The Hindu Business Line : ‘Fully furnished’ is new USP

Kid glove treatment, freebies and offers of luxury cars, substantial quantities of gold and vacations to exotic locales — all for signing on the dotted line — have hitherto been the prerogative of the upscale customer.

Enter depressed market conditions; the focus shifts from the luxury apartment to the modest one- or two-Bedroom Hall Kitchen (BHK) and no longer are builders actively chasing HNIs alone with a slew of persuasive deals; the offers are beginning to flow in at the lower end of the spectrum too. Some time ago, one player announced that apartments could be rented, and the rent would be considered to be a down-payment should the tenant become a buyer subsequently.

The latest buzz word in the business now is ‘fully furnished.’ Eiffel Developers and Realtors Ltd, for instance, is offering what it calls complete homesin the second phase of 200 apartments at its upcoming township at Chakan.

Bed, wardrobe et al

The 2-BHK apartments of about 650 sq.ft come furnished with a double bed, a double door wardrobe with dresser in each bedroom, a TV unit, dining table set and an array of cabinets in the kitchen. The package deal comes at a price of Rs 12 lakh per flat, which works out to around 15 per cent lower than what the 300 unfurnished apartments in the now complete first phase were sold for.

According to Sujit Bhansali, Director, Eiffel group, the volume benefit involved cuts the cost of furnishing the apartments by 40-45 per cent, in addition to saving customers the time and the inconvenience of doing it themselves. Buyers will have to go to ten different stores to select furniture. We can choose it, sometimes from suppliers even in China or Malaysia, and will offer customers several design options, he says, allaying fears that all interiors will appear identical.

The idea has caught on amongst developers in the city. In August, Kumar Builders is set to launch a township in the IT-industry hub of Hinjewadi which will have luxury flats complete with movable and immovable detailing and studio apartments with fixed furniture. The developer already has the Windsor Park, a bungalow scheme under way at hill-station Mahabaleshwar where the new units sold are fitted not only with movable and immovable furniture, but furnishings (carpets, curtains) as well.

Calling the trend a win-win situation, Kriti Jain, Executive Director, Kumar Builders says Furnishing flats at the builder’s end not only saves the customer cost and time, but also enables quality control and the elimination of the headache involved in supervision. This is a major driver of the emerging trend. The Citi Group, which is building 15,000 units in its township Amanora at Hadapsar, is currently offering a range of white goods in addition to fixed furniture in its first lot of 2,000 upscale apartments. Mr J K Bhosale, CEO, says that plans are afoot to extend the concept of furnished homes to budget homes as well.

Revenue generatORS

Panchshil Realty is set to launch fully furnished homes built as revenue generating apartments. Customers who invest in these serviced apartments will be given 55 nights free per year, while their investment will get monetary returns on the remaining 310 days. Calling this a guest invest model Mr Atul Chordia, Chairman and CEO, Panchshil says that the 310-unit Oakwood Residence project will be formally launched on May 29 and be ready by the middle of 2011.

The price tag for the 1- and 2-BHK upscale units, from 550 sq.ft to 1,100 sq.ft, will be in the range of Rs 8,500 and Rs 10,000 per sq.ft.

According to Mr Chordia, the Pune housing market has bottomed out, and is nearly 30 per cent below peak-prices of early 2008. With things beginning to look up since the last couple of months, he expects the situation to bounce back to the earlier levels by 2011.

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