June 28, 2008 at 10:43 am
· Filed under India Real Estate, Indian Real Estate, Investing, Real esate ·Tagged Fixed rate, Floating rate, home loans, Interest Rates
Recently, a colleague of mine took a home loan but always had a question at the back of his mind that was he paying more. Interest rates have been on a roller coaster ride since last six years which has bewildered consumers all over the country.
When you have a look at the economic charts of India since 2000, you can easily make out that in March of the said year the interest rate on home loan was about 14% but soon they fall down steeply. And the last quarter of year 2003 witnessed that the interest rate on home loan was about 7%. But after that the interest rates have moved northward and the interest rates saw a little rise in the year 2004 and the last 18 months the rates have risen at very high pace.
The interest rate on a floating home loan by September 2006 was 9.50%. Even after that there was a buzz in the market the interest rates would again raise but there are some conflicting views also in the market. The U.S. market however suggests that there would be slowdown in economy which would ultimately lead to the softening of interest rates in this year. But the economy in India is moving up at high pace at over 8% per annum which would lead to more demand for money from business houses for their expansion plans.
Now there is a question for the consumer as to what he has to do in this present situation? Should he wait for the interest rates to stabilize or look for the safety of a fixed rate home loan even if he has to pay a huge premium?
For a consumer, this is not a one-time decision because even if he chooses to go with a fixed rate, then he needs to review his judgment once a year in order to check that his decision needs to be revised or not. But even before a consumer decides the rate plan he want to go with, he needs time to comprehend all possible intricacies related with interest rates.
A consumer should know that if he is going for a fixed interest rate then it is fixed for life time or just for a period of three to five years. In case of the former, a consumer is assured that the interest rates would not change midway during the tenure of the loan whereas the latter one indicates that the fixed amount would never be fixed during the tenure. Even if you suppose that the interest rate is fixed for the entire tenure, the home loan agreement always offer bank with a clause which permits it to increase the so called fixed interest rate.
A consumer should understand that the floating rate would always be transparent one. In the case of floating interest rate, one should possess knowledge about the benchmark to which the rate has been linked, that is whether it is linked to MIBOR, FD rate, prime lending rate or mortgage specific rate. Market analysts advice that it is always better to go for a transparent floating rate home loan or you should sign a true fixed rate loan agreement.
Thanks Much
Nimisha Sinha
atOnePlace - Place for every one
Find Indian Real estate at http://www.atoneplace.com
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March 9, 2008 at 8:14 am
· Filed under Commercial Property, Investing, NRI Related ·Tagged Agent, benefit, Broker, buying, commercial, Indian Real Estate, property, real estate, Realtor, residential
Buying a property, be it a residential or a commercial property from primary market is not a one time event. The main transaction might happen over a short period of time but the overall or total experience and relationship lasts for about 1-3 years from the time one books a property and the developer delivers a property.
Although there are many traditional methods of buying properties in India, but a few things should always be kept in mind:
- Have an experienced property consultant. Many a times his/her expertise could save you more money than you’d imagine.
- Property transaction is not only a one time thing. This is a couple years of relation which by having an reputed property consultant, you could have a pleasant journey as he/she could guide you through the transaction from making your initial decision to the final possesion or beyond.
- Large and established property consultants also have more “insiders” knowledge than traditional road side “rookie” property agents.
- Established property consultants will not look at a customer with a short term outlook, rather with a long term loutlook. He/she would try to align your interests with the solution that exists in the market.
Besides the above mentioned points buying a property with atOnePlace could also be beneficial for a customer as:
- atOnePlace is a full service property consultant.
- atOnePlace has offices in multiple locations and can serve you from your resident country.
- atOnePlace will provide you with highest quality of service
- atOnePlace and its agents will always respond to your queries, timely.
- atOnePlace will leave no stone unturned to align its interests to satisfy and meet your requirements.
- atOnePlace is a marketplace which leverages latest technology alongwith traditional methods of customer servicing. So atOnePlace will serve you the way you want to be served.
- atOnePlace has been founded by NRIs themselves. Thus, we do understand the NRI and his/her concerns and problems.
- atOnePlace will extend its services beyond the initial booking and will serve you through the transaction and later.
