Building professionals in real estate

Source: Hindustan Times

COMPARED WITH developed countries, India's real estate sector still lacks sophistication and transparency However, it is now the cynosure of international investors, thanks to the gradual opening up of certain sub-sectors like townships and retail to foreign direct investment. This has naturally brought on the need for better, more capable human resources.
Though real estate is not rocket science, there is a fair degree of complexity involved in the business. As in any other business, real estate businesses operate either by responding to existing market trends or opportunities, or on the basis of an in-depth understanding of the market, keeping an eye on both emerging possibilities and long-term integrity of the market. The first method is reactive and often opportunistic. The latter is based on information rather than gut feeling, and results in assured growth rather than short-term gains that only involve calculated risks.
India's economy is growing at an annual rate of seven to nine per cent. This implies rising incomes and therefore higher aspirations among many social strata. However, real estate prices have been rising concurrent, and building wealth through real estate has become a complicated art in which the practitioner can leave nothing to chance. The scenario is changing fast and there is a lot of professionalism coming in because of the arrival of major international players. Developers are cleaning up their act and introducing best practices and higher transparency now, thanks to evolving market dynamics.
Thankfully, we are now witnessing greater awareness of these implied challenges. This is evident by the number of real estate courses that aim to equip their students with some requisite knowledge, thereby giving them an edge. However, academic learning needs to be backed by hands-on, practical experience. A real estate course is at best a means to an end, but certainly not an end in itself. The emergence of Indian real estate as a new aca-demic focus is nevertheless heartening. Equipping students with a basic understanding of the real estate market is as valid as instructing them on stock market dynamics; knowledge of either field can open up various career possibilities and attract youthful progressiveness into the sector. Also, the realtors of the future will be responsible for bringing about some badly needed regulatory frameworks in the sector, and for catalysing a higher degree of transparency. The fact that they now have opportunities for being academically prepared for this is nothing but positive.
However, do all the courses in the market today offer sufficient depth? Suffice it to say that should one choose to attend such a course, checking its credentials and verifying that the courses are officially recognised are extremely important. For instance, reputed institutions such as UK-based RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) will soon be introducing standardised courses for professional real estate education in India. One needs to tell such courses from others that may be dubious.
In the final analysis, no learning is ever wasted. At the very least, even rudimentary real estate courses can whet the appetite of our youth to acquire experience and proficiency in this exciting, dynamic sector. Here, as in every other field, the instructed youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.