Innovative Leaders in Marketing Real Estate on the Internet Chas Everitt Launches Array of New Web Based Facilities

Using the latest Google technologies Chas Everitt now facilitates property listings in 44 languages on their websites in addition to street and satellite mapping! 

Motivated by the 2010 World Cup, Chas Everitt has introduced a Google based translation facility embedded in our website featuring 44 languages as well as a convenient mapping facility (with satellite) on ChasEveritt.co.za and ChasEveritt.co.uk - This facility will be phased in on over 100 of Chas Everitt's various local regional and district websites over the next month. 

So if you are looking for a charming farm in Clocolan in the Free State for only R2 200 000 and you want to read about it in Lithuanian, be our guest; Ūkių yra 4 miegamieji namas su Laikyti kambariai, arklių paddocks, drėkinimo nuo upės, mineralinio vandens iš kalnuose ir idealiai plėtrai. Didžiosios potencialą turizmo paskirties or go to http://www.chaseveritt.co.za (Web ref: 446518)  And while you are there, click on the map to change your view to a satellite image.  Clocolan is really looking like a great buy in any language! 

In addition Chas Everitt has partnered with another leading internet service provider to initiate a multiple website structure that will be marketed under a label called eTowns.co.za that will allow fully interactive mapping and accurate property location allowing property searches from national to street level.  This will promote the sale of properties marketed in less well known areas as current text based website search structures obviously favour more well known towns and areas.  

A strong focus of the eTowns website strategy will be the ability to share the technology and marketing exposure with local organisations and businesses creating a highly focused community based marketing opportunity.

A number of other innovative new technologies are already planned including a new Chas Everitt product called "HandShake" that will allow cross marketing of competitor properties on Chas Everitt's websites on an agreed reciprocal basis. 

In the words of Chas Everitt CEO Berry Everitt, "We are totally committed to preserving our well deserved reputation as South African leaders in the application of technologies that serve the interests of buyers and sellers as well as our agents.  At a time when many company's have slashed R&D budgets we are also proud to be launching the the second phase of Nuclei that will fully integrate sales and marketing activities to a professional level that has never before been realised in South Africa.  While it is very difficult to briefly detail the advantages of the Chas Everitt Nuclei information management system it creates a common operating system that includes every aspect of sourcing, managing and marketing properties with the single objective of delivering the highest levels of professional service to our clients.  Living in a globally interconnected world the full advantage of the international focus that South Africa will enjoy as a result of the World Cup will rival the attention we enjoyed when Nelson Mandela walked free and it is my team's goal to ensure that Chas Everitt clients ride that beneficial wave of exposure that will benefit us for next decade."

 

 

André de Villiers
BA (Rhodes), CRS(SA), CIEA
Member of the Institute of Estate Agents
NATIONAL MARKETING MANAGER

 

Tommy Todd Awarded Chas Everitt Agent of the Month

While many in real estate are bemoaning the property market conditions it has been an excellent summer season so far in the Simonstown area for Tommy Todd of Chas Everitt who was awarded the Agent of the Month Award for the property group.

With a spread of sales, from a sea view plot for R535,000 to a mountain side four bedroomed home for R4,000.000, Tommy has been knocking up sold boards in the last three months like the word recession doesn't exist.

According to Tommy buyer activity has been increasing consistently and there are plenty of cash buyers out there interested in well priced homes. The gap between sellers and buyers expectations remains significant and some properties in the area have achieved 20% below their asking prices. Higher priced properties in the area are still sitting on the market for lengthy periods. It is extremely important in current market conditions to ensure that your property is realistically and competitively priced if you wish to see it move in the short term" says Tommy.

According to Tommy there are three essential reasons for his achievement; attitude enthusiasm and competitive pricing. "Get your price right means getting it competitive but that still requires an agent who is eager and enthusiastic to take your property to market," says Tommy.

Principal of the Chas Everitt False Bay franchise Andre de Villiers applauded Tommy's approach to property. "Tommy is a career agent and an enormous value to the morale of my agents because he is always positive and realistic and has an engaging dry humour. When Tommy experienced trying months with negotiations that were not fruitful his spirit was always up. Tommy's service driven attitude epitomizes real estate professionalism," said de Villiers

Tommy can be contacted at Chas Everitt International's False Bay office on 021 7841630

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Published by André de Villiers
BA (Rhodes), CRS(SA), CIEA
Member of the Institute of Estate Agents
NATIONAL MARKETING MANAGER
Cell: +27 83 2300549
Office: +27 21 8015254
Skype: pugard
Email: andre@cei.co.za

Grass is Greener Back Home!

