The Evolving Role of Property Practitioners in Today's World
The Evolving Role of Property Practitioners in Today's World
Historically property transactions where predominantly handled by Property Practitioners (real estate agent and brokers) however recent trends have disrupted this role.
These changes vary in form from enhanced statutory requirements to a wide variety of tools available to both the Property Practitioner and the end user.
Statutory Requirements
The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) together with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) requirements have created numerous compliance procedures including FICA and measures to identify risk transaction that potentially breach money laundering and terrorism.
South Africa has been grey listed on the global platform and the property industry has been earmarked as a high risk industry with sub standard compliance procedures. The PPRA and FIC are clamping down where penalties can exceed R500, 000 and potential prison sentences for negligent Property Practitioners.
A country on the FATF (International Financial Action Task Force) is under close scrutiny and not necessarily on the black list for sever sanctions.
Many smaller agencies are still grappling with all the new requirements and consumers are not fully aware of these new obligations with smaller business struggling to complete all the additional documentation that is now required.
PropTech tools
In a previous article: The Benefits of Finding Property Using PropTech
We discussed how PropTech (property technology) has significantly transformed the real estate industry. The consumer has become informed and has access to a wealth of information on the internet so Property Partitioners need to knowledgeable and concise when marketing properties.
With the rise of PropTech tools many property owners believe they can easily market their property themselves, which raises questions about the role of the Property Practitioner. The successful Property Practitioner still to offer essential services such as expert guidance, quick responses and the ability to prevent dubious transactions and potential scams. These services not only add value, they also ensure a professional approach to high value transactions.
Social media, WhatsApp, Video and other PropTech have changed the way business is conducted and where Property Practitioners leverage these tools, opportunities are created, and consumers will utilise their services. Property Practitioners have to constantly adapt to changing PropTech to attract new business.
As we live in a world of instant gratification success in the real estate sector will depend on ones ability to adapt to the ever changing environment while staying informed of local and global trends and imparting quality information to build trust with clients. Agencies need to constantly invest in training their teams and offering new resources from a large PropTech pool.