HERALD: We heard of SpaceDeal but not of RE/MAX SpaceDeal. How did this happen and when?
SHAWN GRACIAS: You heard of SpaceDeal because it is a 35-year-old brand in Goa started by Nurallah K Veljee. RE/MAX is the world’s biggest American brokerage brand in real estate. They have just set foot in India and we brought them into Goa as a franchisee. So now the collaboration is RE/MAX SpaceDeal Goa which was launched in October last year and has built Rs 1000 crore inventory with the collaboration multiple developers and land owners in the state of Goa.
HERALD: How would it help Goa?
SG: RE/MAX being a brokerage brand all over the world in 103 countries, the need of the hour is to attract new investors into Goa. Most of the people have only heard about sun and sand and that way we have probably gone wrong in way of marketing Goa worldwide. There are multiple HNIs and investors who have not even heard about the real estate potential Goa has to offer. This company will bring in these companies.
HERALD: However, we see that there is a lull in the real estate market soon after demonetisation, GST and now RERA. How would it work?
SG: The lull has basically affected the Indian investor at the end of the day but what about the huge NRI community and non-resident Goans who are willing to buy and come back into Goa. What about new investors who do not know anything about demonetisation or GST? For them the end use is Goa to invest in a lucrative property. We will be tapping this portfolio and will help convert the potential to some real monetary figures. The luxury segment is now the affordable segment and people are waiting to decide whether to go for a luxury segment or the normal property.
HERALD: This would mean there is a scope of offering more jobs to Goans, isn’t it?
SG:The salaried structure in the country is probably experiencing a complete downturn. We have come out with a fantastic opportunity for Goans to make them a RE/MAX agent or a broker associate where we will empower them to earn as much as they can. As a broker associate, one would partly invest with us and use all our sales tools and contacts available with us and the sky is the limit. Initially, the total investment by a broker associate in our company will be as low as Rs 6,000 per month but upfront we take Rs 30,000. We are creating entrepreneurs and empowering people. The earning potential will directly be proportional to a broker associates skill set and contacts. Our core competency will be on training and development and connecting them to the buyers across the RE/MAX platform.
HERALD: When are you going to launch this in Goa?
SG: In Goa we have a huge query list because there are so many broker associates who have signed up with us. But to further our initiative we have something called a realtors partners meet slated for next month in Goa and we are looking at making it as calendar event so that everyone will understand the concept directly from the RE/MAX corporate team.
