Everything Real Estate Agents Need to Know About RERA

Prior to 2016, there were many complaints from customers that real estate deals frauds or their money has been scammed. Due to increasing complaints and irregular real estate market, RERA was passed in the Indian Parliament. For each state and union territories, the Real Estate Act makes it mandatory to establish its own regulator and to establish the rules that will guide the working of the regulator.

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) aims to preserve the interests of home owners and thus raise demand in the real estate industry. The purpose of this act and the model code of the government is to establish a more equal and fair relationship between the seller and the buyer of land, especially in the primary market. It is hoped that this act would ease the purchasing of real estate by increasing accountability and efficiency.

Most of the real estate deals have brokers or agents. Even though it has been quite a while now but a lot of brokers do not have a clarity on the Act and are confused. To make you understand SBP Group has penned down points property agent must know about RERA registration.

• In order to conduct a real estate transaction, real estate brokers or agents need to register, be verified and licensed. Once brokers are regulated under the RERA regulations, the confidence of investors and home buyers is likely to improve and this could lead to an increase in sales and revenue for both brokers and developers. It will also help in making the realty market more attractive to customers.
• You have to follow rules lead down in RERA of the state you reside in. The regulatory body in each state has a number of rules in force, to be observed by the brokers/real estate agents. The law states that no real estate agent if he/she is not registered with the State Real Estate Regulatory Authority, may facilitate the sale or purchase of any property, or even act as a mediator.

Way to Register with RERA For Real Estate Agent:  Every real estate agent is required to file an application for registration to the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority, along with the fee and paperwork specified.

RERA’S Licencing Fees for Real Estate Brokers in Punjab:

If the broker is from state Punjab, he shall pay a processing fee of Rs.5,000/- in the case of the applicant being an individual or Rs.25,000/- in the case of the applicant being someone other than an individual, at the time of the application for processing through online mode at the time of online registration.

After your application is scrutinised by the regulator, it will issue a single state or union territory registration, as per your case. At this point, the authority can also dismiss your application, with ample justification to be given to you in writing. However, your explanations will still be considered before such a denial.  In case of approval of the application, the identification number and the certificate must be provided by the authority within 30 days of the date of registration.

Registration Number Validity: Real estate agents will receive a certificate number that will be valid for five years.

Renewal of Registration in Punjab: To renew the RERA Punjab certificate for agents after 5 years. In the case of an individual, the application fee for renewal is Rs 3,000 and, in the case of another user, Rs 12,000. The renewal granted by RERA is effective for a term of 5 years. The renewal must be carried out at least 60 days before the registration expires.

Documents required for Registration of Real Estate Agents:

• Passport size photograph of agents/ directors /partners
• Copy of Aadhar card of agents /directors/partners
• PAN card of real estate agent in case of individual or PAN card of Firm
• Authenticated copy of the address proof with respect to the place of business
• Income tax returns for last 3 years.

Besides that, you also need to provide the following details:

• Any details of civil and criminal cases pending against you or your company.
• Copies of letterheads, rubber stamp, receipts that you plan to use.

Jurisdiction: For the whole state in which you are registered, this registration number would be valid. In compliance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the real estate agent shall retain and store his books of accounts, records and papers.

Penalties: To ensure that all parties are happy, the RERA has strict rules in place. In the event of a breach, such as securing registration with misrepresentation of the evidence, theft, etc., the authority may suspend the registration of the broker for a period of time which it considers necessary. An unregistered broker working with an approved project will be paid a liability of Rs 10,000 a day over the time of default and a cap of up to 5 percent of the value of the contract or project value. The broker may, however, be permitted a chance to be heard.

After the complication of registration process, you must adhere to the following guidelines as well:

• The sale of a property which is not within a zoning area and not licenced with the authority must not be assisted by brokers.
• Real estate brokers must retain documents, paperwork and accounts.
• Any dishonest activity, which involves making false representations about standard, rating, enrolment, approval status, advertising and any deceptive information or service that cannot be provided according to the regulations, is punishable by law. The registration number should be used for all advertising, promotions, sale or buying records.

This act has been made considering the benefit of everyone. Property buyers and investors put their hard-earned money into houses, trusting the dealers and developers. Unfortunately, certain brokers, just for their own financial benefit, sell assets where the title is ambiguous or the land is disputed.

