<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48019156.cms" /> India’s overall <keyword id="148704" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="property-market">property market</keyword> continues to be depressed with builders sitting on piles of losses and buyers waiting in the hope that home loan rates would drop. There are a handful of green patches in the sea of red. Hyderabad is among the emerging markets, thanks to the investments it has been promised, followed by Chennai, Bangalore and the perpetual rush in Mumbai. 
 However, that hasn’t stunted the rapid growth of <keyword id="2941153" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="online-property">online property</keyword> services. More than the numbers, it’s the optimism about changing consumer trends that’s fuelling dreams for these sites. 
 
“Online is currently a small component of the real estate business. We have a long way to go in understanding consumer needs, building confidence and engaging with a larger mass of builders to provide users greater choice, convenience and transparency”, Muralikrishnan B, COO, IndiaProperty.com agrees. 
 
India’s online property market however has boomed with several players like Magicbricks, 99acres, Housing and so on. While investors and entrepreneurs are expecting big returns, won’t the Indian buyer rather play it safe than buy property worth lakhs online, considering that may serve as serious investment or his home? The risk factor is obviously bigger than a smartphone or laptop. 
 
“Property buying has evolved into a hybrid online-offline process. It’s incorrect to assume consumer behaviors would change overnight. However, there would always be room for advisory services that would liberate the power of the internet and mobile to act as valuable research tools and would be free from potential vested interests of brokers”, Muralikrishnan observes. 
 
In its latest report ‘India goes Mobile’, India property claims it saw a 10-40% increase in mobile users searching for property between January 2014 and May this year with a hefty 69% of mobile users and 61% of desktop users between 18-34 of age. 
 
“A majority of these people belong to the upwardly mobile urban professionals who are in their first/second jobs. They have good disposable income and understand the importance of investment and tax saving. While every segment is under-tapped and has a long way to go towards maturity, the bulk still lies in affordable housing”, Muralikrishnan agreees.

Where is
India buying its property?

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47818287.cms" /> <keyword id="536283" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rahul-Yadav">Rahul Yadav</keyword> has decided to step down as CEO of <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> for the second time in less than two months, and this time it seems it is not a bluff. His resignation will be accepted by the board of the real estate portal, two people directly aware of the development said. 
 
Yadav, 26, who has been involved in a string of controversies, will be asked to stay on at the company and oversee product development. 
"After discussions with the board, Rahul has decided to step down," said a source. "There will be a board meeting within two weeks where this will be announced. He has let individual board members know." 
 
Rahul Yadav denied all such claims though. Yadav, an IIT-Bombay dropout and co-founder of Housing, did not immediately reply to queries from ET. A representative for <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword>, the biggest investor in Housing, did not reply to an email sent on Thursday morning. 
 
Japan's SoftBank, and another investor Falcon Edge, had taken charge of operations at Housing after Yadav's confrontation with the board in late April and early May. In a letter announcing his resignation as CEO, Yadav questioned the intellectual prowess of the investors, who persuaded him to stay on but made him tender an apology. 
 
SoftBank's representative on the board, Jonathan Bullock, oversees all major decisions at the company. Yadav has courted one controversy after another, earning him a reputation as an enfant terrible of the Indian startup industry. He started a social media spat with <keyword id="122716" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia-Capital">Sequoia Capital</keyword>'s managing director Shailendra Singh, and most recently posted a photo of InfosysBSE -0.40 % CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> sleeping at an airport lounge. The provocation was that Yadav apparently tried to wake up a sleeping Sikka, who brushed him off saying he was too tired to talk to him. 
 
 The board of Housing has been on the lookout for a potential successor to Yadav for some time. Recruitment agency <keyword id="2918431" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Spencer-and-Stuart">Spencer and Stuart</keyword> has been leading the mandate for a new CEO. 
 
Housing was founded in 2012 by a dozen college-mates from IIT-Mumbai, of whom three have left the company. Housing, which competes with CommonFloor, 99Acres, and MagicBricks, owned by the publisher of this paper, has attracted more than $120 million (Rs 760 crore) in funding and is valued at over Rs 1,500 crore.

Rahul Yadav quits Housing.com, again

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48420935.cms" /> 
The festival season is yet to start in India but social networking site <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Facebook+">Facebook</a> has already planned how to tap potential customers through its database. It is going to launch a shopping festival named Tied Together on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. 
 
The plan involves setting up a website in association with media agency <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=conglomerate+">conglomerate</a> <keyword id="177241" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="GroupM">GroupM</keyword> between August 12 and August 29, the day of the festival, reported the Economic Times. 
 According to <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>'s pitch note, brands can "unlock the power of social media that can reach 10 crore potential customers through this event." 
 
