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A virtual tour of real estate

G. Rambabu

NEW DELHI, June 23

WANT to buy property, but are too tied up to make a site visit? Well, don't despair, the answer to your dilemma is a mouse-click away.

Among the multitude of new India-related property sites that are cropping up, there is one that promises to be different. The new kid on the block -- www.sampatti.com -- hosts a sweeping 3-D virtual tour of the available real estate, making it possible t o check out the property site from home.

As Mr. Shamit Khemka, CEO, Sampatti.com Ltd, put it, ``This feature of the site is entirely dedicated to the customer, giving him the pleasure of seeing and understanding the property before he buys it.''

He told Business Line that the portal currently offers over 32,000 property listings across the country. The main USP of the site is the comprehensive detailing of property on the site. The detailing of the property is meticulous and specific to the exte nt of the exact area or location in every city of the country, he said.

``However, there's more to it than just property listing. We, at sampatti.com, are not property brokers or dealers. On the contrary, we are here to facilitate the process and help customers find the right deal,'' Mr. Khemka said.

He noted that the Web site seeks to be an extensive real estate and construction industry portal targeted at the professionals of the industry and the regular home purchaser/renter. It provides India's first comprehensive information exchange for all rea l estate related activities, services and support, he said.

``Real estate is about putting people in touch with other people -- buyers with sellers, property managers with renters and commercial property owners with tenants. Sampatti.com offers the virtual information marketplace on the Net. It stretches beyond s tates, cities and suburbs in a fast, efficient way to provide real estate related information anywhere in India,'' Mr. Khemka said.

The portal entitles brokers to host their properties free of cost and has plans for a registration programme for affiliating the brokers with the site. This forms the base for its unique section called the Yellow Pages -- an extensive database of approxi mately six lakh service providers and suppliers for property related matters. Apart from that, the site provides answers to any property or property related query the customer may have, Mr. Khemka said.

He said the site also offers information on frequently asked questions, news, legal advice, discussions and trade opportunities about real estate products and services.

Mr. Khemka said sampatti.com has tied up with Birla Home Finance Ltd (BHFL) to offer easy home financing solutions and a new feature called pre-approval credit rating to its existing brokers and other property listers with the site.

``This facility would, in turn, make it easy for the potential customer to acquire home financing solutions to buy any listed property. The credit rating helps the customer skip through a whole host of procedures that he/she would otherwise have to go th rough for acquiring a housing loan,'' he said.