Making a Difference - Real Estate Agents and Consultants in Trivandrum

What makes us one of the top real estate agents and brokers in Trivandrum?

Strive for perfection to be the No.1 real estate advisory in Trivandrum

A leadership par excellence, some of the best talent in the real estate industry from Kerala and India, an information hungry company and a constant endeavor to be sensitive to our customer needs, is what keeps Nandanam among the top real estate agents or consultants in Trivandrum. Our CEO started with a mission to "Make real estate buying or selling a hassle free experience for our customers." 

In developed countries, a real estate agent is a person with a state/provincial license to represent a buyer or a seller in a real estate transaction. Also most agents work for a real estate broker or a realtor. In the India, the concept is a little different with agents, brokers, realtors all meaning more or less the same and the sector is highly unregulated.  Which makes it difficult for customers to identify and work with an agent who has complete knowledge of real estate market and the communities. 

An agent must be someone who is not only familiar with local zoning and tax laws, but also with various aspects of financing. When hordes of customers from across the world see our website and blog and call us daily, we give them advice, inspiration and our agents listen to them with keen intent. For us, some needs are stated and some are unstated and that is really what makes a difference to a customer when his or her wishes are fulfilled at the end of the day. 

Our Differentiators

1) Leader par excellence - Our leadership lead by a veteran leader in Mr. Ramachandran, with widespread exposure to multiple sectors like Television, Media, Construction and Manufacturing, ensures that we follow a completely professional and  transparent approach when it comes to real estate buying and selling. Mr. Ramachandran has not only got amazing exposure to marketing and finance, but also represented Asianet in multiple divisions like Cable, Satellite, Channel, Broadband etc. which makes him a consummate expert in his field.

2) The Best Talent in the Industry  - We recruit and hire only the best talent in the Industry, from Kerala and Abroad to drive our business. Our agents are experienced, proficient in English and Malayalam and excel in their interpersonal and communication skills which complements their inherent expertise of the Trivandrum real estate market.

Our marketing team consists of some of the best marketing minds with Masters degrees from University of Virginia Tech, US (to drive our technology and marketing) and Business Degrees from S.P.Jain Institute of Management and Research and other top institutes in India. This enables us to give a 360 degree marketing coverage to our customers via print, online (social and web marketing) and traditional marketing channels like TV and radio. 

3) Connecting you with the right and potential buyers and sellers in Trivandrum -  Many a times a gullible customer due to paucity of time or other needs, ends up closing a real estate deal at a much lower price than ideal. This is primarily due to lack of holistic market understanding.  Our database of the most potential buyers and sellers in Trivandrum for any given market segment and price range (obtained from our comprehensive real estate surveys) means that our customer is the real winner at the end of the day

4) Real Time market information on Trivandrum at our agents disposal - We pride ourselves on equipping our agents and brokers with the most up to date information on the Trivandrum real estate market. We not only do macro studies but also micro analysis of the market with deep dives on apartment projects, villa's and property transactions over a historical period. We use statistical tools to deepen our understanding of a micro market and its characteristics in Trivandrum, so that our agents can make best use of available information and their empirical judgement. 

Some of our survey results are published on our blog for everyone to read.  We believe information with our agents gives us the cutting edge in helping our customers buy the best properties at the right price.

5) Exclusivity and Focus on Trivandrum -  Our exclusivity and focus on the Trivandrum real estate market helps us keep abreast with the property trends and fluctuations. Our real estate heat maps, tell our agents how many transactions are happening in various parts of Trivandrum which ensures we inform our customers on the most ideal locations to buy property and for sellers on the best time to sell a property.

6) A consultative approach to real estate buying and selling - We adopt a consultative approach to real estate buying and selling, which inherently means that we spend additional time with our real estate customers understanding their needs and keeping the focus clearly on meeting their aspirations and not on closing real estate deals. Our shortlist of the best properties in the Trivandrum market, more often than not, meets our customers dreams, however our agents are prepared to go the extra mile to identify the property in Trivandrum which truly makes a difference to our customer.

Yeh Dil Maange More (Hindi)...

Last but not the least, what keeps our real estate agents motivated and craving for more are the smiles of our happy customers. More than 80% of our business comes from referrals, through those customers who recommend us to their friends and families. We consider this as a mark of trust and conviction they place on us , to fulfill their needs and aspirations to buy their dream home in Trivandrum or Kerala.

Many houses lying vacant in Kerala! Who is to blame - real estate agents, builders or the government?

