MUMBAI: For decades, India’s residential real estate industry has largely been driven by developers, with homebuyers often navigating the purchase process with limited access to unbiased information. While digital platforms have simplified property discovery, the home-buying journey has remained largely transactional, leaving buyers to independently verify critical aspects such as project litigation, pricing transparency, inventory availability, and location realities.
Housiey, a home-buying platform founded by Ankit Agarwal, is attempting to change this narrative by building what it describes as India’s first buyer-centric home-buying platform -one that prioritizes informed decision-making over mere property listings.
Over the last ten years, Housiey has facilitated the purchase of homes worth more than ₹9,000 crore, helping 9,500+ families buy residential properties across six major Indian cities. The company believes these milestones are a reflection of an evolving consumer preference for transparency and advisory-led home buying.
Moving beyond property listings
According to Ankit Agarwal, Founder of Housiey, the next phase of India’s PropTech industry will not be won by the platform with the highest number of listings, but by the one that earns the highest level of buyer trust.
“Buying a home is often the biggest financial decision of a person’s life. Unfortunately, most buyers still don’t have access to unbiased information before making that decision. Our mission has never been to sell more homes – it has always been to help people buy the right home,” says Agarwal.
One of Housiey’s latest initiatives is enabling homebuyers to check project-related litigation and court cases before making a purchase decision. Legal disputes have historically been among the leading reasons for project delays and stalled developments, often putting buyers’ savings at risk.
The company believes that making such information easily accessible empowers consumers to identify potential risks much earlier in their home-buying journey.
“If a buyer can avoid getting trapped in a legally disputed project, it can save years of stress and potentially lakhs of rupees. Transparency should not be a premium service – it should be a standard,” Agarwal adds.
Building an ecosystem around buyer confidence
Beyond litigation insights, Housiey has developed several consumer-first features aimed at reducing information asymmetry in real estate.
These include:
- Projects Pros & Cons
- Sample Flat Videos
- Projects All Legal Documents
- Actual 360-Degree Location Tours
- Inventory Availability
- All Inclusive Pricing
Rather than encouraging quick transactions, the platform focuses on helping buyers understand both the advantages and potential concerns associated with a project before they commit.
Choosing trust over transactions
Agarwal acknowledges that adopting a buyer-first approach has not always been commercially easy.
“The Indian real estate ecosystem has traditionally been developer-driven. Remaining completely buyer-centric often means making difficult decisions. There have been several situations where we have consciously advised customers not to purchase certain properties because we believed they were not the right fit or because we identified concerns that buyers deserved to know about.”
He further adds that the company has, on multiple occasions, chosen to walk away from business opportunities rather than compromise on its principles.
“We’ve faced objections, criticism and commercial setbacks because of this philosophy. But if protecting the buyer means losing a sale, we believe that’s the right decision. Trust takes years to build and only moments to lose.”
Customer trust driving growth
Housiey’s buyer-first approach appears to be resonating with consumers.
Today, more than 3 lakh homebuyers visit the Housiey website every month to research projects, compare options and make more informed home-buying decisions.
The platform has received more than 3,000 Google reviews with an average rating of 4.8+, reflecting strong customer satisfaction and growing confidence in advisory-led home buying.
According to the company, there have been numerous occasions where developers have shared feedback that customers specifically chose to book a home because it was recommended by Housiey.
“Some developers have told us that buyers openly said, ‘We’re booking here because Housiey recommended this project.’ For us, that’s a much bigger achievement than simply closing another transaction. It tells us we’re earning trust, not just business,” says Ankit Agarwal.
The road ahead
Looking ahead, Housiey plans to continue investing in technology that helps homebuyers make informed decisions with greater confidence.
For Agarwal, the company’s long-term vision extends beyond becoming another real estate platform.
“We don’t aspire to become the biggest property marketplace. We aspire to become India’s most trusted home-buying platform. Every feature we build, every decision we make and every recommendation we give must answer one simple question- does it genuinely benefit the homebuyer? If the answer is yes, we move forward. If not, we don’t.”
As India’s residential real estate market continues to evolve, Housiey’s buyer-first philosophy signals a broader shift – from selling homes to helping people buy them with confidence, clarity and trust.
Housiey currently operates across six major Indian cities, offering homebuyers a transparent and advisory-led approach to property purchases. As a RERA-registered platform, Housiey adheres to regulatory standards in each state it operates in – its registration numbers include A51900001761 for Maharashtra and PRM/KA/RERA/1251/310/AG/220203/002764 for Karnataka.
(Brand Connect Initiative)
