Jones Lang Wootton is the seventh international realty-consultant agency to have started full-fledged operations in India. The international property consultants have set up an office in Mumbai and Bangalore. They also plan to open an office in Delhi by the end of the year.

Jones Lang Wootton India managing director MD Holland India says that for the agency to pontificate on the market would be arrogant and foolish. "Clients with whom we work will confirm that we will tell it how wethink it is even if this goes against the short-term view point.''

The specific thrust areas of the firm globally is to help clients to maximise the value of every property decision, whether that relates to office, residential, retail or hotel property. Geographically, we now have established operations in Bangalore and Mumbai, and we will be extending our office base to Delhi in the near future.

When asked if the realty market had room for so many consultants, Holland said: ``The market is crowded with service providers all offering varying levels of service and different products. In such a scenario, it is the consumer who benefits the most and rightly so. Other than creating a more dynamic market place, many service providers, be they national or international, provide a wider choice and better quality service.

There are good local brokers and poor international advisors and poor local advisors and good international names. The customer makes the choice.'' Many of the Jones Lang Wootton staff havean international perspective because of their experience in markets outside India. "Jones Lang Wootton will apply this experience in India to raise our own standards and that will continue to raise the standard of the property market in India,'' says Holland.

According to the company, if one enters the market for the long term, there are no bad times. A company which focuses on maximising value rather than maximising prices, or providing a higher level of commitment to service rather than minimising the effort, will be discovered by the consumer base whether the market is rising or falling.