Good morning, at the end beginning of the day, the price you pay is the only thing that matters.
Context Please: Twitter's sales have grown from USD535 million when it IPOed in 2013, to over USD5 billion today.
However, the Twitter stock today is 20% below its 1st day close in 2013.
How In The Meta Is That Possible?
You see, investors were paying 41x of sales at its IPO, which is down to 6x of sales today. Price is everything.
That reminds us, how about following Ginger Chai on Twitter? 👍
🏃♀️🚴♀️🍎🍳
When Builder Defaults - Bank: 0 Homebuyer: 1
All over the country, which means mostly in NCR, uncountable homebuyers are paying for two houses without owning a single one.
Bewildered? Let Us Explain.
Say you live on rent and one Valentine's Day, you go and buy yourselves an apartment in an under construction project. You get a mortgage, your bank gives the builder his money and you bravely start paying your pre EMIs, along with your rent.
Then one day, you wake up to some protests on TV and learn that the builder you trusted with all your money has done the great disappearing act and your dream home is now in limbo.
Plus, you are now paying for two houses and you own zilch. So, that's that.
Hang On, There's Hope For You Now
Per standard procedure, when a developer defaults on debt, the bank(s) funding the project's construction promptly take possession of the unfinished project and auction it to recover their dues, leaving would-be homeowners on a cocktail of antidepressant and hypertension meds.
However, per this report, the Supreme Court has recently put the interests of homebuyers above that of the project funding banks, in the event of a real estate builder defaulting on financial and delivery commitments.
Does It Need A Tweak In The Book?
Yes. The apex court thus clarified that in case of a conflict between the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and recovery proceedings under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI), the former will prevail.
Word On The Street
😍 Homebuyers: "This will certainly go a long way in giving relief to homebuyers, as they will not have to fight two-front battles, i.e., one with the builders and another with the banks."
😣 Banks: "It will affect their right to possession in the event of a default. If homebuyers claim interest in the builder's property, it will be a major setback for banks, and they will be hampered."
😤 Folks On Twitter: "Hey! What about shipyards and airlines?"
Why The Chewing Gum Is Dying...
Let's face it. Chewing gums are not what they used to be just two decades ago. Heck, some even came with Kapil Dev collectible cards.
So, what's killing the good old gum?
🔖 Theory #1: People became distracted on their iPhones in grocery store checkout queues and made fewer impulse purchases.
🔖 Theory #2: Post the arrival of smartphones, folks no longer had room in their pockets to also carry a pack of gum.
Check out this Twitter thread for the most jawline building conversation on the demise of the gum.
P:S: Sometimes, nothing satisfies like an intelligent but totally worthless exchange of ideas.
Are The Economy And Proptech Connected?
If you ask this question to an average proptech startup's CTO, the answer would probably be no, and that's because techies know little about the real estate market their tech aims to serve.
In fact, you should not be surprised if you hear a techie say that the next 100k lines of code coming out of his computer will change the economy.
Thankfully, that's not how it works. 😅
3 Big Ways The Economy Is Shaping Proptech
💻 Interest Rates: When interest rates drop, property sales skyrocket, meaning proptech is busy in search and discovery, and transaction enabling development. This is also a time when real estate companies are flushed with money and hiring is at peak.
However, as interest rates increase, transactions and revenues drop, leaving lesser money on the table for manpower. Proptech now needs to refocus its faculties to create tech that replace manpower as much as possible.
💻 Macroeconomic Trends: In the last two years, the Delta-Omicron tag team have radically changed the macroeconomic environment. First, as office realty went into suspended animation and home ownership got front row tickets, rent-to-own solutions and alternative financing tools, became proptech priorities.
Also, socially-distant tools to manage construction sites accelerated the adoption of AI-driven site monitoring tech.
💻 Changing Investor Environment: The new trend of increasing institutionalization of real estate has led to the emergence of larger, nationwide/global portfolios that require proptech pioneers to create an enterprise-grade technology infrastructure to build, acquire, finance, operate and sell assets at scale.
Nope. Subway Trains Don't Work
Our reckless ways are continuously damaging our oceans, and as coral reefs are an essential part of marine ecology, environmentalists had come up with a brilliant plan (or so they thought) to jump start a reef revival.
Enter NYC Subway Train Coaches
Over a decade ago, more than 1,000 subway train coaches were shipped to coastal areas in Delaware, New Jersey, and Georgia and dropped on the ocean floor as part of an artificial reef program.
Predicted to last underwater for more than 25 years, the coaches started to disintegrate only months after they were dropped instead. Reason? They were made of stainless steel and not corrosion resistant carbon steel.
How About Tanks?
When it comes to artificial reefs, the heavier something is, the less likely it is to be turned over by undercurrent waves and hurricanes.
That’s why tanks are pretty effective. They were never meant to be taken apart and are good for 150 easy-years of underwater presence.
Deep dive into this awesome FastCompany report for more.
Image: Mel Evans/AP/Shutterstock
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Cryptocurrencies are like Ponzi schemes or worse, and banning them is the most sensible option for India to avoid the threat they pose to financial and macroeconomic stability, an RBI deputy governor has said, per Reuters.
More updates tomorrow. Good day. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai