I think the biggest learning for us has been the lead time taken for a project - from initiating discussions with builders, waiting for final drawings, land acquisition and and plan approvals to the actual launch of the project.
But pune was slightly different - particularly Sachin and Nitin of Vastushodh developers. Right from our first meeting to the final project launch (a period of less than 3 months), we were really impressed at the amount of thought and research that was put into the planning of 'Anandgram'. Obviously they had the benefit of studying earlier projects in low-cost housing, but full credit to them - it was a very methodical and a professional effort.
('Anandgram' is a low-cost housing project coming up near a small town called Yavat - about 40km from Pune city on the Pune-Solapur highway. It is well connected by bus and suburban trains to Pune (35 min train ride to Pune station). The project is about 2km from the Yavat railway station and just off the main highway. With good connectivity to Pune city, and priced between 3.5lakh (1 Room Kitchen) to 6.5lakh (2 Bedroom Hall Kitchen), it offers great value for money.)
The launch of 'Anandgram' was held couple of days back on Friday. Ads in the local papers and jingles on radio stations attracted a lot of people to the site, the builder had organized free transport to and from the site for the convenience of prospective buyers.
We were present on all three days of the launch - in fact we went a day earlier to set up the MHFC stall. On Friday we had one loan officer at our stall, but due to the overwhelming response we sent two more for Saturday and Sunday.
Overall it was a successful launch, a substantial part of the project got sold out in the first three days and also quite a decent percentage of the clients were from the informal sector. I think we would have a better idea on the profile of the people who visited/booked in the project in a couple of days (after collating the data collected by the loan officers at site). so more to follow on that...