- atOnePlace will always try to understand your objective/requirement and align the projects best suited to your needs.
atOnePlace is in the business, because our customers love us for our expertise, knowledge and service in the Indian Real Estate Market. We are always on the lookout for learning more about the market, projects, trends and developers. Our interest lies in serving you to the best of our effort. If there’s anything we can do better, let us know. We are always full ears for our customers.
Thank You!
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October 1, 2007 at 9:59 am
· Filed under India Real Estate, Internet, Investing, Marketing, Realtor, Traffic ·Tagged Agent, atOnePlace, buy, commercial, India Real Estate, Indian Properties, Indian Real Estate, NRI, NRIs, property dealer, Realtor, residential
A few days back we posted the growing penetration of atOnePlace.com with the global communitites (NRIs).
Here’s a latest Google Heat Map which shows our rising customer base and spread. Thanks to our customers and we look for your feedback always.
Thanks Much
Nimisha Sinha
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September 18, 2007 at 12:05 am
· Filed under Commercial Property, Delhi, Eastern India, Finance, Growth Investing, India Real Estate, Indian Properties, Indian Real Estate, Investing, Properties, Real esate, Real estate trends, Realtor, Residential Property, Western India
One question which I get asked quite often is the one this topic is about - Is this the right time to buy Indian Real Estate?
I guess the question has its own merit. Indian Real Estate has been and actually is going through a correction phase. Its not really as if the bubble bursted or the markets crashed, but more of a filtering of wheat (real buyers) from the chaff (speculators) thats been going on.
Not that I am any financial expert on the subject but from what I see and hear, Real Estate generally worldwide has a cyclical nature and Indian Real Estate is no different. It is currently going through a dip to prepare for its next high tide. Real estate as a product is fairly limited and there’s pentup demand of Real Estate - both in Residential as well as in Commerical sectors.
Having that said, the followup question is “So, how much of it has already been through?“.
Although India does not has national indexes to support my argument, but I see about 5-10% correction in different parts of the country already happened. Will that continue, probably. Is that happening across the board? Yes and No.
Yes- because the market took a turn from speculators to home buyers, from sellers to buyers and from unhealthy towards regaining health. This is really good for the industry. This was much needed and awaited. This resulted into a correction all over the country, some areas more significantly affected than the others.
No- because the effect hasn’t been on every property that is a part of the Indian real estate. Location, Location, Location are the three core factirs determining the demand as a result the price of any property. Due to limited nature of the product, certain areas, properties have a higher demand than others. So those “in-demand” areas or properties haven’t been affected much, or I can safely state - They are still appreciating North.
Finally the million dollar question asked is - “Is this a good time to buy?”
Now thats where I totally fail to help.
If you have any faith in Buffet investment principles (those who follow him) - join when the tide’s low i.e. YES this is a graet time to find good deals.
Generally/practically - I see most people not being able to gather the courage to invest at a time when markets go through correction. There’s a general dilemma of “what if the market goes further down?” and so the thought continues.
I wish only if someone knew the guaranteed answer to the question!
Gunjan Garg
http://www.atoneplace.com
P.S: feel free to chime in. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Thanks in advance -GG
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September 16, 2007 at 7:28 am
· Filed under Canada Real Estate, India Real Estate, Internet, NRI Related, Real esate, Real estate trends, Traffic, US
Howdy everybody!
atOnePlace.com is going places! The redesigned site has been a great hit! What’s more …
Our Builder Acquisition Team is getting calls from builders all over india to enable them on our platform - our teams are crazy busy in validating that these builders and their properties are legitimate! You know atOnePlace suppoprts and endorses only Legitimate properties from Legitimate builders. After all we use our hard earned money to buy the most valuable possessions of our life!
And ofcourse we are receiving more and more queries from buyers from all over the world, with US, Canada and Indian buyers leading a chart considerably! Here is a Google traffic heat map for atoneplace.com - the darker the green the more the users coming from that area!
People across the world have expressed interest in buying Real Estate in India. atOnePlace is making this possible, one step at a time!
Its a small global world after all!
-Manisha
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September 12, 2007 at 7:20 am
· Filed under India Real Estate, Indian Real Estate, Press Release
We launched a newly designed version of our website today – www.atOnePlace.com.
The new website provides home seekers a much better view of available solutions and faster searching of new properties. It also showcases the new properties in a standard format for easier comparison. The company has plans to roll out new features like compare tools, Legal Corner soon.
