Realty portals rule the roost with innovative ideas

If you think that a real estate portal means where you get the property listings once you key in your preferred area and the city, you are mistaken. A real estate portal means much more than that today in the web parlance. These websites gives the users a plethora of choices and options right from choosing a locality, comparing it, comparing the child friendliness of localities, nearness to school, colleges and infrastructures, calculate EMIs, provide real estate news and much more to aid the user in selecting and finalizing his or her home. 

Not only just few online extras the real estate portal companies extend personal help and services too to the potential and prospective customers to buy the property and help in all ways possible. Apart from listing the properties of the brokers and agents the portals are now offering and keeping a separate section for on new launches and luxury homes too. 

The market and the trend watchers say the real estate portals are doing all the things possible under the sun to keep the customers happy and meet their needs and they have walked many extra miles in competition with each other and started to offer innovative services to the audience at large. Few first and foremost things that almost all the portals offer are a mobile app which makes the portal reach a larger number of audiences and reach larger amount of people and this increase the ease of use too. 
The portals nowadays do not just offer or exchange information but are offering advice to the potential customers and buyers of property. For a live example there are many portals that help their clients with information as comparison of locality, child friendliness, criminal records and other such information about the neighbourhood for one to make an informed decision about the change of location. Few sites provide information and comparison from rent to ownership with EMI calculators too.

To enhance the customer experiences many sites have introduced 3D picture of the location and the property for a better visibility. The innovative customer services of these portals are of special mention with many sites offering advice right from property counsel to loan advisory services. There is a website which even sends a representative once a property is enlisted on the site within 90 minutes of hosting of the requirement. Other such ancillary services include providing assistance for home or land loan, legal assistance, preparation of loan agreements and community management software that enables smooth functioning of the maintenance and the functioning of the apartment communities.

This is especially helpful when the buyers are have a paucity of time to spend on one’s search for a home and that’s the reason the portals are walking the extra mile and coming up with innovative services to make the buyer’s experience of buying a home more hassle free and perfect. This is quite unusual as probably a decade or so back no one would have ever imagined buying a dress or furniture from web portals but now it has become the norm of the day. Few youngsters prefer buying from the internet rather than any other traditional ways. The day is not far off when homes will be bought and sold over the internet.

What is the importance of Occupancy Certificate and why do we need it?

What is an Occupation Certificate (OC)? Why is it important? What are the consequences if one doesn’t have it? Does your new apartment have an OC? These are the questions that hover in the minds of the apartment occupants. In this article we attempt to answer such questions.

CC (Commencement certificate) and OC (Occupation certificate) are documents that are often neglected by the developer in obtaining, assuming that they can get it later and start constructing and completes it. It is better to state in this regard that these certificates are issued by the local authorities and are issued in parts. The CC is issued till the plinth area at the primary level after which it is inspected that the building is constructed as per the plan following which the Occupation Certificate is issued which is also called certificate of completion. It is often observed that the keys of the apartment are handed over to the owner by the developer without a proper Occupation Certificate and the owner is also noticed to forget it in a hurry and amidst other important things of shifting in to a new house. But one may note that there may be serious consequences of not having an OC before occupying the new apartment. 

 

What is an OC, after all?

OC is the certificate issued by the local authority certifying that the building has been constructed complying the approved plans. The provision of law requires that OC is obtained from the planning authority. The law also provides that a residential unit having more than five units of residence needs an occupancy certificate. The buyer is entitled to occupy his/her bought apartment only after the OC has been received.

Why is the OC important?

OC is mandatory for any residential complex with more than five residential units as per the law in Bangalore. The law states that the buyer can occupy his/her premises that has been bought only when the developer obtains the OC which certifies that the building is legally constructed and is fit to be occupied.

A reason why the buyers overlook the OC is the fact that it is not required for the registration of the property during the purchase of it. But if the buyer desires to obtain Khata, he/she may have problems without an OC. OC is also required if one opts to purchase a re-sale flat.

What should the buyer check?

If one is buying a property under construction, one should check whether the certificate of commencement is issued or not before signing the agreement. It is often noted that the builders start developing till the second floor without a CC which they feel, they will procure at a later date. This practice is considered illegal and can pose problems in obtaining an OC. It is mandatory to obtain a CC from the local authorities before the developer starts construction.

These documents act as evidence that all constructions are according to approved plans and are legal. Often the bank asks for a CC instead of an OC in case one applies for a loan.

