What matters most when selecting NRI estate agent in India

Non Resident Indians(NRI), although away from homeland, still deal in Indian real estate either for ancestral properties or for new investments. So they need trustworthy and experienced NRI real estate agents or property brokers who can facilitate property transactions in India for them.

Time and again there have been instances of property related frauds with NRIs for a simple reason that the NRI buyer or seller is out of the country. Hence, it becomes even more important to look for trustworthy realtors in India. Unfortunately, there is no license that real estate brokers need to obtain in India nor there is any educational qualification for the same. So the criteria to identify a reliable agent are subjective and require more due diligence.

Quality Services

NRIs can look for estate agents with quality certifications like ISO 9001 for the agency’s services in real estate domain, read customer feedback and reviews and read about the company’s core values and belief system. Find out the process of conducting transactions at that firm. For example, does the broker firm only show around properties meeting your criteria or do they perform any background checks on properties as well before recommending. In order to perform these checks, does the firm have the required realty, financial and legal domain expertise? Only a quality conscious firm would invest in performing the due diligence on behalf of the client.

Advisory Services

To provide quality service, the real estate broker firm or agency must have the required domain expertise not just in reality, but also in other related domains to help execute the real estate transaction end-to-end successfully. For example, buying a property involves legal documentation, obtaining certificates, etc. Even booking an under- construction property is different from buying a fully constructed or resale property in terms of legalities involved. So you will require a legal expert to establish the authenticity of those documents. Even payment structure involves tax complication, especially for NRIs.

Experience of core team members will determine the value added services that the Indian estate agent can give you in addition to basic property broker services.

Property Management Services

A good to have service that an estate agent can offer to NRI clients is property management.

Sunil Chopra is Founder and Director of Spacio Realtors Llp.