A lot of the people reading this review must be working, and many among those would also be in transferable jobs. How many times have we been transferred to a new city and have had to find suitable accommodation. What have been the options up to now. Find a good property dealer of the area and go sit in his office. And then he organizes the keys to 2-3 flats, and you go see them. And this goes on for a few days and with a few different dealers and then you have to settle for whatever you are getting. After all how long can you keep staying at the company guesthouse, or at your relatives place or the hotel. And then you also pay up that one-month’s rent as his commission, how much ever it may pinch. After all these guys have connections and can hound you till you don’t clear their bill first.
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Consider another scenario**. You are quite well settled in your current job and your current city and would now like to buy a flat here. After all why keep paying rent when you can pay the EMI and stay in your own flat. So what do you do now. Again contact your local property dealer and he asks you your budget and preferences and starts showing you around the neighborhood. I have seen it take many people sometimes more than a year and not find anything suitable. After all every property dealer has his biases, his limitations, his( malfide or not) intensions. So finally you take the help of two or three property dealers. And then finally when you do find your dream house and buy it, what do you land up with. At least one to two percentage commissions to be paid to the dealer. And with the property prices where they are today, that is not a mean amount out of your hard earned salary.
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Now the third scenario.** You have a lot of investment lying around in various Mutual Funds, or Government Securities, or Bonds, FDs, Shares etc. You see the spiraling prices of property and feel that there should be a change in your investment portfolio. You would like to invest in the tier two or tier three cities where the property prices are still low and you think would rise. But how do you find out the prices there. You can’t possibly visit every city and find property dealers there. So you would primarily be dependent on word of mouth information. Nothing really concrete to go by. Even if you do locate a city and a builder, how will you ascertain that what he is asking is the right price for that place. What are the rates prevalent there.
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The Website**
The answer to all the above problems is now available in the form of this website Magicbricks.com. It is a part of the Indiatimes group and contains all the information about the projects, prices, builders, and agents in all the cities of India. So be it Bangalore or Delhi or Noida that you are interested in just log on and all the information is there. Weather you want to rent out a property, or buy one, just make a search with your parameters and you get all the choices neatly listed. You can search by type, city, budget, and number of rooms, residential, commercial et all. Ok, and when you have found your dream home and need a loan what do you do. Just click on the loan options and check out all the possibilities. They will work out the EMI for you on the amount that you want so you can plan properly. You can even apply for a loan through the site.
If you have a flat but have been posted to another place and need to rent it out, just list it on the site and you will receive scores of calls for the same. Listing is free and neither you nor the tenant needs to pay anything. Once you register and post your property, all responces are sent to your e mail. Also there is an option to get an SMS as soon as you receive a mail response. You can of cource also be contacted on your mobile phone directly.
All in all, I have found this site to be a one-stop shop for all my property needs. I have posted my flats here whenever I have needed to give them on rent and within weeks I have found scores of tenants to choose from. When I needed to invest in property, I have found all options here. Sitting in Vadodara, I got a complete grip on the property situation in Greater Noida without even once visiting that place.
Not only that they have property news, NRI specials, city specials. They keep you updated on the property trends; legal and taxation advise and also have live help if you need it.
The look, feel and the presentation of the site are very good. Navigation is easy and the use of flash and other softwares gives you complete virtual tours in selected properties. You can turn the mouse around and navigate the view within the rooms, you can move out to the terrace or the balcony and see the view your flat/ penthouse will give you.
Fantastic Site, a one stop shop for all your property needs is how I will sum it up!