From Andre de Villiers - Chas Everitt Cape Town Regional Chairman

Chas Everitt offices in the Western Cape have reported an increase in returning South Africans due to the poor economic circumstances abroad. There has also been a marked downturn in South Africans selling because they are emigrating.

Both of these factors are having a positive effect on the property market and returning South Africans particularly are stimulating the already strong rental market. While there still seems to be substantial pessimism about economic and political conditions here returning South Africans are basically at one that conditions are worse overseas with most of them confirming a desire to rather face difficult times here than abroad.

Jack Mullin who recently returned and rented a property through Chas Everitt in False Bay mused that it was like wanting your mother when you are not feeling well, "it may not be rational but it just feels better" he said.Most returning South Africans are from the UK and Ireland where they warn those planning on going abroad to work to think twice. Jobs are increasingly scarce and there are signs of growing intolerance in the UK towards foreigners that are seen to be taking jobs away from locals - particularly more menial work.

A number of sellers who had initially planned to emigrate have postponed plans and taken their properties off the market as it has become increasingly clear that their expected prices are unlikely to be achieved. I will ascertain the degree to which this is being experienced nationally at our annual company convention next week and will edit this post on my return but I will not be suprised if it is indeed a national trend.

Andre de Villiers

One in every two sales from internet marketing.

Report by Andre de Villiers - Chas Everit franchisee for Cape Town's False Bay, Constantiaberg and Southern Suburbs territories and National Brand Manager.

It has been five years since I last did a thorough analyses of where the buyers came from for sales from my four Cape Town offices, that cover the area from Cape Point to Mowbray.

The exhaustive analyses completed is for the twelve months ending June 2008. It significantly shows that the growth in internet responses now dominates results.

For the period 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 the results are;

49% INTERNET / WEBSITES
8% LOCAL PRINT MEDIA
7% FOR SALE SIGNS
26% SHOWHOUSES
9% OTHER (Mostly office walk ins)

(A previously recognised category “Referrals” that accounted for 7% of all buyers has been excluded from analyses and the source of the referral identified and included in the above 5 categories)

Compared to five years ago the figures were;

17% INTERNET / WEBSITES
28% LOCAL PRINT MEDIA
8% FOR SALE SIGNS
29% SHOWHOUSES
11% OTHER (Mostly office walk ins)
7% REFERRALS

The actual investment in print media has actually not changed much as a % of my marketing expenses and I believe this to be true for most other real estate businesses. At a time that the market demands a more prudent allocation of resources and lowering of operational costs it can be argued that the continued significant expenditure on print media is to appeal to seller's expectations and for purposes of branding the company and agent.

Call for State to address expropriation fears

Government needs to move fast to allay fears that its new expropriation legislation will not be used to justify Zimbabwe-style land grabs.

That’s the call from Berry Everitt, MD of the Chas Everitt International property group, who says: “I have no wish to be alarmist, but the Expropriation Bill, which was due to be enacted last month but has been withdrawn by Parliament’s legal advisers, definitely does ring some warning bells.”

There are four major problems with the Bill, he says, the first being that it provides for property to be expropriated “in the public interest” rather than for a specific “public purpose” such as a road, a dam or a school, which was previously the case.

The second problem is that the new legislation would work on an “expropriation first, arguments later” basis, giving property owners who wished to contest an expropriation no option but to fight a costly rearguard action through the courts – quite possibly after they had already had to leave their property and accept whatever compensation the State was willing to offer.

“Thirdly, the new legislation would remove the power of the courts to decide whether the time and manner of the expropriation or the amount of compensation paid was fair. They would only be allowed to decide if the expropriation had been in the public interest or not – and given that the legal process is slow, that decision could come months or even years after the event,” says Everitt.

And fourth, he says, the Bill provides for the “market value” offered by the State for an expropriated property to be determined solely by the expropriator, without reference to the property owner, a valuer or any other independent consultant.

“In short, if the Bill were to be passed it would put the rights of the State ahead of those of the individual, which are supposed to be protected by our Constitution. The security of property ownership would effectively be subject to the whim of government officials.
“What is more, many people are worried that the term ‘property’ in the legislation could be interpreted to mean anything material, including mines, businesses and urban buildings as well as farmland. This would obviously be very discouraging for the international companies and foreign investors that SA is trying so hard to attract.
“And coming now on top of rising interest rates, the rocketing cost of living, the energy crisis and high crime, this legislation might just prove to be the last straw for anxious SA consumers. It is likely to evoke very strong responses that could quite easily cause even more people to emigrate - and take with them the skills this country urgently needs.
“So we believe government should to take the opportunity before the Bill is passed to openly address the fears that have been voiced and clearly explain what it hopes to achieve through this legislation.”

