Serviced Apartments – An emerging arena in Real Estate

Not all but some of our readers will agree with this post. We recently got a chance to study the functioning and business model of Serviced Apartments in Hyderabad (India) and felt the need to share the same with our readers. Let’s see how effectively we can communicate our views on this topic.

Serviced Apartments – What are they?

For those who are not aware of the term Serviced Apartments; they are no different from normal residential apartments, but with an exception that they provide complete services to the tenants.

Serviced Apartments are fully furnished houses including all the white goods that are provided to the tenants for use. The tenants residing in these apartments can make use of all the “free services” provided by the owners – house-keeping, food, electricity, laundry etc.

In short, a Serviced Apartment can be thought of as a variant of a PG (Paying Guest) accommodation, with some exceptions.

Business Model

This is one of the most exciting and profitable business models that can exist as recurring income source in real estate. Here instead of charging for apartment as a whole, tenants are charged on per bed basis. This will become more clear from the following example:

Shown below is a residential apartment in Hyderabad having 25 apartments of 3 bedrooms each –

Now consider these 2 scenarios –

Scenario 1: Rent as an apartment

Earnings

Rent per apartment/month	No. of apartments	Total/month
Rs. 25000	25	Rs. 625000

Costs

	Cost per apartment/month	No. of apartments	Total/month
Misc	Rs. 2000	25	Rs. 50000

Net Profits

Profit

Rs. 575000

Scenario 2: Rent as Serviced Apartment

Earnings

Rent per bed/month	Total beds per apartment	No. of apartments	Total/month
Rs. 10000	6	25	Rs. 1500000

Costs

	Cost per apartment/month	No. of apartments	Total/month
Housekeeping	Rs. 2000
Electricity	Rs. 2500
Wifi	Rs. 1500
Food	Rs. 6000
Misc	Rs. 3000
Total	Rs. 15000	25	Rs. 375000

Net Profits

Profit

Rs. 1125000

So after looking at the figures of both the scenarios, we have very less to explain anything. You can cultivate money in the second scenario and at least we are considering jumping in this arena as soon as possible!

Disclaimer: The figures quoted above are exact figures of a Serviced Apartment in Hyderabad, but we are not sure whether this will hold true in other cities as well.

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

Can Value in Real Estate be created, artificially?

In our last post – “Valuation of Real Estate: How can you value your RealT?” we touched upon the parameters one should look for while valuing a Real Estate property. Today let’s discuss if it’s possible to create the value artificially?

Creating Value – What it means?

Creating value in its generic terms means – artificially manipulating the price of an asset.

Take for example:

•  “Black Tickets”: You went to watch your favorite movie, say Iron Man, in the nearby theatre. Due to unavailability of seats, you are denied the tickets. But then an agent comes to you, offering tickets for the movie at a premium of 25%: He has created the value artificially.
• “Polished Antique”: You found an antique while roaming in the fields. It resembles nothing, but a broken stone. You go to market to sell it & you will not even receive peanuts in its exchange. But the moment you have polished it and packaged it nicely, you will get jaw-dropping quotes for the same piece. Here you have created the value artificially.

So to put in very nominal terms, creating value is nothing but adding & utilizing factors that affect the ultimate value of the asset.

Artificial Value in Real Estate

In our last post we mentioned the parameters that affect the value of Real Estate:

Now if one wants to create value artificially, he will definitely have to manipulate the above factors for the same. Let’s see how:

  

Parameter	How to Manipulate?
Utility	Play with the buyer’s psychology. If the buyer is interested in making money out of this property, show him the channels. Project your property as a great prospect deal for a Hotel or Hostel. If he is just looking for a comfortable stay, show him the prospects of luxurious property. Once you have convinced the buyer on this, you have created the value!
Demand & Supply	These are the parameters which builders manipulate the most. Demand is manipulated by quoting unreasonably high pieces. By doing so, builder creates an impression of high prices in the region. Moreover builders posts high bids for their properties on the internet, impersonating themselves as buyers to create artificial demand. Supply is manipulated by incorrectly projecting the number of units remaining in a project.
Transaction	Manipulation in this aspect depends on the network you have. If you have a well-established network of brokers and agents, you can ease out the transaction and hence create value in the deal.
Psyche	This is as simple as “polishing the antique”. You polish, renovate and beautify your property and charge as much as 25% more on an investment of 10%!!

Closing Remarks: Listed above are some of the ways in which a person can create the value in Real Estate, artificially. But it’s better not to underestimate the cognizance of buyer! ;-)

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

Valuation of Real Estate: How can you value your Real Estate Asset?

While laying down on the couch on this lazy Sunday evening, a thought stuck to us: Is there any defined way to value our Realties? Of course there are few in the form of Govt. DLC rates & CMP (current market prices) that gives some indication of the possible value of our real estate properties, but still we miss out many important aspects if we go by these rates. Let’s go back to the basics and first try to slice the term ‘value in real estate’ to finer levels.

What is ‘Value in Real Estate’?

To state in layman terms, value in real estate is created if any of the following dimensions gains weight.

Let’s have a look at these aspects in finer details.

Utility 

Any asset/object is worthless if it doesn’t create utility for the owner. If real estate property, howsoever costly it may be, is unable to create its worth and use for the owner, then its utility decreases. We hope the following figure can help in explaining this further:

In above case, the utility of cookies decreased with the increase in number of cookies. Same is the case with real estate utility. If the property can’t be utilized to its full value, its utility decreases.

Supply 

Just compare the price of a commodity (like salt) which is abundantly available to a commodity (like petroleum) which is scarce! Same holds true for Real Estate in the way that properties in an area where there are several options is cheap as compared to the one where no properties are available.

Demand 

Similar to the above concept of Supply. If a property is in high demand, it is valued more & vice-versa.

Transaction 

Suppose you have bought the bicycle - Litespeed Blade (£25,317)

Just imagine how difficult will it be for you to resell it or make its transactions! Same goes with Real Estate; you invest in some property like this and get stuck to it for your lifetime: literally no value.

Psyche 

The social pride and psychological pleasure is something that no one can monetize. It will be different for each and every individual. Suppose for example, someone will definitely derive immeasurable value by just having the pride of owning the above bicycle.

Let’s demonstrate the entire above concepts using a common example. Suppose you have a family of 2-3 members & have bought the home shown below: (Just an imagination; don’t get carried away! ;-))

Just check its value on different aspects:

Aspect	Reason	Value
Utility	Such a big house for just 3 members!! Under-utilization of resources.	▼
Supply	Definitely, houses of this sort are not available down the street. It is tough to find such houses. They are scarce.	▲
Demand	Demand for such properties depends on buyers, which is generally very less. You will rarely find a buyer looking for such properties.	▼
Transaction	Tough to transact, definitely!	▼
Psyche	Un-measurable; if you can take care of the income tax folks!! ;-)	▲▲▲▲

Closing Thoughts: These are some of the basics that we thought are vital for any Real Estate Valuation. There are few more technical methods which we will try and cover in our forthcoming posts.

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