Digitalising Real Estate Lockdown Real Estate Guide | Page 12

LEGAL
Collaboration in the
time of COVID-19
What estate agencies need in order to
successfully work remotely
JAN DAVEL
I
n times of crisis there is usually the opportunity to emerge
stronger and better. In this case, organisations have a
chance to embrace new ways of working that allow their
people to work safely in any conditions. Online collabora-
tion platforms that automate routine business processes
and get the job done, wherever they’re working from.
Now more than ever, property rental agencies will have to
keep delivering a high-quality, personal service with minimum
personal contact – and the entire industry will have to adapt
to make that possible. But is your business set up for it?
Managing a winning distributed team isn’t just about giving
each employee a laptop and a fast Internet connection – it’s
also about the processes you use. 
Three tips to remote working
without compromising:
1
Access to real-time updates
You can get your weekly reports delivered as
usual, but it’s easy to forget about all the informal
confirmation checks that happen in a property
management office. Removing your team from their natural
environment means they no longer have that real-time
information.  When people don’t have all the information, they
often make bad decisions – or no decisions at all.
The first ingredient of successful remote collaboration
is real-time information sharing. If employees receive live
business data, they can make good decisions immediately –
not in two hours’ time when they get a reply.
2
Sharing information
When you have silos of unshared information
in your business, it makes you vulnerable.
Centralising information also means waiting for
updates. While monthly reports might be OK now, that’s only
because you can also ask your team for information face-to-
face between reports. With a distributed workforce, getting that
information together takes longer – assuming you can do it at all.
A successful remote team needs to pool information as it
comes in, not silo it. That way, everyone can do what they need
to do without waiting for confirmation first.
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COVID-19 - 2020
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LANDLORD-TENANT
The rules for rentals
during lockdown
Tracking activity
If your team isn’t sitting in front of you, you
probably don’t have visibility of what everyone
is doing. This isn’t about productivity, it’s about
knowing which tasks have been done and which are still
in progress. When you can’t see what everyone is up to,
coordinating who has done what is hard – but as a responsible
business owner you cannot afford to fly blind.
Remote working doesn’t work unless team members keep
each other updated on the tasks they’ve done and keep track
of what no-one has got to yet. Having a centralised system for
tracking this isn’t just a nice-to-have – for a distributed team,
it’s a necessity.
Solving the problem of remote collaboration
None of us can afford to think that our old strategies will always
see us through – but by adopting new strategies and new
technologies we can continue to work effectively and deliver
great service even at a distance.  
Because PayProp is designed to be used from anywhere, on
any device, it is a powerful remote working tool for property
management companies. PayProp is directly integrated into
the banking system, so our clients receive real-time banking
information – letting you know who has paid, when and how.
And while you can limit data access individually for each user
if you prefer, you can also share all that live data with every
employee so that everyone is on the same page at all times. 
Lessons for later
While it may be difficult to look beyond the current headlines
at the moment, it would be a mistake to think of these as
temporary adaptations. The advantages of real-time data
sharing, easy remote working and live activity tracking will still
be there long after Coronavirus has passed. By adapting to the
current situation in the right ways, we can also work together
more effectively when we are back in the same room again
JAN DAVEL CEO, PayProp, a leading
processor of rental payments for the
property management industry, which
serves a large and diverse customer base
of letting agents.
SOURCE Payprop
T
he lockdown situation has left many tenants and land-
lords in precarious positions. Regional Director and
CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, Adrian Goslett, ad-
vises that each party take some time to clearly understand
their rights and responsibilities over this period.
“The Minister passed a Government Gazette that places a
moratorium on eviction orders for the duration of the 21-day
lockdown. This means that, even if the landlord is in possession
of an eviction order, he/she cannot execute/action the eviction
order for the duration of the 21-day lockdown. This also means
that tenants are not allowed to move out during this period,”
Goslett explains.
Unless you and your landlord have come to an agreement,
Goslett clarifies that rent still needs to be paid as per normal.
“While a tenant cannot be evicted during the 21-day
lockdown if they fail to keep up with payments, they can
be forced to vacate the premises once the lockdown period
is over (depending on the terms in the lease agreement). If
the tenant is having difficulty paying rent, I would strongly
encourage them to communicate this with the landlord so
that they can possibly come to a mutually beneficial payment
plan,” he advises.
Tenants are also cautioned to consider the negative effects
an eviction will have on their credit score as well as their ability
to rent another property. “Not only could being evicted make it
trickier for a tenant to successfully apply for new tenancy, but it
could also affect their credit score if the landlord obtains a debt
judgement against him/her for the missed payments. This will
greatly impact the tenant’s ability to acquire home finance at a
later stage,” Goslett explains.
Subsequently, Goslett again encourages all tenants to be in
contact with their landlord if they are unable to pay their full
rent during the lockdown. “I also encourage all landlords to be
accommodative where possible during this difficult time.
If the landlord can afford it, allow the tenant to take a
payment holiday or to suggest a payment plan that could suit
both parties. At the end of the day, we are all facing the impact
of this crisis together and should do what we can to help each
other get through these trying times,” he concludes.
SOURCE Re/Max of Southern Africa
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