Meet 74-year-old SM Malde, the oldest real estate agent from Mumbai's Mulund micro-market to clear the first batch of the competency examination conducted by Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) on May 20. Malde, who has been a real estate consultant for four decades, secured 75 percent marks in the exam.
Why did he give the exam at the age of 74?
Speaking to Moneycontrol on what made him appear for the exam at the age of 74, Malde said, "I will not give you any flowery answer. I appeared for the exam for two reasons. One, RERA gave recognition to real estate agents, which we did not get in the last so many years. Second, I plan to be in the business at least for another couple of years. I will be active until my fitness and health support me. I have lived my life, but I am active even today in the field and I have a staff of three employees in my office."
"I appeared for the exam in the first batch. And when the results were announced last week, I was hospitalised due to an ailment. However, I was discharged later and now am back in the office. In my free time, I keep myself busy giving home-buying tips and guidance to young potential homebuyers. I have goodwill and a reputation in the Mulund area, and I work for the social cause of giving good guidance to homebuyers. For me now, business is secondary and the social cause of giving the correct guidance is the priority," he added.
MahaRERA had, on May 30, announced that 95 percent of real estate agents who appeared for a competency exam conducted by it on May 20 cleared the test. According to the data, out of 423 real estate agents who appeared in the first exam, 405 cleared it.
The assessment has been made mandatory by Maharashtra, on the ground that real estate agents are an important bridge between homebuyers and developers. There are around 39,000 MahaRERA-registered real estate agents in Maharashtra who require to renew their registration every five years.
Acceptance from the public
"We are in the business of providing our services; we do not make or offer any product. Following registration with RERA for almost five years now, I have realised that people have started accepting us as license holders who are organised. Earlier, anyone could become a real estate agent. Personally, I entered this business because I did not have much capital in hand at that time to invest in any other type of business," Malde added.
From a small room to a 2 BHK apartment
Speaking about his journey in the profession of real estate consultancy, Malde said, "I was residing in a small room, and today I am staying in a premium apartment in Mulund. This is thanks to this profession and my good work. I stay in a 2 BHK apartment of 750 square feet carpet, and my daughter is in the UK."
He added, "Though I must have closed more than 20,000 transactions in the Mumbai real estate market in the 40 years of my career in real estate consultancy, even today I have a target of closing three transactions in a month. Of these three transactions, one is for me, one goes towards meeting the expenses of my employees, and one is for administrative and maintenance costs of my 300 sq ft office space."