Are you considering buying an apartment, but wondering which project to choose?

1. THE X FACTOR
IN REAL ESTATE
INVESTMENTS
ROLE OF CLOSE-KNIT
COMMUNITIES IN
PROPERTY APPRECIATION
PUBLISHED BY PBEL PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

2. Looking to buy a home?
Looking to make one of the biggest investments of your life?
Searching for ways to make your investment count?
Are you looking to understanding the secrets of making an intelligent investment?
You are not alone. This resource will introduce you to an important factor to consider
before you invest your earnings in a home.
BUILDER’S MARKET TO BUYER’S MARKET
Real Estate is in the middle of a transformation. Earlier, builders were sure of selling their
projects by building them in good locations, within reasonable quality and providing a
standard set of amenities.
Almost all projects compete on the same 8 features given below.
1. Amenities & Luxuries
2. Technology of Construction
3. Variety of sizes
4. Quiet Surroundings
5. Quality of construction
6. Distance to Work
7. Brand/Reputation
8. Price
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3. To the first time home buyer, who is the biggest segment of buyers in most markets, the
first 5 factors are almost comparable across projects. Most of the purchases are
happening based on whether the location is convenient for living and reasonably distant
from place of work, or the project fits perfectly in budget and home loan eligibility, or the
developer is trusted and worth buying from.
One visitor who came to the Times Property Fair said: “I’m looking to buy a home of over 6
months now. All projects look similar on paper and it is becoming difficult to judge which
developer to go to.” In a situation where almost all projects are similar, are being perceived
as equal, it is only obvious that the appreciation of such properties will more or less be
similar.
In such a market where does an intelligent investor look. What can make
your investment a notch better and deliver that improved market-beating on
the longer term. What is the X factor?
X FACTOR - AN ANSWER TO UNLOCKING INVESTOR VALUE
In search for the answer of unlocking superior value for customers and investors we
looked in several places. One exciting area was to study townships, and gated
communities which have a friendly and socially active culture. We observed that the
desirability of living in such a place was so high that people jumped at every opportunity
to buy or rent a home there.
That said, it is no surprise that the property value in such communities has appreciated
very well. We observed that these properties are valued significantly higher when you
compare them with similar others. In one case the disparity was high as 60%.
To validate these findings we performed an informal survey. We approached veterans and
experts from the Real Estate Industry and a few owners in such socially active
communities for their comments. The results were illuminating!
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4. Here are a few words that were shared with us.
We have tried to reproduce them verbatim. In a few instances, we have edited the
response but have retained the meaning intact.
K V Praveen
GM & Business Unit Head, Affordable & Mass Housing – Larsen & Tubro Limited
I believe there is a strong relationship between social life in a community & appreciation of
property. Socially active communities provide ample opportunities for social activities
apart from recreational and leisure activities, which enable residents to become a part of
the community and enhancing their quality of life. It also acts as a catalyst and attracts
more people to live in the community thereby ensuring a faster appreciation in property
value then similar properties. Some examples are – Serene County in Hyderabad and
Hiranandani Gardens in Powai, Mumbai.
Ashish Mathur
CEO, Ramky Integrated Township Limited
There is no doubt that a socially active community complex commands better recall and
better price for the property. Human being by nature wants to live in an active community
as it provides him a sense of security and belonging. This starts from the very family then
to the extended family, to the community and finally to society. Living in an active society
brings the fun in life where there is always something to look forward to, someone to
share with, friends to lean on in times of trouble.
On the other hand one's privacy may be compromised to some extent especially if it is an
homogeneous community with residents of the same cultural identity. There the living can
be real difficult as it happened at Ganesh Apartments at Delhi - an up market society
which took off very well but after a few years, people found it monotonous. Since everyone
knew each other and many even related to each other privacy became a major concern.
Slowly people started to move out. Similarly, Chitranjan Park in Delhi suffered a similar
fate.
I would say that a heterogeneous active community brings in a lot of value where people
from different background learn to live and appreciate one other's culture. Children grow
up learning so much from each other but the same can't be said for a homogenous
community.
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5. R K Rao
Vice President, CREDAI, Hyderabad
Communities are like extended joint families of yesteryears, involving the residents in the
community affairs informally. It has been noticed in communities there is greater
participation during the festivals and other common occasions, which is the revival
traditional indian family values.
In a typical apartment building, the urban child has no social life, avocations are limited
such as TV and electronic gadgets compared a community where the child can go out and
interact with others in different age groups to develop better social and communication
skills.
As most of the residents are professionals and business persons there is fair amount
networking among the community enabling career advancement.
For all these reasons some of the gated communities have earned great brand value in
Hyderabad due to the profile of their residents.
Kumar G V
Senior Vice President, Coromandel Engineering Company Limited
Socially active neighbourhoods are preferred more by middle class than by the upper class,
who tend to have a higher preference for privacy. I expect mingling in largely middle-class
communities and this is especially helpful for families with school-going children who get
lots of friends to spend time with.
D S Prasad
Director, Aparna Constructions
Properties, if one compares them apple to apple, those with greater social life are
appreciating more. I am staying in one of our earliest gated communities and it is an
outstanding example for such appreciation. There cannot be any two opinions on this.
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6. S K Subramanian
Head Operations, KDD India Pvt Ltd
and resident of one of Hyderabad’s most close-knit communities
For people who seek a discerning quality of life, gated communities offer an ambience and
lifestyle built by relationships which go beyond luxury or wealth. It's a human bond of like
minded people who live like one large family. One cannot put a price to such a lifestyle,
that's why any price sells!
CONCLUSION
The role of close-knit communities with a high level of social activity between residents is
a significant factor in property appreciation. In a buyer’s market where most projects are
competing on similar criteria like location, quality, amenities, etc. choosing a developer who
has a clear plan for developing a close-knit community can be a wise investment move.
WHY PBEL PUBLISHED THIS DOCUMENT
PBEL, with its corporate vision, “Feel the change’, is trying to create a more customer-centric
approach in the real estate industry. In the PBEL City project at Hyderabad, PBEL is
putting in a committed effort to develop a thriving community.
This paper is being published to create more awareness among home buyers and
investors about the merits of investing in more customer-centric projects, thereby raising
the overall standards of service in the industry.
We wish to express our deep gratitude to the eminent people who generously contributed
their knowledge and experience towards the creation of this document.
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