Journalism and Real Estate with Vishal and Varun

[00:00:06] Hello and welcome back to the podcast from here at the CREDAI MCHI Grand Property Expo. Here with us today we have Vishal Bhargav and Varun Singh, real estate journalists with money control and various other publications.

[00:00:20] So welcome to the show guys, would you like to introduce yourselves for our listeners? So I am Vishal Bhargav, I am a real estate columnist with the business use platform Money Control where I track Mumbai Real Estate.

[00:00:32] With Money Control I also have my own blog, I have an active social media account on Twitter where I comment and review on individual projects which may be of home buyer interest. My name is Varun Singh, I am a journalist by profession.

[00:00:46] I have been writing on real estate and a little bit on politics for the last 17-18 years and currently I write for various newspapers and I have my own website that focuses on real estate, its name squarefeetindia.com, caters to real estate from Mumbai deals

[00:01:01] and all those things. And I have a small Twitter account, its called Singh Varun and that is how I interact with people. So you guys have been walking around the exhibits today and the expo itself. Tell us a little bit about what stood out to you.

[00:01:14] So I was here yesterday, I think the number of options are humongous, there is a very wide range of offerings. I saw something of 15-17 lakhs and I saw something of 17 crores. So I think its catering to a wide audience with wide budgets and yeah I think most

[00:01:29] of the stalls look very appealing. Hopefully the projects also are, I will be checking them out after the session is over. But from yesterday's look, I think some very interesting propositions are there for home buyers.

[00:01:41] You know I got lost when Vishal was speaking, I got engrossed in what he was saying. So you know since yesterday I have seen at least almost 10-15 projects and I found it like to be honest there is something for everyone over here.

[00:01:56] Even for me, I could like me and Vishal were sitting at a developer's stall trying to negotiate something for me. So it's like probably I may have been to exhibition by CraterMCHI. Almost for all the exhibitions they have been organizing since 2008 as a journalist to cover.

[00:02:12] But this was the first time I also felt you know something I feel I can buy. So probably someone like me who is very picky and picky and choosy if something of that sort is happening I think slowly and gradually the builders are realizing

[00:02:24] what the home buyer wants and probably they are going on that direction. So it's a good news for everyone and also I think the builders you know are slowly coming on track about transparency because when I asked a builder what would be the cafeteria

[00:02:38] they were very open about what will be the cafeteria. Earlier they would hide under the guise of built up, under the guise of super built up and extra charges and all but now this time they are open.

[00:02:48] Probably they have also realized that truth is the only key to go ahead. So both of you in your opinion what makes the CraterMCHI Grand Property Expo special? What makes it stand out from other events like this?

[00:03:02] So I think the Expo should I think it's doing a lot of things. I think the parts they are doing right is that they are throwing open a wide list of options. They are being very transparent in what they are offering both at the pricing level

[00:03:14] as well as the size level. I think I have not seen too many offerings which have covered such a large region. So it's actually not just Mumbai, it's not just Thane, Kalyan. It's a whole wide range. I saw something even of Karjat.

[00:03:29] So it's a wide spectrum, wide budgets, something for everyone. People just have to come visit, be diligent and I think they can find something over here. And if you ask me the best thing is that there is no entrance fee.

[00:03:42] Probably you know happy to see that in every other sector you would see the customer is a king but in real estate it was always the Ulta. Here the builder is a king. Once the builder took money from you, then you are a builder king.

[00:03:57] So nothing else can be done. The builder said, if the builder has called you 1000 square feet, then he has done 1100 square feet and he has done 900 square feet. You will end up paying him. You can't argue because you don't buy a house every alternate day like you buy

[00:04:10] a chocolate or buy a phone every month to six months. You buy a house once in your lifetime. Until and unless you are very rich, you will be buying a house again after like six years, seven years of investment.

[00:04:22] So what I loved about it is and again and again I will go back to the same topic. That truth and honesty that was missing for a long time from this sector. Truth and honesty which we were not able to see over here probably now.

[00:04:37] We are able to see it made by the regulator that has brought in it and maybe the builders have realized that what we were doing is happening to us. We are only getting damaged so better we be more open, better we be more transparent and that is helping.

[00:04:53] You can't hide the truth in any way. The truth is we are giving it, we are selling it. If you want to take it, then take it. There is a mark in honesty and that mark is visible to me in the builders

[00:05:06] which I like very much because as a journalist I have always written stories that have impacted them negatively. But this time to be honest, I really like the good and self-respecting mark that I am very happy that things have changed since so many years. Probably.

[00:05:22] So in your opinion is there a dream location in Mumbai that realtors and buyers of property should flock to that is underutilized or should be capitalized on more? I won't say there is a dream location. I think location has stopped mattering but projects matter more.

[00:05:42] So in the same micro market in a 100 meter street you will see one great project and you will see all the rest being ordinary and people go to that. So there are many cases I have seen where one project quotes at a 30% premium

[00:05:57] to all the other projects right next door. So I think location has stopped mattering as much. Location, location, location was the phrase many times. I think we are moving away from that to project, project, project which is good for good builders.

[00:06:08] Because wherever you go if you make a good product, you find acceptance. If you ask me dream location, then I think Mumbai, MMR, India, anyone in India will always think that sea facing, the waves of the sea, the air, I don't mind location.

[00:06:26] What matters is the affordability of that person. I, if I can afford something, I will choose that location. If I can afford a house in one crore, probably I will stay till Thane, Moulon or Kurla here in central and here in Boriwili beyond I can't come.

[00:06:42] So location question is for those who have extra money, they can give extra for the location. The person we talk about, the person who is an ordinary person, he talks about affordability. So affordability is something that I would say depends and location

[00:06:58] depends on the amount of money that the person has in his wallet while he is going to buy a house. Location for me, I stay in Kalyan. For me, even at Thane is a good location because it will save me almost 30 minutes train travel

[00:07:11] and I wouldn't have to get up so early and reach. Location for someone who stays in Bandra or Boriwili, a Bandra could be a better location. So and luckily to be honest, as Vishal rightly pointed it out, we can see projects from Pune, Karjat, Kasara, Vassai, Virar, Boriwili,

[00:07:32] every builder with and to be honest again and again, I have become a phrase in this word. This time, the builder is standing with the truth. Wherever you are, you should go there. People won't see you. The truth is, the one who is selling from the honesty,

[00:07:46] maybe people are there. So it's been great speaking to you both. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you guys.