India Focus: Realty gets the professional touch

Gone are the days of the friendly neighbourhood gossip which would let you know you if there was a place available for rent or sale. The concerned person would also help you negotiate a price for that piece of land behind the house you've been trying to sell and maybe lend you a tip or two on how to register it in your non-existent son's name.

Today, the entire thing has been taken over by the realtor or the real estate agent as the person is known in these parts.

Realty is professional business these days. There are few shady deals and fewer shady customers. It is the middle and salaried class that is doing all the buying and selling and renting today and there is very little that this class would either want to or can hide from the authorities.

And given the paucity of time in today's world, they'd rather leave it all to an honest broker who'll take all the 'headaches' off them, never mind if they have to pay a small percentage for the luxury.

Realtors themselves have progressed from small, under-the-staircase, hole-in-the-wall affairs to plush offices, websites and luxury cars to take their clients around. And, in an effort to streamline their work, they not only update themselves on everything that is happening around them, but also take courses in real estate management!

According to Farook Mahmood, director of Silverline Realty, a professional realtor today is a supermarket of property information. Of course, they know their property prices, but that is not all. Today's realtor will give you a peep into market trends, prevailing rates, as well as the negative and positive points of any project in the market.

Crucial issues like clear marketable titles and a lot of the paperwork are usually handled professionally. The person will take care of all your documentation, help you with the registration and other formalities, as well as help with the payment of your municipal taxes and get the all-important 'khata' transferred to your name.

These services are most useful when you are an NRI and need to have these things done. There are realtors who will also help you assess and file your tax returns!

The property law can be rather complex and realising this, most realtors have access to some of the best legal brains. Again, catering mostly to the NRIs, realtors help you ensure that the property you plan to buy has clear titles and no legal impediments. This not only means a hassle-free transaction, but also ensures that in the future, you have no legal problems.

Finance is another area that the realtor is well-versed with today. With so many finance companies vying with each other to offer the cheapest rates, the realtor helps you through the various schemes, explaining to you the pros and cons and long-term implications of each.

According to S. Ranganathan, a real estate consultant, the role of the realtor has been gaining importance over the last few years, ever since the real-estate meltdown.

"Professionals with very little time on their hands do not mind paying some one else to do their leg work for them," he points out, adding that though the realtor is a catalyst between the parties concerned, the person has grown way beyond that.

Apart from negotiating deals with builders, developers, promoters and landlords, the person has a large database of details of various projects and helps structure a fair and reasonable transaction between parties.

Paid a sales commission, usually by both the buyer and the seller, realtors, especially in cities like Bangalore have come of age. They have realised the potential for professionalism and have risen to the opportunity.

Probably, this is a sign of the times - that real estate is finally moving into professional hands.