Development real estate — housing, retailing, construction, commercial rental spaces — is the top investment pick among all asset classes for the majority of Pakistanis. It is considered an attractive investment that offers passive income, large returns, tax advantages and the opportunity to build wealth.
However, as with other types of investments, development real estate investing can be risky, and the property owners may lose their hard-earned money or see their investments depreciate. There are risks that are inherent to the nature of the real estate or property business: the probability of loss, the probability of investors not receiving the expected rate of return and the variance or volatility in returns from expectations.
Such risks are always at their highest in the early stages of procurement of land and regulatory permissions, and construction, of any scheme and decrease as it progresses to its completion. Therefore, early investors have an opportunity to reap maximum profits.
But in Pakistan, real estate investors also face additional risks associated with widespread fraud and malpractices in this business. Chances are that you, or someone from your social circle, might have bought a piece of real estate to discover later that the project you had invested your hard-earned money in was illegal.
Chances are that you, or someone from your social circle, has bought a piece of real estate to discover later that it was illegal — but property technology…