Our users have been the biggest inspiration behind the new look. Our business model is based on a Real need faced by Real people. People who want to invest in India, but the fact that they are geographically distant comes in their way. Customers play a key role in shaping the future of atOnePlace.com. The feedback we get from our users is most critical for us in terms of prioritizing our product roadmap.
We want to hear from you…a lot! Tell us what you think about the new look…tell us what you would would like to see on our website ? Help us make the Right product, the Right way!
- Manisha, Cofounder atOnePlace.com
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August 22, 2007 at 9:36 am
· Filed under Commercial Property, India Real Estate, Real esate, lawyer, legal, legal column, problem
Life is a complex maze - full of possibilities.
Real Estate, not only in India but wherevere it may be in the world - is also quite similar to our daily experiences - full of unexpected possibilities. Some countries have quite well defined the processes and demystified the puzzle for a common citizen - “the home seeker”, others are “work in progress”.
Meanwhile, we (www.atoneplace.com) get a lot of questions on the Indian real estate legal maze. Every time there seems to be a much more complexed problem….. So, sometime back we realized a need of an experieced legal expert for our marketplace.
Finally, the search has ended… to help our customers (specially now that the world is shrinking and investments flowing in all directions) living outside Indian borders or even for those who live in a different state from where the land under question is…. we are happy to announce the appointment of a legal expert on our marketplace - so now send your basic questions (legal nature) to legal@atOnePlace.com and our legal expert will try and answer them for you…. here’s the catch…. totally FREE!!
More details will follow soon…
Meanwhile, send in your questions … She’ll love to hear from you! (oops, no early disclosures, the board warned 
NOTE: Fictitious names used, and any resemblance is co-incidental. All copyright & trademarks acknowledged.
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June 14, 2007 at 12:13 pm
· Filed under Growth Investing, India Real Estate, Indian Real Estate, Investing
My friend and I have been following the boom in the Indian real estate for just one-year and it came to us as a surprise the way individuals and investors think and converse when the market is buzzing.
We found that land prices in the country are spiraling upwards with 25-30% increase but are you keen in mining gold out of Indian real estate? If this sounds interesting, than there are many unexplored options in India just waiting to be uncovered, however they call for little foresight and an uncanny understanding of the Indian dynamics. Things are not as easy as they sound or appear on the screen sitting here in USA but at the same time there are not that bad either. Different players are trying to structure the industry from different angles, be it CB Richard Ellis or ICICI Home Search. Most of all, we want to be part of it but we are also skeptical, After all, no one wants to lose money after investing capital in real estate.
One can certainly explore properties all over the country to find developers offering premium properties in unknown, upcoming areas and some without even getting proper licenses. The question is how to find the right ones, be with them and get services from them. With information from initiatives like 99 acres, servicing from atOnePlace, talking to our relatives in India and some professionals from the real estate field, we discovered that though information holds the key to trust, yet final decisions are still governed by personal references specially your father in Law, if you have one. Startling it may sound but it does remain a fact. Ask some around you…and you will knowJ
Words like residential developments, malls, commercial centers, information technology hubs, foreign direct investment, and RITES can be heard in every conversation, every social gathering or casual family get together in common Indian household. The other reasons that’s driving the housing and real estate boom in the country is NRI capital inflow. As per the statistics, the year 2005 saw an inflow of around 90,000 crore. Till a few years back only China was the only country known to grow with FDI coming in from Chinese living abroad. We finally seem to be catching up with our neighbors.
The reason behind heavy NRI investment may be the long-term view about India, given the upcoming Indian middle class and the overall growth prospects. So today Non-resident Indians are busy buying, selling and driving the property market, sitting comfortably at home. Or may be its a simplest way to step into their native land.
Appreciation of the land prices in a country is based on long term time frame that ultimately depends on factors like high density, industrial demand, growth concentration, and government initiatives. Along with this, clubbing of commercial and residential areas in high growth regions continues to raise demand for integrated townships, satellite town planning and other emerging concepts. In the foreseeable future, commercial property - hotels, retail and office segments will share the growth rate of Indian growth. Today the Indian real estate sector is valued at around $12billion and statistics do reveal that it is growing at a rate of 30%. Impressive by any standards….Things look good and I may have missed a few key points, but with little care, support from sector players and a pinch of diligence, one can invest and see the investment grow in India at rates not offered by any developed country.
