Should I sell my flat and invest in mutual funds?

I have a loan-free apartment (2nd apartment) in Noida, currently valued at Rs 55 lakh. The value of the flat has not appreciated in the last three years. I plan to sell it and invest the money (Rs 55 lakh) in a mutual fund scheme for the next 15 years (Rs 30,000 SIP per month) with a moderate risk. Assuming 12 per cent average returns, I expect to create a corpus of Rs 1.55 crore in 15 years (something which realty price appreciation can never match looking at the situation in the last four to five years.
1. Is my thinking right? Please suggest.
2. If yes, please suggest which mutual fund schemes should I choose with moderate risk for 15 years ? Can I go with non-debt-based mutual funds because I am already investing Rs 12,000 per month in PPF (debt instrument) for the past many years.
--Imran Haider Naqvi

Puneet Oberoi, CFP, Director, Excellent Investment Advisroz, responds:

You are right, real estate investment is not at all a good investment option. Even fixed deposits will beat them. You can definitely invest the entire money in equity funds as you have a long term investment horizon of 15 years. You want to keep this money in a bank account and start an SIP of Rs 30,000 from the account for 15 years. You can do a systematic transfer plan from a liquid fund to the equity fund. If you are investing this way, you will loose the benefit of investing early.

Here is a hypothetical example. If a person invested Rs 55 lakh in Franklin India Liquid Fund in 2003 and invested Rs 30,000 per month in Franklin Bluechip Fund, the results would have been:


Franklin India Bluchip Fund – Rs 15,422,000 in 2018
Franklin India liquid fund value – Rs 55,03000 in 2018

You have not risked your capital much and made approximately Rs 2.1 crore in 15 years.

If the same person had invested 55 lakh in lumpsum in 2003 in Franklin India Bluechip fund, the value of the investment in 2018 would be whooping Rs 5.3 crore. So, you are actually loosing an opportunity to grow your wealth, approximately Rs 3 crore. That is the power of compounding.

I will recommend the following schemes :
Franklin India Bluechip Fund
Hdfc Mid Cap Fund
L& T Midcap Fund
Mirae Asset Emerging Businesses Fund