Real Estate Bill Passed: A relief for the buyers:

The Rajya Sabha has passed the much awaited Real Estate Bill on Thursday, 10.3.16 promoting PM Narendra Modi to hail it as ‘great news for home buyers’. The bill that aims to regulate the property sector, initiates transparency and help protect the interests of the consumer. Now let us take a look inside the features of the bill:

Better organised real estate sector:

The real estate sector in India has been unorganised that leads to different discrepancies in the functioning. The bill will establish state-level authorities called Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERAs) that will regulate transactions of both residential and commercial projects. The authority will thus grade the projects assisting the customers to make better decisions.

Timely completion and handover:

One of the problems faced by the buyers in Indian real estate market is that they don’t get the possession of the property as promised by the seller. The new bill promises that 70% of the money received from the buyers has to be kept aside in a separate bank account and the money must be used for construction works in order to avoid delays. This will also ensure that the developers don’t invest the money received for a single project in any other project.

Accurate information:

As per the newly passed bill, it will become mandatory for sellers to disclose every information starting from the project layout, approval, land status, contractors, project completion status and schedule with the customers as well as the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA).
Appropriate punishment:

The bill has made the law against the failure to hand over property to the buyer stricter in order to ensure maintain smooth flow of law and order. If the seller is unable to hand over the property on time then he is liable to pay the buyer the same interest amount that he charges in case of the buyer’s failure to make payment. It has also made it clear that the property cannot be sold on the basis of super area that includes both flat area and common area. If the developer does not abide by the same then the person can get a jail term of up to three years of penalty.

Allottees association and after sales service:

The bill has made it mandatory to set up an allottees association within three months of the allotment of major units/properties. It has been passed so that the residents are able to manage common facilities like a library and a common hall. Also if the buyer discovers any structural deficiency in the property, then he/she can contact the developer for after sales services within a span of a year after receiving the possession. The bill moreover states that the promoters or developers cannot make any amendment in the plan of the property without the consent of the buyer.

The advantages of the bill can be stated in such a way that it proves to be favourable for the buyers and quite strict for the builders and sellers. So, it is quite evident that the bill has proved to be positive for the real estate buyers with strict laws against any kind of property related sufferings that they has to face earlier. Clarity, smooth execution of the dealings and right payment structure for the buyers as well as developers has been ensured with the new bill passed by the Indian government.

Real Estate and the consequence of 2016 budget on it:

The budget 2016 can be considered as positive for the real estate sector. Industry players claimed that tax sops for first home buyers and incentives on development of affordable housing projects will receive demand in the sluggish property market. Some might be dissapointed that their demand for providing industry and infrastructure status to the realty sector was not taken into considerations.

The Budget 2016-17 has put up an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 on loan interest for the first time home buyers. Moreover, the budget has waved off 100% for profit on development of affordable housing apart from the exemption of REITs from dividend distribution tax. CREDAI President Getamber Anand has commented that “it is overall a very positive budget for the real estate sector”.

The president further believed that this spur will bring a relief for the home buyers who waited for special incentives for investing or buying home. The Finance minister has taken the right steps in order to boost housing sector and ensure ‘housing for all’ programme to be a reality by the year 2020.

DLF CEO Mr. Rajeev Talwar has commented that 2016 budget has been a very positive plan for the real estate sector in India as tax incentives have been provided to the first home buyers as well as housing project developers. The CEO is even confident about the fact that this budget will bring growth in the housing demand and significant supply as well. Now let us look into what budget has offered for the citizens:

-100% deduction for profits to an undertaking from a housing project for flats up to 30 square meters in four of the metro cities. On the same time, it is 60 square meters in other cities approved during June 2016 to March 2016 and is completed within three years of approval. Only the minimal alternate tax will be applicable to these undertakings.
-Home buyers will be given a deduction for additional interest of Rs 50,000 per annum for loans up to Rs 35 lacs sanctioned during the next financial year, provided the value of the house does not exceed Rs 50 lacs.