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December 9, 2006 at 9:36 pm
· Filed under Bangalore, Blogroll, Builder, Commercial Property, Delhi, Eastern India, Growth Investing, India Real Estate, Indian Properties, Indian Real Estate, Investing, NCR Region, NRI Related, Omaxe, Parsvnath, Pearls, Properties, Purvankara, Real esate, Residential Property, Southern India, Unitech
“Okay so I’ll send you funds tomorrow but it would take about 3-4 working days to reach you. Would that be any problem?” you ask. The person on the other side (literally thousands of miles away, somewhere in India) confirms “No Problem Sir. We are already holding a booking for you. Please do remember to send us a copy of the transaction and the application form”. You confirm and the next day, first thing you do is send the documentsa as asked. Whew! I own a flat in Bangalore, you’d think. The guy was very helpful. I wonder that liberalization and globalization has finally set the customer service at India parallel to the best in the world.
4 weeks later.
“Mr. Rangaswamy, I’ve sent you the payment through my NRE account 4 weeks back, and I haven’t nor my folks at India have received any receipts” you snort. “Our systems were down yesterday and the next two days there’s an off due to festivals. I would have someone send you the receipts to your home after that” says the other side. “No da, you’ve been giving me reasons Mr Swamy and I am getting a bit uncomfortable here. This is not how we deal here in the US”, “I agree sir, you know this is India, we are far behind USA sir. But I’ll definitely see what I can do for you. I’ll send you an email today with the status”. Phew! Finally this guy will let me know the status you think. You are eagerly waitig for the email, you check your junk box and still no sign. The pre-sales and post-sales is still quite a difference at India, you begin to think… Did I do the right thing, Oh sure YES!. India is booming and so I had to ride that wave. But how would I be served?
Okay, we set this stage as our founder and his group of friends went through this roller-coaster themselves. We might have exaggerated, but the reality is not far away from the conversation. India is definitely growing much faster than other economies and Real Estate particularly is on all cylinders. Yet riding this wave for an NRI or someone working / living overseas is not a moonwalk.
Here’s where we bring atOnePlace™ to your rescue. We cannot guarantee you a moonwalk, but surely can be your person at India to take care of your interest all the way from gather information to procuring the property, documents and updating you with status.
atOnePlace™, is a marketplace that is built to eliminate asymmetries of information and minimize the inefficiencies of transaction.
Similar to eBay (no we are not an auction powerhouse, neither are we a billion dollar company, yet ;-)), atOnePlace brings a wide range of projects PAN India with tools for easier search, compare and later transact. atOnePlace has regular listings where you can connect with the builder directly or has a range of trusted (Priviledged) Builders, who we directly sell. [Priviledged Builders are those who have been diligently studied for dependance and stand high on dependance and reliability]. In a nutshell, atOnePlace empowers you to make an informed decision.
So, if you had been looking to invest in the emerging real estate opportunities at India, check out www.atoneplace.com. Information is key to any deal and for Real Estate this is so true. Studying opportunities at atOnePlace won’t hurt either, you’ll be glad you did. If you decide, you can approach atOnePlace™ for helping you to transact. Not only the marketplace showcases newer opportunities but also assists in transactions involved. Once you approach us, we assign you an account executive who then gathers your requirements and present to you best available options meeting your needs.We do not sell or push any particular Builder’s projects. If there’s any builder or project that you do not see on our platform, let him know. The account executive would furnish you with unbiased information about all the projects that include merits and demerits of the properties.
When you take into account all the positives and negatives of the property and finalize the property, the Account Executive or the Agent would inform the developer about your interest. You would receive the application form and the other documentations that maybe needed to book/buy that property. You’d send the form back to our office at Usa or India and forward the due payment either as a Check/Draft or wire them directly to the Developer at India. Once the payment is reeived, you’d receive a confirmation and an electronic copy of your receipts. The original hard copies would be couriered to you at the same time. Hereafter the account exeutive would continue to provide you with continuous uodates and answer any questions / concerns that you might have. Its is our endeavor to minimize the geographical distance that discourages one to invest in global marketplace.