The social networking site would use its subscriber base and social networking platform to drive traffic to the shopping site. 
 
Participating companies will have to pay a fee that will be shared by Facebook, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GroupM+">GroupM</a> and other media agencies. 
 
Facebook, which has 11.2 crore users in India, is reported to be looking for a title sponsor at an asking rate of Rs 3 crore and a principal sponsor at a similar rate besides associate sponsors for Rs 1.5 crore each. 
 
According to a media planner, online shopping festivals have become a popular trend in India, especially with the rise in the number of eCommerce companies, which are driving the growth of online shopping in India. 
 
Facebook should be considered as another media vehicle which has a huge database that can be utilised for commercial purposes. 
 Last year, <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> organized a shopping festival along with with GroupM and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Amazon+">Amazon</a> called the Grand Diwali Mela. In 2013, Google launched the Great Online Shopping Festival. Earlier this year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Google+">Google</a> held the Great Indian Travel Festival (GITF) in association with media agency conglomerate IPG Mediabrands. 
 
In July, Magicbricks joined hands with GroupM and Google to launch a property festival. 
 "Companies like <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart+">Flipkart</a> and other eCommerce companies can host an online festival on their own website. But companies like Google and Facebook need to create a new one to host a shopping festival. The idea is to create online intellectual properties (IP) and to make them annual events," said another media planner. 
 
Google and Facebook charge advertisers on a "per click" basis that ranges between 50 paise to Rs 100 and Rs 2 to Rs 20, respectively, "depending on the customer-targeting options that they choose," said the planner. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Facebook to launch an online shopping festival this Raksha Bandhan

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/55562202.cms" />The volume of property enquiries and transactions across the Indian market has dropped dramatically ever since <keyword id="6354814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-minister-Narendra-Modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</keyword> announced <keyword id="3315394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetisation">demonetisation</keyword> of the Rs 500 and 1000 notes. This accounts for roughly 87% of Indian currency. 
 Broker Ajay Baijal lamented yesterday that he did not receive a single sales call across the weekend in Gurgaon. On the other hand, Yasser Rahman, Secretary, Chennai <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate">Real Estate</keyword> Agents Association, said that there was not much change in sales volumes in the city which was already facing a slowdown. Developers in Hyderabad maintain that its business as usual and the property prices have already fallen to an extent that they will not be impacted by the demonetisation. 
 
So, what should you do if you had intended to buy a house? The end user and serious consumer has never had it so good. After two years of slowdown, the price of property was already very close to 2012 values, indexed to inflation. The number of buyers have shrunk as those who paid in cash have been edged out of the market. The number of sellers in the secondary market may have shrunk a little but many sellers do not want to wait it out in the market. There is a vast amount of new properties available in the growth corridors along highways and expressways in every city. 
 
The Prime Minister and Finance Minister have said that prices of property would fall. Let’s examine why. At least 50% or more of transactions in markets like NCR were dealt in cash in the secondary market. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at the India Economic Conclave recently, “For the past 70 years, the parallel economy in cash was normal. However, with demonetisation, there will be a new normal in India and that will be just formal finance.” 
 
For a country and a market that is unused to this new normal, it will take time for this vacuum to be filled. No cash could result in fewer buyers which also means values dropping by about 10-15% to accommodate the new situation. This will take at least six months to happen. However, the rate of transactions is expected to drop. 
 
If you are a serious end user, turn this uncertainty to your advantage. Secondary market properties are either in well-lived in areas with adequate social and transport infrastructure or they are near completed properties in new complexes that are being sold by investors. Neither category can forget that the market has a surplus of ready-to-move-in properties. Many cities have inventory overhang of upto 36 months. That should allow serious end users to jump in and start negotiating the best prices. For sellers in the secondary market, vast volumes of property in the primary market is a big threat. With the absence of cash in the economy, their only option is a quick sell now to interested users. Sale price has to be close to guideline values to avoid the taxman’s eye. 
 
In primary properties from developers, ask for meaningful discounts like fittings and fixtures and maybe a drop on Preferred Location Charges (PLC). These help in your purchase value. 
 
If you are a seller, be rational. Guideline values can be a good way to assess your sale price. Sell to those with formal finance from banks. Bank assessments will tell you the current estimated value of the property. That should also help you along. Consumer sentiment is expected to pick up after the first fear and panic settles down. However, by that time the number of developers completing their property will also rise. Today’s consumers prefer new secure complexes packed with features and amenities and you may find it difficult to sell. 
 
So when a serious buyer comes your way, look for the best price you can extract and go for the sell. 
 
