Bypassing the broker

With no-brokerage rental policy, you reach property owners directly, without getting broker service

Most metros attract a large population of young professionals and students from other parts of the country, for whom house-hunting, and dealing with brokers become an essential rite of passage. Many find the experience distasteful. Nowadays a number of no-brokerage rental platforms have mushroomed that allow you to deal directly with the landowner. But, since many cities are not covered by such platforms, forcing you to rely on a conventional broker, we tell you what traits you should look for in one:  

  

Why people wish to avoid brokers: One reason many house hunters are keen to avoid brokers is monetary. “You typically pay a month’s rent as brokerage on an 11-month contract. That amounts to a high commission of 9.09 per cent. The broker also charges the land owner a fee, the burden of which gets passed on to the tenant. The tenant might not even live in the house for the entire duration of the contract. If he changes house after six months, he would end up paying the brokerage again,” says Uday Lakkar, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), CoHo.in, which offers co-living accommodation within the National Capital Region (NCR). Adds Amit Kumar Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based NoBroker.com: “There is no reason why in this information technology age, you should pay such high brokerage only for information regarding where flats are available. Nowadays, intermediation has been reduced to a service, for which you pay only a small fee. It has happened in travel booking, purchase of movie tickets and match-making, and is also happening in real estate.”

Owing to the lack of entry barriers, the level of professionalism of incumbents within the brokerage profession is also questionable. Often, brokers are so intent on closing a deal quickly and earning their commission that they push the tenant to take a house available with them, rather than wait for the best possible option. Sometimes, they even falsify information to close a deal. 

Eliminating the broker: Home owners looking for tenants can visit the Nobroker.com website or app and post their properties, including its pictures. Those who are not mobile or internet savvy can call them and convey the information,  uploaded on their behalf. 

Those hunting for a house can check the listed properties on the website or app. If they like one, they click on it, get the landowner’s number, and speak to him directly. “Since both are interested parties, they can close the deal quickly and also settle on a mutually agreeable rent,” says Agarwal. No fee is charged from landlords for listing or from tenants for looking up properties. The website only charges for value-added services like preparing a rental agreement or offering the services of a relationship manager.   

Offering quality co-living spaces: Beside eliminating the broker, CoHo.in goes a step further to offer branded accommodation. It takes large buildings on long-term lease, equips them with the necessary infrastructure and services, and rents to young professionals. “In India there is a huge shortage of quality accommodation. We exercise control over the kind of property we offer to our clients,” says Lakkar. 

Their co-living hubs typically come equipped with facilities such as gym, refrigerator, television, bed, mattress, air conditioning, and so on. The service component includes housekeeping, maintenance, Wi-Fi, etc. On-boarding, payments, complaints redress, etc, are handled through an app provided to residents. 

For shared accommodation: If you have rented a flat and are now looking for partners with whom you can split the costs or are hunting for a slot within a shared flat, your best bet is Flatmate.in. “Brokers don’t usually deal in shared accommodation. Also, before you agree to share a flat, you want to know about the habits of prospective partners. When listing on our platform, you can specify the kind of flatmate you are looking for — early bird or night owl, smoker or non-smoker, and so on,” says Sukhbir Singh, founder, Flatmate.in. 

Users need to register on Flatmate.in’s mobile app and can then look up all the available listings. If they don’t find something meeting their requirement, they can post what they are looking for. While users can view all the listings for free, they need to pay a fee before they can communicate with the other party. The platform operates in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune.

If you have to use a conventional broker: Most of these platforms have come up only recently and their services are also limited to a few cities and areas. Hence, most people have to rely on conventional brokers to rent a house. 

The key when using a conventional broker is to look for a professional one. He should have a proper office and a staff manning its operations. It is best to avoid novices and small, single-player operations. If you are new to the city, your company’s human resource department or colleagues might be able to tell you about the professional players in the city.

Payment Plan

At Nobroker.com

* Basic services like listing, looking up properties on the platform, and calling up landlords are free

* For tenants, there is a Freedom Plan that costs Rs 999; Relax Plan that costs Rs 1,999; and Assure Plan that costs Rs 5,999 

* For house owners, there is a Relax Plan that costs Rs 2,999 and a Super Relax Plan that costs Rs 5,999 

At CoHo.in

* For a shared room, the rent ranges from Rs 9,000 to Rs 15,000 a month. Includes breakfast, Wi-Fi, maintenance, furniture, etc

* There is also a refundable security deposit

At Flatmate.in

* View listings for free

* To communicate with the other party, pay Rs 500 

A professional broker will distinguish himself through the way he operates. “Once you have told him your location and size requirements, he should be able to get back to you with a list of properties within a day. He should be able to advise you on the locality best suited for you (close to your office or kid’s school, or equidistant from them), one that has the right physical and social infrastructure, etc. He should send you a roadmap to help you reach the meeting place from where he will take you on house visits. 

After a couple of visits, he should be able to assess what you are looking for and take you directly to the house that most closely fits your requirements,” says Sajid M, manager, Silverline Realty, at Bengaluru. A professional broker should be able to offer information about the facilities in a project, maintenance charges, etc. He should be able to get you a good rental rate, get the paperwork done and be there to handle the formalities of handover when the lease gets over. In case of a dispute with the landowner, he should be there to mediate.