Working With NRI Buyers: What They Need That Local Buyers Do Not

NRI buyers are a meaningful share of the market in most Indian cities, and they are underserved for a simple reason: they need more from an agent, and many agents treat them the same as a local buyer.

Video is not optional

A local buyer visits. An NRI buys from your footage. That changes what the footage has to do.

• Film the whole flat, including the parts that are not flattering. A remote buyer who arrives to a surprise will not complete, and may not forgive.
• Walk the approach. From the main road to the gate to the lift to the door. They cannot picture the context otherwise.
• Show the surroundings. The market, the traffic at 6 pm, the view from the balcony in daylight.
• Do a live call walkthrough as well as the recorded video, so they can ask you to look at specific things.

The recorded video sells; the live call closes.

Time zones set your rhythm

A buyer in the Gulf is 1.5 hours behind, in the UK 4.5 to 5.5, in the US 9.5 to 12.5. Establish early which hours work and hold them. An agent who calls at a sensible local time for the client, consistently, stands out immediately.

Agree a weekly slot for updates rather than sporadic messages. Remote buyers are anxious about being forgotten.

Documentation they will ask about

Be ready with:

• Title chain and the mother deed
• Occupancy and completion certificates
• Latest property tax receipt and society NOC
• Approved plan
• Encumbrance certificate

Send scans early and unprompted. Every day you delay a document, a remote buyer becomes more nervous, and nervous remote buyers withdraw.

Power of attorney

Most NRI purchases complete through a PoA given to a family member or trusted representative in India. Flag it early — it needs to be executed at the Indian consulate or apostilled, and it takes weeks. Deals slip constantly because nobody mentioned the PoA until registration was two weeks away.

The money side

• Purchases are made through NRE, NRO or FCNR accounts under FEMA rules.
• Repatriation of sale proceeds later is restricted and worth flagging at purchase, not at sale.
• If your buyer is purchasing from an NRI seller, the buyer must deduct TDS under Section 195 — a much larger sum than the usual 1%, with no threshold. Getting this wrong makes your buyer personally liable.

Advise them to take a chartered accountant's view rather than yours on any of this. Your job is to raise it early enough that they can.

The trust equation

A remote buyer is choosing an agent as much as a property. Answer quickly, send the unflattering video, raise the PoA before they ask, and say "I do not know, I will find out" when you do not know. Those four behaviours win more NRI business than any amount of marketing.