With the implementation of RERA, all this will soon come to an end & buyers could trust brokers & developers in providing them value for money.

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Do’s and Don’ts for New Real Estate Agents

The real estate sector is huge, it not only provides you your dream home & good commercial space for your business but it also provides great employment opportunities to the one interested. If you are passionate about sales & consulting, you can start your career as a real estate agent.

Every person who wants to buy a home always connects with a real estate agent to get the desired property. Real estate agents are registered practitioners arranging real estate deals, getting together buyers and sellers, and serving as their representatives during agreements. Real estate agents are typically directly paid with a commission: a portion of the selling price of the property, but their compensation relies on their potential to close a sale.

If you are considering being a real estate agent there are various things that you should know so that you can effectively manage your business and get an advantage on the market’s current players. Considering the current scenario of Covid-19 all the agents are working from home, it is quite a challenge & real estate agent need to do their best to remain profitable and make their jobs as relaxed and effective as possible.

Considering all these we have made a list for you to keep in mind when working as a real estate agent:

Build a network: The first & foremost important thing for an agent is to make a network. It is necessary for you to find professionals (Agents) and interact with them because you are a rookie in the field. Connect in your city with brokers that trade in various areas who are also open to sharing leads or prospective buyers. You can also share descriptions of the property with them. You will be able to expand your services by networking to various parts of the region.

Your relationships with these partners will help you keep buyers, especially if they are shopping for properties in the area you serve. You may also start operating as a channel partner with established real estate companies to make use of their network initially and then build your niche. You should connect with reputed developers, as they already have goodwill & trust of people in them, while will make it beneficial for you to sell their property.

Be techno expert: Because you’re only beginning your career as a real estate agent, you’ll become more conscious of the industry’s technical change. This will help you get a benefit on the market’s established participants. You can create a mini-video or a walk-through of all the properties listed with you. Besides that, you should also create your social media accounts where you can share images and videos of the assets that are available with you. That way, you can make your brand open to property seekers round the clock.

As everyone is working remotely, this can be advantageous for you. You should also add contact information to your social handles to encourage individuals to drop their contact details and property specifications, which can then be segmented and exchanged with your broker network.

You should also use different applications & websites which will help you connect with different buyers. Considering the digitization of the nation, people usually prefer online platforms to connect with agents & it is a benefit for new agents.

Expand your Knowledge: As you are new in this field it is very essential for you to enhance your knowledge; you should participate in different webinars & expand your social networking. In the present situation, social media provides a variety of possibilities for real estate agents, such as diversifying the network, improving web traffic, and increasing exposure, so developing this ability will prove beneficial for you.

Effective Marketing: It is useless to have a huge amount of properties for customers, unless you sell them at the right time to the right individuals. You have to efficiently reach out to customers, to prove that you are the best in the industry and what they should expect if they work with you. Customer relations is the key to every business & if you maintain good relations with them using your marketing ability, it will benefit you in the long run.

Make a customer base: One of the don’t is that you should never turn down any customer, even if you don’t have the property as per their description. For your business, this may be detrimental. Instead, partner with small and major developers in the field to cooperate. You may also connect to a broker network, where different choices are mentioned by other agents.

In addition to this, you can also use real estate databases to search listed assets that can satisfy your customer’s needs. It will also give you a reasonable view of what is happening on the market and the pricing scale, this will assist you to consider multiple areas, a feature that all real estate agents must provide.

Word of mouth plays a huge role in success. If your customers are satisfied with your service, they will for sure recommend you to their known & it will help you in making your name into a brand in the market.

Investment: Every business requires some investment, even though you are working as an agent you should invest in your marketing. If you have money, you can invest in the acquisition of leads and the databases of prospective buyers searching for property in that particular area. It’s safer to invest in a high-quality, segmented list of serious prospects who are aggressively hunting for houses, rather than low-cost ones that may be completely questionable.

For any work, you must have the potential and vision to work your best for it. Dream about expanding services that will assist you in company growth. You have to proceed from day one for this. Understand the consumer’s expectations, and know how you can meet these requirements. Form a professional relationship with your clients as well as developers.

For more information, we at SBP Group are always available for you.

