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Friday, 10 June 2016

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9 Important Tips you should know if you are planning to buy first time home.

 

The decision of buying a new home is a very complicated and confusing task. It is a quite challenging experience for them. So it is very important for the first time home buyers to get proper guidance so that it becomes easy for them in taking the right decision.
First time home buyers have a wide variety of options to help them get into a home. 
  1. The first thing that you need to determine before buying a house is to know what your long term goals are and how home ownership fits into these plans. There are several options when purchasing a residential property. Each option has its pros and cons, depending on your home ownership goals, so you need to decide which type of property will help you reach these goals. You're making perhaps the biggest purchase of your life and you deserve to have that purchase fit both your needs and wants as closely as possible.
  2. Your list should include basic desires, like neighborhood and size, all the way down to smaller details like bathroom layout and a kitchen.  A Real Estate Agent will help you locate homes that are as per your needs and are in your price range.
  3. Once you've chosen to buy a house, these professionals can assist you in negotiating the entire purchase process.
  4. Make sure to take advantage of all the available options for finding homes on the market, including using your real estate agent.  Even if the home you plan to purchase appears to be flawless, there's no substitute for having a trained professional inspect the property for the quality, safety and overall condition of your potential new home. Your real estate agent will help you decide how much money you want to offer. Ideally first time home buyers would know how much they can afford to spend before the mortgage lender tells them how much they qualify for. Buyers should have a good idea of what they can afford to invest. 
  5. Before you begin to purchase a house, it is very important that you need to have an idea about what kind of neighborhood you want to live in and the style of the house you want.
  6. When you are looking at a house, you need to have a wish list, but you have to understand that no house is going to be perfect. You are going to find fault in each one of them. 
  7. Another important thing to consider is, never judge a home just by its outside look. It is not necessary that whatever you see from outside is good from inside too. So it is very important to go inside and look around before taking the actual decision.   When you buy a house, it's not just a place to live in, it's an investment and one needs to think carefully and then spend their money if they feel that it is worth.
  8. Before making the final decision visit the place again and again at several different times during the day, as feelings often take over the first time you go through a house, but the second visit allows time to do a thorough inspection led by one's head and not one's heart.
  9. It is especially important to have a home inspection if you are looking to buy an aging or older house.  When you're buying a house, find out what other homes in the area have sold for, how long ago the sale was and what amenities they have. Try not to fixate on the list price of a house, but rather the fair market value. Whenever you are buying a property, it is very important to have a home inspector come through as you never know what they're going to uncover. If the home inspector finds something, then you can use it to negotiate your deal or you might just walk away.
  10. After touring homes for a few days, you will probably instinctively know which one or two homes you would like to buy.  

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

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DRESS UP YOUR HOUSE TO SELL FOR MORE.

 

Simple measures can make a house more attractive to the prospective buyer. We estimate that the Rs 62,500 spent on these can add Rs 2.45 lakh to the price tag.
                  

1. Paint the walls

A fresh coat of paint can work wonders for the value of your house. There is no need to splurge on premium emulsion. Go for a basic distemper and choose neutral shades. A light colour makes the house look bigger. Make sure that all holes are filled with putty and any damage to the plaster is repaired.
Cost: Rs 40,000
Increase in value: Rs 1-2 lakh


2. Check electrical equipment


Many buyers are looking for a property in which they can move in very quickly. Functional plug points and switches are very important. Ensure that the electrical equipment is working and replace fused bulbs. It will light up your chances of fetching a good price for your house.
Replace switch plates & fused bulbs
Cost: Rs 3,000
Increase in value: Rs 25,000



3. Replace cracked floor tiles

A damaged floor looks very unattractive. Replace broken tiles or get the floor polished to give it a glossy look. Grinding and polishing a marble floor can cost more.
Polishing floors
Cost: Rs 10,000
Increase in value: Rs 25,000


4. Fix leaky taps


Taps with no water and non-functional washrooms tell buyers that they have to get a lot of work done. Ensure that all faucets and wash rooms are functional.

Cost: Rs 1,500
Increase in value: Rs 5,000






5. Clean everything

A prospective buyer should not start coughing when he enters the house. Get the entire place vacuumcleaned so that it is spick and span. No cobwebs or dusty floors.

Cost: Rs 500
Increase in value: Rs 10,000

6. Use plants

Brighten up the place with potted plants. Even artificial plants can bring cheer to an empty house. If there is a balcony or terrace, check that the railing is not broken.

