Channel Partners: An Emerging Trend in Real Estate


In our first post “Understandingthe Reality in RealT”, we mentioned Transaction as an essential part of the 5 step value chain. We further elaborated its details in our following post – “Transacting & Using your RealT”. Today we bring to you a fast emerging trend in the Transaction phase of real estate projects – the introduction of Channel Partners.

The figure below shows exactly where Channel Partners have made their place in the value chain:

 
 



What are Channel Partners?


Essentially CPs are the agencies that take the responsibility to sell-off whole or part of the realty projects in a pre-agreed upon duration & take their commission/fees in doing so. In this process, they underwrite the properties which are to be sold by them. More on this will get clear in the following discussions.


How are Channel Partners different from Brokers?


Although doing the same work, there is a huge difference between Brokers and Channel Partners.

A Broker acts as a liaison between the Seller & Buyer and in this process he takes his commission from both the parties.

A Channel Partner on the other end underwrites the property to be sold for a particular duration by paying the owner some percentage of its cost (refundable). The CP is then free to use any means of promotion & sale including sub-broking, conducting events, etc. to sell the property. Once the property is sold in the pre-decided duration, the CP gets a handsome cut from its sale, much larger than a broker’s, and gets his underwriting amount back from the builder.



If in case a CP fails to sell the underwritten properties in the specified time duration, he is liable to pay to the builder, an amount that is pre-specified in the agreement between him and Builder.


Why do Builders prefer Channel Partners?


With the evolution of new ways & processes in Real Estate, Builders have quickly adopted the concept of Channel Partners. We were perplexed at first about the acceptance of Channel Partners in this sector but when we looked at its profitability by putting ourselves in the shoes of a Builder, we got all our answers.

Following are some of the benefits that a builder enjoys in partnering with a Channel Partner:

  • Immediate funding of Operational Costs: The builder uses the underwriting amount to fund his immediate cash requirements. This is similar to funding by booking amount, the difference being that the percentage of cash is relatively small.
  • Guaranteed sell of the property: By partnering with the CPs, the Builder ensures that his property will be sold. He no longer has to worry about the marketing and promotional activities. Even if the CP is unable to sell the property in the specified time, the Builder easily gets the interest amount by penalizing the CP.
  • Better than Broking: Using CPs is better than relying on the brokers. This is because of the fact that brokers have no liability to sell the property, whereas CPs have!
  • Free Promotion: Suppose that a CP has underwritten 50 units out of total 100 units constructed by the Builder. Now, to sell those 50 units, the CP will carry on promotional activities by conducting events, advertising etc. But in this whole process, the Builder is getting benefit of free publicity of remaining 50 units as they fall under the name of same project.



These and several other benefits have made Channel Partners a hot topic in emerging markets. Also, it is noteworthy that this trend is picking up pace quickly in Tier 2 cities. RealT Horizon is glad that our vision of development in the Tier 2/3 cities is getting much air!


---------- Thanks for reading RealT Horizon J ----------

G+2: An Emerging Real Estate Model


As we said in our earlier post that we went to the fields in Jaipur to explore this sector further, today we share with our readers a prevalent model in this space. During our visit to actual sites and meeting with various people closely associated with RealT, we came across a model that is highly prevalent in Tier 2 cities at present. Let’s share some insights on this topic.


What exactly is G+2?


Due to recent developments, Tier 2 cities have stringent land by-laws. These laws restrict unplanned and uneven growth of these cities which are on their way to become mega cities. One such by-law restricts the vertical growth of town to a certain limit, based on the size of plot and width of the road on which the plot is located.

A typical G+2 construction


Paying full respect the laws, Builders & Developers have devised an alternative to make optimum use of the available plot and have come up with the concept of Ground+2 floors. Now depending on the designs prepared by the Architect, Builder can erect 4-6 flats on that small piece of land. Generally these plans are designed in a way that there is ample space for parking of 4-6 vehicles alongside the building. If the dimensions of plot doesn’t allow ample parking space, Builder can even go for Stealth floor for parking. Even in this case, the next 3 floors will be counted as G+2.

G+2 with stealth floor



Benefits of G+2

  • Ideal for mini-builders
  • Cost of construction minimizes due to economies of scale (multiple constructions on the same piece of land)
  • Pretty good profit margin
  • Easy to sell
  • Time-to-complete the project is small




Why is it lucrative for mini-builders?


Small Investors and new entrants prefer this model of RealT so much so that you would see hundreds of such projects going on in Jaipur all around. The reason being:

Low cost of Entry
These projects can be initiated with relatively small amount of money as compared to traditional huge projects.
Minimized Risk
Even if all the flats are not booked, the builder is safe as he is sitting on a valuable asset.
Funding Operational Costs
The operational costs of next floor can be funded by the bookings of previous floor.
Controlled Expansion
The builder is free to pull back from going deep into the project at any time.


Closing Remarks: Want to foray into Real Estate? – Go for the above model, but don’t forget to do a proper market analysis for demand side!


---- Thanks for reading. Your comments will help us improve our analysis. J ----


Turbulence Revisited?


Some of our readers must be wondering why we stopped writing further! What happened after our post – ‘Risks in RealT Sector’ that we discontinued our regular practice of giving opinion on RealT matters?

To be honest to our readers, we moved out from the Web-World to the RealT-World to gain some hands-on, first -hand experience. And we are not-so-happy with what we experienced in last 1.5 months L

The RealT market doesn’t provide very rosy picture in the Real World. We stuck to our ideology and started with a fast emerging tier-2 city, Jaipur (Rajasthan, India). We surveyed, researched & roamed around the barren lands of the city in a heat of 46-degree Celsius [:O] But the results of our survey & research were even more horrifying than this heat! Here we go with the overview of our findings:

  • Sudden awareness of the anticipated-growth in Jaipur RealT Market in Investors & Developers
  • Tremendous increase of Supply in the form of land, flats & colonies – resulting in the mismatch between Demand-Supply curves
  • Abrupt & obnoxious increase in the property prices
  • Liquidity crunch – both among the suppliers & buyers: resulting in the infinite deadlocked loop
  • Stringent policies by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA)
  • Illogical and unexplained formation of local colony association, restricting new constructions in the existing colonies
  • Movement out of Jaipur in a radius of 30-40 kms in hope of future investment returns


With all the above points and many more to add to them, the RealT Sector in Jaipur seems to be going through a very turbulent phase currently. This state of the market reminded us of the sub-prime crisis of 2008 and we couldn’t help but get goose bumps. This picture somehow gave us an indication of formation of a property bubble in Jaipur.

This may just be the formation of a bubble, but the scenario has turned to be pretty horrendous right from its beginning. Going by our principal of calculated risk taking and doing a sustainable business, we returned to our RealT Web World, waiting for things to take proper shape. Will you?

Disclosure: No stands in Jaipur Realty Market.

---- Welcome back to RealT Horizon ;-) ----


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