Vikas Rikhye, Gurgaon Real Estate Consultant and Blogger

The historic Global meltdown has also shown nationwide fall of Real estate prices. After a bubble like boom the bubble bust has claimed more than 30% drop in prices. It is also observed,that some of the builders are at the point of insolvency.Government is strongly adopting positive methods to restore the “confidence of common man” to acquire an affordable home.

Since, in the real-estate market has been hit most at the higher segment, therefore, it is felt that prospective buyers are showing interest in Low Budget houses / apartments, mainly in the range of 30-35 lacs & in some cases even lower.

It is understood from sources that in the month of January 2009, “the builder lobby” had expressed to the media that affordable houses were unviable.

But, after having sensed the market demand, many of Gurgaon Based builders and developers are being seen, launching new Projects , offering various low budget options.

With a most interesting observation, it is felt that, while under the Wave of Recession some of the prominent builders who had put their existing projects on hold , the same builders, now on other hand are launching new Projects , offering various low budget options.

All as stated above gives us a food for thought as to how: “affordable houses which were unviable are viable now”

Disclaimer

The Author is a freelance Blogger and real-estate consultant. The readers are advised to do their own research & analysis before taking any action. The author is not responsible for any consequence good or bad . The author is only delivering his views & inviting response in the way of comments/views from the readers.

This is a guest post by Mr. Saurabh Dhawan of India Medi Treat. You can get in touch with him at saurabh [dot] 3767 [at] gmail [dot] com.

The Article by Mr. Vikas Rikhye is a bitter truth which every Gurgaon resident mall realizes but somewhere doesn’t want to agree that the Retailers in Gurgaon are truly striving for existence. A lot of times while going towards Delhi from my old Gurgaon residence I feel like having a burger and ice tea but I don’t reason being are many, firstly the traffic, secondly the economy (spending Rs.30 as parking for a Rs.20 Burger is scary) and you cant stop your car for five minutes even as the recovery vans can take your cars. These are very basic things but this is what is eating the customer from the malls.

The builders sold the shops in mall at a time when stock market, economy, real estate market all were roaring high which meant higher purchasing power of people and the fact is that people in Gurgaon had good money and were willing to spend for good products. This lead to increased rentals for shops along with a heavy maintenance for upkeep of the mall. But no one was complaining as cash was the king.

Repercussions of financial meltdown on Gurgaon Shopping Malls

Now in post Sub-prime era the things have changed the real estate market has corrected badly, the Stock market is below 10,000 points and the big builders are looking for some shelter. The US sub prime has effected jobs in India, people have been given pink slips and uncertainty is prevailing among people who are in job whether there job is safe or not. This hysteria has resulted in reduced consumer spending and there is no doubt that the next two years are going to be tough for retailers and only the fittest will survive.

The retailers need to re-look into their marketing strategies. While walking through these deserted malls I realized that everyone had one thing in common. SALE yes guys SALE. From 20% to 70%, 50%+40%, buy 1 get 1, buy 2 get 3, buy 2 get 6 and so on. But I thought does their target market really knows it. The answer I guess is no. these malls don’t have heavy foot falls to attract there prospective customers.

I liked the way Kishore Biyani made money on our republic day. The Big Bazaar’s SABSE SASTE 3 DIN 24,25,26 January was a super hit. Big Bazaar advertised heavily from internet, mails, newspapers and YELLOWPAGES and community portals. The guy can surely make people run for money. What he did was buy in bulk and sell in bulk by passing the profits to customer. What was interested to note was that a good proportion of its sales came from its Online portal. Mr. Biyani was always sure that his Online store will be a hit among people in Metros and I guess he was true.

