How Broker-Free Platforms Are Transforming Homebuying

In an exclusive engaging interaction with Adlin Pertishya Jebaraj, Correspondent at Homes India Magazine, Saurabh Garg , Cofounder and Chief Business Officer at NoBroker.com, explains how the process of buying a home in India is changing due to direct-to-consumer alternatives that exclude brokers. Garg describes the difficulties of the construction of a hyperlocal, two-sided marketplace and highlights the scalability and the network effects of scale.

Saurabh Garg is an experienced business leader and entrepreneur who has an experience of more than 19 years in sales, marketing, and digital innovation. He is an industry veteran having worked in scalable consumer marketplaces, growth strategies and high impact digital transformation programs.

How has the Indian homebuyer’s journey changed with the rise of direct-to-consumer property platforms?

A decade ago, the process of buying a home in India was more of a brokerage business. Buyers used to use sites such as JustDial or classified ads to get brokers, who may then schedule visits to the property. Advertised listings in most instances were nothing more than clickbait and once contacted, buyers were redirected to other properties. It was a tedious process, non-transparent and had a high intermediary cost.

The move towards customer-to-customer (C2C) platforms has transformed this path in essence. Customers are now linked to the real estate owners who normally have a listing of one or two.

The information is more precise, data are clear, and websites allow buyers to make shortlists of properties on the internet and visit them later. Buyers are able to only view three or four houses instead of the 10, which saves a lot of effort, time, and brokerage fees. The travel experience has been made easier, efficient and open.

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What are the major challenges in building a fully digital, broker-free real estate ecosystem in India?

The process of building a C2C marketplace is fundamentally difficult since both buyers and sellers of the transaction have to be obtained at the same time. Compared to B2C platform, where the businesses can be onboarded initially, a property marketplace is sensitive to network density and matchmaking.

As an illustration, a customer who has come out in search of a certain property in Indira Nagar, 12 th Main Road, would demand a perfect match. Presence in the hyperlocal micro-markets is complicated.

The major challenge is network-building and next comes effective matchmaking. Nevertheless, when scale has been reached, the platform has a snowball effect, which means that growth is organic in nature. That is where websites such as NoBroker have gotten to this day.

Which regions and property segments are witnessing the highest traction from buyers bypassing traditional brokers?

The use of technology makes the process of property a lot easier. Buyers are able to shop electronically through various listings, shortlists and minimize unnecessary visits to the site. The transaction process, as well as some of the discovery, has gone online, too — home loan approvals are now done online, and significant levels of legal due diligence.

Integrated services also include post-purchase services. Platforms offer end-to-end solutions like interiors, movers and packers among other home services. Although the registration of property has to be done in physical manner, most of the other steps can be done online and the entire process becomes quicker and easier.

In what ways do technology-enabled platforms reduce transaction friction and enhance decision-making for homebuyers?

The most traction is witnessed on the resale properties, which include rental and resale. These segments are usually highly differentiated properties in diverse locations, and it is complex to discover. This is made easier through broker-free technology.

Now about 6,000 resale properties are being transacted every month. As well, a large portion of buyers are indifferent to the issue of resale versus new homes. They want to have all the information available in one platform and then make their decision. Although property visits are mandatory, a significant portion of the pre-work is done online.

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How do you see the next five years shaping the adoption of broker-free platforms among first-time homebuyers?

The first-time homebuyers are usually tenants who have utilized the broker-free sites to rent. They automatically embark on exploring these platforms when they decide to switch to purchasing.

Within five years, the adoption will increase substantially. Consumers are becoming more aware of the cost-saving, pricing transparency, and convenience that are provided by platforms that do not need intermediaries.

It is quite possible that some of them still resort to the services of brokers through necessity, but the majority of them are likely to find the appropriate solutions online. It is evident that this trend shows that an increasing number of first-time buyers will be digitally transacting as they seek their first home.