EkoStay, the homestay and villa rental operator with more than 175 villas under management and eight years of operating experience, has launched Eko Estates, a new vertical that builds freehold villas in the Western Ghats and runs them on the owner's behalf. The launch portfolio comprises six freehold villas at Kawnai, Igatpuri, 600 metres above sea level, priced between ₹2.75 crore and ₹4.80 crore. Two are ready to move into, and four are due for possession between February and April 2027.

A contracted rental, not a projection

Under the Assured Agreement, Eko Estates runs the villa entirely and pays the owner a contracted rental yield of up to 10 per cent per annum of the purchase price, credited by the 10th of every month for 48 months, whether the house is occupied or empty. The rate is fixed at signing and calculated on the purchase price rather than the assessed value, and occupancy risk sits with the company, in writing, for the full term. Owners keep 24 weekday nights a year for themselves. The rental is paid by Ekostay LLP, the operating entity behind the company's managed portfolio, rather than by a company formed for this project.

Buyers who would rather have the house than the income can opt for Private Use: no fixed rental, no lock-in and all 365 nights unrestricted, with Eko Estates hosting on a revenue-share basis in the weeks the owner is away. Owners can switch to the Assured Agreement at any time, and the title document is the same under both options.

Freehold, with the land

Every villa is freehold and registered in the buyer's name with the land: not a share, a fraction or a bond. The 7/12 extract and the NA order are open for inspection at any time. Each home comes fully furnished with a private pool, staff quarters, water source and storage, power backup, covered parking, a lawn and deck, and air conditioning and Wi-Fi throughout, specified once across the portfolio rather than sold as upgrades. Each project comprises fewer than eight units and is exempt from registration under MahaRERA Order 25A/2023.

The company sets the yield against other uses of the same capital. By its figures, a ₹3 crore apartment in Mumbai rents for roughly ₹9 lakh a year, a rate of 2.5 to 3.5 per cent; a commercial unit might earn ₹18 lakh, at 5 to 6 per cent, with three to nine vacant months between tenants; and a fixed deposit pays about 7 per cent. A ₹3.50 crore Eko Estates villa under the Assured Agreement would pay ₹35 lakh a year, credited monthly.

Why Igatpuri

EkoStay already operates in Igatpuri, so the performance behind these homes is drawn from houses it runs on the same roads. The valley holds its rate through the monsoon, with August a peak booking month, and the villas are designed around the view and the rain, with drainage, waterproofing, ventilation and materials chosen accordingly. Because the land is already converted to non-agricultural use, Non-Resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India can buy under the general permission granted by the Reserve Bank of India for residential property.

"Your capital is almost certainly earning less than you think. We've run other people's holiday homes for eight years and we know what they actually earn, and what a Mumbai apartment or a commercial unit earns next to them. A rental that's contracted and lands on the 10th of every month, full house or empty house, is a different thing from a projection in a brochure." – Varun Arora, Co-Founder, EkoStay

Co-Founder Husain Khatumdi said the first villas in the portfolio "were built to be run, not to be sold" and have been hosting EkoStay guests for over a year. COO and Co-Founder Sohail Mirchandani pointed to paperwork as the main risk in the Ghats: "Clear and marketable freehold title, the NA order in hand, the 7/12 extract on the table before anyone asks, and a rental paid by the same entity that runs 175 villas." Co-Founder Zishan Khan explained the two-option structure: "Some want income, some want weekends... You own the villa outright either way."

Site visits are open. Igatpuri is about three hours and forty minutes from Mumbai, roughly 150 kilometres up the Mumbai–Nashik highway through the Kasara ghat, and about twenty minutes by road from Igatpuri station, where the company arranges pickups. More information is available at www.ekoestates.com.

Images: courtesy of EkoStay / InkCraft