In-Depth Analysis
Anton Jansen van Vuuren is anticipating a massive drop in print advertising.
Technology is revolutionising the property market.
Recession, massive hikes in utilities, security problems and traffic congestion have all led to a revolution in the property market and the way real estate agencies and managers are operating. Technology is now driving property management in two distinct ways – the external purchasing and selling processes applied by home owners and integrating technology into building management systems (BMS).
These are being helped along by advances in mobile technologies and greater integration between historically proprietary automation software and today’s operating systems.
“We have come a long way in the property management sector,” comments Alec Davis, Growthpoint Properties’ chief information officer. “Just ten years ago, a laptop was a luxury item, with only executives being issued with them. Now, it is critical that agents are equipped with laptops with functional facilities management software, able to operate in the mobile space and enabled to be in front of tenants and address their issues, real-time.
“As Growthpoint, with some 435 commercial properties under our management across the country, workflow and efficient use of consumables are critical to both our business and those of our tenants. The ability to apply electronic communications within BMS has drastically changed the way we can operate and the technology is merging. We can take a phone call from a tenant during, say, a power failure, get in touch with a contractor while interacting with the management system diagnostics in order to provide him with a picture of what is required.”
Green buildings
He explains: “Today, systems have intelligent access via the internet, from air conditioning to electricity meters, water consumption to access control. The next massive move is towards energy management, coupled to ‘green buildings’. The two together mean managing consumption much more closely and we are better able to make tenants aware and give them the ability to access figures anytime.
“Remote metering systems (RMS) afford access to real-time online monitoring, removing dependency on municipalities to read our meters. Municipalities are notorious for doing this manually and erratically, often making inaccurate estimates or transposing digits,” he notes.
“While retrofitting is expensive, phasing it in over time in older buildings is the best option. Centralised monitoring is the way we will go as South Africa’s bandwidth becomes more affordable and available. Security cameras are now digital, hooked to personal computers or servers and capable of recording untold footage. Any security breach can be called into the security company and the police and they can respond immediately. This has almost negated the need for a security guard at an access point. Unproductive labour will drive the electronic age.
“The internet is also rapidly changing the way properties are advertised and we see advertising eventually becoming primarily electronic as an increasing number of consumers use the internet to effect searches,” he says.
Electronic property purchasing
Harcourts South Africa’s head of technology and e-commerce Anton Jansen van Vuuren concurs: “We are going to see a massive decrease in print media advertising of properties, with advertisements limited to little more than a website address. Estate agents taking advertising funds and putting them into technology will have the competitive edge.
“We will see consumers using the internet to find suitable properties, contact the relevant estate agents and set up viewing appointments. The agent, in turn, will be able to qualify the prospective buyer and establish whether the interest is genuine. The internet on a cellphone has become essential in terms of the way this industry now does business.
“The ability to e-mail or SMS from and to a website, coupled with virtual tours and professional photography, is changing the way we are seeing the buying and selling cycle,” he continues. “So is the fact that our lives have changed and family time has become increasingly precious. Buyers have become reluctant to spend hours travelling from property to property and are qualifying upfront what they are looking for.”
Van Vuuren says that despite the recession, Harcourts is growing because it has invested heavily in technology and continues to explore technical opportunities to add value for its franchisees. He emphasises that only by embracing technology will estate agents survive.
Van Vuuren also says that Harcourts anticipates the way agents earn commission is going to change, thanks to technology. He says: “We will see a swing to seller-paid advertising, particularly in higher value properties of around R1.5-million plus, which will be deducted from either commissions or an increasing number of fixed-fee sales.”
Van Vuuren remarks that fixed-fee sales will include far more value-add and create a more committed seller.
He clarifies: “Estate agent and property manager websites are changing and becoming one-stop shops. Ultimately, purchasers and tenants will be able to obtain finance, source landscaping, cleaning, building and other services from real estate sites.
“Estate agents will build up their databases and maintain rapport with each and every buyer and seller and considering this, social media such as Twitter and Facebook are just going to grow exponentially,” he concludes.
