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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