Read more on: How can a customer buy using atOnePlace™ from overseas
NOTE: Fictitious names used, and any resemblance is co-incidental. All copyright & trademarks acknowledged.
www.atoneplace.com
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December 9, 2006 at 7:37 pm
· Filed under Agent, Broker, Brokergae, Builder, Commercial Property, India Real Estate, Indian Properties, Indian Real Estate, Marketing, Omaxe, Parsvnath, Pearls, Properties, Prospecting, Purvankara, Real esate, Reality Firms, Realtor, Referal, Residential Property, Selling, Unitech
Realtors® who are assisting homeseekers and homeowners to buy and sell homes in their residence country can now add Indian Properties without having to step out of their office.
You are a Realtor® living at USA, Canada, UK or any other International location assisting prospects to buy/sell homes there. You are aware of the booming Indian Real Estate Market and wish to expand your portfolio by offering properties from India to your clients. Perhaps you have even flown down to India, formed an association or two with Indian Builders to sell their projects internationally, but after the initial euphoria dies and when it comes to processing- Indian Service Level Standards don’t match your expectations!
If the situation sounds familiar, read on…The geographic distance appear to be the biggest hurdle in transactions- limited awareness of opportunities, process, market trends, time involved in prospecting, then managing applications, payments, receipts and post sales. Add to it the follow up for your broker co-operation and then repatriation issues are just not worth the effort for you to focus outside of your local market, be it USA, UK, Canada or anywhere else.
The anxiety of buying a home 10,000 miles away is far more than your customer who’s buying a home where he lives. The lack of back office support – a dependable framework is what lowers your trust in Indian Real Estate market. Operational issues – manintaining relationship with builders; staying informed of upcoming projects, market trends, local information; follow-up on your sales, documentation, receipts, development updates etc… cannot be handled from thousands of miles away without having a dependable framework.
“I tied up with a builder in NCR area to sell their properties over here in USA. I have a very good clientele which has a sizeable amount of Indian Customers. The problems I faced were too many after which I decided it was not worth my time” states a California Bay Area Realtor. She had quite an experience in trying to conduct the cross border transaction some out of which include:
1. She had a PAN India customer base and so she needed a portfolio that included properties from almost everywhere in India and not just a handful locations.
2. Indian Real Estate Market is booming. Pricing is very dynamic. Properties appreciate at a much faster pace than they used to a decade back. A couple of the leads she sent to the builder’s office got solicited directly by the Builder, a few of them walked out of the deal because they felt the price being quoted to them by the agent was different from the price being offered by the builder and some found out that there were some other opportunities to look at.
3. Of the few deals that she managed to close, servicing them was a very time consuming and helpless position, because she had to depend on the support from the builder’s office tens of thousands of miles away.
4. Finally, the repatriation of referral fees that she received wasn’t that smooth. There was a mysterious web of process and documentation to be submitted to RBI which served as an icing to the desert.
“I look forward to leveraging atOnePlace.com framework. I am quite excited about it. I firmly believe that there are tremendous opportunities to market Indian Properties here in US, but my experience has been, unless you have a dependable framework, its not worth the effort” she says.
So how can atOnePlace.com help Realtors to sell Indian Properties?
Simply put, atOnePlace.com is an online marketplace for Real Estate that has tied up or is in the process to tie-up with hundreds of Builders PAN India. The website has hundreds of new opportunities, both in Commercial and Residential projects, in almost every tier-1 and tier-2 city in India. Realtors like yours can be associated with atOnePlace.com and can leverage the framework to market Indian Properties. Pre and post sales support is handled by the back office support and servicing team at India and USA. All you do is use the tools, stay informed, and prospect. Once the deal closes, atOnePlace would send you a cheque in your local currency for the referral.
atOnePlace™ has launched its BETA services with a vision to bridge the gap of information, trust and service level standards offered by Indian Real Estate Market and International Clients expectations.
Read more on: How atOnePlace™ works for you-Realtor®
For any questions, contact agentenquiry@atoneplace.com
Some restrictions may apply. Check with atOnePlace office for further details. This is not an offer of real estate agency, nor a solicitation of an offer to sell, to agents of any state, province or country in which registration or other legal requirements have not been fulfilled. Check with local authorities and legal experts for any legal issues involved in marketing or prospecting international real estate. NO Federal or State agency has judged the merits or value, if any of any property. This promotional material is not intended to constitute an offering in violation of the law of any jurisdiction. WARNING: THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE HAS NOT INSPECTED, EXAMINED OR QUALIFIED THIS OFFERING. All rights reserved.
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