Tel: +27 (0)11 955 9100
E-mail: info@cyberagent.co.za
Web: www.cyberagent.co.za
www.cyberprop.com
Newsletter - 31 October 2005
Word from the editor

Dear CyberAgent users,

For many home buyers, the choice between a resale home and a brand new home is easy: new homes offer a whole range of advantages that are simply not available in a resale property. New developments are designed to foster a spirit of neighbourliness by carefully balancing private and public areas. It is the Estate Agents job to find these new developments and to list it on his/her books. It is our job to assist you in marketing these new developments. The New Development Module has been developed to assist estate agencies to market and sell New Development properties. Up until now agencies had to contact us whereby we had to develop web pages to accommodate these new developments at a cost. Read more about what Mark Harris from our support team have to say on how to use this module.

We will also advertise your new developments on the following websites:

Also in this addition we take a closer look at the Estate Agent. What is an estate agent, what is the role of the estate agent and what technology does an estate agent need to make a success of his business.

We have extended our FREE gift for another month. Don't wait, list your agency now!

Greetings!
The editor
CyberAgent Mobile
CyberAgent Mobile allows for the individual agent to manage his/her listings from anywhere at any time - whether a connection to the Internet is available or not! The most frequently used modules of CyberAgent: Contact Manager, Agent Manager and Property Manager together with the ability to update the various websites has been put together in this new innovative cutting-edge tool: CyberAgent Mobile.

Through CyberAgent Mobile your properties are advertised on the following websites:

www.Cyberprop.com
www.sundaytimesproperty.com
www.real-estate-south-africa.com
www.ananzi.co.za
www.cellproperty.co.za
Your agency website where your agency is using CyberAgent Professional

Agents, if your agency does not yet, make use of the CyberAgent package, you will still be able to enjoy the facilities offered by CyberAgent Mobile! Yet again a first for South Africa! Innovation at its best!

Click here to read more about CyberAgent Mobile

CyberAgent Mobile
FREE trial download

Will CyberAgent Mobile work for you?

You can now test drive the new CyberAgent Mobile program free for 7 days.

Download the program(free),
order it on CD
or 32MB SD Card.

Once loaded on the device you have 7 days in which you can run the program in demo mode.

Click here to for more details
What's New ???

Keep me informed function on website

Our new "Keep me informed" function enables visitors to your website to save their preferred search criteria and once a property matching that criteria becomes available he/she will receive an email or SMS to inform them about it. This can be a very useful tool to ad to your website.

The costs involved:
Once off setup fee: R150-00 Excl. Vat
R30 for every 100 SMS's sent from the website

Sales Manager
Additional sale report added to the report page tab

Bug Fixes
Agent Manager - Picture error reporting - Fixed!
Canvass Manager - CyberTrade Import
Now also supports ADSL imports.
Grid reports / Quick reports - an error which surfaced after build 3.100.830. This has been fixed.

Referral Manager
Now also emails the Buyers Requirements.

Property Manager & Client Manager
Administrator privileges are required when deleting a record. This adds a level of protection against rogue users deleting valuable data.

CyberAgent Multi Listing
The download process have been made faster.

Website Updating
The upload of data have been changed to accommodate high volumes of user uploads.
CyberAgent & Ananzi

Nearly 11 000 properties listed and growing!

If you are not yet advertising on on South Africa's biggest and most popular search engine with over 10 million page impressions monthly it is time to register now!

To read more simply click on the following link:
http://www.cyberagent.co.za/ananzi.shp

New Development Module

The new module in CyberAgent, caters for the loading and listing of new developments. It is used in the same way as all other modules in the program. Here is a breakdown of how to load a development:

To start capturing a new development click on the new button (the page button with a folded corner). The next button is the save button (icon of a disk), and the next is the button to delete a development (the red X). The drop down list next to the delete button allows you to select any developments you have captured quickly.

Click here to read more

 
News

A warm welcome to all new Agencies:

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 Jaco at support@cyberprop.com or phone us at: +27 (0)11 955-9100 or 086 112- 9237

Most Internet enquiries:

Cyberprop

Company Requests
Wendy Machanik Properties 344
Realty SA 226
The Rental Giant 201
No Agent 143
Proplist - Glenanda 139
Realty Executives JHB South 116
Proprop (Pty) Ltd - Head office 109
Explore Properties (Marelle Trust) 61
Firzt Realty Company - Deez Realtors cc 59
U PROP.com 51
Hall Real Estate 50
Genesis Projects 46
Homenet Maxima 37
Huizemark JHB 36
Chas Everitt Southern Suburbs 34
Proplist - Hermanus 34
Realty Executives JHB North 33
Proprop - Montclair 33
Adriatic Properties CC 32
Kilokor Properties 32
Anne Porter Properties (Pty) Ltd 31
Property Pages 31

