India to be among the top three fastest growing realty markets

In a candid conversation with Franchise India, Michael Fischer, COO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC shares the brand's expansion plans and what opportunities it offers via the franchise route.

What do you think of Indian real estate franchise industry?

Indian real estate is a highly priced industry. The franchise processes, qualifications, the level of brokers and specialists need to improve. There is a strong need of specialists, more structured and trusted franchise operators to guide the clients through the process and I am not sure it’s there as an industry. There is a need of process to guide the people through real estate. We are in India at the absolute right time with the absolute right franchises. Presently, India is similar with what San Francisco was in 1906, it's a completely unorganised market. We know that with human nature it is going to drive to a more organised trusted process and I think we are the right brand to do that.

Which business model suits you, master franchise or area developer or single unit?

We prefer single unit franchise model with 80:20 profit sharing ratio. Independent developers are preferable partners for us as they help in providing local marketing capabilities. We have around 25 offices around the country and by the end of March 2016, we want to increase it between 30 and 35 and by the end of 2017 we will have around 100 offices. With 25 offices, we don't have credible capability to give you an idea of our current market share, but we want to grow our market share to five to 10 percent in the next five years.

Will government regulators for real estate sector improve the franchise scenario?

As the regulator comes in it will make it harder for people to follow the unethical practices.

With rocketing prices of real estate in India, how will franchise grow?

As long as there is a property with higher demand and supply we will keep growing. I can see here, the supply is growing because there is so much demand. I think there is no point, the price will go up from here. It may not go up in significant amount but more and more supply will come. There will be ups and downs but there will be enough opportunities.

What is your main focus- residential or commercial?

Primarily, our focus will be on residential. It is less organised than the commercial market. We have a commercial brand also we do commercial business as well. But commercial is more about the global network. Residential is about organising in the sector.

Five rules of choosing franchisees:

•   Entrepreneurship
•   Ability to manage teams
•   Capability to invest in business
•   Willing to be involved in the business
•   Willing to learn to adapt is the main criteria we follow while choosing franchisees.