Owning a Home Topmost Priority Now- Rahul Singla, MAPSKO

Q1.) Promotors of Mapsko has delivered numerous quality projects in the last 2 and a half decade.  Your growth has been very steady with the project’s delivery beyond client expectations.  Going forward , what is your goal and vision?

A1.) Mapsko in the last 2 decades has been focusing on its core principles

a.)  Value, Time & Resources: We are known to execute projects within the timelines, focusing on planning & resource deployment. In the last 2 decades we are creating the best and luxurious living spaces and delivered apartments, Villas, Penthouses, Independent floors and Commercial projects in timely possession.

b.)  Construction Quality: Our development team include top architects, professional designers & contractors who strive to deliver the quality projects.  We have worked with the best of the names in the field of architecture i.e. Hafeez Contractor, SAA Architect Singapore, Gyan P. Mathur etc; the finest company in landscaping i.e. LSG Inc. USA, a global diversified institution in the field of designing and innovation.

c.)   Client Centric: At MAPSKO, client is not one time association but our Brand Ambassador for life.  Going forward, we will continue to focus on our core principles & learnings from Covid.  Mapsko will continue offering exceptional quality luxury homes with timely possession as per customer demand. Addressing the client’s requirement is topmost priority. Mapsko, as an Organization, put its impetus on full satisfaction of the client. 

Q2.) How has been the performance of MAPSKO during the Covid Pandemic?

A3.) Real Estate Market has been “RESET “for sure, however performance of MAPSKO has been outstanding during Covid. Sales were fast owing to construction quality & luxury housing sizes that we offer. We have numerous requests for bigger size luxury homes. Also, many of our clients recommended our projects to their family & friends. Buyers want to own spacious, bigger homes with a lot of amenities like work from home facilities.  Buyers want spacious, good construction quality homes, strategically located in serene surroundings. If the society offers diversified amenities, it attracts the buyers immensely and there is immediate interest in that property. We have first-hand experience with Mapsko MountVille Project situated in sector 79, Gurgaon.

Q 3.) How has pandemic effected the Psychography of customers i.e. is there a change in the buying pattern?

A4.) The Pandemic deeply affected the psychography of the customers and had made them anxious.  Psychologically, customers were more worried – worried not only of their health but also with regard to their savings, their jobs, their businesses etc. However, they also realized 2 things at the same time:

a.)  Importance of Home – The Best medicine for COVID was made by developers i.e., HOME. The importance of owning a home is now topmost priority across the generations today.  The home will once again take prominence over the place of work and influence urban development and our real estate choices.

b.)  Definitely there is a shift in the way Homes are bought now. Home seekers are eyeing for more sq. ft., detailed layout plans, specific demands for an office, study room, bigger balconies like the MAPSKO projects – Casabella & Mountville offer.  Larger residential units are more in demand now, essentially to accommodate workstations and open areas. One-bedroom homes are almost out of demand.   Work Stations & Conference Rooms with video conferencing facilities, Guest Rooms within the premises have become the necessity now.

Q4.) As a veteran, please share how the property buying process has evolved in the last 2 decades?

Property buying process has undergone a sea change in the last 2 decades. There was a time when decision to buy a property was exclusively made by a single member of the family. However, now in modern families, this is a joint decision where all the members of the house, particularly, children and the elderly are directly involved in the decision of buying a home.  Also, over the period, banking & technology has increased the speed of acquiring property.

There is a clear difference in the way buyer used to buy a property from a limited resource influenced market, 2 decades ago.  However, the buyer today is informed, educated & digitally connected.  Entire process of buying a property is faster and easier and the buyer is more aware today. The buyer today do their own due diligence before grasping properties.

The RBI is actively supervising the cash outflow of the banks in the realty sector, by cutting repo rates remarkably in the last two years, RBI has virtually thrusted home loans to the masses making residential realty sector a lucrative investment in present times.

Q 5.)  Do you see a shift in the way projects are being marketed?  How well MAPSKO adapted this change?

A5.) Yes, there is a shift in the way projects are being marketed now and our project marketing is centered on the clients, as the home seekers are much informed, educated and digitally connected.  The pandemic has increased the shift towards buying an integrated sales and marketing strategy.

Post pandemic we have all started to source information online and for our clients we are using the digital platform to review the project offering online before paying a site visit, to evaluate the offering. The busy professionals want to save time, as they just get a weekend for site visit.  There are also innovations with respect to Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Virtual Reality (VR) in this sector that are pushing for more opportunities and enhanced customer experience.  Post Pandemic most companies are exploring some version of WFH for its employees, hence, commuting is no longer an issue for those working from home and this is reducing the need to buy a house close to the workplace. Now home seekers are more open to moving to peripheral locations for better affordability.