Be Professional & Tell it as it is!

Andre de Villiers - Chas Everitt Cape Regional Chairman


The client is not your friend! Just like the family needs their doctor the family needs their real estate agent to 'give it to them straight' and yes - with compassion when it's needed.

Today I came back from visiting my agent's show houses in my area, and the one property I called in on was way over what it should be on the market for - even when times were on the seller's side!

It was clear to me that my agent who is an enthusiastic charming and polite lady is having a problem telling the seller what she needs to hear. The seller (who has already complained about the size of the display ad we gave her) has over capitalised on the property and maintains a very personal attachment to her home and has a high regard for the value of her improvements. My agent needs to take the facts of the market and equate them to the selling price of comparable properties but I see the problem - the seller clearly does not believe her house is comparable to any other property in the area.

There is no easy answer to over capitalised properties but one thing is to ask the seller that if they knew when they were spending the money that they would be selling would they done so? The answer is hopefully "no" and then the follow up question of course being "why?" and hopefully the seller then says something like "because we probably won't get our money back". Hello!

Some fixtures can be removed and taken by the seller to their next property. Encourage this as it starts a process of real quantification of the values as in many cases the real value to the subject property for the item is very little as it is a matter of subjective personal taste and preference. This property for example had three precast water features in a tiny garden and encouraged me to find out where the loo was after being there for two minutes.

Removing the item from the sale will allow the seller to maintain some 'victory' in the price adjustment and may be a great relief to there buyer! For the seller it allows them to rationalise a drop in price. Quantifying the second hand value of items also gets the seller to start looking at the itemised value and not the total package that seems to encourage the overwhelmingly optimistic comparison of their home to the next door neighbour's property!

The point is we need to be firm on competitive pricing or we do the seller no favour at all. Too often estate agents are overly concerned with the seller's ego and think that if we do not share their 'dream vision on price' they will think we are unenthusiastic. That's like going to the doctor when you have tumor and respecting his professionalism because he chooses to go with your opinion that you just have a headache when he knows better. Is that the type of doctor your seller wants? Ask them!

The vast majority of sellers who are over priced know it! They are playing a game and they have you to play with! As long as the agent 'plays the game' we encourage (at our and our company's great expense) everyone to waste their time and to lose valuable selling opportunities by driving potential buyers into the arms of the house and agent around the corner!

Not being truthful with our over priced sellers is a dishonest disservice to them and to ourselves and nobody has anything to gain.

Andre de Villiers - Chas Everitt International (Southern Suburbs and False Bay) Cape Town South Africa

Upgrading in a Buyer's Market is a Great Opportunity!

- Andre de Villiers - Regional Chairman - Chas Everitt Cape Region

We are all familiar with the saying, “A rising tide lifts all boats” and the truth is the reverse applies just as well.

Sellers in a depressed market can be left with little comfort and it's hard to find a silver lining for a financially stressed seller who is selling and downgrading but this does not apply to the seller that plans to upgrade.For those who can afford it, it could never be a better time to upgrade and it's simple maths but most sellers don't see the advantage to them when they buy because they are so intimately involved with what they have to sell to move on they can't see beyond the emotion of their selling price.

The agent needs to spell out that selling in a strong buyers market has many opportunities to the upgrading buyer. Let's take a simple scenario of a seller who is selling for R1 000 000 and buying for R1 750 000 and let's say the estimation is that prices are 15% down on what they were, then the R1 000 000 house will sell for R850 000 (a loss of R150 000 to the seller) but as the R1 750 000 house is going to sell for R1 487 500 (down R262 500) the upgrading buyer scores a R112 500 - 'thank you very much!'

The key to this is obviously for the seller to put himself into the strongest negotiating position he can, and that is a cash buyer needing a modest mortgage finance. You are not in a strong position if you are still trying to buy up with a 'subject to sale' contingency!

Increasingly we see sellers who missing the boat and the opportunity to move onwards and upwards because they are so fixated with not selling below a increasingly mythical target!

While we accept that the price of oil, gold and equities rise and fall we tend to fight so much harder against the reality of the real estate market's moves. With all the readily accessible data available to home sellers (and buyers for that matter), resistance to the inevitable price reduction makes little sense.

There is confusion between the value of the property and the value of the home. Get the seller to separate them more clearly in his mind and realise the home goes with them and we are 90% of the way to letting go of the emotional obstacles to more realistic pricing.