Vaibhav Kinjawadekar, Art Director with Coho Concepts is a hardcore trekker and a bike rider, who has been staying in the peripheral areas of MMR for more than a decade. He was earlier a resident of Thakurli, a station between Kalyan and Dombivli. His wife Ashwini, who works at an Executive position has been a resident of Badlapur and Kalyan and has experienced the area developing. They shifted residence to Ambernath and travel to work on a daily basis; Vaibhav to his agency office at Mulund and Ashwini to Chinchpokli in South Mumbai.
Both agree that travelling has become convenient from Ambernath, Kalyan, Dombivli as there are multiple local trains that starts from there with the final destination being Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. While returning during the peak hours, Ashwini prefers going to CST and taking a down local that ends at Ambernath.
“Looking at the improvement in the road infrastructure in the peripheral cities we have recently bought a car, but still prefer train for our daily travel as it is convenient and affordable. The vehicle is used for leisure purposes and outstation travel. These areas have great prospects as each are at varying stages of development. Some of them have already developed and others are at the final or initial stage of development and one can see the results in coming years. We think this belt would be a great option for first home buyers, especially the younger population with a mindset of managing their finances to explore a quality life and maintain certain standard of living. Investors too would gain from the rising property rates,” the couple opines.
Vaibhav explains another major reason why Ambernath is ideal for those who are into trekking and bike riding like him. Easy accessibility and good road connectivity on two-wheelers is an important aspect, Ambernath is a central location so one can easily travel to Murbad, Karjat, Pune, Goa, Nashik, Igatpuri even other areas like Kalyan, Vashi etc.
Ashwini describes Ambernath as a peaceful haven. After day long at work and travel, she really gets peace here as there is not much chaos and the location is not at all polluted, so the fresh air truly invigorates her after reaching home. While the couple can easily select a location, which is relatively closer to their workspaces than the present one, it is their preferred choice to stay in the outskirts as it’s beneficial from every aspect. When asked about where they would like to buy their first home, without giving a thought they said between Kalyan to Badlapur, they would give more preference to Ambernath.
There are lot of redevelopment projects happening in Ambernath and Badlapur, so one can also try and invest in such properties but only after doing proper research. This approach is advisable and should be applied regardless of whether you are buying a ready-possession flat, under-construction or even a plot or villa.
One should always invest in a project by an established developer in the market who has successfully delivered projects, especially in this belt. While sharing an experience of lack of awareness about the potential an area holds, she pointed out that many owners have sold their properties at a lesser price not because there was a problem with the area or location but they weren’t aware about its growth prospects.
Ashwini shared that people need to be more aware about the potential these peripheral cities or satellite cities, which are part of MMR region, adjacent to Navi Mumbai and well connected to other states within Maharashtra. However, one should always invest/ buy wisely as there are few areas which comes under the local gram panchayat.