In Bangalore the OC is issued by the BBMP (Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike). The document is processed by the local authority or the BBMP once the owner or the buyer intimates that the construction is complete and it is ready for occupancy. The developer needs to apply before the BBMP filling an Occupancy Certificate application form along with few documents necessary as mentioned below.

Documents required for obtaining Occupancy Certificate.

1. Commencement certificate.

2. Completion Certificate

3. Built up plan along with the section plan.

4. No Objection Certificate from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

5. No Objection Certificate from fire force authority.

6. Pictures and photographs of the completed building.

7. A signed sheet certifying the floor area by the architect.

8. Photographs of rain water harvesting and solar panels, if implemented.

9. Tax assessment with tax paid receipt.

10. Copy of the sanction plan.

After the submission of the form attaching all these documents the BBMP inspects and certifies that the construction is done as per the approved plans and issues the certificate.

As per the law a property developer should submit an application of OC with the commissioner within 30 days of completion of the construction. The commissioner also replies within 30 days stating whether the application is accepted or rejected. It is advisable to move into the new apartment after obtaining an OC. In case the developer has deviated from the approved plans, the authorities may impose a penalty based on the extent of the deviation.

In this new internet world many people are updating the problems faced by them on the online consumer review forum which make the buyers more interact with each other and get quick results.

Writing an Online Review mark your words as once said it may leave a bad impression and a feeling of repentance

After a negative experience the emotions are weaken. Those negative experiences when occur after spending money, the sadness and disappointment is much higher. There is surely a feeling of sadness and a feeling of being cheated in our minds whenever a sad incident comes our way which involves a lot of money in it too.

Now these days the customers are much educated and are aware about the remedies to get over to the scenario of being cheated and bribed. They have also learn to take up necessary measures when cheated. Whereas in many cases the customers do not believe it to be entirely worth of spending a huge amount of money in filing the case for a miser product as the claims are limited and not the worth of all the pain taken to file a case. In place of filing a complaint under the consumer forum they turn their heads and attention towards the internet to vent out their bunch of frustrations.

So, the space which internet provides to puke out the frustration is none other than customer reviews. This article bravely outlines those 5 major things which a customer needs to focus before typing any sort of reviews online. Other spaces to jot down the reviews are through mails or letters. Below are some of the tips before striking an encounter with your keyboard.

The best of the decisions are made with the clear of the mind. It is recommended that one should whenever write a review should always be in a peaceful state of mind. One should never be in a upset mood and avoid writing something which you may later regret.

Those words which you write could be seen by anyone and everyone so it I necessary that one should watch his or her words.

Being honest and fair is much required. One should not use bad phrases and words against anyone. Calling someone liar and fraud is also not fair. One should always stay away from writing certain things which are not true and hence cannot be proven in the court.

One should write about their experience with the product or their pitch should be limited to the service and inability of the product. One should absolutely refrain from talking about the emotions and one’s personal feeling. The entire focus of the reviewer should be on the experience and event of failure of the product but not the emotions and other thoughts.

One must lay much emphasis over the facts and figures and only post such details which are authentic and are true to the best of their knowledge. One should also take care that their reviews may also be read by other customers who may or may not plan to buy such a product or service.

Other handy information before posting a review on the builders make sure about yourself that you are planning not to go with the same builder for any projects in future. Before drafting a review one must make sure about the impact of the review which you are going to post. It should not make a poor impact over your future working relations with the company. Thus one must understand the importance of words as hard words when said have a greater impact and it may tarnish the image as well.

The Realty sector drops in the initial partial of 2014: A word of caution

The real estate market in India has been seeing a chum all during the last half of the year 2013 especially the first half of the year 2014. The year has not been so promising though. Many of the realty developers feel so.

As a result many of the real-estate projects have been delayed. Many new launches have come to a stagnant stage marking the delay. The data has shown a clear hit drop in some of the most potential hot spots in the construction sector.

Area like Noida and Mumbai have the highest number of inventories unsold that too these figures are much higher in all the major metros. Gurgaon and Mumbai lead to the most expansive nearly a Crore unsold inventory. The survey was initially conducted in Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune and also other places including Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and also Ahmedabad.

The real estate market of the national capital region NCR has seen a huge degradation when compared with the figures of the last year. Many of the new launched have suffered a loss by 5 % and the sales volume also showed a deterioration by nearly 22 % this data is as of the first quarter of 2014 when compared to that of 2013.

