There are a number of real estate and property websites in
India and it is difficult for an investor to decide which one to choose.
The real estate slump in India has also hit the website industry as well and
quite a few have scaled down or shut shop. The main problem with the Real estate websites in India has been
that they tried to ‘do it all’ and in the bargain are unable to provide
specialized services in particular verticals to an end user.
Things are in for a change, real estate websites are now coming up
which concentrate on a particular vertical and are able to provide customized
services to a user. As an end user there is a needs to understand what exactly
is one looking for, for example whether residential or commercial property and
further whether in the primary or secondary market (resale), as this would
decide which web portal to utilize and for what service. It does not make sense
to utilize the services of a real estate website which does not specialize in
the vertical one is looking for. The next question which comes to mind is, how
to decide which is the ideal real estate website for a particular service or
vertical. As an end user one needs to consider the following factors:
-
(a) What is the
authenticity of the data being presented; this can be verified by checking data
across two or three real estate websites. As a test case one can even approach
one odd builder or broker and check out the data. Once the reliability quotient
is established one can proceed further.
(b) Check out the
‘technology quotient’ of the website. Ascertain how much of analytics are being
applied to represent data in an ‘easy to comprehend’ form, which helps a user’s
decision making process.
(c) Does the real
estate website provide a method in which as a user, one can shortlist
property in a structured manner?
(d) What all services
does the property website provide in terms of analysis, search,
shortlisting, site visits, on ground guidance, customized reports etc. See if
it meets all your requirements.
(e) As a real estate
investor one has a number of queries, like, where should one invest? Let’s say
out of two localities in a particular city which one is better and why? Which
are the ideal real estate destinations in India? Which project is better than
others and on what grounds? Or, how do two or more projects compare to each
other? Etc. The real estate website which can answer the maximum number of your
queries is obviously the best one.
It is time that the real
estate and property websites in India
realize that an investor today is much aware of ground realities, due to the
availability of information on the internet and therefore is on the look-out of
more and more logically analysed inputs. Unless a real estate website is
able to satisfy an end user’s quires with well researched data, it will be
difficult to survive in days and years to come.
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