The search for that dream house always seems elusive. Prospective buyers being bombarded with advertising from all media vying to get the eyeballs of home seekers is not new. However, which is the best way to get to that right nest that suits ones purse? With the World Wide Web being a new medium ? and a virtual marketplace ? the hunt seems just a bit less tedious and more targeted. But, for a product like real estate where the ?look and feel? is important and the stakes are very high, does the virtual marketplace really work? While this medium may not be the final decision maker, it plays its role as a platform of information and one that could facilitate the process and make it easier to remove the chaff from the grain. In the past few years there has been a humungous growth in the real estate business ? though it has slowed down a bit now ? owing to cooling off in domestic demand thanks to ?unrealistic? prices and runaway home loan rates. Interestingly, while the real estate business is evolving, exclusive or niche portals focusing on the real estate industry are trying to be part of it. ?The property business is at a stage where jobs and matrimony portals were, say four to five years ago and it is evolving? points out Aditya Varma, Business Head, Makaan.com. Concurs Deepali Singh, Business Head, 99acres.com. ?There has been a clear gap in the business chain. While there were enough portals for jobs and matrimony, there were hardly enough in the real estate space. That?s where we fit in,? she says. Moreover, with projects spread over the country information is scattered. Add to that the fact that which most of the real estate business unregulated information is itself sketchy and claims inflated and hardly verifiable.

As far as the opportunity for portals goes, it is huge. ?According to reports, about 30 million people are on the lookout for a house for themselves. Of this, we believe that not more than two million are looking on the net for their search,? says Varma. Even then, the kind of people who do so are predominantly from the IT and ITeS industry. So, what is a challenge is an opportunity. ?According to an I-Cube report, 77% pf internet users in the country are from the Sec A and Sec B of the socio-economic classification. And a lot of them are in the 26-40 age group. We believe that this a right medium for the target audience,? opines T. Shrikanth, business head. IndiaProperty.com (of Consim Info Pvt Ltd, earlier known as BharatMatrimony.com)

However, the biggest challenge for the growth and success of niche real estate and property portals remains acceptance ? especially from the industry itself. While many companies are using the medium to reach their target customers, many remain ignorant of its benefits. ?There is a reluctance among many developers to see portals as an integral part of their marketing mix. However, we believe that on-line marketing is effective because they reach and deliver the right target audience,? stresses Shrikanth.

On the other hand, there are some developers who see the benefits of the medium. ?The company has not tied up with any portal for selling its products. But we extensively advertise on the web. Maytas targets NRIs through the web, trade shows in India and abroad, as also through advertisements in appropriate media in the domestic and international market. The response from NRIs is quite encouraging. In fact, 20% of the current bookings have been made by NRIs,? says K Thiagarajan, CEO of Hyderabad-based Maytas Properties.

Mahender Basani, sales and marketing head of Hyderabad-based Indu Projects feels that serious investors are always tagged on to the online newspapers. ?And they get to read the product launch news or the press advertisements that we release. You can also find large user groups sharing the information on real estate projects. At Indu, online portals have been attempted earlier and they did generate good amount of enquiries but unfortunately not many conversions happened,? he adds.

According to James Bell, head marketing, IVR Prime (part of infrastructure major IVRCL) which develops high-end properties, believes that opportunities are a plenty in the real estate industry right now and that online portals do play a vital role in the real estate business. ?A lot of people access the company?s portal and other portals like the 99acres.com to obtain details on properties. It is easier for the customers to obtain information on construction happening in the area of their choice. NRIs tend to look at these sites to get an idea about the various real estate projects. It helps in generating leads. It is very difficult to conclude on the hits these online real estate portals would generate as lot of curious and not so serious customers also browse through these websites. Even if 10-12% of the enquiries come through the online portals it is a good bet. At IVR Prime we have not associated with any portal for strategic reasons. We get lot of enquiries through our official website,? he explains.

Another challenge that portals face is the authenticity of the information posted and verifying it. With many agents and brokers too part of the chain, it often becomes difficult. Take the case of mentioning indicative prices of properties posted. Many do not have that as brokers are loathe to do it. ?We are not sure if the information brokers put out is entirely accurate. Moreover, it is difficult to validate or verify it. So, we advice people to do their own due diligence. But we do insist on putting an indicative asking price which is realistic? says Singh of 99acres.com. ?We make it mandatory to display the asking price of the property. Otherwise, we do not uplink the ad. As a responsible portal we don?t do it. A portal becomes successful only if it keeps a balance between the needs of property seekers and property sellers,? says an emphatic Varma of Makaan.com. But as competition and the real estate business gets more organised, it should compel both portals and property sellers to be more accurate and transparent in their information-sharing to benefit customers.