-Any distribution made out of income of SPV to the REITs and INVITs having specified shareholding will not be subjected to Dividend Distribution Tax.

As an impact on the real estate sector the annual budget 2016 will bring various changes. Additional interest deduction of Rs. 50,000 annually would result in an increase in demand from the first time home buyers. And this range of people constitute around 40-50% of the demand. Moreover, there would be a change in the companies individually in the real estate sector. Most of the premium companies would be benefitted under this budget plan 2016. The mid-income developers will however stand to benefit from government’s push for low cost housing projects.

How Digital Marketing used by different organizations for best outcome:

By now we all are quite aware of the benefits of Digital Marketing in order to create brand value and awareness that result in boosting organizational sales online. But the vital question lies here that how to do it in order to reach out maximum number of customers online. As we are dealing with real estate organizations, it is better to explain it in the light of real estate sales boosting through the wonder brought by digital marketing. Let us check out some of the ways in which real estate online sales can be boosted effectively:


Develop Strategy and campaign from the perspective of conversion:

In digital marketing it has been notice3d that the creative digital marketers often forget or avoid the benefit of conversion strategy. Thus, there will be many such campaigns which are put on for the entertainment purpose only but not for conversion. Just with the engagement the work is not complete as the main focus is on conversion. Developing such strategy and campaigns is necessary without compromising with the creative and content marketing in order to make the customers believe you.

Assist customers through Blogs and make sure to answer them:

In case of selling high valued products like properties, providing the customers with in-depth knowledge helps in gaining customer confidence and trust giving way to informed purchase decision. Therefore, in real estate digital marketing, Blog is one of the best ways to create interest, engagement, convince and thus eventually convert the incoming traffic. In case of real estate it is best to create Blogs on frequently asked questions or on topics that draw interest for the real estate customers. As per real estate is concerned the customer journey continues for a longer period of time, hence trying to find the frequently asked questions or brainstorming or maybe surveying within the customer base can make the marketing person understand the nerves of the customers better. Thus with the developed understanding a conversation can be initiated and customers’ questions can be answered with more ease. Not only customer engagement but through quality contents in the blogs higher ranks in search engines can be achieved by the real estate organizations.

Marketing on Vertical Search Engines properly and extensively:

In modern Indian real estate digital marketing strategy vertical search engines have become an inevitable part. They present you with the privilege to appear at the top search list. With specific keywords ad copies are generated for the vertical search engines.

Improving Advertising and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) - Targeting, Budgeting and ROI:
If you fail to push your SEO and reach the top searches and generate targeted audience traffic then SEM comes as the best option available. Nowadays, it has been found that most of the real estate companies invest in SEM whether the organic search works or not.

Keywords and targeting; Developing and Writing ad copies and Testing and Monitoring are the steps through which SEM is best practiced by Indian real estate companies nowadays. It has to be kept in mind that only acquiring leads are not enough in digital marketing but nurturing the leads in order to convert into sales is what the actual lookout of the real estate organizations.

Digital Marketing the best approach to reach your customers:

Digital Marketing has been proved to be the most effective while reaching out to the customers. Whether its real estate or any other industry, Digital Marketing has been extremely successful for its low cost and excellent reach ability. In a country like India where the population is high it is extremely important to reach right target customers.

Filtering the customers as per their needs and successfully pitching the product can be done best through Digital Marketing. So let us now specifically talk about the effect of digital marketing on the real estate business while seeking targeted customers. Technology has always played a pivotal role in our life and in the last few years it has grown at a large scale in every aspect of life. Real Estate in India has found new contrivance for marketing and pushing sales and revenues, termed as real estate digital marketing.

Whether high or middle or low end, the journey of real estate customers initiates with online search. Indian customers are excessively using Internet in order to search and research before investing in value products like real estate.