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How To Become a Successful Real Estate Agent In Punjab

India’s real estate market is one of today’s most lucrative sectors for starting a business. The sector is currently in better care and a place of greater accountability and compliance of reforms such as RERA. That’s why many people are now trying to be part of this sector by becoming a real estate agent.

There are a lot of legitimate arguments for being an agent for real estate. You will make your own hours, earn decent money, and help people find a home of their dreams. India’s real estate market, particularly for real estate agents, is flexible but competitive. Thus, we have prepared some points which will help you in becoming a successful real estate agent in Punjab.

Make A Business Plan:

Develop an in-depth strategic plan. Bring all the know-how into the development of this plan to ensuring that the problems you have established are adequately tackled and that potential for progress has been defined. In this plan, the strategic direction, expenditure, funds, customer engagements, and team recruiting strategies should all be listed.

This business plan will give you direction & there is always room for improvement. This will be your guide of what to do & how you can achieve your end goal.

Maintain Good Customer Relations:

It is very essential to maintain a good relationship with your clients. For being a successful agent, you need to make a new customer but also have to maintain a good connection with old customers. If you have loyal clients to send you references, you don’t need to invest much in marketing strategies. For background checks, you may even ask pleased customers if they will be willing to encourage your prospective buyers to speak to them. Creating goodwill in the market is important, to becoming a reputable real estate agent. Customer relation is the key element for becoming a successful agent in Punjab.

Expand Your Business on Digital Platforms:

Your online presence is also relevant alongside your offline identity. Customers nowadays browse up the numerous websites a lot before they finally visit a particular location. This helps them save time and money and helps them to calculate the various properties from many viewpoints as well.

After having your information, the first thing your prospective customer can do is look for you and your business online. What will help you close the deal is a quick & reliable answer to their inquiries. To promote your business, you can use various websites or social media platforms &, along with that, persuade your customers to provide positive feedback on these platforms.

Especially in current times having a digital platform where people can connect with you is a must. With the outbreak of coronavirus, people are preferring online sources to look for the property. The days are gone where shoppers focused on the owner of the local grocery store when they were searching for houses.

Transparency:

To preserve accountability with the client, it is very critical that anything you know should be revealed to the customer. If you are not positive about the track record of the contractor, be transparent with your buyer about this. You don’t want them to get trapped in a venture which is likely to be postponed. When you realise that the property has legal issues, ensure that your client has ample details about it.  it is your responsibility to inform them of the risks involved with the transaction.

The more transparent you are with your clients the more will be their trust in you.

Work with Potential Clients:

You need to know if a person is genuinely interested in buying a property or not. It is better to spend your time on a person who can turn into a potential client than to spend your time with a person who is ‘Just exploring’ & doesn’t intend on buying. Build a framework that’ll help you in identifying these people. It saves your time & energy.

Understand Your Customers Requirement:

Focus on understanding the need of your customers, you should act more like a consultant than a sales agent. It will help you in learning the cause of their requirement & to show your shortlisted options for them. Another factor to consider is that mention to them (customer) what makes it important for them, rather than persuading them that it is the ideal decision. Focus more on helping them, than selling property & it will help you in earning their trust.

Don’t Presume:

Avoid making assumptions and rely on facts only when it comes to documentation, legal aspects and valuation of the property. Do not make decisions about the way your company is going to develop. Don’t focus on referral business alone or expect sales to pour in when you have a website going. Make sure you get registered with the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority and network as much as you can for success.

Networking is the key:

Your success depends on how well your networks are in the industry. Some clients may be hard to deal with or maybe you don’t have something they like. Instead of turning these customers down you can ask your fellow agents if they have properties that match the criteria of the customer. That way, at the same time, you’d be able to support your colleagues and prospective clients. You should talk of splitting the fee, because, after all, if the agreement hits the final level, anything will be better than zero.

Know what works for you:

Lastly, it is all about maintaining good relation. Treat your important clients as part of family, wish them on festivals, provide them good investment options, stay in contact with them. Also, the more details an agent exchanges with its customers, the happier they will be.  Happy clients mean good reputation in market. You just have to know what works for you & your clients.

The No. 1 housing company in Punjab, SBP Group is always available for you to help you become a successful real estate agent in Punjab.

