Devinder

Hello everyone,

I am from North America visiting a friend in Uttar Pradesh. I have offered to help my friend sell a piece of prime undeveloped land that has been in the family for years. There is some ill-will among family regarding the land so therefore he would like to sell it quickly and quietly. Unfortunately he has no idea how to go about unloading this land in such a short time for a fair price so I have volunteered to do the research for him.

The land is over 6,000 square metres, surrounded by shops and residences, close to railway station and a popular Hindu gathering place. The circuit rate places the land in excess of $500,000 USD but if properly developed could fetch many times that amount.

My friend has some offers, but these offers are from people who have heard about the sale and hope to exploit his situation with offerings below the government's assessed circuit rate. Others want to be an agent, but have no buyers in their contact list and simply want to flip it for a small quick profit.

I got involved because I thought surely that there must be a away to get close to fair value for the land. This is my first time in India and after doing research I realize that it may not be so simple.

How can we find a motivated buyer? Should we approach a property devleoper directly, or perhaps go through an agent? From what I can see, it is difficult to find any partners in business here that you can trust. We are thinking of asking our banker or lawyer to tap into their network.

Hopefully we find an easy and fair way to part with this land, otherwise it will have to be sold for a song. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards, Dev