Now coming onto the small retailers I guess the need of the hour for them is to reach their customer desperately. They cannot go in for Signage as it is not affordable, a front page of news paper is too expensive for small to medium retailers but YELLOW PAGES sites( like www.yellowpagesgurgaon.com ) can be a comparatively cheap and effective medium. The customers who shop in malls are generally youth and people working in and around Gurgaon who are generally well read and computer savvy. By advertising there Special offers and seasonal discounts and sending mails to their customers through internet marketers the retailers can easily reach their customers. This is not something new and retailers in cities like New York and Melbourne have practiced with success. This out of the box effective medium can be a good savior for the retailers in the city. As it is said that winners don’t do different things but they do the things differently. Both have to reach the customer but it depends how you reach and how effectively you reach.

Vikas Rikhye, Real Estate Blogger

About four years back Gurgaon shopping malls emerged a “Feather in a cap” in Gurgaon’s progress. Enthusiastic investors & retailers with optimistic vision & positive attitude attracted customers from all walks of life and in no time City center , MGF-Metropolitan & Sahara Mall became most happening place. Delhi shoppers also found a new shopping experience .Besides the swanky crowd, the visitor from neighboring villages & towns witnessed the glory modern shopping.

With visual prosperity, new “Real estate Players” jumped into building of Shopping Malls & the also received massive support from investors, retailers & real estate brokers.Thus all this resulted into mushrooming of shopping malls, besides M.G.Road,it started spreading all over the town including NH-8, Sohna Road ,Golf course Road & even in areas around Nirvana country, where more than eight local shopping markets are either functioning or Markets are giving deserted look.

Mall Fever is over in Gurgaon

It seems that Mall fever is over in Gurgaon as Several malls although they are complete in all respect , are still giving a sad look due to lack of demand and more of space availability. Such vacant malls can be seen not only on M.G.Road but also giving a vacant look on Sohna Road, Ardee City, N.H.-8 as well as on Golf course Road etc.

Why there is a Negative Trend of malls in Gurgaon?

The answer seems to be as following:

Delhi Shopping Malls: It seems that now Delhi Shopping Malls are geared up with larger areas and wide range of products at better prices as a result Delhi shopper is no more interested to visit Gurgaon Shopping Malls with an exception to Ambience Mall which caters to Classes & not to the masses .The credit goes to the strategic planning of the Management who has made Ambience Mall, most sought after place for “Rich & Famous”

Parking Problem: in Gurgaon shopping Malls has given negative contribution for Busy/Serious shoppers.

Reliance Fresh/Reliance Mart/Reliance Trends/Reliance Digital: has stolen the show as far as retail sale is concerned, stores are well stocked with wide range of products matching the consumer needs & budget Having selected the best location, ensuring visibility & enough of car parking, the Management of Reliance Group has proved high skills of management strategies. The success seems to continue having adverse effect on Retailers in Mall

Lack of Advertisement for Retailers in Gurgaon shopping Malls there is no such Platform which enables the Retailers in shopping Malls to advertise about their existence to there Target Audience.

The following source of Advertisements have not contributed for this cause:

• Signage it is not that every Retailer can afford to have its Signage out side the mall.
• News Papers an expensive Media with short life of one day
• News Papers Leaflets : Are thrown away while picking the Newspapers.
• Magazines :People prefer T.V Serials instead of Magazines
• TV. Advertisements: Besides being an expensive, it is seen usually the viewer either change the channel or a housewife rushes to the kitchen.
• Road Side Banners: have a life of 2-3 days and are either wiped away by strong winds

It is noticed by all concerned in the trade that www.yellowpagesgurgaon.com is in the process of creating reasonably good platform of awareness for retailers from Gurgaon shopping malls, who have listed their particulars with this site. www.yellowpagesgurgaon.com is an informative site to create awareness of various “Products & Services” available in Gurgaon.

With my concluding note I would like to convey ” A lot of effort is required by all concerned in the trade to create awareness in the Gurgaon community, about the “Retailers Striving for existence”

This is a guest post by Mr Saurabh Dhawan. Saurabh is promoting medical tourism through his website www.indiameditreat.com

The slowdown in global economy has pushed the medical budgets of the Americans and Europeans towards south. They industry veterans have revised there estimates of inflow of patients into India and they expect it to shoot up. The reasons are very logical. The meltdown has affected everyone.

