Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2013 | Page 30

SMART MOVES

BY ELIZABETH SENGER

Social Media’s New Face
Changing the face of communication

T

he biggest and most pressing challenge
facing most sectional title schemes today
is a severe lack of communication between
the relevant parties involved. Each year body
corporates appoint a handful of people to manage
their investments and more often than not these
individuals have no relevant experience or financial
management skills. In addition, they have no
knowledge of the Sectional Title Act or what it
stands for and according to Ross Glenn, developer
of Social Estate, this is a dangerous situation for
property owners.
Glenn explains, “It’s important to note that
trustees appointed by the body corporate don’t have
the final say in matters regarding the scheme – they
are actually appointed to serve and unless specified
by the owners, cannot carry out any action that has
not been approved by the body corporate.”
This is why open and transparent communication
is imperative for sectional title schemes. It will
protect the trustees by allowing owners to remain
privy as to what is happening with their investment
and in addition allow owners to provide input
where required.
According to the South African Registrar of
Deeds (also known as the Deeds Office), there
are currently 64 419 registered Sectional Title
Schemes in South Africa and an average growth
of 2.84% per annum has been recorded over the
last five years.
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October 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

As the trend for managed communities such as
townhouse complexes and estates continues to
grow, mostly due to the affordability and security
they offer, so too do the challenges these members
face. Conflict between community members and
everyday management disputes can lead to real
discontent, mostly because of the lack of two-way
communication and transparency.
Glenn, also a computer programmer with 13
years experience in various sectors including client
relationship management systems, developed
Social Estate after his first-hand experience as an
active trustee and owner of a unit within one of
Joburg’s many residential complexes.
Being fully aware of the common challenges
facing management, owners, residents and
service providers of managed communities,
Glenn created SA’s first social media platform that
targets managed communities to ease the process
of communication between members. Launched
late last year SocialEstate.co.za is set to change the
way body corporates and homeowner associations
operate by radically speeding up management
tasks typical of a sectional title scheme or residents
association, and by putting members in touch to
resolve issues within a fraction of the time.
Says Glenn, “My motivation to initially become
a trustee was to get involved in matters concerning
the complex where I’d lived for a few years already.
But I soon realised that I didn’t like the idea of

being responsible for other people’s money while
not being fully aware of what it was being spent on
and I especially struggled with the idea of other
trustees discussing matters of relevance to me, in
my absence.”
Glenn continues, “But it was also about the
amount of time and resources being an active
trustee requires of you. The amount of emails and
phone calls I found myself having to make just
wasn’t sustainable.”
Social Estate offers a number of useful tools
that completely eliminates the need for emails
and telephone calls. One of these features is
a discussion board where members can chat
and share ideas. Trustees can also start private
discussion topics, allowing them to cover matters
between monthly trustee meetings. The helpdesk
feature means trustees can effectively manage
enquiries and requests, which are logged and then
tracked, keeping the person that submitted the
request updated with notifications. In fact, tenants
can save huge amounts of time from being able to
contact the scheme management directly rather
than having to work through the rental agency.
Access to other handy tools – like a polling
system to get a general consensus from residents
on certain topics and also a service provider
directory with a feedback and rating option
– provide an interactive platform that keeps
everyone in the loop. Service providers can
www.reimag.co.za