(The article is authored by Jayashree Kurup, Head, Editorial and Advice, Magicbricks. You can reach out to her at jayashree.kurup@timesgroup.com and tweet: @jkurup)

Demonetisation: It’s a buyer’s market, step in confidently and look for bargains

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49013883.cms" /> 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Online+shopping">Online shopping</a> is the new fad! From a dress to a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mobile+phone">mobile phone</a> to even high-cost products such as TVs and two wheelers, internet is the ultimate thing for them. However, interestingly, the internet has not really worked its magic for one particular sector—the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=real+estate">real estate</a>! 
 While, we do see a proliferation of a plethora of online <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> players such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Housing.com">Housing.com</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=MagicBricks">MagicBricks</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Commonfloor.com">Commonfloor.com</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=99acres.com">99acres.com</a> among others, most of them are majorly marketplaces for listing properties. Brokers and owners list their properties and home buyers can then contact them. And despite online portals mushrooming in this space, the real estate sector largely continues to be offline. 
 
“On the surface, this approach to selling and buying real estate seems novel and even logical. What works against it is the manner in which the real estate market actually functions in India,” says Ashwinder Raj Singh, CEO of Residential Services, JLL India. 
 
Industry players have attributed the reluctance to buy a house solely on the basis of their online understanding of the property to the fact that entire home-buying process is an emotional experience. Besides, buying a home is a cost-intensive <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=investment">investment</a>, which is generally done after a lot of due-diligence. 
 
“The home-buying process invariably involves personal inspection of a number of options at close quarters. Each option is examined from various perspectives including affordability, viability of the location, construction quality, legal sanctity of the project and appropriateness of the facilities and amenities available in the project among others,” adds Singh. 
 
Apart from the emotional quotient, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=real+estate">real estate</a> transactions are often opaque and murky, which makes it difficult for a home buyer to buy property online. Besides, a typical Indian consumer has a value-for-money mindset; hence, the real value proposition of a property cannot be understood online. Also, buyers expect the power to bargain while buying their dream homes. This is impossible to exercise while buying a home online. 
 
From a developer’s point of view, online purchase of property will not help in forming a personal rapport with the home buyer, which is extremely crucial in this sector. 
 
“In making the final choice at the end of a prolonged selection process, the buyer effectively accords it the highest distinction among all other personally inspected options. The likelihood of a home buyer making such a decision based solely on virtual information is on par with that of an art connoisseur buying a Rembrandt in an online auction,” he notes. 
 
Singh concludes that while times are definitely changing and the world is becoming digitally connected, however, internet can only be an aid to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=real+estate">real estate</a> business but can never fully replace it. While, we agree with his views, we also feel that with the advent of new technologies, it is only a matter of time when people would be confident enough to buy a property online solely based on the virtual information available. Until then, the good old brokers are at our service! 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Not
sure if you want to buy your dream home online? We know why!

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47354379.cms" /> It’s relieving that it’s finally over! We’re talking about <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> <keyword id="536283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Yadav">Rahul Yadav</keyword> who has been hogging the media headlines for his <keyword id="6729" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rakhi-Sawant">Rakhi Sawant</keyword> like instances since past few weeks. Yadav’s session of ‘Ask Me Anything’ on social media site Reddit, which happened yesterday, wasn’t as notorious as people might have presumed. 
 
So, what really happened during the session? How did Rahul manage to respond to all the questions that were thrown at him? 
 Rahul’s session wasn’t as happening as had been his recent online and offline conversations. There were no controversial statements, can you believe it? As per The Economic Times, around a dozen Housing.com employees were seated around Yadav, helping him draft answers to the influx of queries. "The investors had just one guideline - avoid controversial answers," said one source. Rishabh Gupta, Housing's <keyword id="2860348" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-collection-head">data collection head</keyword>, <keyword id="2761392" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pratik-Seal">Pratik Seal</keyword>, <keyword id="113363" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chief-Marketing-Officer">chief marketing officer</keyword>, and the entire corporate communications team was helping Yadav, a source informed the financial daily. 
 In his entire session, Rahul Yadav had touched upon several topics. While on one hand, he talked about Indian startups and expressed his admiration for Flipkart, he wasn’t as generous to the global startups like Uber and <keyword id="6354616" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword>, which he described as "slick products solving big problems." 
 
We checked out his entire Reddit dialogue and picked up few that make an interesting read. Check’em out! 
 
redweddingsareawesom: Why do you claim to have beaten Common Floor and Magicbricks based on site visits and app downloads? Aren't they bullshit metrics? <keyword id="51958" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="YES">Yes</keyword> I believe these are really bullshit metrics. But the market (brokers, builders, investors, media) somehow cares about all these things. And perception matters. So unfortunately, we have to play by THIS (India) market's rules. 
 
takatakha: Why did you decide to drop out of IITB in your final year? 
I think I mentally dropped out of IIT in 2nd year. Physically in my 4th year. And on papers, I think I’m still an IITB student. :) 
 
amitseoji: Can you create even 1% of housing.com without <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> from VC? 
I can create 100% of housing but then it will be a different type of housing. You can always create business without money, sometimes it can be slow, sometimes it can be really hard but its never impossible. 
 