The banks have been affected badly, the insurance companies which were covering the banks sub prime risks have suffered a severe blow, the people don’t have money to spend high for medical treatment there. I would like to quote this statement by Barack Obama “Computerize all health records within five years. The quality of health care for all Americans gets a big boost, and costs decline” , so the American Government has realized that it has to look for cost cutting measures in order to manage the crisis situation. In a nut shell the very obvious situation is that the people are looking for more budgeted avenues.

 We expect more people to follow suite for medical treatment in India. If we look at the stats we see that India actually comes out to be the most cost effective as compared to Thailand and Singapore with the same expertise and facilities. I think it’s the best time for India to pull up its socks. All the external indicators have fallen at the right place and now all the hospitals and medical tourism companies should be looking forward to market India as a global health tourism spot.

 When I talk about Health Tourism I talk about the Rejuvenation courses in Himalyas, Yoga in Uttranchal, Indian ethnic Spa’s (Eg. Ananda) and of course medical treatment. The problem in India is that we are still not able to market our products well. A good and planned marketing strategy can help us be pioneers in Medical Tourism and the BE THE DOCTORS TO THE WORLD.

Vikas Rikhye, Real Estate Blogger and Promoter

In absence of regulatory authority or a governing body, the real estate activities in India had been in highly un-organized manner but with socioecnomic awareness the real estate sector is also moving toward a positive direction.

Professional attitude of real estate companies and the presence of MNCs like CB Richard Ellis,Knight frank, Chesteron Meghraj & fast growing trend of property portals like 99Acres, Magicbriks,Indiaproperties etc are the indicaters of a “Professional Real estate” of tomorrow.

Still there is a large section which remains unorganised and non-professional. Add on of property dealers and so called Property conultant, who neither have proper knowledge nor experience in this field are making this profession as “Third Rate”. They seem to be a preffered choice of that sectionof society that believes in parellal Economy, as both can understand each other’s language very well.

Real Estate is a backbone of every economy be it a developing economy or a developed economy. In most of the developed countries real estate is a organized sector with licensed real estate agents who act as a very important intermediary between buyer and seller. The real estate agents is a specialized and organized work in developed countries where proper licenses are issued to real estate agents after going through a training procedure.An un-organized sector with no regulating authority /governing body reduce the transparency in transactions make them shady, speculative with uncertain market conditions thus making it a distant dream, for a common man, to own a property

Remedies suggested:

• Form a governing body: It is very important to form a governing body whoch has direct influence on the real estate players and which can give direction to the real estate market for its growth. 
• Fix the brokerage: there should be fixed brokerage for sale, purchase and rent deals etc in the market and no broker should charge a price above or below the market rate at any time. The prevailing rate of sale and purchase is anywhere between .5% to 2% of sale/purchase price.
• Education: learning is a very important tool for innovation and growth of an industry. If an Insurance agent is needed to clear an IRDA paper, an mutual fund seller needs to pass an AMFI exam and even a stock broker needs to clear a minimum no. of papers in order to exercise hid ticket in the stock market. So it is very important to device a paper which has a mix of mathematics and legal issues so that a real estate agent has proper knowledge on various obstacles or legal issues which can surface in a deal.
• Give License and code: After an agent is able to clear his exam then he should be issued a real estate agent license along with a code eg. xxx1986xx. Each and every agent should be provided with a unique code which will ascertain his identity and thus lead to reduction of frauds by brokers to buyer/seller.
• Get them in the Tax net: As the real estate sector was unorganized thus there is high level of tax evasion by the real estate agents. There is a remedy to prevent this. The unique code given to the real estate brokers will be given registered on legal papers of the deal and the records of same can be given to IT department. As each and every deal will be registered the brokers will be bound to disclose their brokerage.

