Infrastructure and Real Estate

Introduction

Infrastructure and real Estate is a sector that has the potential to change the face of the country and shape an outstanding career of an individual. Although full of challenges, the sector is highly rewarding. You can generate enormous wealth for yourself and have the satisfaction of doing something for the nation, both at the same time.
A career in infrastructure and real estate industry requires all the skills that are needed to float an independent business. In this context, you need to have several connections and contacts and must build strong relationships to get business. Purchasing of lands, plots, flats, houses and villas and then reselling the same requires strong selling skills as well.
In India, owing to global economic meltdown, the real estate industry touched an all-time low during the year 2009. As a result, several infrastructure and real estate consultants went jobless. However, the situation now is stable and construction work has again begun full-swing. The major earnings in both these industries come by selling the products such as flats, commercial spaces, and bridges.

Step-by-Step

Usually, students complete their twelfth standard and pursue a distance education if they wish to run a real estate business. To work on the technical side and then to get a job in the real estate and infrastructure industry, you may have to complete a degree in civil engineering or construction engineering from any engineering college across the country. Besides technical jobs, you could be an MBA in sales and marketing or International relations or hold a degree in business communication to get started with a construction company. The roles you may be offered would be that of sales manager, sales executives, construction executives, and so on depending on the company.
You would require knowledge in the following areas overall:
1.  Technical aspects of building and construction
2.  Latest news on market prices per square feet of home/land/plots in different areas
3.  Stocks and shares status of various companies
4.  Various marketing, selling, and pricing strategies to attract customers
5.  Large network of shareholders or buyers
If you are prepared with the above mentioned, you may succeed in creating a niche for yourself in the real estate industry.

Start Early

As stated above, if you wish to start a standalone real estate business, you may build contacts for buying raw materials, supervision and labourers and start a business at your risk. Banks may give you loans depending on the scale of business. Otherwise, you may need to complete a degree in civil engineering and then apply for jobs.

Is it the Right Career for Me?

Infrastructure and Real Estate is the right career for you if you have penchant and passion for making big money, inclination to 24/7 hard work, and the ability to guide and supervise a team of builders, consultants, labourers and site managers.
As a builder, the job involves purchasing cement, mortar, bricks and raw materials and then hiring labourers and architects. It also entails purchasing old properties and mortgaged or disputed lands and plots or houses and then legally converting them into sellable properties first. Next comes the selling part where you will need strong coordination skills to catch business. Howsoever difficult the job may seem in the beginning, it provides a wonderful opportunity to earn much more money than any other profession.
Especially in India, there are several popular websites such as Indiaproperty.com, 99acres.com and Indiahousing.com that allow people to buy and sell properties across the country. These websites act as mediators between buyers and sellers and make the job very easy. Advertisements in newspapers are also a source of developing business.

What would it Cost Me?

A civil engineering degree would cost you anywhere between Rs 60,000 to 1,00,000 per year depending on the private college you choose in your respective state. Else, if you appear for national entrance tests and succeed to get into any of the top colleges such as IITs or Delhi College of Engineering, the fees may differ.
As an alternative, you may pursue an MBA in sales and marketing and apply for business jobs in real estate agencies.

Funding/Scholarship

If you wish to borrow a loan from a bank, the suggested bank is State Bank of India, which offers a loan of up to Rs. 7.5 lacs. As it is a national bank, the loan and repayment methods are safe and secure.

Job Prospects

The Real Estate and Infrastructure industry offers jobs for positions such as real estate sales executives, property managers, estate managers, IT manager- Real estate, and Professors, to name a few.
While professional jobsites offer a plenty of technical opportunities, you may also become a part of the construction team if you are a civil engineer or an architect! However, the construction jobs are comparatively tedious when compared with other field sales jobs.
On the other hand, jobs in infrastructure would include civil engineers, infrastructure managers, store or warehouse managers and inventory executives.

Pay Packet

The pay packet for real estate sales executives may start from a minimum of Rs. 15,000 and go up to Rs. 50,000 based on the business you bring. If you have been hired on a commission basis for the realty or mortgage department in a bank or private financing companies, you will earn proportionate to the business relationships you build.
As a civil engineer, you may be placed as structures managers with top companies for a higher starting salary of Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000.

Demand and Supply

The demand for civil engineers and infrastructure managers is comparatively low when compared with IT engineers or Electronics and Telecommunications engineers. However, when placed in these positions, the engineers get paid quite high and have ample scope to travel abroad to other countries such as Japan.

Infrastructure marketing and engineering also involves purchasing of latest technology machines for construction. Besides, the supply of engineers is usually higher when compared with the demand.

Market Watch

The Real Estate and Infrastructure market usually is on an upswing unless there are economic crises such as the global recession of 2009. Everyday, newspapers display over a 1,000 advertisements about the new constructions, IT Parks, commercial spaces and group societies. For instance, construction groups such as DLF, Raheja or the Hiranandani place their discounted prices per square feet for one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom apartments and individual villas in newspapers to attract customers.
Currently, these groups are focusing on the suburban areas of metros such as Chennai, Mumbai et al. and coming up with cheaper options for middle class families.
In this regard, jobs for engineers, architects, and construction managers are ample.

International Focus

Most of the important builders such as Raheja and Hiranandani use latest machines, processes and technologies to construct buildings and IT parks. For instance, if you consider the sky scrapers at Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai’s hi-tech cities, the buildings loom much above 20 floors and stand on solid steel pillars and latest technology construction techniques. These techniques have been borrowed from developed countries such as United States, Japan and Germany.
In short, it is quite possible to see cities as advanced as Chicago or New York within India.

Positives/Negatives

+ives:
•  The development and fast paced technological growth in this field offers a wide variety of job opportunities.
•  The earning opportunities for real estate professionals, whether builders, constructors, sales managers, or engineers, are huge. All that is needed is selling skills and relationship management skills.
-ives:
•  The industry has its ups and downs. For instance, during the recession of 2009, several real estate professionals were impoverished due to shortage of funds.
•  The job is risky, may require extensive travelling, investing an initial huge amount of money and so on. If one has stocks and shares, the risks further go up depending upon the rise and fall of market prices.

Different Roles, Different Names

Real Estate refers to building of home properties and official spaces.. On the other hand, Infrastructure business deals with building bridges, large scale IT parks et al. The type of employees both these businesses recruit usually have the same set of responsibilities but the scope of role varies in both. The sales manager in the real estate industry sells a home and gets business for the agency similar to what a sales manager in a bank does by selling loans or mutual funds and credit cards. Although the industry has established a separate niche, the opportunities are the same but much better paying when compared with other industries especially for engineers and sales officers at a larger scale.

Top Companies

The below mentioned are the top ten real estate companies of India:
1.  Ambuja Realty Group
2.  DLF Building
3.  Sun City Projects
4.  Merlin Groups
5.  Magic bricks
6.  Ghar4u
7.  NK Realtors
8.  99acres
9.  Mittal Builders
10. K Raheja Constructions

Tips for Getting Hired

When you attend interviews for a sales position or an engineering position in a real estate firm, keep the following points in mind;
1.  Keep your list of contacts and friends ready based on which you may claim to get business.
2.  Keep your technical knowledge on latest technologies and construction groups updated and flash it once in a while. This is necessary to ensure the employer that you are aware of the current prices and technologies coming up in the area.
3.  Speak good English and dress up decent enough as presentation is quite important for all sales professionals or engineering professionals alike.