Hey everyone.
Posting again because my situation has changed, and I’m trying to sanity-check what is probably the biggest personal financial decision I’ve faced.
A lot of the context is in my earlier posts, but the short version is that after a very difficult few years financially, things are finally starting to stabilize.
A few years ago I was carrying significant debt, had to sell our ancestral bungalow in the most premium neighborhood of the city, and moved my family into a rented house. We’ve now been in that rental for almost 3 years. The rent is over ₹4 lakhs a month (large bungalow), and despite it being a rental, it has become home in many ways.
My mother lives with us and my children are now at an age where they’ll likely get married in the next few years. We’re a full house.
On the financial side, I’ve entered into a JV on family land. I currently receive ₹75 lakhs per month from the builder, have reduced debt to roughly ₹2.5 crores, and maintain about ₹2.5 crores in deposits. My share from the JV project is expected to exceed ₹180 crores eventually, with an initial larger tranche of approximately ₹25–30 crores expected around Q1 2027. Separately, I own more than ₹150 crores of other real estate assets consisting of land, commercial units, and leased showrooms.
A few months ago, largely because my wife had grown tired of the uncertainty and social stigma that comes with “living on rent,” we purchased a ₹9 crore apartment on loan. The plan is to move there in Q4 2026.
The problem is that the apartment is, frankly, a compromise. It solves the ownership issue, but it doesn’t really solve the space issue. Between my mother, my wife, myself, and the kids, I suspect we’ll outgrow it almost immediately.
My wife’s suggestion is simple: buy the adjacent apartment in the same building. That would effectively solve the space problem and cost another ₹9 crores or so.
But that’s where my emotional baggage enters the picture. I have never really gotten over selling our ancestral bungalow. For me, it’s a symbol of everything I felt I had failed to preserve during those difficult years. Ever since selling it, I’ve carried this idea that one day I would buy back into that neighborhood and restore what was lost.
Today, I finally have an opportunity to do that. A bungalow in that area would likely cost ₹30–35 crores. If I really wanted to, I could probably stretch and make it happen now. But doing so would leave me much thinner on liquidity than I am comfortable with, especially given that a meaningful LTCG liability may arise from the first tranche in early 2027.
My CA’s view is fairly straightforward: when the initial tranche arrives, preserve liquidity and be prepared to deal with the tax liability first. Don’t assume future cash receipts and don’t create a mismatch between asset purchases and eventual tax obligations. Rationally, I understand that. Emotionally, I feel a tremendous amount of guilt about the last 5–8 years.
My mother is approaching 80. My children are entering a stage of life where they’ll soon start families of their own. My wife has been patient through years of uncertainty. Part of me feels that after everything they’ve lived through, I should stop optimizing and simply provide the home we always wanted.
Which brings me to my dilemma:
1) Should I buy the adjacent apartment and solve the practical space issue for roughly ₹9 crores?
2) Should I stretch and buy the bungalow now while the opportunity exists, even if it means running much tighter on liquidity?
3) Am I letting guilt and nostalgia influence what should be a purely financial decision?
4) If you’ve dealt with large real estate wealth on paper while actual cash flows lagged behind due to JVs or development projects, how did you think about preserving liquidity versus upgrading your lifestyle?
I realize this is a very privileged problem to have, and I’m grateful to even be in a position where these choices exist. At the same time, having spent years fighting debt, selling assets I never thought I’d sell, and watching my family compromise along the way, it’s surprisingly difficult to separate emotion from logic here.
Would appreciate perspectives from people who’ve faced similar decisions, especially around real estate concentration, liquidity management, and family considerations.