The affordability factor is also going through many interrogations as the prices marked by the stagnation of the income levels remains unchanged, making the affordability highly difficult. As per the data around 40 % of the projects under the construction process have been delayed, blemishing the buyers believe or confidence. This situation has certainly reduced the interest level of people which has resulted in low sales in a much lower pace.

Nevertheless the survey clearly portrays that in spite of the present on going activities the region is still investing from a very projected and spectated perspective with the hopes that there will certainly be a rectification in the market that will exclusively result in a market appreciation of the precious investments.

The real estate market in the southern region has been much stable; as the sales in Bangalore are witnessing a hike by nearly 6% with each year passing. The survey also brought the fact much in notice that the real estate market of Bangalore caters nearly to the 80% of the end users and also possess a maximum of local purchasers who are mainly the working population and also the NRIs. In fact Bangalore nearly account for about 17 new launched and has seen a huge increase in the supply in the same amount of time which is roughly 8% when compared with other metros who have seen a tough deadline. Thus, the real estate market of Bangalore is much capable to the ongoing uncertainty and disparities prevailing in the economic matters, but still the realty builders’ still carry on to render options equally in the upper or the mid segmented sectors.

Tricks used by real estate developers to attract the home buyers these days

There is a lack of transparency in the real estate market today. The real estate developers are doing a lot of stuff to attract the buyers and the potential investors. To their projects the realty developers are nearly at their toes and are trying to crack a deal. For many of the home buyers buying a house is an extremely important affair and they need to be careful enough as they have to spend their savings of a lifetime. These days a lot of developers in the real estate market have set many tricks and traps to gain the attention of these buyers.

The article discusses some of those gimmicks and traps by the real estate developers which are indeed the eye opener for them.

Freebies and discounts: These days the realty developers are offering various discounts which are kind of more of common practice these days. The most popular kind of freebies given away is gold coin, parking space, club membership or some other holiday and tourist packages. The buyers think that its wise deal and they end up taking free being thinking to have saved a lot of money. The reality to this is according to a new rule passed the real estate developers cannot charge the buyers of a parking space and it should be inclusive with the payment of the house. But to seeing on the other side of the coin the parking space these days is given away for free. The give away discounts and freebies are nothing but just a candy to attract the buyers and the in fact do no real good to the investors.

Rental Returns Guaranteed: Rentals are guaranteed and are offered by the developers to the investors who are willing to take rentals on a continuous basis. In simple language this means that the buyers are entitled to get a rental income of around 8 to 12 percent which of the total value of the property as promised by the realty developer. This offers the free maintenance of the property. The trick of this scheme is; the realty developers do it when they are undergoing some cash crunch but if the developer fails in accumulating needed cash then there is also a possibility of a bounced cheque. While going in for such contract one must make sure that there are no hidden costs which are included in the agreement only.

The Pre EMI Schemes: The simple meaning of the pre EMI is it gets disbursed majorly depending upon the stages of construction. This means the buyers need not pay any EMIs until the construction gets over and also unless the possession is handed over. Many of the real estate developers choose the option of pre EMI sharing in which they have to pay this amount within a period of 24 months.

The word of caution before going in for such an option is that the home buyers should make sure that the developer does not have any padded cost. Along with such an option the real estate developer might not give away any kind of freebies. Even in the case of project delay the Pre EMI might also get extended and the home buyers will lastly have to pay the entire amount on their own.

The Model Flat: Understanding the blue prints and the prototype is really hard for common people. To make things much simple the real estate developers make a model flat for the home buyers. The catch in this is while preparing the model houses the developers may add a lot of amenities and embellishments which might miss lead the buyers. In a prototype the same place might appear big but in reality it might turn out to be comparatively small. It is one kind of a created illusion from which the buyers and the investors might be aware of.

Offer Warranties: As developers these days are providing certain appliances along with the residential units. The have also initiated the giveaway of warranty cards along with these gadgets. This clearly means that these days when buying a house the developers are getting a warranty for their amenities and comforts. The one major trick with this attractive offer is that the real estate developer only gives away the papers of the warranty, just in case of any defect or malfunction such amenities like geyser, kitchen chimney or bathroom fittings the buyer only needs to run to the product manufacture. There the problem could arise the real estate developer during that time might turn into a deaf ear after handing over the apartment.