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World Wide Web or WWW is a phenomenon without which imagining a world today would be nearly impossible. It has penetrated into every sector of economy deeply and real estate is no exception. The gigantic world of web has transformed into a major marketing tool, an anchor that drives every business to success. Online marketing for real estate is very much popularised now-a-days and is gaining great momentum due to the vast pool of opportunities it provides to everyone attached to the business, be it buyer or seller. Removing the odds of the realty business, online real estate advertisements is coming up as a great source where one can do plenty of research and buy the best among the options available. However, despite many benefits, it has not been able to gather people’s trust completely and hence still not considered as a complete trustworthy tool to buy a real estate property. Interweaving the Threads of Internet and Realty Stepping into the world of internet - More than 30% of the world’s population is online
- 16 hours a month is the average time spent by users online
- India is third largest internet market in world after US and China
- More than 112 million internet users in India
- At the end of 2012, every tenth Indian is using the internet
Undoubtedly, the world of internet is rising at an unprecedented speed, creating new avenues each time. With the vast expanding user interface, from the business perspective, internet provides scores of opportunities, which if tapped properly, can be a sure short mantra of success. Right from a small needle to a big ship, anything and everything is available on internet. Then why real estate should lag behind? Earlier, real estate was generally not considered as a thing to be bought, sold or rented upon internet. Word of Mouth and visiting actual sites were the traditional methods most common among people. Hence for a larger period of time, while other companies were using the world of web for their promotion and success at a massive scale, the Indian real estate world kept its distance. However, as time changed people started having less time and hence spending time for onsite research became difficult. When the sector started receiving fewer customers, a strong need of change was felt. And then around six years ago, real estate portals were launched in India. Like other websites, these portals are meant solely for real estate transactions. They provide a platform where buyers and sellers could meet. Websites like Magicbricks.com, 99acres.com, Makaan.com act as a virtual marketplace while performing the task of an intermediary between the two parties and can provide individual-to-individual connections. Unlike other media which is only B-to-C, this media is C-to-C as well which means here individual can connect to business people and individuals both. Most of these websites provide free property listing where individuals, irrespective of their interests can enlist their properties free of cost. Being an interactive medium here people can do those things which are not possible through an offline medium like for instance suggestions from experts and discussions and customer reddreasal forums. In addition, one can do plenty of research before reaching the right option. Services Rendered by Real Estate Web Portals - Free property listings
- Quick property searches
- Real estate research
- Premium services like picture and video uploading
- Expert advice
- Redressal Forums
Despite being a relatively newer phenomenon, the real estate portals have been quite successful in India. Their success can easily ascertain by the growing internet traffic on them. Mr. Sudhir Pai, Business Head, Magicbricks.com, one of the most successful online real estate website, while commenting over the future of such websites says, “Over the next few years, the online real estate portals will get bigger than the online recruitment category and as per my opinion they would record a 50% plus CAGR in this duration. In the developed western markets, around 50% of property advertisement have shifted online. Same thing is happening in India. While it is a small baby today, it will grow very large in the coming future.”
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real estate website, real estate in India, real estate web portals, online real estate,
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