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Newsletter - 27 November 2008
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| Word from the editor |
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Dear CyberAgent user, The Real Estate Industry was shocked this week with the news of the death of one of the Industry’s “Giants”, Dr. Duncan Gray, CEO of Century 21. Our condolences to his family and also to the group. Our property portal www.cyberprop.com has helped many thousands of home buyers with the purchasing of their properties over the last 10 years! Through our CyberAgent software we have provided thousands of real estate agents and agencies with a full office management system and a way to market their properties on the Internet. As advertising of properties on the Internet has become extremely popular and competitive we have to make sure that your software is cutting edge so that we ensure top listings on search engines, traffic, advanced searches and maximum exposure! Soon we will be updating to 45+ websites. We are proud to announce that CyberAgent is now the exclusive property partner of Webmail, one of South Africa’s top websites. The new property portal will be launched soon. Unlike our competitors that only have links on numerous websites rooting to their website, by the click of one button your properties simultaneously updates and are displayed on all our affiliated websites. MyBackyard! CybeAgent is also the exclusive property partner for my BackYard (Avusa). My Backyard hope to have a 100 community websites in place by the end of 2009. Read more about MyBackyard and you as an Estate Agents can become part of this business opportunity. In these more difficult economic times sellers of homes will be tempted to go the do-it-yourself route and save on agent’s commission – but, says Lanice Stewrd, MD of Anne Porter Knight Frank, all her experience in property indicates that this can be disastrous. Indeed in article that can be shared with your client base. Beware trying the DIY route when it comes to selling Good Luck! |
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| MyBackyard! |
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| Website Marketing - NEW |
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| Monthly Stats |
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| Century 21 chief dies |
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Dr Gray is survived by his wife Colleen, two sons and a daughter. Born in Cape Town, he was educated in Pretoria and obtained a degree in veterinary science from the University of Pretoria in 1987. He practised as a veterinarian until 1990 when he joined the veterinary science faculty at Onderstepoort as a senior lecturer. Three years later, he joined the real estate industry as an agent for Seeff Properties and after several promotions in that company he left to become general manager of JH Isaacs Residential, with special responsibility for the Eskel Jawitz Real Estate trading division. In 1998, Dr Gray obtained an MBA from the University of South Africa and a year later he joined Pfizer Animal Health, where he rose to become regional director and chief executive for the sub-Saharan region. He returned to the real estate industry in 2005, when he secured the Century 21 master franchise for South Africa and began establishing a national real estate group. In 2007 he was named as one of the industry’s Young Lions at the Nedbank Property Association national awards.
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| Property removal warning from Website |
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THIS IS A WARNING ONLY! Your properties (33) will no longer be listed on the following websites SHOULD YOU NOT UPDATE SOON If you have received this warning and was perturbed about it, do not fear. Why this warning? We do maintain a high standard of quality of the properties listed on CyberProp and our affiliated websites with respect to the period of time a listing has been displayed on the websites – there’s nothing less appealing to a person browsing a website than seeing the same old things week in and week out. We have therefore adopted the measure of removing a property from the www.CyberProp.com website if it had been uploaded more than 30 days ago. This means plainly that if you have not updated your website (and thus also www.CyberProp.com) in over 30 days – your properties will be taken off CyberProp. You will receive email confirmation of the fact on the day the properties are removed and notification to update prior to any removals. For more information contact support@cyberprop.com
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| Properazzi.com has changed its name to Enormo.com |
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Hello, The international real estate portal Properazzi.com has changed its name to Enormo.com. We feel the new name better fits what we've become: the largest property website in the world. Enormo currently presents around 6 million listings to a global real estate-buying audience of over 2 million, and we're growing fast. Our aim is to be the largest and most useful website for both buyers and agents anywhere and everywhere. Best wishes, The Enormo team
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| Beware trying the DIY route when it comes to selling |
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In these more difficult economic times sellers of homes will be tempted to go the do-it-yourself route and save on agent’s commission – but, says Lanice Steward, MD of Anne Porter Knight Frank, all her experience in property indicates that this can be disastrous.
“There is a considerable propaganda now in favour of going it alone with the help of private seller organisations and a perception in some circles that using them will result in a better price. I must say categorically that this perception is based on misunderstandings of the role of the estate agent and in every case that I have come across stems from ignorance of what the agent does and a lack of appreciation of what he or she can bring to the negotiation and sale process. It always amazes me that people who would never dream of trying to dispense with a doctor to diagnose or treat their own ailments or with a mechanic to service their motorcars somehow or other persuade themselves that they are qualified to market and sell their largest asset... |
| The TRAINER - Jill Corfield |
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We have moaned about FICA, we have moaned about the NCA and we have moaned about the Withholding Tax Act ever since they came into being but thank heavens we have them …….. I do strongly believe that our economy would be in a much worse state – pretty much like America is now – if it was not for these Acts, amongst other factors obviously. My quote concerning the NCA is this “What a pity it did not come in a year earlier?” I do believe a lot of people would not be in the fix they are in right now if they had not been able to get the credit they did just before the Act came into being. You do not go to training Article by: |
| CyberAgent Training and Info Sessions |
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We now provide you with FREE training session in the following areas;
During these training sessions more information will also be provided on:
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| News |
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A warm welcome to all new Agencies October 2008:
We trust that by now you are well aware of what CyberAgent can do for you. If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@cyberprop.com or phone us at: +27 (0)11 955-9100 or 086 112- 9237 Most Internet enquiries October 2008:
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| IEASA membership now a ‘must’ for serious agents |
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In a development that bodes well for the South African real estate market, it seems that the battered home sales ship in the US is - slowly - starting to turn around. That’s the word from Dr Willie Marais, national president of the Institute of Estate Agents (IEASA), who notes that according to the latest figures released by the authoritative National Association of Realtors (NAR), the sales of existing or pre-owned homes in the US rose by 5,5 percent in September, to their highest level in 13 months. “Altogether 5,18m existing homes in the US were sold in September - compared to 4,91m in August and 5,11m in September last year – and housing inventory fell to a 9,9-month supply, down from a 10,6-month supply in August. “This marked the second monthly decline since inventory peaked in July and is good news for the SA market, which takes much of its direction from the US market especially where consumer confidence is concerned,” he says. The NAR says the third quarter sales turnaround in the US is due to falling prices and improved housing affordability conditions, with the national median price for existing homes showing a 9% year-on-year decline in September and distressed sales accounting for 35 to 40% of all transactions. “And while it may seem contradictory to talk about a turnaround when the market is still in such a bad way, increased sales activity is a good indicator of better times to come,” says Marais. “What happens is that investors and other savvy buyers move in to pick up bargains as they sense the market reaching bottom. The word spreads and they are followed in due course by more and more first-time buyers and people taking the opportunity to upgrade, and slowly the oversupply of homes for sale is absorbed, demand starts to equal and exceed supply, and prices start to rise again. “We have also seen exactly this scenario in SA before, and in the past few weeks many of our members have reported stronger buyer interest as price growth continued to slow and the number of repossessions continued to climb. So there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we in SA are fortunate in having a rapidly growing new middle class that will no doubt speed up the pace of our market’s recovery.” |
| Yearend function - 19 November 2008 |
Sales person of the year
Sales person with the most difficult clients
Yearly award for sustainability
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| Quotation of the month |
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If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time. Shimon Peres |
| Offering from Webmail |
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Century
21 CEO Dr Duncan Gray died in Johannesburg on 22 November following a
short illness. He was 47.
