Now, builders arrange for doctors to woo buyers

Realty players are offering customer-friendly services like panic buttons to contact police, fire stations, hospitals, among others

Real estate developers are now offering freebies with purchase of a flat. In a first, north India-based CHD Developers is talking to hospital chains, including Medanta and Max, to offer health services to customers in its coming residential projects in Gurgaon.

Another realty player, Wave Developers, is hardselling its "customer-friendly services" at its just announced affordable housing project, Wave City, in Ghaziabad. The company has tied up with global information technology company International Business Machines Corp (IBM) for making the project a "smart city".

Through a tie-up with hospitals, doctors would be available thrice a week for two hours for the people living in the premises of CHD's projects - Avenue 71 and 106 Golf Avenue at Gurgaon--according to people close to the development. Both projects are under construction -- Avenue 71 will be ready by September this year, while the 106 Golf Avenue might be completed by September 2016.

CHD's spokesperson could not be reached for comments.

The tie-up with IBM for Wave City, to be spread over 4,500 acres, is meant to provide information on traffic management through SMS alerts and billing usage, besides offering tips on reducing energy consumption. Also, homes will have panic buttons to contact police stations, fire stations and hospitals, among others services.

For spiritual people, Wave has also tied up with a religious institute, ISKCON, which will set up its temple in the vicinity. A BRT (bus rapid transit) corridor will run through the city and everything will be managed by a central command centre to be set up by Wave.

A senior executive from a leading real estate company however, dismissed these offerings as "marketing gimmicks" to attract consumers. It remains to be seen how effectively these proposals are implemented, said the executive, who did not want to be named.

"This concept of getting doctors to visit the premises may have been a good one if it was to be implemented in an apartment meant for senior people or in townships located in remote locations," said Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director-South Asia, Cushman and Wakefield.

Another developer, M3M, a luxury segment player, recently joined hands with polo player Adhiraj Singh-led Equisport to give residents facilities associated with polo in its project, M3M Polo Suites, in Gurgaon.