Investors continued to be bullish on the Indian market, snapping up assets in office and industrial space. Office assets accounted for 35% of the total investments in H1 2021, followed by industrial and warehousing assets with a share of 27%. Investors are viewing the current scenario as an opportunity to snap up properties at attractive valuations.
Berkshire Hathway HomeServices, the real estate brokerage arm of global investor Warren Buffet has entered into the Indian market through its tie-up with Orenda India. Sanya Aeren, its Chief Advisor-Marketing & Communication, says the global best practices of Berkshire and the huge untapped opportunities in the Indian market would position this alliance into the top league. In an Exclusive Interview with Ravi Sinha, she spells out her plans to organize the property brokerage, penetrate deep into the market and also give a new experience to the investors. Excerpts of the interview:
Devesh Ratan: A lawyer who is exclusively representing you will only look at your interest. A broker has to charge his brokerage from both the parties; he will never say this property has this deficiency, or the papers that you are signing is fixing your liability. For example, many developers put it in their Agreement Form that if they delay the project they will only pay INR 5 but if the buyer delays the payment he has to pay at the rate of 10-15. Only a lawyer can tell you this kind of liability is wrong and it should be negotiated upon.
The question is whether the developers are yet ready to address what employees really want. Professionals with real estate background (both working as well as those who already quit) maintain that ‘Involvement’ is the key career objective nowadays but real estate companies never provide challenging work that inspires and realises results. What professionals demand is ‘Respect’ but the management hardly acknowledge the talent and contribution of each employee.
A record low household savings, double digit unemployment, and rising inflation, has added to the harsh reality of Indian home buyers’ high Debt to Income (DTI) ratio. The Covid induced financial hardships have indeed wreaked havoc with many of the Indian home buyers. Despite of the advantages of lower interest rates, their DTI ratio has suddenly shot up beyond what could be termed as manageable level.
Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter, says an African Proverb. Research report by various industry stakeholders try best to paint a rosy picture; force feed the collective consciousness that the real estate market is on its way to historic high in the year 2021. But the mood of the nation is juxtaposed to the orchestrated euphoria and Track2Realty Investment survey finds that the real estate has slipped as the 3rd choice for a vast majority of the Indians, with C-SAT Score (Consumer Satisfaction Score) all time low.
Across the built environment of the Indian real estate the two question that are on everyone’s lips is about the recovery timelines and segment to recover first. Track2Realty finds this uncertainty about the possible recovery, or rather the lack of it, has also kept the fence sitting home buyers on the edge.
While the pandemic Covid-19 had hovered like a black swan for the economy in general and the real estate market in particular, the developers across the country also woke up to the unexpected but pleasant reality that the client conversion rate had improved post the pandemic. A Track2Realty analysis.
Today, there are lots of distressed properties in the market where merger and/or takeovers are happening. While it makes sound business sense for both the builders of stressed assets as well as the one having capital to invest, the home buyers with little elbow room to negotiate are often at the receiving end of such market transactions that look promising as an outside view. Ravi Sinha explores the legal options for the home buyers.
In India, the moment you buy a house the joke is on you – whether you get the possession of the house, or that possession is delayed or even denied. The buyers’ harassment starts with the Builder Buyer Agreement which in most of the cases is a one-sided document. The buyers mostly have no other choice but to sign on the dotted lines, because by the time the Builder Buyer Agreement is thrown at their face they have already paid the initial booking amount.