In god we trust; others must bring data in a secure way
"In god we trust; others must bring data" W. Edwards Deming
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Indian Real estate market is about to touch One Trillion USD by 2029 [1]. This market is powered by some excellent federal laws including Real Estate Regulation & Development Act (RERA) introduced in 2016 [2], Rent Control Act 1948 [4] supplemented with Model Tenancy Act 2021 [5]. However, the Indian Real estate market is still crippled with legacy systems, lack of governance, incorrect interpretation of laws and archaic practices that are hard to do away. Fraudsters are having a field day and genuine people often misuse these laws unknowlingly for their benefit due to lack of knowledge in the industry.
There are two key segments that can be broken down from the perspective of interaction
- Construction and Purchase of Real Estate Property (Builders vs buyers)
- Property Rentals and Lease (landlords vs tenants)
An important area where this is affecting the real estate industry is the residential and commercial rental property business. Both the landlord and tenants are facing significant challenges while renting the property. There is a huge deficit of Trust, Privacy and Transparency prevalent in the property rental market. The side effects are many and causing business loss and mental trauma to both sides of the aisle.
Cyberfraud Scams
Unless an identity is verified online and in real, there is no real way to state that the person is the same. Most recently prevalent scam is Identity Theft where fraudsters take on an identity of an affluent propsective tenant/landlord and causing monetory loss who are gullible to these scams online. Landlords/Tenants end up following instructions from these scamsters and make digital payments to the scamsters. Especially, the older generation who are not aware of the digital systems fall prey to them more often.
Lack of Trust
Neither the tenant is aware that the landlord is the true owner of the property and the property is not mortgaged in any way that can cause hindrance to tenants post signing the lease nor the landlord is aware the prospective tenant is genuine. From the landlord perspective, is the prospective tenant the ideal tenant and is genuinely the person who he/she claims to be?. Can they afford to pay the rent and on time, while maintaining the property in a good condition?. Landlord/Tenant recommendations, income proofs, ownership, affordability are some of the trust factors. For each of these scenarios, we need to establish some trust without infringing on the privacy of the individual. Trust comes from capturing data in the system that is inherently privacy-by-design and having contracts that clearly spell out the dos/donts and execute them objectively.
Lack of Transparency
What is the current state of the rental market in a specific area, how do you carry out genuine research on what rent to offer in the market? How do you become aware of the legalities within the jurisdiction and follow the legal framework to the T? A smart binding contract that ensures all these are met?
Lack of Privacy
During the interaction of renting out, data will be exchanged between property owners and tenants. Tenant needs to know that the property owner that he/she is dealing with is the real owner of the property to begin with. (Do you know what I mean? Fraudsters have a way there). Property is not under any kind of encumbrance and legally fully owned by the property owner to give out for rent. On the other hand what is important for landlords? Tenant need to be fully vetted before signing any kind of agreement or lease. Some guidelines are here [6]
Cross-Sell vs Advertising
It is far better to advertise than to cross-sell. Why is that? Advertising is a form of permission-seeking, non-intrusive way to inform your userbase of the options they will have while they browse your platform. This then becomes affliate marketing, more lucrative than Cross-Sell. It is highly relevant, personalized and catering to their direct needs. We can achieve this with omni-channel targeting across multiple devices.
How can we help you power your platform
Simtel AI can setup a trust and identity framework in a decentralized manner for running Real Estate businesses
- We bring superior customer experience for both landlords and tenants, in turn they will love your platform and you will see significant uptick in your userbase
- Customer base will become repeat customers for the quality you offer
- Remember that you will be eliminating the fear of renting out your property, this is the bulk of your customers painpoint
- We can power your platform with advertising that is state-of-the-art, novel and connected to key publishers
References
[1] Mordor Intelligence Research & Advisory. (2023, June).
Real Estate Market in India Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2024 - 2029).
Mordor Intelligence. Retrieved January 5, 2024 Source
[2] Real Estate Regulation and Development Act RERA
[3] A Comprehensive guide to Tenant Verification Process in India source
[4] Rent Control Act 1948 source
[5] The Model Tenancy Act, 2021: Resolution of Tenancy Disputes source
[6] A Comprehensive Guide on Tenant Verification Process in India source