We want to change the way real estate wealth is managed: Shivam Sinha, founder Indiassetz
"We will expand to metros in western and northern markets and have a pan-India presence," he said.
Indiassetz Infra Services, founded in 2014, wants to replicate the banking and wealth management experience in real estate for HNIs. Shivam Sinha, founder & CEO, Indiassetz is a former banker with stints at HSBC and Standard Chartered identified a gap in advisory services in real estate segment and seeks to bridge that with his portfolio of services. In an e-mail interaction with ET Shivam Sinha, founder & CEO, Indiassetz discusses the real estate market, impact of RERA, GST and more. Edited excerpts:
What are the kind of services offered by Indiassetz?
Indiassetz Infra Services is a “Family Office for Real Estate Wealth Management”. We manage real estate wealth of high net worth families and NRIs. We parallel the experience of bank and wealth management companies backed by strong technologies. The customer doesn’t have to get involved as we take over the entire pain of the customer wherever the property is concerned.
How do you help clients? Do you help them buy, sell or rent properties as well?
We manage the entire process -end to end – starting from identifying the properties, to initiating a legal and valuation due diligence, to negotiation, paper work and final registration. We help clients by advising, managing and executing all work needed for their real estate wealth. We not only help them buy, sell and rent properties but also offer services such as, tax advisory, tenancy management, government liaison work, portfolio advisory, maintenance, interiors, finance, valuation, legal assistance and other services.
Is Indiassetz a property broker/dealer? If not, what's the difference Indiassetz offers?
The services we provide at Indiassetz to our customers are very different than of a property broker/ dealer. We are a boutique family office which advises customers on their real estate wealth and portfolio. We advise, manage and execute all work relating to our client’s real estate wealth. We provide end-to-end services to our clients not only buy & sell. We are an integrated and and seamless service provider.
What's your business model?
Our revenues are diversified as we have a range of services on offer. We charge an upfront onetime fee for the clients to hire us post which we charge as and when there is a transaction taking place like buying/ selling/ leasing/ renting/ interiors, or any other service used by the client.
When we started up initially in the first month itself we acquired 10-15 clients and today we have grown fast in terms of clients and profitability. We have grown organically in the last four years. In a short span, Indiassetz and has more than 3,000 registered clients generating an asset value of Rs 2500 crores.
Who all are the investors in Indiassetz? How much have you raised/invested?
We are a closely held company and have made our business model from our own earnings. We started in October 2014 with a small capital. We have been profitable since year one and the expansion was done through the business income ploughed back into business.
In the last five years property business is in a slump. What are the reasons behind this and when do you see the market improving (in terms of buyers returning; transactions taking place etc)?
The year gone by has shaped the real estate sector to accustom to the numerous compliances that would guarantee quality construction delivered to the home buyers. The industry as a whole has seen both the turmoil and the prospect. The reforms implemented have brought about an imperative change in the tax, regulatory and business environment in India. Introduction of RERA and GST have improved transparency in the sector, thereby attracting investors looking at Indian real estate with renewed dynamism.
Currently, the buyers have become bolder with more transparency and prospects in the market and the developers have observed a more suave and regulatory business process. Today’s market is very much steady for buyers; choices are accessible, making it a good time to capitalize in a house. Also, the latest move of linking the Aadhaar with all the property transactions and augmentation in carpet area, are all positive steps taken for the growth of the industry.
Though RERA, GST and demonetisation hit the real estate industry in the short term, these reforms are bound to benefit the sector and the economy in the long-term.
What are your goals for the next 3 to 5 years?
Currently we provide our services in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai. We also have a client sourcing office in Dubai. We are also looking at few more countries where there is substantial Indian population. We soon intend to start our operations in other cities in India.
We will expand to metros in western and northern markets and have a pan-India presence. We will set up offices in countries having large Indian diaspora. We wish to change the way real estate wealth is perceived and managed in India. Digitalization is a big initiate for us and we are making investments into it in a phased manner to make 70% of the process managed on technology.