Recent survey claims that in India when we have more than 200 million users online (the creamy layer of India’s marketplace that consist of high net worth individuals to middle class and low middle class) then no real estate company can ignore the role of Internet and online marketing in such a vast market place. It has been evident through a survey that now real estate companies in India are indulging into digital marketing for reducing their market spends and enhancing business and conversion rates. In a survey by Assocham it has been found that real estate firms in India spend almost Rs. 2, 500 crores every year over advertisements and marketing. Out of that 25% is spent directly on digital marketing. With such a major expenditure over Digital Marketing, it can be said that real estate organisations have now approved the efficiency and effectiveness of it through web design and development services and various other tools. The major question lies here that how to boost sales and reach ability through the use of online marketing? As an answer we list out seven ways in which real estate sales can be boosted successfully:

•    Conversation generation through Customers Blog creating
•    Company strategy development and campaigning from conversion perspective
•    Customer engagement through Email, Blog, Social Media, Forums and others
•    Extensive and proper Marketing on Vertical Search Engines
•    Advertising improvement and SEM- Targeting, Budgeting and ROI when Search Engine Optimization services does not work well
•    Real Estate Second Screen Marketing
•    Real Estate Video Marketing

Importance of Digital Marketing for Real Estate Industry:

The prime important factor of being on Digital Media is that you can measure each rupee spent as you get to know the ROI whereas it's next to impossible to track or measure in case of any other media.

Traditional media has been proved to be quite effective in the early years but with advancement in the technology and customers turning digital every real estate organisation are trying to become digital. Earlier the real estate developers faced various issues with the use of traditional media for their marketing activities. Lack of timeliness made the developers fail to respond quickly to the changes in the market. Moreover, it was quite tough for the real estate developers to reach the right target audience through traditional advertisements. It has also been noticed that much lesser information was delivered to the customers by the real estate agencies or developers in India due to the limitations of the traditional advertisements.

Digital Marketing plays pivotal role in today’s Marketing world and it is extremely important irrespective of any business or industry. Digital Marketing being a wonderful tool enables the real estate industry to both pull and push their business successfully by reaching out to the relevant target customers. It’s beyond mention that digital marketing is much more cost saving compared to newspaper advertisements and other media. 

Digital Marketing has been able to revolutionize the concept of business whether it is real estate or any other industry in the modern era. Digital Marketing has aided the customers in the real estate industry by exposing them to more choices than ever before. This has made the companies access more ways to conveniently reach out to their potential target audience. Generation as well as conversion of leads isensured through the matrix of electronic media in an interactive promotional way called Digital Marketing. The elements of digital marketing include:

o    CM- Content Marketing
o    SEO- Search Engine Optimization
o    SEM- Search Engine Marketing
o    SMM- Social Media Marketing
o    SMO- Social Media Optimization
o    LLO- Local Listing Optimization
Along with other sectors, real estate is also exploring the digital marketing platform in order to optimize their performance in terms of lead generation and conversion. To be honest,in the modern day real estate markets the initial search for properties or property dealers in India begin online. Fortunately with the growth of the digital marketing the waves of e-commerce has been everywhere splashing the home seekers with ample of options to choose from.

Previously, the traditional way of real estate dealings encompassed the real estate agents in India or the developers. The process began with the hunting for properties (rental or residing purpose) through the brokers or developers in the real estate market. But now things are quite convenient for both the developers as well as customers in the real estate market. Latest trends have shown that online presence is mandate for every real estate organization and that must be optimized through digital marketing communication mix.

The most important factor that makes digital marketing so popular in today’s real estate industry is not only its right reach but also its affordability. In real estate digital marketing is applied in order to maximize the leverage of reaching out to the target audience via various channels like:
•    E-Mail marketing
•    SEO or Search Engine Optimization
•    Social Media
•    PPC or Pay Per Click
•    Blogging
Marketing real estate online through digital marketing platform has shown a phenomenal increase in the number of leads by 300% (results from Digital Marketing Activities of Social Beat Client). Since, buyers get interested with personal buying experience in case of high monetary value products like real estate properties digital marketing makes the developers or real estate agents in Indiacreate greater impact on the customers. This is true in case of real estate selling, where all the marketing activities are directed towards generating leads, than on direct conversion.