 3-4 hours to reach the coastal town from Mumbai during the  day by road.

Rental yield and capital appreciation

"Currently, second-home options near Mumbai include Alibag and Karjat. We have a pipeline of 2.5 lakh sq ft, wherein we are constructing serviced villas and apartments because of the demand. Our simple value proposition is higher rental yield considering real estate is an appreciating asset and not a liability for investors. We are selling villas in the range of Rs 1.75 to 2.25 crore, and apartments for between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 3 crore," said Sachin Chopda, Managing Director, Pushpam Group.

According to Chopda, second-home markets near Mumbai such as Alibag and Karjat may become first-home destinations in the next seven to 10 years.

"The land rate in the area ranges between Rs 2,000 to as high as Rs 12,000. The rental yield on villas and apartments is 4-5 percent, and capital value appreciation per annum is 12-15 percent,” he said.

An earlier survey by Savills India had said that as many as 70 percent of the respondents wanted to invest in a second home priced at Rs 2 crore or less within two years. As many as 29 percent wanted to invest in popular second-home destinations in Maharashtra. Net yields of Maharashtra properties have been in the range of 4-6 percent, the survey had said.

Also read: Housing Affordability: Cities with highest and lowest rental yields

Things to do before purchasing land in Alibag

"It is important to do thorough due diligence before purchasing property, be it anywhere in India. This should include, but not be limited to, checking the title of the owners selling the property, whether there are any issues among them and / or their legal heirs, whether all the legal heirs are being made party to the transaction (if applicable), and whether the names of all the owners have been mutated (entered) in the revenue records," said  Suhail Ahmed Khilji, a lawyer who handled such transactions in Alibag

``It is also important to check whether any mortgage has been created by the owners in favour of any party in respect of the property, and if yes, then whether re-conveyance of the mortgage has been registered or not," he said.

"Another important thing is to do a litigation search in the name of the owners, and see if there is any pending litigation that may affect the title of the owners. When it comes to Alibag, one needs to also check the nature of the land, whether it is agricultural or non-agricultural, and if it is classified as a private forest in the revenue records per the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act, 1975. One must also check if any prior permission is required before the property is put to use for a particular purpose," Khilji added.

He further explained that, "In case one is not purchasing land and instead purchasing a property that is already constructed, then it is important to check if the same has been built in compliance with the law, and whether the occupation certificate has been issued by the competent authority in respect of the same."

(Inputs from Vandana Ramnani & Mehul R Thakkar)