Bamboo 12345: What are the 3 most important things that contribute towards a startups' success in the Indian startup ecosystem? 
I think currently it is: 
1. Validated and copied idea from another market 
2. Capital 
3. Marketing 
What I think it should actually be: 
1. Solving Indian people's problem 
2. Great product and innovation. 
3. Great teams and culture. 
 
(Image: India Times)

Here’s what happened during Housing CEO Rahul Yadav’s  Reddit ‘Ask me Anything’ session

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47159302.cms" /> Well, if you have kept your eyes open while on road you couldn’t have missed ‘Look up’ promotional campaign by Housing.com. The engrossing campaign by the startup founded by 3 alumni from IIT, Mumbai have a record of being in news for all wrong reasons. Believe it or not, the company has spent around Rs 120 crore , much above it’s estimate just to promote its logo, which is apparently inspired from an <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IOS">iOs</keyword> app. Adding to it this time is it’s <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> <keyword id="536283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Yadav">Rahul Yadav</keyword>’s resignation from the board. A nasty email he wrote to his colleagues was accessed by the media and all the hell broke loose. 
 
In his resignation, Rahul has written: 
 
Dear board members and investors, I don't think you guys are intellectually capable enough to have any sensible discussion anymore. This is something which I not just believe but can prove on your faces also! 
 
I had calculated long back (by taking avg life expectancy minus avg sleeping hrs) that I only have ~3L (hours) in my life. ~3L hrs are certainly not much to waste with you guys! 
 
Hence resigning from the position of Directorship, Chairmanship and the CEO position of the company(sic). I'm available for the next 7 days to help in the transition. Won't give more time after that. So please be efficient in this duration. 
 
Cheers, 
Rahul 
 
And as the letter became viral, social media exploded with sarcasm, criticism and of course choicest abuses against Yadav. 
 
A twitteratti, @GabbarSingh known for mean tweets reacted steadily saying, “IIT brat Housing dot com CEO's resignation letter. And you ask why don't we have an Elon musk.” 
 This was followed by a series of reactions with someone replying, “The only 'innovation' I saw was to plaster the city with his ads. No patents. No <keyword id="6414070" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="iron-man">Iron man</keyword> suit. Pshaw!” Someone took this occasion to criticize the app saying, “To be fair, the app was disruptive in its micro-innovations. That it's run by juveniles is another story.” Keeping the fun alive, <keyword id="202428" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gabbar">Gabbar</keyword> himself replied, “his ego is writing cheques which his product cant encash. Build a fuckin suit.” 
 Yet, this isn’t the first time Yadav has proved how foul mouthed badass he is. Earlier when <keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword>, a <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> fund declined to <keyword id="47916" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="invest">invest</keyword> on Housing and instead pumped money in Grabhouse, a rival of Housing, Yadav had sent a nasty email to Shailendra, the MD of the venture capital firm, saying: 
 
“You clearly know what shit you’ve done with multiple entrepreneuers and startups in India with your cheap and dirty tactics.” 
 
The letter ends with Rahul signing off “Go die motherf*****” 
 
And when the hurly-burly is done, the news report in the ET reads, the Housing board consisted of three directors " Yadav, Sharma and Arora. On Tuesday, sources told the ET that the first item on the board's agenda will be the appointment of two new directors "Ritesh Banglani of Helion and Sujan of Nexus " and formalising the appointment of Bullock in place of Arora. 
 Documents accessed by ET show that Yadav owns 4.57% stake in the company. <keyword id="440175" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nexus-Ventures">Nexus Ventures</keyword> owns 19%, <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> 32%, and <keyword id="344650" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Helion-Ventures">Helion Ventures</keyword> and <keyword id="60126" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon">Falcon</keyword> Edge about 10% each.. 
 
According to the sources, the board will discuss reporting structure, recent marketing expenditure and acquisitions, the resignation of Arora as well the events involving the Times Group and Sequoia. 
 
Housing competes with CommonFloor, 99Acres and MagicBricks, owned by the owner of this portal in India.

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Where is India buying its property?

BI India Bureau

Rahul Yadav quits Housing.com, again

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Demonetisation: It’s a buyer’s market, step in confidently and look for bargains

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Not sure if you want to buy your dream home online? We know why!

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Here’s what happened during Housing CEO Rahul Yadav’s Reddit ‘Ask me Anything’ session

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Housing.com ex CEO shows what badass means

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