A recent report in the Hindu mentioned that there are a large number of unoccupied houses and flats in Kerala. Going by the report the statistics are staggering for a small state like Kerala with a limited population but a high density of population.

So why are the prices so high and why are so many houses lying idle, when the masses or the middle class can barely afford a budget apartment of their own?  One would wonder that with such low occupancy rates, the rentals or real estate prices should ideally be much lower. The empty houses are a result of speculative investments made in the last decade in Kerala plus a role played by the land grabbers or mafia as it is called. In a recent ruling,  the Kerala high court has ordered that loan defaulters should be given freedom to sell mortgaged land themselves at market prices and settle liabilities. This hopefully will avoid the mafia from lying hands on the mortgaged land at below market prices.

The builders point to the high land prices being the most critical cause behind the high costs of apartments. The implication being that budget apartments under 30 Lacs are no longer a realty in good locations in the state. Most of the real estate experts say that land prices in Kerala are predominantly controlled by the land mafia. This has lead to a steep rise in prices even in villages which has made agriculture unviable.

The total area under Paddy cultivation in Kerala has come down from 9 lac hectares in the past to just 2 Lac hectares today. That's a serious loss to the environment as paddy plays a significant role in replenishing ground water levels.

Kerala is the only state that has witnessed area under paddy farming falling continuously. Interestingly, this is happening at a time when paddy prices overall across the country is increasing. The economics and statistics department, government of Kerala, reveals that the area under paddy cultivation declined more than 74% in 32 years. Rice remains the staple food of Kerala and the annual consumption is estimated at 40 lakh tonne with more than 85% of the requirement coming from the neighboring states. Although cost of production is the main reason why many are giving up paddy cultivation, farmers are giving up paddy fields for non agricultural uses too.

Recommendation:

Budget Housing must be a priority - For the majority of the state populace, an affordable home remains a dream. The government should take proactive steps and bring in zoning norms like in other countries, which makes affordable housing a reality. Typically a house under 25 lakhs would be very affordable for a bulk of the population. Care must be taken while land allocations are done so that a certain percentage of government or cultivable land, converted into real estate or private land, is given to the budget housing sector.

Bring in Food Security and Self Sustainability - A huge overdependence on other states and reduction in agricultural land, does not augur well for the state in long run with regards to the environment and food stability. Kerala has had a dream run with funds from NRIs continuing to pour in to the state in the last two decades. However no one knows what is in store 30 years from now. To become sustainable and self sufficient in the long run, agriculture and food security are a must with industrial growth in the state. Hence farmers must be educated and given additional incentives so that their farm lands are not taken away and sold at exorbitant prices by land mafias, but instead are converted into thriving agricultural lands with high yields. Yields for agriculture in India are 3X to 4X lower compared to developed countries and their is huge scope for improvement with latest methods of farming. The real killer for Kerala would be if the masses have to shell out beyond their means to spend on food and housing, the two basic requirements of mankind.

Improve the Infrastructure and building rules - Current building rules in the state prohibit taller buildings unless access road and space requirements are met. In zones where a large section of the population stays, these rules must be revisited by the town planning committee. Vested interests of a few should not be kept in mind while making such rules. There is also a need to improve the road connectivity to villages and towns so that operating in a hub and spoke model, people can reside in towns and still work in the cities. This would bring down the burden on city land in Trivandrum, Trissur, Kochi and Kozhikode to a large extent.

Regulations on real estate agents and educating them - Real estate brokerage or agencies continue to be a lucrative field for people from all sections of society in the state. A real estate brokerage should ideally help in a transparent transaction while earning the confidence and trust of the buyer and a seller. Real estate brokerages in other countries is a very regulated and professional field. However same is the not the case with India. A person educated or uneducated could easily step in to this field overnight in the lure of money. The danger lurks when they try to make a quick buck as a middle man and trap the buyer into over paying for the property or the seller into under selling on the price.

If the negative trend of playing middlemen without ensuring transparency, goes unabated, it leads to land scams. The price of a property transaction has serious influence on near by properties. This harms customers and leads to a bubble in the overall market. The government should come out with better regulations and measures to educate brokerages so that the overall interests of the state and its people are kept in mind. It should also have standard reports which publish the ongoing rates of real estate transactions in a given area every quarter so that normal customers are not taken for a ride.

As is evident from this article, a slew of measures are required to contain the weed of exorbinant and unrealistic prices of land and housing in Kerala. A time will come soon, where there might be excess inventory and few takers for it. A much better thing would be for the state and its machinery to take control with proactive measures to ensure the common man has a house and a dream fulfilled!