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Bangalore, July 9 Australian real estate company L.J. Hooker has opened its second office in the city. Announcing this, Mr Ramneek Bakshi, Principal, said the fact that there was no branded player offering such services in the residential sector in India has given international companies such as L.J. Hooker a potential to grow here. There is a lot more structure in the way these organised players conduct their businesses, said Mr Chaitanya Manohar, Chief Operating Officer.The company aims to be a “one-stop shop” for clients, where its financial services wing would market financial products such as home loan and insurance products. “We have tied up with a couple of housing finance institutions and insurance companies already,” said Mr Bakshi, adding that talks are on with a few more. Apart from helping clients buy, sell and rent properties, L.J. Hooker would be engaged in property management services too, charging the clients one month’s rent for the services.

The company plans to expand across Bangalore, and wants to reach major Indian cities with its franchisee model. Mr Bakshi said that there are plans to start at least 5-7 offices in Bangalore, with the third one to be opened in mid-August. The fourth would be opened in Hosur shortly, that would service areas including the Electronics City. Hyderabad is on the company’s radar next. “We want to focus more on the South initially,” he said.

The company has an international network of over 730 offices in different countries. “Once the network is up and running in India, we can service our clients in a better way… even sourcing properties in a city away from the place of the client’s residence,” said Mr Manohar. This would be the key differentiator for corporates like them, as against local players, he added. In the long run, individual brokers or firms would take up franchises of these big firms, he said.

The company is recognised as a leading real estate franchise in Australia and New Zealand, and its Web site, www.ljhooker.com, has close to 1.5 million visitors a month, Mr Bakshi said.

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