Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April/ May 2020 | Page 18

TECH
Improve your investments
with PropTech
How to take advantage of tech
innovations
BRIAN SANGO
T
echnology is intensely diversifying the property sector
for the better, it is therefore important that investors
in the sector take advantage of the innovative tech
trends driving activity in the sector.
The year is 2020, and the term ‘PropTech’ is nothing new to
the ears of many. PropTech is an often-overused term in the real
estate industry which simply refers to the use of technology to
develop new ways of doing things in the property industry
often streamlining processes and increasing efficiency,
diversity and impact.
The use of technology is most certainly diversifying the
property industry for the better as we have seen the emergence
of a number of successful PropTech start-up companies not
only on the global front but in South Africa as well. To fully
understand its impact and be able to analyse what benefits
or opportunities technology brings, it is important that we
segment the property world into three main categories.
“PropTech refers to the use of
technology to develop new
ways of doing things in the
property industry.”
The first category being property as a business which is
basically the buying and selling or buying to let business strategy.
Technology has definitely played its role in this sector as it has
made identification of properties for sale far much easier than it
was before as most properties for sale are online nowadays with
your biggest portals being Property24 to mention just a few.
Other critical tools like valuation kits, affordability
calculators, property price index tools have made the entire
exercise much easier as we have all these at our disposal to
make far more calculated and informed decisions. The growing
norm in this space is buying to let with particular specialisation
on student accommodation. We cannot ignore the positive
impact that has been brought about by yet another tech
company Digs Connect which acts as a platform for students as
well as landlords to find a suitable tenant or property in short.
In summary, it is safe to say that technology has brought great
ease to the buying and letting or reselling of property making
it more profitable and the turnaround time much quicker.
This also means such business models are now more
attractive for start-ups to get funding to scale up their
operations. We are already seeing a rise in the number of
players in this sector. For anyone still pondering on whether
now is the right time to jump into property investments, well
in my opinion it definitely is.
Secondly, property as a property practitioner or
professional. Before anything else, it is important to highlight
some of the key exercises involved here such as valuation,
16
APRIL/MAY 2020 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
marketing, property management, property development,
inspections, maintenance management, credit profiling, lease
administration, the list goes on.
We find ourselves in such interesting times where a practitioner
has a number of softwares they can make use of that, not only
automate their processes but free up so much time as well
which they can use to further grow their businesses. Lightstone
has certainly helped with the valuation process. Marketing
portals have helped properties get the right traction shortening
the turnaround time of the sale. Property management tools
helped many companies, landlords or investors stay on top of
things when it comes to the management of their properties.
Another
company
RED-I
helps
by
simply
breathing life into new property developments.
TPN is there to assist with tenant profiling or access to some
documentation. And lastly, new tech companies like RedRabbit
and Property Inspect help you automate your inspection as well
as maintenance management of your properties. Making use of
most of the technological offerings we have out there will not only
make the job easier but it helps brand your business as it enhances
a company’s image and professionalism. Any start-up company
that immediately goes the tech route by using all these PropTech
softwares is most likely to see faster growth than similar business
models.
Thirdly, it would be property as a service provider. Many of
us have looked at PropTech as an industry disruptor. In actual
fact, I think PropTech comes as a solution more than a disruptor.
For any start-up looking for an opportunity in the industry, you
most certainly have to identify a problem or a tedious process
and think of how to solve that or make it quicker. Many local
and international venture capital companies are constantly on
the lookout for innovative tech solutions so if you have a great
tech or mobile app idea, getting funding is not a problem at
all. One such company is Kalon Venture Partners. We have seen
great PropTech start-ups receive great funding support which
has led to their rapid growth and market presence in the past
few years. Companies in the tech space like Flow, HouseMe,
DigsConnect, Leadhome, Inspector P have all made a great
impact as a service provider.
Are we going to see an emergence of more PropTech start-
ups and is our market ready, you may ask? Absolutely! Infact,
as a way of combating our unemployment rate in South Africa,
I would encourage many young professionals to take a step
back and really look at the property industry on a large scale
as I strongly feel like in it lies endless opportunities that one
simply needs to identify and unlock. Pick a problem and find a
feasible tech solution. It really is as simple as that.
I am of the strong notion that for as long as most of the
technological platforms can work on creating more room for
their various applications and softwares to integrate then most
certainly we will see positive growth in our property sector as a
whole. Strategic collaboration through API integration is definitely
something most tech companies should remain mindful of.
SOURCE Property Invest
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine APRIL/MAY 2020
17