Uday Homz takes on realty challenge in an already crowded market
Established in 2012, Uday Homz claims to build a name for itself as one of the most organised and customer-centric companies in the realty sector.
The IT-enabled real estate investment advisory firm resolves the problem of lack of trust and transparency in the industry, believes CEO and Founder Gaurav Yadav, who grabbed the opportunity of starting his own customer-centric venture in a sector that is one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
The startup’s stated objective is to help buyers make the best property investment in India with the help of detailed information about projects and their future prospects, a fair comparison, full documentation to ensuring builder's credibility, pre-sales, sales and post-sales support services as also add-ons like vaastu tips — “which makes us the first choice among the buyers”.
Udayhomz.com claims to be unique in the sense that it provides free consultation and site visit, follows global industry practices and provides hassle-free service, according to the website.
Gaurav explains how his company is different from the lot and how it ensures transparency in deals. “Unlike other aggregator websites, we are a one-stop solution for potential Indian investors and NRIs. We also provide customised services to clients as per their needs. We follow an organised and systematic business model. Once a lead is generated, the entire process is monitored by home-grown CRM system. Before closing any deal, we give our customers a verification call to give them confirmation about the transaction and the discount. All these calls are monitored. Thus, transparency in transactions and customer satisfaction becomes our USP,” he says.
Facilities for customers
The interested buyer can leave a property-related query on the website, after which an expert analyses it and reaches out to the customer. A separate team of professionals dealing in after-sales services is also at the buyer’s service. Apart from this, UdayHomz.com — primarily dealing in Noida, Gurgaon, Bhiwadi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Chandigarh — offers home loan services, and has tie-ups with some leading nationalised banks and NBFCs.
Growing “four times y-o-y”
“We are growing four times year-on year. The present annual turnover is about Rs 2 crore, and was Rs 45 lakh in the first year,” reveals Gaurav.
The self-funded venture, with seed capital of Rs 15 lakh, has not raised any money till now, and the maximum part of the initial capital was invested in information technology and resource hiring. But Gaurav says they are planning to raise around Rs 12 crore and are in talks with renowned investors for the same.
A look at realty
The Indian real estate sector is the second largest employer after agriculture and is slated to grow at 30 per cent over the next decade, with rise in demand for office as well as residential space, boosted by government initiatives such as 'Housing for All' and 'Smart Cities'.
Responding to an increasingly well-informed consumer and keeping in mind globalisation of the Indian business outlook, real estate developers have also shifted gears. The most marked change has been the shift from family-owned businesses to professionally managed ones. Real estate developers, in meeting the growing need for managing multiple projects across cities, are investing in centralised processes to source material and organise manpower, as also hiring qualified professionals in areas like project management, architecture and engineering. In short, the dynamics would change in six to 12 months, says Gaurav.
Growth in challenging times
The realty sector is restricted by many factors: borrowing costs are high, approval processes are lengthy, the supply line is choked and there's a lack of institutional funding. Added to this is absence of entry restriction in the industry, and brokers and developers lack knowledge, which leads to mistrust among customers.
In such a scenario, says Gaurav, UdayHomz has been successful in creating a niche for itself.
Upbeat about future growth, the company plans to expand its presence by entering Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur, for which the cost of investment is expected to be Rs 12 crore. “We are also planning to open 10 to 12 offices every year. With this, we will have 60 offices in India by 2019. As part of expansion plans, we will establish our presence in international markets too,” says the founder.
Additionally, development of tech-enabled products, including a mobile application aimed at improving customer service, is in the pipeline. They will be launched by the next quarter of this year.
Competition in the space
PropTiger, India Homes, Jaipur-based Propterry and other platforms provide similar complete solutions to customers — from the generation of lead to till it gets closed.
During March this year, PropTiger acquired real estate classifieds portal Makaan.com. PropTiger, which offers home buyers services such as site visits, price negotiations, home financing and post-sales services, claims to have sold around 12,000 homes worth about USD 1.2 billion since 2011.
In December last year, IndiaHomes.com raised USD 50 million (Rs 310 crore) from existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Foundation Capital.