Stuck realtors find no takers for Rs 500, Rs 1,000 currency

Mumbai: With real estate transactions getting stuck due to demonetisation, desperate sellers whose deals were stuck overnight after the announcement are luring buyers by saying they are willing to accept around 20-30 per cent of the total amount of the property in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Sellers are claiming that they would later convert the old currency into white or would use it where the notes are still being accepted. However, brokers whom these sellers have approached said that even this trick is not helping, as no genuine buyer is willing to go ahead with such deals.

An Andheri-based real estate broker said, “I have recently got a proposal from a seller to sell his 322 square feet row house in Versova where the buyer is ready to sell the property even by accepting around 30 per cent out of the total Rs 1 crore in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. But let me tell you that this trick is not working and the genuine buyers are not coming fearing scrutiny from the Income Tax department.”

Another broker, who is based in Navi Mumbai, has got around five to six proposals from sellers wishing to sell their properties accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. “I have two proposals wherein a Panvel-based seller is willing to sell his flats accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The ratio varies from buyer to buyer but there are sellers willing to have such kind of transactions,” he said.

Speaking to The Asian Age on condition of anonymity, a Versova-based row house seller said, “I am into the trading business and I will use the old currency notes to pay my employees in advance or ask them to exchange the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies on my behalf.”

However, experts say that buyers should be alert while making buying decision in such transactions as it may turn out to be a ploy.

Harshwardhan Roongta, principal financial planner, Ronngta Securities, said, “In all this the buyers should consider that the seller is not fooling them by selling his or her property from more than what is the actual market rate. Also, it is risky to go ahead with such a deal as various agencies could be tracking it.”