Go property hunting on a mouse
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Real estate websites offer sellers and buyers of property a meeting point in cyberspace, which cuts down some of the hassles involved in doing so through conventional means.
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The Internet has revolutionised the way the world works. You can reach out to the world with just the click of a mouse or a button.
Like all spheres, the real estate market too has felt the impact of this technological revolution. As in every other business arena, finding a prospective customer from outside your locale for selling your property or house involves several processes. To find an NRI customer for selling your property at a better value you had to depend on friends in other countries to spread the word or advertise in the newspapers there. Or if you were lucky, the NRI would be relaxing at home during his holiday in India when he would come across the your advertisement in a local newspaper.
The Internet has changed things totally. With a computer and Net access at home or elsewhere, you can easily advertise on the Internet. The process takes only about five to ten minutes. You are now just a click away from a probable customer waiting at the other end of the earth or maybe just next door.
The mechanics
In some websites, you can list your properties for free (they charge a fee only after the deal is complete). But most of them charge a nominal amount. All you have to do is create an account to log in to fill in the required details and have your advertisement posted on the website.
Finding property of the kind you want to sell or buy is easy with the tools available online. You can find land, houses, villas and apartments to suit your budget and preferred location with the help of simple search options by giving your preferences. The tiring process of going through the local broker or making numerous calls can be avoided.
"We focus on NRI clients. Dealings with NRI clients happen fast, as they can invest right away after selecting a property or gets loans easily approved," says Jomon V.J of KochiRealtors.com.
Communication happens fast in case of selling and buying property online, even when the probable customers are in another part of the globe. Getting a detailed listing is another advantage. In print classifieds, the advertisements are mostly limited one or two lines.In online advertisements, the sellers can be more descriptive and go on to specify the locality highlights, accessibility from prime locations in the city, number of yielding plants in the plot, the materials used for flooring, doors, ceiling of the house, detailed descriptions of the rooms in the building along with the expected price.
This is the bright side of the picture. The dark side, as Mr. Jomon reveals, is that only 40 per cent genuine enquiries are made in response to an advertisement posted on the website. This can lead to wastage of time.
Service provider
Most service providers basically function alike except for the range of services they offer. If you want assistance in finding a buyer, choose someone who does that. If you are confident and have time to deal with all the responses that come your way, opt for direct selling schemes. In direct selling schemes, you advertise by paying the service provider and do the rest of the processing on your own.
Realkerala.com, Kochirealtors.com, KeralaProperty.com, Keralarealestate.com, Murickens.com, Ourkerala.com, Keralaglobal.com are some of the major online real estate companies in Kerala.
Kochirealtors.com makes sure their dealings are done only through them. The customer information is kept confidential. This helps them to make sure the commission amount, which is usually 2 to 3 per cent of the selling price, reaches them. Mr. Jomon adds: "In certain cases, on mutual understanding, we reveal to the customer contact information before the deal is consummated." KeralaProperty.com offers two schemes for selling property. The customers can choose normal listing or hot properties listing, which is priced at Rs.1,000 and Rs.1,500 respectively, till the listed property is sold. Prasanth, project manager of KeralaProperty.com says: "Users are only at an advantage as we have no idea of who is dealing with them and if the listed property is sold or not." KeralaProperty.com updates their website every six months. During this time, they send out a mail to the user asking if the property is still available for sale. If they are told that the property has already been sold out, the listing is removed. The advertising charges for both commercial and rental space are Rs.500.
Paul George, managing partner of RealKerala.com says: "We are planning to provide video images for download. This apart, we are also launching the print version of RealKerala." The website provides listing for one year at Rs.750. If they are informed of the sale of the property, the listing will be removed. As with other online players, RealKerala.com also has more NRI clients than the domestic clients. There are plenty of websites offering property listings of cities and districts all over the country and they come in all forms and shapes.
India Properties has listings of places in Kerala, including Kochi. Yet another all-India website, 99acres.com, offers real estate listings of all major districts in Kerala. Real estate online players have EMI, stamp duty, area conversion calculators, offer expert advice on various property related matters, display legal document samples and information on housing finance options to name a few.
Whichever service provider you choose, have a close watch of their websites to check if these are updated regularly and if the page downloads are fast.
In case you are the seller, play with words to create a powerful advertisement to pull in prospective buyers, take shots of your land or house ready for sale - do everything you could to increase the chances of your property being sold at a better price.
A word of caution for the buyers - check the credentials of those involved thoroughly before you make a deal.
RESMI JAIMON
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