Cost: Rs 500
Increase in value: Rs 5,000

7. Wash the exterior

Nothing like a good shower to spruce things up. Spray water on the exterior walls and in the courtyard to give the house a fresh feel. The only expense is your sweat and time.

Cost: Nil
Increase in value: Rs 5,000

8. Polish kitchen and cabinets

If the woodwork in the kitchen is in a bad condition, get it varnished or laminated. Spray pesticide to get rid of cockroaches and other insects.

Varnish and laminate
Cost: Rs 2,000
I ncrease in value: Rs 10,000

9. Fix the parking space

For some, a fixed place to park their vehicles is more essential than an extra bedroom. If you have an independent house, build a shed to cover the parking area.

Cost: Rs 5,000
Increase in value: Rs 30,000




10. Disinfect the toilets

A dirty, stinking bathroom can be a deal breaker. Ensure that all toilets are clean, the drains are not blocked and there are deodorisers in the washroom.

Cost: Nil
Increase in value: Rs 15,000

11. Wash the exterior

Nothing like a good shower to spruce things up. Spray water on the exterior walls and in the courtyard to give the house a fresh feel. The only expense is your sweat and time.

Cost: Nil
Increase in value: Rs 5,000

12. Keep some furniture

An empty house is not as appealing as one with some furniture in it. It adds warmth to the property. This is why sample flats are filled with furniture. A small fridge with some refreshments can add more value.

Cost: Nil
Increase in value: Rs 15,000





Total cost: Rs 62,500 Increase in value: Rs 2.45 lakh 
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How to sell your house for a better price?

 

With builders saddled with so many unsold flats and demand not picking up, people who wish to sell their property face an uphill task. 
The housing market is still looking grim. A report by Mumbai-based property research firm Liases Foras estimates that the unsold inventory in eight top cities rose by 22% in 2015-16. In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone, around 2.26 lakh apartments are lying unsold. In the National Capital Region, the unsold inventory rose 12% from 322 million sq ft in March 2015 to 361 million sq ft in March 2016. Assuming a flat size of 1,200 sq ft, that's more than 3 lakh units lying unsold inventory in eight top cities rose by 22% in 2015-16. In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone, around 2.26 lakh apartments are lying unsold. In the National Capital Region, the unsold inventory rose 12% from 322 million sq ft in March 2015 to 361 million sq ft in March 2016. Assuming a flat size of 1,200 sq ft, that's more than 3 lakh units lying unsold in what was once regarded as the hottest real estate market in the country.

While this may be heartening news for prospective buyers, it spells trouble for those on the other side of the table. With builders saddled with so many unsold flats and demand not picking up, people who wish to sell their property face an uphill task. However, there is a silver lining.

With increased concerns around delays by developers in handing over possession of new properties, buyers are increasingly looking at ready-to-move-in or resale properties. Interest in the low- and mid-income housing segments has picked up recently. Liases Foras found that sales of budget homes—priced between Rs 25-50 lakh—rose 13% from a year ago in the top eight cities. If you are struggling to find a buyer for your house , here are a few steps that can help seal the deal.
Image Source: Economics times.com
Spruce up your home to boost its value
Before you go hunting for a buyer, make your house attractive. Put yourself in the shoes of sega potential buyer: Wouldn't you be put off by cracks in the wall, peeling paint and washrooms that don't work? The prospect of putting in more on home repairs can be a deal breaker. You may have to shell out some money to spruce up the place, but it will add more to the value of your house and give you an edge when you negotiate the price. "Even a fresh coat of paint can add value to the house," says Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India .

Finding the buyer
Finding a buyer is not a straightforward task. How you approach the sale will influence what type of buyers you attract and how long it takes to close the deal. First decide if you want to use a broker or do it on your own. He will charge 1% of the value of the house. If that is not acceptable, go it alone but be prepared to do a lot of running around—including arranging for the registration and other legal paperwork. Experts say you should explore both routes simultaneously.

"The wider the net you cast, the better your chances of catching the right fish," says Gulam Zia, Executive Director, Knight Frank India. Start in your immediate vicinity. People currently living on rent in your neighbourhood, or permanent residents looking out for a place nearby for their relatives would provide a ready catchment of prospective buyers. "Your first 'interested' home buyers may very likely be generated from notices put up in your housing society," says A.S. Sivaramakrishnan, Head -Residential Services, CBRE South Asia
Online housing aggregators help attract buyers directly. List your house on at least a couple of portals. "The seller must be available on multiple platforms as this is where buyers are undertaking initial research," says Anurag Jhanwar, Head, Consulting and Data Insights, PropTiger. Jayashree Kurup, Head of Content and Research, Magicbricks, says, "Buyers are increasingly looking at individual listings on the portal, preferring to negotiate directly with the seller." However, a broker with local expertise would be the best placed to generate relevant leads and will be able to help out with formalities.