Some of the thoughts & remedies as stated above have come from Mr. Saurabh Dhawan. Saurabh is 22 years of age and is pursuing MBA from IIPM. Saurabh is a Blogger, is promoting Medical Tourism in India

This a Guest Blog Post by Mr . Saurabh Dhawan. Saurabh is 22 years of age and is pursuing MBA from IIPM. He can be contacted at saurabh [dot] 3767 [at] gmail [dot] com.

With the passage of time the definition of luxury has changed in the last decade. Every product has its own market from guest houses to hotels to luxury hotels everyone has its own niche market to offer. Service apartment is one such type of market which is a growing market with a good demand in Metros and is being catered by Hotels and Guest houses. A service apartment is a furnished residential space which gives a homely look and has all the facilities from a fully furnished modular kitchen with all the cooking utensils, refrigeration, cooking gas, home appliances to other useful utensils in the kitchen. In the room it has Home Theater along with heating or cooling systems and other utilities which are generally found in a home and also telephone and internet connectivity. In certain cases security and power back are also prevalent. In short it is a home away from home.

The concept of service apartment is quite prevalent in western countries but it now coming up in India. Service Apartments are generally taken by corporates who have to stay for longer duration in India. When these corporates come to India they face some problem with culture, environment and food. The foreigners who come to India are not able to adjust themselves to the local food and environment and they are not able to enjoy the lifestyle they are used to.

This is where a service apartment comes to there rescue. These foreigners can cook their own food, maintain their own apartment and can also be provided with domestic help in India which is relatively cheap as compared to western countries. This helps them to feel like home and enjoy their stay in India with the best of health and spirits.

Service Apartments have a great future in Delhi NCR because it is a BPO and MNC hub, NRI tourism destination and an important diplomatic destination in South Asia.There is a constant increase in inflow of business travelers and tourists which are increasing year on year and the Medical tourism boom in coming years will supplement these demands as a service apartment can give feel of a home to a patient who can enjoy home cooked food after and before treatment.

The tariff of a service apartment can vary with the duration of stay by a traveler. Tariff for a service apartment can start from Rs. 7000/- Per month to Rs. 300000/- Per month depending on size of apartment and the level of luxury offered in the Apartment. The tariff generally includes the maintenance and water bills but may or may not include the electricity bills for the apartment. In all a service apartment have a great demand ahead in India

Vikas Rikhye, Real Estate Promoter and Blogger

In the recent past the Fast Growing Township of New Gurgaon has witnessed a
Massive growth in housing sector.

The well established real estate companies like DLF & Unitech have launched and delivered prestigious residential project. Comparatively new entrants like Bestech,Omaxe, Parsavnath Raheja & others got an opportunity to prove their competence.

All this as stated above “Township of New Gurgaon” came in to a light as a very
strong investment destination.

As it would have resulted, the investment wave in Gurgaon ,became stronger and stronger and the Secondary market shot up sky high. With all this , the basic participants in real estate game like Builders, Brokers & Investors found themselves in a Win - Win situation.

Yet there was another Important Segment of Actual-User, who had missed the boat due to unexpected increase in Real estate prices, was still awaiting an affordable housing solution.

The announcement of Master Plan 2021, gave a sigh of relief to this Important Segment of Actual-Users .But at same time it gave opportunity to many New Player to enter the real estate Game.

And now an interesting/ uninteresting era starts:

As many of The new Players started advertising launch of their new projects with luring advertisements & Broker incentives.

It has been observed by many real - estate experts that some of the projects falling in Master Plan 2021 are being launched ,where at present the basic infrastructure like roads, water, sever, provision for required Power etc. is missing.

While some of the Promoters are asking for 25% of the amount within in 45 days of booking & balance is construction linked . Even we feel every thing in fairness, yet, it raises following queries in mind:
• What is the reliability level of “Unheard of as Builders”
• Transparency level of commitments.
• Experience for delivering committed project .( for those who have not delivered any Project in the past )
• Inventor’s Risk coverage.

For a while let us be Optimist that in all the fairness the project is delivered , Yet another question mark nags the mind that will there be basic infrastructure like roads, water, sever, provision for required Power etc. where presently nothing is visible on the ground except open fields & in some cases abandoned uneven patches of land.

