Housing is down, but Settling is up
Properties were a sought after investment commodity not more than a year ago. They still are in many Tier III pockets of the country, but people in the metros are shying away from them.
- Delays by builders.
Everyone hopes Real Estate Act will do something about it. - Decreased returns on investment. A flat in a city like Bangalore hardly gives you a 5% year-on-year price growth trajectory. Rentals were always low earning (2–4%).
On the other hand, the home loan interest rates are still the same at around 10%.
While the investment sentiment has been shattered, the utility segment is still on the track. It will always be. Everyone can afford to take his/her salary a week later, but not his food. Need will always win over entertainment, obligation, or investment.
We may stop buying houses and apartments, but we will always buy a home.
Resale is cheaper than you thought
While people are doing that, they must be given the knowledge that they can spend a lot less than what the market is telling them. While builder may be selling a flat at 6000 INR / sqft, the some owner might be selling his at 4500 or less. Builders can not decrease the price because they have already put a lot into making it. Early stage investors though, put merely 3000–3500 and are still getting a good profit at 4500.
This is specially for people who think that the builders will give them good 2–3% discount, while brokers will cheat them for a 1%. Go to agents, they may help you find a much better deal.
Settlin optimises the price
Believe it or not. We are the best at what we do. And what we do is ensure that a property is sold at the right price. It is beneficial for both the seller and the buyer.
Say, a seller bought a property for 80 lakhs a couple of years ago, and now wants 1 crore for the same. That is what he puts on the classifieds. Lots of people visit it. But no one buys. Because there are cheaper properties in the market, and its actual worth is just 90 lakhs. Seller generally does not know about that (but, we, at Settlin, have the data and analysis to figure out the current worth).
Generally, it takes months before he can realise his folly and slash down his prices. Or better for him, prices increase in a year and he can sell his property now for 97 lakhs. Awesome, right?
No. Had he sold his house in 90 an year ago, he could easily get an 9+% interest on any of the investment products in the market (FD gave 8.5% in July, 2015). He could have easily invested the money in another property at a lesser rate (mind you, the property prices have increased a year later). So he is not benefiting anything from a delayed sale.
So it is in the best interest of a seller to bring their rates to the market value, and we ensure that they understand that. So, a buyer always gets the best price.