Valuing your property
Pricing is critical for the deal. Make a reasonable assessment of the value of your property. A broker can help you here because he is aware of the market trends. If you are not using a broker, find out the sale price of similar properties in the area. Online property portals are helpful, but the information they provide can often be dated and therefore, misleading. A sluggish market warrants you make a competitive offer.

Zia warns, "A fairly sizeable residential inventory will be hitting the market in coming months as developers release completed projects with the new Real Estate (Regulatory and Development) Act coming into play." Kurup also warns sellers against waiting for prices to inch up. "In many regions, it will take at least another two years to clear the excess inventory. With new stock coming in, the chances of getting the best price on your house look slim."

If you want to sell quickly, give a discount of at least 5% to hasten things up. Be flexible in your negotiations and don't get anchored to a price point you may have seen some time ago. "The buyer must see the value in the deal. Sticking rigidly to your price may put off prospective buyers," warns Puri.

However, you can insist on a premium in certain situations. For instance, if an existing flat owner in the same building or society shows interest in your flat, you are in a better position to demand the price tag you seek. Do keep in mind that property should not be sold in a hurry unless you are in urgent need of funds. "Real estate is not a liquid asset. You need to give it a reasonable timeframe to close a deal," says Puri.

SELLING A HOUSE WITH AN OUTSTANDING LOAN Want to sell a house that has a loan outstanding against it? Maybe you are finding it difficult to service the EMIs. Or want to shift to another location. Whatever be the reason, selling a house with a mortgage is not easy. The actual procedure differs under various situations, explains Adhil Shetty, CEO of Bankbazaar.com:

Buyer takes loan from same lender
In this situation, the bank, buyer and seller enter into a tripartite arrangement. Since the bank already has the property documents, the background checks can be done quickly, making the sale easier for all parties . Part of the new loan will be used to settle the original loan and the remainder will be given to the seller as the price for the property.

Buyer takes loan from another lender
Background checks take longer. After processing, the bank issues two payments: one, to close the original loan, and two, towards the seller as the price of the property. As with the processing of any home loan, both these options will involve processing fees, background checks, establishing the buyer's loan eligibility, verification of property papers, etc.

No loan. Buyer pays from own savings
In this case, buyer will have to make two payments: one, to the bank to help close the loan and release the original documents of the property; and two, to the seller as the price of the property.

Property is not registered
Banks insist on registration of property after the approval of a loan. In a situation where this has not happened, if the buyer wants to buy an unregistered property using his own funds, he may have to enter a three-way arrangement with the builder and the seller, pay the price of the property, along with the relevant processing fees and transfer charges, obtain the requisite NOCs, and have the property registered in his name.

In case the buyer wants to finance the purchase with a home loan, he may find the banks insisting on full documentation of the property. Banks will be hesitant to finance properties where the ownership is unclear. The buyer may simply insist that the seller and the builder register their sale. After the registration, a fresh loan can be purchased to finance the resale of the property, assuming all other conditions have been met.

WHAT EXPERTS SAY
"Home improvement doesn't make sense in high-end property. Buyers have their own tastes and even builders hand over bareshell flats to them." Gulam Zia , Executive Director, Knight Frank India

"The buyer must see value in the deal. Sticking rigidly to your price may put off prospective buyers." Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India

"Keep the opportunity cost in mind in a subdued market. A slightly lower offer should not be completely overlooked." A.S. Sivaramakrishnan, Head - Residential Services, CBRE South Asia. 
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What are some ideas to market high end luxury apartments?

