Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2013 | Page 46

SMART MOVES

BY JONATHAN SMITH

Property Broking
Is it a dying art?

The function of a property broker is to act
as the intermediary between willing sellers
and willing buyers or willing lessors
(landlords) and willing lessees (tenants) of
fixed property.
Ty pica l ly, proper t y brokers a re
ma nd ated by a c l ient (ter med a
‘principal’) to source a buyer, seller or
user of premises or to source premises,
all in respect of fixed property.
The client invariably specif ies
certain parameters within which the
broker (also known as an agent) must
function.
The terms of the mandate will vary
from appointment to appointment and
it is absolutely imperative that brokers
agree the terms of their mandate before
conducting negotiations on behalf of a
client in order to avoid disputes at a later
stage.

T

he recent recession may have seen a
reduction in the number of property
brokers w ithin South A frica and
diversification into auctioneering has also seen
some prominent property brokers move into
this alternative manner of moving property
stock from seller to buyer.
How e v er, prop er t y brok i n g a nd t he
complementary services which are associated
with this core practice are a critical service
within commercial property and remains an
excellent choice for business-orientated people
with a flair for deal-making.

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June 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

Proper t y brokers fulf il a number of
important roles within the economic arena.
Inter alia, they:
• source users and premises on behalf of their
principal, whilst permitting their principal to
focus on his or her own business activities;
• promote growth of the economy through
their development-related activities;
• provide valuable property-related advice to
their clients and to other professions.
Brokers typically earn their remuneration
through charging a percentage of the deal
capital value, known as a commission.

Service excellence in property broking
Property broking is not quite as simple as
waiting for a telephone to ring and taking an
order from a client.
Successful brokers are those individuals
whom are able to perform the different
operating components of the broking function
pro-actively, comprehensively and in an
innovative manner.
Competition within the global economy in
which we operate requires that brokers apply
their minds to developing a service which is
so excellent in characteristic that clients are
not only satisfied but look forward to using the
broker’s services again.
Inter alia, this means that property brokers
should provide a service against the backdrop
of service excellence.
Market leaders are commonly expected to
provide their services against the backdrop
of the following characteristics:
• operational excellence,
• product leadership,
• customer intimacy,
Such characteristics of performance mean
the difference between playing ‘competitive
catch-up’ and being a market leader.
Every organisation relies on its staff to
contribute towards these three characteristics
and brokers who engage these qualities are
more likely to succeed at all levels.

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