In my last post I mentioned how property portals like MagicBricks and 99Acres have been useless in helping me find a property to buy which fits within my budget (upto Rs 90 lakhs). I was resigned to using the neighbourhood brokers to continue my search. So armed with the numbers of some brokers me and my dad started doing rounds of their offices.
Stop 1: A fat lady who claims to have sold many many houses in the area asks us point blank if we have the money to buy a property. I felt quite offended by the rude question and offered an irritated response saying that why else would we come to her. To this the lady said that she merely wanted to confirm if the deal for my Nerul property had been concluded and if I had the money to make a downpayment. That angered me and we walked out. I hated her attitude and made a mental note to ensure that I mention this to all my friends and acquaintances who were planning to buy a property in Chembur.
Stop 2: The real estate brokerage arm of one of the leading MNC banks of the country. This one was recommended to me by the wife. Their executive calls us to Diamond garden and promises to show us a 2BHK flat near Amar Cinema at Chembur, the cost of the flat isRs 75 lakhs. We reach at the given time, wait for 15 mins for the guy to show up, he leads the way on his bike and we follow in my car. Instead of taking a left turn to go towards Amar Cinema he takes a right and starts leading me towards Basant Cinema. I wonder if we heard wrong. He stops at a building there and says he is showing us a 3BHK flat now and will show us the 2BHK after that. We point out that we dont want a 3BHK becuse its not within my budget, he gives me the usual broker bullshit 'Sir dekh to lo, kya pata pasand aa jayega'. We see the house and like it a lot, but its quoted at Rs 1 cr so obviously beyond my budget. I once again mention my budget to the guy and tell him that I want to see house that are below this or equal to this amount. He nods his head. Next to took me to a building in the middle of nowhere and showed me a tiny pigeonhole which had rooms as big as my kitchen (seriously, I am not joking). The quoted price for the house was Rs 75 lakhs. No way on earth was I even going to consider it. The executive later called my wife and offered to show similar good properties, thankfully she politely declined.
Stop 3: My parents then went to the broker who had helped my Dad rent an office in Chembur. He showed them around 5-6 properties which either they did not like or were way beyond our budget. Finally he showed them a project which quoted an affordable rate and he claimed that he had done a deal a month ago at a rate which was Rs 200 per square ft lower than the amount quoted by the builder. Parents loved the property and told me about it. I too was kicked about it because it was a 16 storeyed tower with a swimming pool, club house and all that jazz. However I wanted to approach the builder directly and negotiate a rate. Here I made a big mistake, in my eagerness to get that Rs 200 discount, I told my Dad that we should inform the broker and tell him that we will give him a brokerage only if he manage to get us substantial discount.
A time was fixed and we headed to the builders office, the broker didn't bother calling us before the meeting. However when we were looking at the flat which we wanted to book, he called my Dad. Now I was irritated with him because he didn't bother calling us before and also because my friends recommended I deal directly with the builder, so I asked Dad to make an excuse and cut him out. Dad said he was out and would call him later. After looking at the flat we walked back to the builders office and our beloved broker was waiting for us there.
We began our negotiations with the builders representative, Mr Broker just kept quiet. My Dad finally told him to get us a good discount else he wont get his brokerage, so his highness finally 'requested' the builder "Sir, thoda kam kar dijiye please". I was irritated beyond my wits. Somehow we concluded our negotiations with Dad and My best friend (who is quite knowledgeable about property deals) being the major participants and managed to get a price which just about fitted into our budget. However the discount which we got was nowhere close to what the broker promised my dad.
Later on we found out that in fact this particular broker had not even closed the deals he was mentioning. And the price at which he quoted he closed the deal was also incorrect, the actual price was much higher. It seems he just made up the story to impress us and ensure that he gets something out of this deal.
We finalised the property and paid a token to the builder directly, Mr Broker-Who-wanted-a-small-cut was nowhere to be found and we decided to cut him out of the deal. If he comes back to fight Dad might give him a small token amount simply for the effort he put in to show them some properties.
Learnings:
1. Most brokers wont even show interest in you if your budget is small, they will throw massive attitude and behave as if they are doing you a favour by showing you some houses.
2. A lot of brokers tend to boast about the deals which they have done and their great contacts. Ideally you should make discreet enquiries within your circle, if that's not possible observe the broker closely. How soon can the broker get the keys to a flat, how soon can he get you a meeting with the owners etc will tell you a lot about how effective the broker is.
3. If a builder still has a site office in a ready possession project, do not even think of going through a broker. The builder will obviously give you a bigger discount as he does not have to pay the broker. Going through a broker makes sense only when the broker can ensure you a fixed discount over the last quote of the builder.
4. For under construction projects, ALWAYS talk to the builder directly.
5. A broker will usually try to show you flats which he wants to sell not what you want to buy. So if you want a 2BHK within a budget of 80 lakhs, he will show you a 3BHK with a budget of 1 cr first. Some brokers do this to show you how property rates are high and your budget is ridiculous, some do it in the hope that maybe you will like the property and might exceed your budget in trying to buy it.
