“In developing countries like India, majority of Real Estate transactions happen in the Land category”- Mr. Advitiya Sharma, Co-founder of Housing.com
Mr. Advitiya Sharma, Co-founder of Housing.com shares his views with Technuter.com:
When and how did you have the idea for Housing?
I remember it so clearly, it was my final semester at IIT Bombay and we had just realized that from now onwards we’d have to worry about searching for a place to stay every 11 months! Within the first few days we realized that it was going to be a nightmare. It took us over 50 frustrating days roaming all over the city to find something that met our requirements. Although we did find something where we could live at, but the only thought that kept on coming back to us again and again was that this problem has existed for a very long time now, and it affects a lot of people. Everyone reading this article is going to be affected by the problem of home search. At that point of time we had this gem of an idea that maybe few of us just graduating from college, could do something about this problem. Maybe we could use our passion for technology and help millions of people find a house they’ll love!
And it is this gem of an idea that has today become Housing.com and it feels great.
What is the USP of Housing?
When we launched as India’s 1st map based Real Estate portal, people thought that our amazing UI/UX was our USP. But our real strength lies in the data we collect – genuine, verified, and comprehensive. We collect real pictures of all the properties we list, along with more than 100 data points. We’ve also made the interface on our website very user-friendly; and most of all, we are committed to improving the entire home buying experience.
What is Housing doing differently to increase its market share in India?
In just 2 years we have grown to 45 cities, with over 4 Lakh verified listings with HD photos and accurate details. We have over 15,000 agents, 10,000 builders and over 100,000 landlords working with us! We focused on only one thing: How can we build a product that will help people find a house they’ll love?
And it is the result of this focus that we’ve won over the people and have grown so fast!
Do you have plans for significant market expansion in the near future?
Our mission is to map every house in India on Housing.com! Till few months back we were mapping 300-400 houses per day, now we’re mapping 3000 houses every day! We want to take this number to 10,000 listings per day and we will expand from 45 cities to 200 cities over the next 2 quarters.
Could you please tell us about Housing’s Land project?
In developing countries like India, majority of Real Estate transactions happen in the Land category. Although Land is a major segment in Indian Real Estate, there exists no product to help people in villages, towns showcase their Land online! The Land product developed by Housing is an innovation in the online real estate space, not just in India, but also internationally. India, being a developing country, has major scope for growth in the real estate space, and buying and selling of new land becomes very important in this respect.
When it comes to Land Projects, we are concentrating mainly on the Tier II and III cities. This is also why we bought the all-3s phone number (03-333-333-333), keeping in mind that not everyone who lives or conducts business in these areas has access to the internet, or is mobile savvy.
What are the current trends in the real estate market when it comes to online vs offline search?
75% of people start their home search online. If they find a product that empowers them with information enough in making a buying or selling decision, they won’t need to go anywhere else!
