This is the word according to Bill Rawson, Chairman of the Rawson Property Group, who was asked to comment on the Estate Agency Affairs Board’s ruling that any agent operating without a Fidelity Fund Certificate from January 2014 will be doing so illegally and is not entitled to collect fees.
He says looking at the figures from the EAAB, it is clear that a large number of agents will always resist change, even though it may be, obviously, to their advantage. “There seems to be reluctance among some people to make the effort to up-skill themselves, especially if they have already worked to get a tertiary education and have regularly attended institute training courses.”
Rawson says as a result, the total number of estate agents operating in South Africa, today, will remain at or around the 22 000 mark.
What has to be accepted, he says, is that today, real estate marketing has become so sophisticated that the agent and his manager/franchisee need continual training.
“Training simply cannot stop and, to the regret of the diehard conservatives, it has to include a wide range of information technology skills. In the next three years agents operating without smart phones, iPads and laptops will lose out because their clients have and use this technology daily.”
Fortunately, Rawson says, the big national estate agency groups recognise this and, at substantial cost, are providing the ongoing training required to their members.
Also, he says, of vital importance is the assimilation, by the agent, of data related to the property world, which today means ‘all business statistics’. If the agent cannot give the client an informed opinion of where inflation and interest rates are likely to go, how the Rand will perform in relation to other currencies, what house rent prices are likely to be and why an area is a good investment prospect, he will lose out and earn the scorn of today’s buyers, most of whom are well informed.
The simple truth, which agents have to grasp, is that today’s buyer insists on knowing how good his property is as an investment and what his return will be, he says.
Sales negotiations techniques too, have changed radically in the last few years and always need to be upgraded, says Rawson. This is especially necessary today because most buyers and sellers do their research on the internet before meeting an agent.
“In this regard, it is worth noting that various forms of a mortgage bond guarantee are highly efficient sales tools and, if used responsibly, can clinch a deal.”
via Property24