Our project Mountville offers resort-style amenities set amidst the lush greenery of Aravallis to promise a truly panoramic and luxe experience.    The inspiring business center, conference rooms and dedicated workstations in Club, equipped with projection for video conferencing, cater to the requirements of the Post Covid World.  Moreover, the premises has four comfortable deluxe guest rooms for the comfy stay of residents’ guests at very nominal pricing, negating the need to buy an extra room apartment to cater for guests.

Accordingly, we have started using various digital portals and platforms to reach out to our target audience enabling them to plan their site visit.

Q 6.) What are the future plans of Mapsko Builders?

A6.) MAPSKO is planning extensive future development plans in Delhi, Gurgaon & Sonipat.

We have land parcels in Delhi and with advent of land pulling policy, we plan to launch residential projects accordingly.  Our existing township project in Sonipat in Sector 26, 26A and 27 has been extended. On receiving positive response, we have some future projects lined up in Sonipat .

Gurgaon is one market where we have received an overwhelming response. MAPSKO has delivered 4 residential projects in recent past. We will soon be launching the Phase 2 of MAPSKO Mountville.  As per buyer demand we are contemplating a few more land parcels in Gurgaon to develop residential colonies, plotted development & independent floors to continue our client centric approach.

To sum it up MAPSKO shall always endeavor to remain on high competency levels and quality deliverance with utmost client satisfaction.

WHAT’S HOT WHAT’S NEW 

India Post to Democratize Housing Loans

In a first, India Post, through its network of countrywide post offices, will provide housing loans at the doorsteps of customers in unbanked and underserved areas. This in turn, will give big push to government’s flagship program, ‘Housing for All’, taking affordable housing to the masses.

For this purpose, India Posts Payment Bank (IPPB), established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, with 100 percent government equity, has joined hands with India’s premier housing finance company- HDFC Limited. The strategic alliance is meant to offer HDFC’s home loans to nearly 4.7 crore customers of IPPB, by leveraging the extensive countrywide network of 650 branches, over 136000 banking access points (post offices and 190000 postmen and Gramin Dak Sewak’s.

According to the MoU technical and legal appraisals, processing and disbursement for all home loans will be handled by HDFC Limited while IPPB will be responsible for sourcing of loans. The alliance between IPPB and HDFC Limited, aims to make housing loans available and accessible to those having little or no access to finance and help them fulfill their dream of owning a home. IPPB’s reach and operating model is built to enable paperless, cashless and presence less banking in a simple and secure manner at customer’s doorstep through a CBS-integrated smart phone and biometric device. The whole idea is to promote inclusive mortgage financing through a digitally-enabled agent banking channel.

NCR Home Buyers Prefer Furnished Homes 

INTERIORS TRENDS

More and more home buyers, especially millennials are opting for furnished living spaces to avoid hassles of setting up home. And this trend is more prevalent in the NCR cities of Gurgaon and Noida. In Gurgaon as many as 92 percent prospective home buyers look for furnished homes with maximum 58 percent looking for semi-furnished units.

On a pan-India basis Bangalore comes close to Gurgaon with 90 percent buyers preferring furnished homes with maximum 61 percent opting for semi-furnished homes. In Hyderabad, 60 percent home buyers prefer furnished homes with maximum 35 percent opting for fully furnished homes. In MMR 56 percent buyers prefer furnished homes, with 35 percent opting for semi-furnished homes. In Pune 58 percent look for furnished homes with maximum 30 percent going for semi-furnished homes.

This trend is largely prevalent with home buyers of affordable and mid-priced homes, though luxury home buyers also look for bespoke branded designed and furnished homes. Flexible space saving furniture is also trending due to enhanced space efficiency.

ARCHITECTURE 

Indian Projects for Global   Architecture Award

Two projects from India figure among the 50 worldwide shortlisted projects for the prestigious Brick Award 2022. A record number of nearly 800 projects from 53 countries had given submissions for this architecture award.

The focus of the awards is on resource-efficient construction involving both highly innovative structures as well as those built in the traditional way with local materials and craft techniques. There are five award categories including ‘Feeling at home’, ‘Living together’, ‘Sharing public spaces’, ‘ Working together’ and ‘Building outside the box’.

The award jury consisted of renowned international architects. These included Ingrid van der Heijden, Netherlands, Founding Partner, Civic Architects, Jesper Gottlieb, Denmark, Founding Partner, Gottfried Pauldan Architects, Tina Gregorič Slovenia, Founding Partner, Dekleva Gregoric Architects, Wilfreid Kuehn, Germany, Founding Partner, Kuehn Malvezzi, Brigitte Shim, Canada, Founding Partner, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects.

The select 50 entries for awards will be announced in June 2022.

Kolkata Residential Market Update: Registered Sales Deeds 

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