I got my maid from Narayan Singh and since my experience was good, I referred this contact to several of my friends and relatives until after an year when he said,”I am no longer a maid’s agent,I am a property dealer now.” I could barely recover from one shock when I learnt that the kirana store wale Sharma was shutting shop due to MCD sealing and now switching over to being a property dealer.
With no licensing authority or educational qualifications required for being a property broker in India, it has become a free-for-all industry, with investors, housewives, retired persons and individuals dabbling in property transactions. The problem for a genuine home buyer becomes compounded as he is not able to tell a good broker from a bad one. Most buyers and sellers talk to several brokers to figure out who is better and they have to base their judgments on ‘gut feel’ least they go by references.
References play a vital role in evaluating a broker and his/her abilities. Personal referrals from friends and family could be the most valuable thing —probably a must.
But then one must steer clear of those brokers who open a brokerage firm like a chai shop, knowing little about land titles, and whose job is only restricted to local areas and lack professionalism and transparency.
Kolkata based real estate consultant Sandeep Sen of Calcutta Skyline traces the roots of real estate brokerage to the times when the panwalas, dhobiwalas in different streets used to roam around on cycle and collect the information of the housing stock —vacant and occupied. “This extremely localised information was useful for all buyers, “just to get a sense of that area”.
With time, media created the information sharing system and the customers had greater buying power and demanded a systematic process and the single point window , who would not only provide the information but also stay with him through the entire transactions.” Sen adds that today’s buyer wants the broker to not only guide them about a specified area but the entire zone.
Currently real estate broking is not only selling a property , its about property laws, loans, taxations, investments etc. Talking about qualifications or the lack of it in real estate brokerage, Sen adds, “The best combination that I can think is a combination of a civil engineering with some management education. Because the land laws are different in different places in India so the job of a professional broker is not very easy. However in India, majority of the brokers’ target is to just close the deal and thereafter he vanishes from the scenario.”
Here are a couple of tangible and intangible parameters on which you can select or reject a broker. First, the very obvious which you can get answers is by sheer observation, what is the size of the broker’s office? does he have facilities such as phone, fax, email, a website. Also how much staff does he have? The broker should be accessible and have systems in place so that he/she can be contacted easily. A proper office demonstrates his/her commitment to the business long term.It is significant, if he has more than one office and the location of his office in a prime commercial centre exhibits his financial muscle.
Next are things which you can inquire from the broker —Since when has the broker been practising? Experience is an important indicator: Find out the number of years the broker has been in business, about the broker’s knowledge and ability to communicate effectively. A good broker can help facilitate the best deal by virtue of his/her knowledge of the market and save you the pain by helping you navigate through legal glitches. One should also know which are the areas covered under his purview and his network partners, number of partners and areas covered through partners.
Also ask him about his networks by questioning about which are the areas where he practices. A qualified broker will be able to tap a wide network of other brokers, builders and individuals in a short time. One should ask him if he is an authorized agent for any developer. He must know about the average volume of transactions per month.
One must ask the broker legal issues, the neighbourhood of a property in question, maintenance charges (in case of apartments) , water situation, parking facilities, stamp duty rates, registration charges, capital gains issues, construction techniques, and the difference between the built-up area and super built up area. Also ask him/her about home loan rates and the process of obtaining a home loan on the property under consideration.
They are also familiar with the builders and can help you avoid those who offer poor quality of construction and delayed delivery. Find out if the agent is a member of any local or national real estate association. Also, does the broker pay service tax? A service tax registration indicates that the broker takes his business seriously.
According to Surinder Mohan from BuildCon Pvt Ltd at Indirapuram, “It is advisable to go to a broker who is ISO 9001 AN 2000 certified. Also a pvt ltd or ltd company broking firm is better than the ordinary brokers.
Currently there is no guideline to be followed by a broker and there is complete lack of standardization in the business. For standardization, the broking house can have ISI certifications issued by the International bodies. But this is not a mandatory for all the broking houses in the country. |
