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| Shajai Jacob , Head - Marketing, JLL India |
‘It is all a matter of knowing which league to play in, and how to play'
Despite the market slowdown & high competitiveness among the ‘Big Boys' in the Indian residential real estate business, smaller builders of residential projects can still corner a healthy market share. It is all a matter of knowing which league to play in, and how to play.
Best Location.!
For starters, such developers should build at the best location within their means. Often, smaller builders do not have the luxury of choosing locations for their projects.
When they are stuck with a less than-optimum location, they can compensate by making their project a landmark in the area.
This means beefing up its saleability with better amenities & sweetening the deal with competitive rates. If one can not get into Big League, one can still strive to be the best in Little League. Buyers always look for the best available in every budget range.
‘Brand' Names..!
It is difficult to compete with high profile ‘brand' names. Without a doubt, a developer derives numerous advantages from his brand name and brand image. He is automatically clubbed among the most reputable professionals in the field, wields greater clout with financial institutions, and can attach higher rates to his residential projects.
However, a brand name does not come from nowhere – a reputed developer's projects sell well on the basis of reliable construction, imaginative design, the provision of desirable amenities, good project locations & honesty in dealings.
In the light of this, a smaller developer should focus on incorporating into his projects as many elements of the brand formula without getting fixed on building a ‘brand'. It should be borne in mind that in the residential real estate arena, a developer's image is often based on how well his projects sell. To begin with, that should be the primary focus. Rather than aiming to take on the Big Boys on their own turf, a smaller developer can build an image that stands for good quality at competitive rates.
Offering Lower Rates ..!
Initially, this may mean offering lower rates on first projects rather than losing customers. It may mean agreeing to payment terms that are more oriented to the customer's convenience than those of the builder.
While established developers have an advantage with selling their projects, a smaller, new developer can beat the odds even if his project shares the same locality with that of a major name. He can do so by offering a degree of service that most other builders would not even consider rendering. This might mean cutting down on the time it takes to complete legal formalities of a purchase and offering innovative payment schemes.
Tailored Needs of Clients..!
Offering buyers the option of renting a flat at a minimum monthly rent, along with a specified deposit and a 3 year lock-in period, with the option of buying the rented flat at a later date.
If the purchase happens, the payments made are then treated as down-payments. This allows the flat's occupier to either continue on a rental basis or to buy a flat they have grown familiar with at a date when the rates would conceivably have sunk to more rational levels.
Taking a down payment on under constructions flats in the builder's on going projects and offering to pay back the difference in the current & future market rates should the market correct at a later stage.
Offering to shoulder part of the interest rate on the buyer's housing loan for a year, subject to a lock-in period of 3 years.
Creative & Innovative Ideas
When no formulas of promotion and sale prove effective, professional real estate consultants can turn around the fortunes of smaller developers by virtue of creative and innovative ideas. Once the concept of ‘thinking out of the box' is understood, effective ideas to tackle most market contingencies can be conceived and implemented – often with dramatic results.
About the Author..!
Mr. Shajai Jacob Head is Marketing in Jones Lang LaSalle India
| +91 124 460 5000 |
| shajai.jacob@ap.jll.com |
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