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Communication Tips For Property Brokers In India

Communication is a vital element of any business. It helps maintain the key aspect of a venture that is customers. No business can survive in the market if they lack proper communication. Especially for a work of brokerage/ agent which is also known as ‘The Talking Business’ communication is everything.

It is the way one talks and provides information to the customer that helps them in growing. How well you interact with the group of people you work with can, to a considerable degree, decide what kind of relationship you build with them in the future.

SBP Group has led down some communication tips which can help property brokers in India:

Be A Good Listener: The first thing you need to improve your communication is to listen to your client. As a property expert, you may know everything but if you don’t listen to your client & don’t know about their worries, you can’t help them. Your client needs to build their trust in you & if you listen to them and provide them a solution accordingly will help you.

Transparency in Communication: In any relationship, transparency & honesty in communication is a must. There may be certain points that you may or may not want to disclose to the client for your own benefit. You may feel like it is not the right time to disclose some information or maybe it is not necessary for your client to know about certain information.

If you are not being honest with your client, you can end up losing their trust and customer can also form a bad impression about you, which will affect your future sales. They are trusting you with their hard-earned money to buy their dream home, it is their right to know every bit of information regarding the property & it is your responsibility as well.

Helpful Advice:  At the point when a new purchaser or vendor approaches you, looking for your help is purchasing/selling his property, it is your expert obligation to make them mindful of the different aspects of the deal. You should hand-hold them through their excursion, with the goal that the transaction is finished easily. You could likewise help and assist them with saving money on, tax, charges, and so on.

Quick Responses: Only when he offers the client his undivided attention, as the latter discusses his expectations, can a property agent do his job effectively and efficiently. Interrupting the client midway, making assumptions, launching a volley of questions, and showing an utter disregard for collecting data, are some of the errors that real estate brokers in India often commit. Instead, you should provide the buyer with prompt responses to their query, it is also advisable to take notes regarding the requirements of buyers so that you can clearly understand what they want.

If you don’t know about something or have a doubt on certain information, you should honestly tell them about that and should provide them accurate data after proper research & not on your assumptions. This will help to build a buyer’s faith in you.

Don’t Use Business Jargon and Abbreviations: You may find it convenient to use industry jargon or abbreviations, but when you are around consumers, resist using them. Not a lot of people are familiar with words such as “easement” or “tax declaration,” and it is safer to presume that the clients have little knowledge regarding this. Make sure you humbly describe them concisely and briefly by using these jargon.

Don’t be Distracted: Give your undivided attention to them. Put away the mobile phone, stop answering calls, and concentrate on the talk that you’re having. In today’s technology-focused world, this is a typical pitfall that new real estate agents can prevent. It can be hard to move away from your phone, but successful interaction in a face-to-face environment depends on it.

To you, it can sound trivial, but this will make the consumer know like they are your highest priority and that you are not just worried about selling property. it provides an enduring impression that shows them you are passionate about getting them the right house. If you are distracted with other customers while one is currently with you, it will be very disrespectful for them & you can lose a potential deal as well.

These are few things which can help you in improving your communication skill while meeting a potential buyer. Though due to COVID-19 all the communication now is happening over the phone or online, few things can help you in dealing with the client over the phone call:

• To connect with consumers, you may want to use email, but your client may want a phone call instead. At the beginning of the customer-agent partnership, ask the customer their preferred form of communication: phone, texting, emails, or in-person meetings.
• Keep your phone conversations as short as possible.
• Do not call clients at odd hours, ask them when are they free to talk to you.
• Do not send unnecessary text messages or call repeat to them.
• Send them every important detail in writing, even if you have talked on the phone as one can forget about some information or may need to get more data regarding something.
• If you are using email to provide some kind of an information, keep the emails short and simple without leaving anything out, be as informative and precise as possible.

If you adhere to these communication tips for property brokers, you can become the best & successful real estate agent of India. Just remember to keep in touch with your client and ensure that your networks are still open. Check up to your customers, but at appropriate hours, make sure you inbox or call them. Stop texting them late at night, and always message first before calling.

You want to be transparent and communicative, never pestering. Whether or not you close a deal, you know you have interacted with your customers effectively because they feel comfortable and well taken care of. If clients are pleased, chances are they’d refer you to others.

