After cars and flats, realtors woo buyers in 'real' ways

After offering customers free cars and apartments to tide over the slump in the property sector, developers are now getting real: From price cuts, paying equated monthly instalments (EMIs) in case the buyer loses his job, and treating the rent paid as down payment for new purchases, realtors are trying every possible trick to woo buyers.

Recently, DLF, the country’s largest real estate developer, wrote to buyers of its new housing project in Gurgaon about a cut in apartment prices by 20 per cent.

According to the new plan, buyers will get 5 per cent discount over the basic sale price, another 10 per cent as timely-payment rebate and an increase in the compensation rate for delay from Rs 5 per sq ft per month to Rs 10 per sq ft per month. DLF is expected to provide a similar package for customers of its ‘Express Greens’ project in Gurgaon and in other cities too. Another real estate developer, Omaxe, is said to be working out a similar offer for its Greater Noida customers.

In Pune, the Promoters and Builders Association of Pune, a 300-member strong body of developers, has come out with a scheme wherein members pay three EMIs if the buyer loses his job due to slowdown. The scheme is expected to help more than 700 buyers who lost jobs in the past few months.

“We want our clients to find a good job and not get tensed over the EMIs they have to pay,” said Atul Goel, MD, Goel Ganga group.

Another developer, Mont Vert, has come out with a scheme under which the tenant will be able to buy the apartment after his/her agreement ends. The rent paid will be considered as down payment and deducted from the final sale price.

Though Mumbai has not seen any eye-popping scheme after the Cosmos group’s “get one house free on every house” offer and assured buyback from Sunil Mantri Realty, developers like HDIL, Nirmal Lifestyle and others have launched apartments at prices 15-30 per cent less than the market rates.

With the inputs from Kaustubh Kulkarni & Raghavendra Kamath