Real estate happens to be one of the oldest and most lucrative businesses worldwide. Before globalization, people invested in real estate in their localities but as the world has become more connected, real estate investors have also expanded their horizons, with access to practically the whole world for their investments. Dishant Malik, the founder of Realsta, is one such aggressive new age real-estate investor and consultant, who has been rising to the top in the industry, working in silence, with his utmost dedication & unwavering commitment. The founder took the reins in his hand and has trailblazed a new path by logically analysing investments and positioning himself and his clients in the best deals possible. Below are some questions answered by him, which talk about how the real estate industry operates and how this domain, surprisingly, is the most trusted avenue by UHNI’s for consolidating and multiplying their wealth.

Q1. How is your brand taking care of the modern-day requirements of the advancing world of real estate developments?

With our different verticals of execution, we have managed to create a value chain where each stage is executed in-house itself. Under our REFO ( Real Estate Family Office), we are not just doing the conventional buying-selling routine for our clients. Instead, we are actively involved in doing extensive market research that enables us to identify the best opportunities and positioning in terms of land as well as builder projects. Our work in asset management allows us to maximise the growth trajectory of an asset after acquiring it, and then creating a favourable exit for our investors. The corporate leasing vertical helps us in the effective management of assets by creating a recurring rental income. It also lets us choose the pedigree of people that we want to work with, which in this case are the CXO’s of top corporates.

Q2. Since you are scouting the field of real estate and infrastructure, are there any specific prerequisites that a person needs to hold before entering the domain?

Will and intent are the major driving forces for succeeding in any field at all. In real estate, they become even more important because the stakes are high, and to be wilful about your decisions is tough. If you can master that, then a risk-taking appetite and good relationship building skills, coupled with a keen eye scouting for opportunities, are all you need. Investment-wise, you can start as low as 5-10 lakhs and still make money out of it.

Q3. What was your moment of epiphany to start this venture?

Prior to entering real estate, I was a commercial pilot in the USA. I had to come back to India to help out with certain family issues. My experiences in the aviation sector had instilled in me the importance of discipline and focus, along with an ability to absorb, analyse and execute decisions quickly. I had also realized that I preferred being my own boss over working a job, because I would never be able to choose my supervisors. Real estate offered me a chance to be able to do exactly that: the ability to choose the people I wanted to work with, or work for. With the motto to bridge gaps wherever they exist, I dedicatedly worked towards adding value to people’s lives by providing exemplary services with a genuine desire to produce extraordinary results, and am striving to do the same today, and in the future.

Q4. What is your brand's USP and how are you doing something different from other players in the domain?

The driving force that sets us apart in the market, is a unique and rarely found blend of competitiveness with integrity and ethics. Real Estate can get very dirty, usually by people looking to make their own cut in the short term. In this industry particularly, getting ahead without compromising your values and ethics is a tough job, but not impossible, and we can proudly say that we are the personification of that. Aside from that, we also implement a highly disciplined and data driven investment methodology, with calculated risks, to provide consistent and rising payouts to our investors while shielding them from adverse risks. We do this by leveraging our operational expertise and focusing on our core real estate capabilities—leasing, financing, branding, design and property and facilities management.

Q5. What has been the success mantra that leads you to bring new services to the table effectively?

I have always said : chase value, and valuation will follow. If you want to bring outstanding services that make the firm stand out from others, you should always look for areas that can add value to people's lives. If there is a gap that a service solution can bridge, and if you’re competent enough, with a genuine desire to do good, honest work, you will always be on a growth trajectory. We currently have around 400 crores in funds under advice and 1 lakh sq ft of assets under management. In practically every transaction, we put our own capital to work alongside our clients, aligning interests and bringing the strengths of our operational expertise, on-ground insights, and significant scale capital to bear on everything we do.

Q6. What are your plans to expand and grow your network and take Realsta to new heights?

We are constantly on the move, performing significant market research to make sensible data-driven decisions. We handle all contractual paperwork and due diligence with a specialised in-house legal and accounting staff and assist you with the financial know-how involved in complex transactions. Furthermore, in the very near future, we are looking forward to scaling up and expanding our offices to international waters. We already deal with a significant amount of NRIs in our clientele, and we want to explore more in that segment.

Q7. What is the clientele that you’ve worked with so far?

For corporate leasing, our clients include conglomerates like ITC, Vistara, American Express and McKinsey. Under the vertical of REFO (Real Estate Family Office), we have meticulously drafted and executed creative investment strategies for UHNIs like LPU (Lovely Professional University), Virat Kohli, etc. in a range of real estate assets. Under asset management, we have a client base of a plethora of NRIs who are struggling to manage their assets in India. To them, we provide a whole spectrum of services along the lines of property management, tenancy management, leasing, and furnishing and fit-outs. All our verticals seamlessly align together to create a value chain, that involves everything from the acquisition to disposal of an asset.

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Dishant Malik

Real Estate consultant Dishant Malik shares his insights about the realm of realty