6. The brokerage of the broker is ALWAYS negotiable.
Services you should insist your broker provide:
1. Negotiating the rate as per your budget not a compromise between what the owner wants and whats your final limit.
2. Helping you resolve any payment disputes / delays with the owners
3. Helping you with documentation (property related) for bank loans
There is a breed called as a 'good' and 'effective' broker, although its in danger of extinction. Finding one of this species will take some time and you might have to deal with lots of assholes
Stop 1: A fat lady who claims to have sold many many houses in the area asks us point blank if we have the money to buy a property. I felt quite offended by the rude question and offered an irritated response saying that why else would we come to her. To this the lady said that she merely wanted to confirm if the deal for my Nerul property had been concluded and if I had the money to make a downpayment. That angered me and we walked out. I hated her attitude and made a mental note to ensure that I mention this to all my friends and acquaintances who were planning to buy a property in Chembur.
Stop 2: The real estate brokerage arm of one of the leading MNC banks of the country. This one was recommended to me by the wife. Their executive calls us to Diamond garden and promises to show us a 2BHK flat near Amar Cinema at Chembur, the cost of the flat isRs 75 lakhs. We reach at the given time, wait for 15 mins for the guy to show up, he leads the way on his bike and we follow in my car. Instead of taking a left turn to go towards Amar Cinema he takes a right and starts leading me towards Basant Cinema. I wonder if we heard wrong. He stops at a building there and says he is showing us a 3BHK flat now and will show us the 2BHK after that. We point out that we dont want a 3BHK becuse its not within my budget, he gives me the usual broker bullshit 'Sir dekh to lo, kya pata pasand aa jayega'. We see the house and like it a lot, but its quoted at Rs 1 cr so obviously beyond my budget. I once again mention my budget to the guy and tell him that I want to see house that are below this or equal to this amount. He nods his head. Next to took me to a building in the middle of nowhere and showed me a tiny pigeonhole which had rooms as big as my kitchen (seriously, I am not joking). The quoted price for the house was Rs 75 lakhs. No way on earth was I even going to consider it. The executive later called my wife and offered to show similar good properties, thankfully she politely declined.
Stop 3: My parents then went to the broker who had helped my Dad rent an office in Chembur. He showed them around 5-6 properties which either they did not like or were way beyond our budget. Finally he showed them a project which quoted an affordable rate and he claimed that he had done a deal a month ago at a rate which was Rs 200 per square ft lower than the amount quoted by the builder. Parents loved the property and told me about it. I too was kicked about it because it was a 16 storeyed tower with a swimming pool, club house and all that jazz. However I wanted to approach the builder directly and negotiate a rate. Here I made a big mistake, in my eagerness to get that Rs 200 discount, I told my Dad that we should inform the broker and tell him that we will give him a brokerage only if he manage to get us substantial discount.
A time was fixed and we headed to the builders office, the broker didn't bother calling us before the meeting. However when we were looking at the flat which we wanted to book, he called my Dad. Now I was irritated with him because he didn't bother calling us before and also because my friends recommended I deal directly with the builder, so I asked Dad to make an excuse and cut him out. Dad said he was out and would call him later. After looking at the flat we walked back to the builders office and our beloved broker was waiting for us there.
We began our negotiations with the builders representative, Mr Broker just kept quiet. My Dad finally told him to get us a good discount else he wont get his brokerage, so his highness finally 'requested' the builder "Sir, thoda kam kar dijiye please". I was irritated beyond my wits. Somehow we concluded our negotiations with Dad and My best friend (who is quite knowledgeable about property deals) being the major participants and managed to get a price which just about fitted into our budget. However the discount which we got was nowhere close to what the broker promised my dad.
Later on we found out that in fact this particular broker had not even closed the deals he was mentioning. And the price at which he quoted he closed the deal was also incorrect, the actual price was much higher. It seems he just made up the story to impress us and ensure that he gets something out of this deal.
We finalised the property and paid a token to the builder directly, Mr Broker-Who-wanted-a-small-cut was nowhere to be found and we decided to cut him out of the deal. If he comes back to fight Dad might give him a small token amount simply for the effort he put in to show them some properties.
Learnings:
1. Most brokers wont even show interest in you if your budget is small, they will throw massive attitude and behave as if they are doing you a favour by showing you some houses.
2. A lot of brokers tend to boast about the deals which they have done and their great contacts. Ideally you should make discreet enquiries within your circle, if that's not possible observe the broker closely. How soon can the broker get the keys to a flat, how soon can he get you a meeting with the owners etc will tell you a lot about how effective the broker is.
3. If a builder still has a site office in a ready possession project, do not even think of going through a broker. The builder will obviously give you a bigger discount as he does not have to pay the broker. Going through a broker makes sense only when the broker can ensure you a fixed discount over the last quote of the builder.
4. For under construction projects, ALWAYS talk to the builder directly.
5. A broker will usually try to show you flats which he wants to sell not what you want to buy. So if you want a 2BHK within a budget of 80 lakhs, he will show you a 3BHK with a budget of 1 cr first. Some brokers do this to show you how property rates are high and your budget is ridiculous, some do it in the hope that maybe you will like the property and might exceed your budget in trying to buy it.
6. The brokerage of the broker is ALWAYS negotiable.
Services you should insist your broker provide:
1. Negotiating the rate as per your budget not a compromise between what the owner wants and whats your final limit.
2. Helping you resolve any payment disputes / delays with the owners
3. Helping you with documentation (property related) for bank loans
There is a breed called as a 'good' and 'effective' broker, although its in danger of extinction. Finding one of this species will take some time and you might have to deal with lots of assholes
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