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Key Differences Between a Property-Broker and a Brokerage Firm

For a layman, it is not necessarily possible to know everything about the real estate or property they are interested in buying. Generally, people use the help of a real estate agent or broker or brokerage firm, so that they can purchase their dream home.

However, the property market is very vast, people commonly use broker and brokerage firm as replacements. It may seem like that broker or brokerage firm is the same but it is not. SBP Group is here to resolve your confusion and to give your brief idea about both so you can decide what is useful for you. The following are key differences between both:

• Functioning: The basic difference between these is their operation. In most situations, a property broker runs a one-man show or has a small team to help him in his business. He will normally have his services in particular localities of the area, knowing that it is a small team. Besides, one can find property brokers in metro cities, who only deal with particular housing developments.

On the other hand, a brokerage firm operates vast activities that can be national or even distributed across several geographies. A Brokerage firm can help you in finding commercial property across various places but a broker may not be able to help you with that.

In simple words, Brokers or real estate agents have a small area of operations. While Brokerage firms have a large area of operation.

• Area Expertise: A broker is an expert only on the area they deal in. You can full information about the area form its local broker as they operate only in a limited area and can provide you with information not everyone has. An independent broker who has been operating a business for many years in a specific place would know the area like the palm of his hand. An independent broker can be best prepared to educate you of a location’s pros and cons.

Though the brokerage firms cannot provide you all-round information about a particular area as they have their business spread across the various place. The area of expertise from these firms is very limited.

• Payment of Commission / brokerage: Broker & Brokerage firm both work on the idea of commission. At the point when they help a purchaser and dealer connect with one another and the two parties choose to take part in the exchange, everyone needs to pay a specific level of the property estimation as a charge to the broker or brokerage firm.

In India, the buyer and the seller are normally asked by individual property brokers to pay 2 percent of the sale value as their fee, often referred to as the brokerage fee. This means that the agent must receive Rs 1 lakh from the purchaser and Rs 1 lakh from the seller to enable a property deal of Rs 1 crore.

However, brokerage firms are often better positioned because of their sheer scale and ability to produce revenues and also lure buyers and sellers by providing concessions and waivers. Property brokerage companies also introduce discount deals for their customers in order to increase their market and consumer base.

Although not much waiver is given on the original commission fee, as part of the package, the brokerage firms offer the client several associated services for free.

• Services Offered by Both: A brokerage firm is able to help you locate a property not only in one area but around the nation as it is operating a big corporation. It will also provide a number of supported services, usually supplying consumers with end-to-end solutions.

They even have builders’ tie-ups that can help the customer with a great price. In addition, certain builders start projects by exclusive tie-ups with brokerage companies and it is only possible to buy a property in that specific project if you were to pursue the services of that brokerage company.

Many brokerage agencies have connections with banks, which makes it far easier to get the home loan application accepted. Often, based on your particular preferences, they help you realise what home loan programme might be the right for you.

They also invest in technology that make it much easier to audit inventory, pay for it, etc. To help with the documentation, they also have a broad legal staff. Also, the website of a brokerage firm can draw purchasers, sellers and individual brokers. This suggests that a consumer has a wide number of properties to select from.

On the other hand, a Property Broker may or may not have any ties with banks or developers or law firms, depending on the sort of project that he manages. Thus, you will have to take extra care of all those parts of the buying on your own as you deal with them. But typically, they are in contact with local people who may or may not have listed their properties on online platforms and may assist you in locating good property.

• RERA Registration: Individual agents and brokerage companies did not have to enroll with any authority until the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act of 2016. This resulted in home buyers rushing from department to department to obtain help, when they were to be tricked, duped or poorly served by an agent / brokerage company. As RERA has been introduced, all real estate brokers are required to register with the respective real estate authorities in their states.

It is compulsory for both Property Broker and Brokerage Firm to register themselves with RERA.

For buyers / sellers now, the grievance process has also become much simpler. Buyers and sellers should therefore choose licence agents / brokerages in order to prevent any adverse business circumstance and to be confident that the broker / brokerage will be responsible for compensating them in the event of any misconduct.

Both of them have their own benefits, you can select which benefit suits you the best when buying a property.

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