Will somebody guide me to clear my doubt as well of others who agree with as stated above.

Vikas Rikhye,Real Estate Blogger

This time we are not taking about Sky high real estate prices or inflation in Gurgaon ,but sky high forthcoming buildings in Gurgaon.It is understood from authentic sources that Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has removed height restriction for all future group housing & Commercial projects in the new sectors that are a part of Gurgaon Master Plan 2021.

According to the sources, the height limit till now was 90 meters. However, the Builders/ Developer aspiring for skyscrapers will have to take permission from other competent authorities like Airport Authority of India, Fire Authorities and other government bodies, governing Safety Rules.

It is further understood from the sources that this policy has been framed , keeping in mind the National Building Code (Part-4) that allows the removal of height restrictions on the buildings if the modern / latest technologies are used for structural design & fire fighting.

The news seems to be very encouraging & interesting, but, it raises in mind, a big Question Mark, that:
Will the present infrastructure in Gurgaon , be able to take the load of this Unexpected growth ?

Vikas Rikhye,India Real Estate Blogger

Gurgaon is a city that is rapidly moving towards Globalized economy, but it the city requires, an effective planning for improvement in basic infrastructure to truly transform into be “world-class city” in coming years.An effective Transport system is the base for any infrastructure development.

Although eight lane toll expressway between Gurgaon and New Delhi, that provides non-stop connectivity to the I.G.I and the Domestic Airport and to Dhaulakuan in Delhi over a distance of 28 kilometers (18 miles), and includes 7 flyovers and 5 underpasses along the stretch, has made a remarkable comfort level to the commuters, still for main city of Gurgaon , a well planned efficient surface transport planning seems to be the basic need of the day.

While the road layout in the city is quite well-planned, but a drives to improve the condition of roads is very badly required.

Besides roads, the main problem of the city is its virtually non-existent city public transport. A handful of local buses plying on a few routes & besides cycle rickshaw the only other form of public transport is shared auto- rickshaw which are generally overcrowded.

Mainly Taxi service in Gurgaon is limited to Airport/Railway Station dropping/ picking. Besides taxis for the use of the ever growing call center and information technology industry. Gurgaon currently has 5 types of taxis. Normal Black top yellows taxis, auto rickshaw(the cheapest form of taxis in Gurgaon), tourist taxis, radio taxis and white taxis.

Generally, people in Gurgaon prefer cars to two-wheelers because of the dusty nature of the region, extreme weather condition, and frequent two-wheeler accidents. Most of the people in new township, own cars as the cream of the delhites have moved to Gurgaon. But an average white collar job person is desperately looking forward to improved means of transport system.

There seems to be only ray of hope when “Delhi Metro Rail Corporation” starts its operation to Gurgaon as expected by January 2010.

To be continued…

Vikas Rikhye,India Real Estate Blogger

Gurgaon ! privileged status of “Cyber City” battling a power crisis that has seen power cuts over 12 hours , there is no immediate relief in sight.

Most of the people who moved to Gurgaon for a better quality of life, they , now feel cheated & cursing the day they moved to Gurgaon.

The life becomes miserable, when the whole town plunges into darkness in peak of summer, as one has to surrender to the invertors and then to generators, an expensive proposition besides being unfriendly to the environment.

Students in the city are invariably the biggest sufferers. Long hours of power cut and exhausted inverters have made their lives harder.

A common man is in total confused state of mind as the electricity “Complaint telephones “are usually un-attended or give a busy tone. Personal complaints lead to no results, With repeated assurances of officials, consumers have learnt the hard way not to trust officials.

Tired of long & frequent power cuts and false promises of improvement, created almost a situation of riots in the city as News Headlines of Hindustan Times dated May 7th 2008 read as “Power riots erupt in city, Gurgaon” it further added “People stone power offices”

Is that the “Millennium City” we dreamt of ?