You?ve heard of a test drive for a car. But how do you test a home?

Lounging together on the sofa on a lazy Sunday, Ravi and his wife Lakshmi decided it’s time to buy a bigger car! Together they sat and searched through various catalogues on the internet, going over the specifications again and again, comparing prices, selecting colours. But something was missing. They just couldn’t picture themselves in the car. They wanted a closer touch and feel, they realised. Off they went to the showroom for a test drive of their top choices. Zooming away in the car they realised, ‘This is it! The real way to know whether something is right for you is to experience it’.

Isn’t it so? Haven’t you ever experienced that feeling where something looked absolutely perfect on the hanger only to be not of your taste when you try it on? Would you not prefer to try and buy?

Why then, does a concept more similar to a test drive not exist for the most important and expensive purchase of our lives – our homes. When we visit a property today, we are shown a series of blueprints, plans and a sample flat. Glancing at a piece of paper takes a maximum of 10 minutes, a general sample flat walkthrough takes 30 minutes at most. Does this provide sufficient information for us to decide whether this house feels like home? That is practically the same amount of time we spend testing a series of dresses! Wouldn’t you want to try your dream home a little bit longer?

A prominent real estate company had the same question. TATA Value Home s, understanding that a house isn’t just a place you live in, but your identity, your abode, your home, decided that it wanted to give its potential customers more time to make a decision. Time to actually experience the property before they made the house their home. This led to their fascinating new campaign, ‘Live and Buy’ which allows prospective customers to actually book a two day, one night stay at Santorini, a beautiful TATA Value Home s property in Chennai.

The beautiful Spanish style courtyard at Santorini

Styled and themed along the lines of Spanish architecture, Santorini has seen a lot of tenants convert into home owners. This led the team to the innovative idea – what if they provide consumers an immersive experience of the property?

What better way to experience a property than an evening swim?

The ‘Live and Buy’ campaign also allows the prospective customers to have full access to all amenities on the property, which include a fully functioning swimming pool, theatre, library, meditation centre and much more. In many ways, booking a ‘Live and Buy’ visit to Santorini is akin to spending a night at a luxury resort.

The mini theatre at Santorini provides a luxurious movie viewing experience

The advantage being – if you fall in love with the experience, you can also purchase it, and make it yours. A lot of thought and research was put into the creation of Santorini. The vision behind Santorini’s creation was to create homes that were ‘an eternal celebration of life with great food, siesta, music, stunning architecture and comfortable living’.

Constructing a housing property in a metropolis like Chennai comes with a range of challenges. Be it traffic, air pollution, high real estate prices, sound pollution and more, Santorini faces all these challenges head on.

With a strategic location that places the project slightly away from the city and the highway, sound pollution as well as air pollution is avoided. Spanish style architecture combines comfort along with greenery to create a residential township that looks more like a luxury resort, with amenities to match.

The lobby at the Santorini clubhouse Spend a day at a home that truly helps you unwind and relax

Could this concept bring about a revolutionary shift in the way we experience property? Experiential marketing has been the next big trend that has enabled users to get closer to brands. Technologies such as AR and VR are taking things to the next level. AR, for instance, now allows users to see how clothes will look on their body without actually trying them out.

The restaurant at the Santorini Clubhouse enables is an experience to behold

However, when it comes to the most expensive purchase of your life, nothing can beat the ability to truly experience the property like a resident. A post dinner walk around the garden, a morning meditation session and an afternoon swim – these are experiences that help you experience daily life in a property, and can transform the amount of information that you have available to make a decision, and let you experience the amenities, the vibe, and the real feel of the home. After all, home is where the heart is!

In case you want to sign up for the offer, you can sign up here.