Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2018 | Page 34

TECHNOLOGY
How distruptors
will drive the property
industry in 2019
BY LINDA ERASMUS
T
here are a number of disruptors that are set to shape
and change the South African property market in
the year ahead, according to Linda Erasmus, CEO of
Fine & County Sub-Saharan Africa. She identifies them as:
the change in buyer behaviour; the control of data; the shift
in media platforms and the entry of young dynamic individ-
uals in the property market.
So just how will these disruptors change the
industry?
Buyer behaviour: Erasmus believes that when it comes to
buyer behaviour, there are certain points that the industry
needs to take note of and cater or adapt to. For example, the
fact that today’s buyers search online to compare not only
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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
property prices, but also different benefits associated with
schools, suburbs, convenience as well as value for money.
“Buyers want information quickly and easily,” says Erasmus,
“they want a response immediately and if there is a voice
inside the computer responding, it makes them even happier.
Chatbots have become popular in the UK and most of
Fine & Country’s properties abroad offer interaction with
Chatbots. We hope to see this engagement with potential
clients soon in South Africa.”
Added to the above she says that potential buyers are less
concerned with sales talk and more interested in real facts,
hence the fact that the only interaction they seek with the
estate agent is making the appointment.  “This however
does not eliminate the estate agent from the process.  The