Muffled conversations grew louder as more people dropped in at Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam on Sunday.
On the third and final day of ‘Fairpro 2010' property fair there, prospective customers were engaged in serious discussions revolving around distance to the projects, commuting time, cost, accessibility, facilities and car park.
Groups of people sat around tables with sales personnel or with family and friends and discussed the merits of the projects. The marketing personnel pitched their products as exclusive, offering multi-storeyed complex with a school, hospital and swimming pool and visit to the site.
The wide range of choices from the exhibitors and photographs of plush interiors and green environs provided food for thought.
Krishnam Raju, a general manager in a private firm, was looking for a two-bedroom apartment.
“My office is in Nungambakkam and my budget is Rs.35 lakh. I want facilities like good water and sewage connection,” he said.
An IT professional and his mother who visited several stalls were looking for residential apartment complexes that offered “security, easy accessibility, water and privacy.”
For some, distance was less important. Multinational company employee V.P. Suresh wants to expose his daughters to an international community. “Within six months I will go for a house. My daughters are aged eight and three years.
A gated community will offer space for the kids to play. My wife is worried about driving long distance but I want the kids to have lots of space which is not available in the city,” he said.
P.C. Warrier and his wife Srilatha were seen helping their daughter-in-law find a suitable property.
“It is okay if it is 10-12 km from her office in Guindy. We have identified several reliable builders. We will find a suitable house soon within our budget,” Srilatha said. On Sunday, a debate on ‘Living in apartments vs. independent houses' was organised at the expo.
President of CREDAI-Tamil Nadu T. Chitty Babu said the crowd thronged to the fair even after 8 p.m., the closing time.