 

The best part about a Luxury property is the exclusivity. Unlike an affordable home, you won't have many prospects to deal with while selling Luxury property. So it's imperative that you first generate these leads and then handle them efficiently to closure.
  1. Social Selling: Luxury Real Estate buyers are from a specific circle and what you need to do is to tap the right audience for referrals. It helps if you've dealt with Luxury buyers in the past. These days a lot of marketing for exclusive properties happens on Instagram because it works. LinkedIn is where you can pay for a premium account and be able to send InMails to your prospects. Even though it's a cold approach, make it professional and add value.
  2. Newsletter: This works if you have serious inventory to work with. If you're dealing with just a one-off luxury apartment then email marketing isn't advisable. Build an opt-in newsletter via website landing pages, posting interesting content on Social Media, giving away a freebie like an ebook, etc. Your opt-in newsletter will have a serious set of engaged prospects who see value in your work through your content. They will be the easiest to deal with since they've been warm to you thanks to the amazing content you create.
  3. Networking: Keep the hook where the fishes are. You won't believe how many luxury properties get sold through a notable reference partner. In my workplace, I have had many successful closings only because a certain influential person referred my property to the buyer. To get into the network, do whatever it takes. Reconnect with your childhood friends who've made it big now, join expensive clubs where your target buyer is likely to be, learn an expensive hobby. All these steps will help you in two ways, one is a direct way through references and buyers, the other is you get a window into their mentality and what makes them click.
  4. Positioning: Once you have a steady funnel of leads to work on, what you need to do is position your property in a way that it clicks with your target buyer's profile. Most luxury real estate is designed to sell itself, but a little tweak to match the buyer profile can really do it faster for you. For ex: In Mumbai, most expensive apartments are the ones that are in supertall buildings and come with a specific interior designer. Does that work? Well TBH, quite a bit for the uninitiated buyers. However true luxury is always bespoke, one of my client was just happy to not have the stock interiors and furnishings and closed the deal happily with a bareshell where he can design the home. One easy to change feature closed that one. When you're presenting the luxury unit, do keep in mind the lighting, the time of the day (this can determine ambient noise,traffic,natural light,wind, etc.) and your own appearance :)
  5. Your personality: This point should be first, but nevertheless, you must invest in your personality more than anything else. In the end, people buy from people. India is a culturally rich place and a wealthy Gujrati businessman from Mumbai would buy a property from someone just because the seller spoke to him in his language and impressed him. You can learn a lot of tricks by following self-help blogs and by observing other people who sell things/services to you. Customers are your bosses and they can fire you anytime by spending their money elsewhere.

You can fine-tune everything in accordance to your market and property, but I've tried to give you a general outline. I've focused more on generating the lead for your funnel because that seems more apparent from your question, however closing is an art and I wish you all the best to be a great artist :)
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What's the best way to get more high-end real estate clients?

 

Real Estate is about relationships. Marketing is important but building relationships with people is the answer. Most luxury agents have built extensive networks of high net worth individuals. Some have joined country clubs, others have volunteered for organizations with those people.  Adding value to influencers in that community can go a long way. Lastly try getting a luxury designation or two and then trading referrals with luxury agents from other cities. Good luck!
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Who pays for the marketing budget when selling a property?

 


The term 'luxury real estate' has become so overly used that it is difficult to tell what constitutes luxury any more. Everything for your marketing campaign begins by first defining your target audience, the more specific the better. Especially more important in tough economic times that you ensure that you are building supply to match the demand from your target audience.

As to marketing, it is important to mix it up with different media both traditional and non, so you have a variety of touch points for your message. People these days spend a lot of time on social media and are increasingly making purchasing decisions from endorsement by people in their friends network. Look for influencer groups for your target. Engage in the social conversation, it is invaluable feedback.
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How do you break into the luxury real estate market as an agent (or specialist)?

 


Most luxury home engagements come from word-of-mouth rather than print, online, or other forms of advertising.  It's chicken-and-egg, you have to know luxury home buyers and sellers before you can be hired by luxury home buyers and sellers.  Unless you "come from money" and already move in the same social circles (in which case you really shouldn't market to those whom you already know socially...), you have to find a way to meet these people in a PROFESSIONAL capacity, not social.  The luxury client already has all the friends they want, they don't need or want agents coming on to them in social settings for professional purposes.  So, here are my 3 recommendations:

1) Market yourself to service providers who already have a foot in the door with your target market, e.g. CPA's, attorneys, financial planners, interior designers, etc.  Don't ask them just to refer you, explain that you will reciprocate.

2) Focus on the luxury market.  When a luxury prospect asks you to describe your latest engagement, don't let it be a $50k condo sale in East Palo Alto (no offense intended, East Palo Alto).  Work in the luxury market only, refer out the lesser engagements for a referral fee.

3) Be luxury. Dress appropriately and have impeccable manners.  Never talk about yourself unless asked and don't pry into your client's private lives (this is an awful mistake often committed by residential agents trying to break into the luxury market who feel they have to be the client's "agent and new best friend for life").  Where their children go to college is none of your business.  Just focus on getting them what they want, that's how you'll earn their loyalty and referrals.
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