Is Real Estate Still a Man's Domain? Women have emerged in the forefront and are actively contributing financially in buying a house.

Gone are the days, when the real estate sector was considered largely a male-dominated industry. No matter how unconventional it might seem for women to be a part of the real estate sector, it is no more a hidden fact that women have made their mark in the field of housing. Also, women today, irrespective of whether being married or single, have realised the importance of owning a property in their name. Women have emerged in the forefront and are actively contributing financially in buying a house.

Paradigm shift in decision making

In our society, men were historically perceived to be the decision makers when it comes to buying or renting any property. Real estate traditionally has been a man's domain from business and buyer stand point. Women on the other hand, have always played a role in beautifying and maintaining homes. However, real estate is no longer a man's affair as more and more women are now actively participating in taking the key decisions when it comes to buying dream home or even renting.

Things today are rapidly reversing. Over 30% women are now the lead decision makers in their families and approximately 50% women are joint decision makers with other family members. A closer look at decision making patterns with respect to real estate businesses indicates that women are leading decisions pertaining to final price of property ownership and convenience of payments. While in rented accommodation women are today directly engaging with the owners as well as leading and coordinating rent and deposit amounts. Notion of men sealing the deal is passé.

Empowerment today is the name of the game

In the era of "Lean In" it's no secret that getting more women into positions of power produces huge results for companies and for the global economy. In short, it makes good business sense. Service industries like real estate, hospitality, retail etc., are some of the sectors where women are naturally inclined and perform well. Life in real estate is full of challenges and deadlines from the stage of approvals to completion of the project and one has to deal with multiple stakeholders at each stage, so setbacks, obstacles alongside failures are part of the game because it involves various layers and number of people. If you ask me how I deal with these, I would say I do deal with them and most often succeed.

There is no place in our society where women don't face stereotypes but I must say empowerment today is the name of the game. The number of growing female entrepreneurs will prove the world that their gender does not make them any less than the rest of the world. Personally I haven't quite faced much stereotypes, in fact I had an advantage of being a women and choosing unconventional career option like real estate.

Multi-tasking abilities and good inter-personal skills make women better business leaders

Each woman is an inspiration for someone due to unimaginable difficulties and problems they face in day to day life. Like balancing household and business is a difficult task in itself. This all comes from hard work and time management alongside keeping priorities at centre, there is no substitute to it. Women are inherently blessed with multi-tasking abilities and have a good inter-personal skills which will help them cope up in this competitive world. Stay focused, surround yourself with knowledge, work with passion and there will be nothing to stop you scaling heights.