A Russian proverb advises us not to buy a house, but the neighbourhood. While till some years ago, it was impossible to dictate who lived with you in the same quarters, today when you think of buying a home, you could actually create your own dream neightbourhood- thanks to the Internet and the group buying model.

The group buying model has been applied in different industries, from cars to baby merchandise to pet care products . Now, the trend is catching on in the real estate sector, with many sites as well as broking firms offering group deals on real estate projects in India.

The way it works is simple. Take xxx.com for example. This is an online and offline integrated platform which showcases property. It uses social media networks to let buyers know about possible good deals, and leaving it to them to do some viral marketing. once a large group of buyers is thus developer and helps negotiate a suitable discount.

Since, the developer doesn't have to pay for the marketing, it is willing enough to pay these companies a transaction fee which is a percentage of the total value of the deal. For the buyers, it offers the rates at no fee, thus making it a win-win proposition for all involved.

The developer also benefit by getting substantial cash flow, giving them a good amount of working capital. "In today's real estate scenario, bulk buying could be the answer to the market slump and the long awaited cash flow," says the Founder of xxx.com.

Sometimes, the discount size is not to be sneered at. Discounts on group buying vary from 5-30 percent, the average divergence from market rate being 25-30 percent.

Customer 'buy-in' is the model. But is it temporary fad?

In a way, the online group buying set-up is similar to the model developers share sixth speculators, who buy in bulk even before the project gets kick-started and get discounts of 30-40 percent. They pay 50 percent of the property value upfront. Group buying companies prove more beneficial for developers as they get away with providing lesser discounts than to speculators.

Some sound a note of caution on the trend. Present conditions are conductive for this business model as group buying works well in a situation where stocks are moving slowly, markets are jittery and there is ample supply. It may not work in a seller's market.

Another caution is very often the builders do not offer the best inventory to the group in terms of location and utility. The buyers have to use their astute Judgement to avoid such traps.

He behaved though it was his fault, but we knew he was not responsible for it.