Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa December 14/ January 15 | Page 64

INVESTOR RESOURCES resources Commercial property made easy! Looking for that perfect office space but struggling to find all the requirements you desire in one spot? It’s very difficult these days to identify the right one that is ideal for your working space, be it an office, warehouse or shop. Well look no further! Instant Property SA has collected and gathered the largest commercial and industrial properties in the country! With over 3.5 million square meters in commercial space, Instant Property, another startup developed by iShack Digital Consultancy, has found a solution to making commercial property easy. Instant Property will link tenants with specialists in the areas of the selected properties so that they can help you through the site-viewing process, tedious paperwork and finalisation. Over 200 businesses have already signed up and used the Instant Property portal for their commercial property needs. Visit www.instantproperty.co.za to find out more. Ooba’s new mobile app offering home loan info on the go Applying for a home loan? Bond originator Ooba has launched an innovative mobile application to simplify the home buyer and real estate agent’s experience in the home loan application process. Unlike other apps on the market, the ooba app provides a host of calculators that are easy to use when calculating bond repayments, home affordability, additional home loan repayment, bond and transfer costs, deposit savings, as well as amortisation, which is the total amount of interest paid on a home loan. It also allows consumers to pose questions to an ooba home finance expert. The ooba app is available for both Apple and Android users from their preferred app store, free of charge. To try out the app for yourself visit www.ooba.co.za/mobileapps Leapfrog goes mobile Given that up to 40% of local property searches are made from cell phones, buyers can now use the Leapfrog mobi site to search for properties near them, as well as properties on show in their area and get property email alerts. The new site will also make it much easier to search for and view properties online, allowing buyers to view images and video footage as well as floor plans of the property, see the street view, determine distances and driving times, and view the agent’s details with office directions. Sellers will also be able to list their properties with Leapfrog in a few clicks – quickly and easily. Early warning system for retail sector Retail Live, a mobile system that can assess the health of portfolio assets through an innovative recommendation-based early warning system, can assist managers of shopping centres and retail chains to quickly target problems and strengths in their shopping centre portfolio. Developed in South Africa by Clur Research International, which provides services primarily in the retail property sector internationally, the system is used across retail chains and by the Liberty Property Portfolio, managed by Stanlib Direct Property Investments. Retail Live provides users with a leading indicator on market movements, based on their own portfolios, before broader economic and sector data is released. The system further provides ‘battle tools’ informing performance management, leasing negotiations, financial strategy, tenant mix strategy, product mix strategy, income/rental strategy, due diligence, budgeting, marketing strategy, concept decisions, investment decisions and acquisitions/disposals strategy. The system yields targeted recommendations to increase sales, decrease vacancies, monitor financial margins, pitch rentals and size at optimum levels and drive a strategic mix. All areas of underperformance, performance and risk are identified though interpretive customised monthly reporting, heatmaps and detailed interactive client workshops. 62 November 2014 SA Real Estate Investor www.reimag.co.za