Estate Living Magazine Develop - Issue 44 August 2019 | Page 32

C I O N M
V E
M S U T N &
I T Y d e L v I e V l I O N P G
SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT
UTILITY
METERING CAN BE
A DIFFERENTIATOR FOR DEVELOPERS
In a worryingly fl at property market, developers are facing an ever-growing challenge to fi nd value-adds
to help them move units.
Security used to be a key feature when it came to the planning, building
and marketing of estates and complexes, but this is now considered a
given. So, if developers are going to close the deals that deliver the
profi t margin their investors are looking for, they will need to pay very
close attention to the fi ner details of their off ering.
While it may not be obvious, trusted, simple and transparent utility
management can make all the diff erence when it comes to keeping
both customers and the managing agents happy.
Municipal requirements make prepaid a must-have
Most municipalities are moving towards bulk electricity supply to
estates and complexes. This means they will lay down one meter to the
estate, meaning that the bodies corporate or estate managers have to
monitor and pay the bill for the whole estate’s consumption.
The prepaid option is vastly superior to trying to manage a post-paid
off ering with manual meter readings, working out shared services, and
then invoicing units. Not only will each unit have its own independently
measured meter, but Citiq Prepaid will collect the money from each
unit and, once its fees have been deducted, the money will be paid
over to the trustee or person delegated to deal with the municipality
and they can make one simple monthly payment. In addition, Citiq
Prepaid is one of the few vendors that allows clients to log onto its
custom-built online portal, where clients can see the industry’s widest
range of reports on collections, payments, remittances and more. This
transparency truly empowers Citiq Prepaid customers and is a fi rm
favourite with estate managers, owners, and tenants alike.
This solution is elegant in its simplicity. It removes any debate about
which tenant has used what electricity – a situation that can lead to
lengthy, costly and often deeply unpleasant disputes.