Sunday times

Company Requests
Realty Executives JHB South 82
No Agent 80
Proplist - Glenanda 62
The Rental Giant 62
U PROP.com 56
Wendy Machanik Properties 50
Re/max Willows 42
Huizemark JHB 38
Realty Executives JHB North 34
Genesis Projects 34
Angor Financial Services 30
Mc Williams & Elliot Props CC 28
Anne Porter Properties (Pty) Ltd 26
Huizemark Jeffreys Bay 24
Blue Property Group 20
What is an Estate Agent?

Definitions of estate agent on the Web:

  • a person whose business is the sale or lease of buildings or land on behalf of others; a real estate agent.
    www.artistwd.com/joyzine/australia/strine/e-2.php
  • The Estate Agent acts on behalf of the seller to sell the property. They will prepare a set of details which must be accurate by law. They will negotiate the sale between the buyer and seller and any specific terms. The Estate Agent will prepare a Memorandum of Sale giving details of the buyer, the seller, their conveyancers, the price and any specific terms which is sent to all parties to the transaction.
    www.web-conveyancing.co.uk/jargon_buster.asp
  • realtor: a person who is authorized to act as an agent for the sale of land; "in England they call a Realtor a land agent"
    wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
  • In the United States and parts of the Commonwealth (including Canada and Australia) as well as in many other countries, a real estate agent is a person who advises and represents others in transactions involving real estate. Practicing this profession usually requires a license. In the United Kingdom, the term estate agent is used.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_agent
  • Estate agent is a United Kingdom term roughly synonymous with the United States term real estate broker, a business that arranges the selling, renting or management of homes, land and other buildings.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_agent_(United_Kingdom)
The role of the Estate Agent

If you are an estate agent and a good estate agent can you answer the following questions:

  • From a buyers viewpoint, how can an estate agent assist me?
  • What are the benefits of using an estate agent
  • What is the role of an estate agent?

Answers from Standard Bank South Africa

How can an estate agent assist me?

Your search for a new home can be made much easier if you use the services of an estate agent. Agents make it their business to provide every service connected with your search for a home - from expert advice in the early stages, to careful monitoring of your settlement.

The more closely you work with one agent, the better your needs become known and the more effectively they can help you – saving you time and possible trouble. All agents are bound by law to deal fairly and ethically with both the buyer and the seller.

Because the seller typically hires the agent, the agent is legally obliged to represent the seller’s interests. This means you must decide what offers to make and what counter-offers to accept. Don’t be bullied by the estate agent into accepting an offer you are not completely comfortable with.

What are the benefits of using an estate agent?

  • The agent can help you to set up a plan of action through an analysis of your needs and finances, the current housing market, homes available in your price range and mortgage options from the banks.
  • The agent personally conducts your search to find neighbourhoods and homes that fit your requirements.
  • The agent can guide you through making an offer on a home and presenting it to the seller.

What is the role of the estate agent?

  • The estate agent is the link between the buyer and the seller. The agent will negotiate an agreement of sale acceptable to both parties.
  • An offer to purchase is drafted by the estate agent. This must be signed by the agent, the buyer and the seller. Once signed it becomes a legal binding contract of sale.
  • A copy of this document must be attached to the loan application form.
  • For this service, the estate agent charges a fee or commission paid by the seller.
  • Do not allow estate agents to pressurise you into purchasing a property. This is an important decision you have to make, take your time looking for the right house.
Our gift to you!

List your Estate Agency free with
CyberAgent and get exposure on
www.CyberProp.com

You will also receive a six month
complimentary subscription
to the Financial Mail.

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Cutting edge solutions for the Estate Agent

In today's property game, estate agents need any advantage they can get in order to secure more mandates and to work more efficiently, especially since the residential property sector has become a buyers market and prices are cooling off.

We are living and working in the 'technology age' and in order to cater to this need for competitive advantage, Johannesburg based Application Service Provider (ASP), USP Designs, created CyberAgent, an office management application that has been specifically designed for the real estate industry.

In a first for the South African property market, CyberAgent offers its clients the future of real estate business through their CyberAgent Mobile application. This technology platform provides a pioneering listing and management tool from which properties can be listed in only six minutes. The software also incorporates Internet technology, enabling estate agents to make use of the Internet and website marketing to its fullest potential at a fraction of the normal cost. CyberAgent also provides dynamic websites with customised search facilities.

Operations director Pat Jewell notes that the focus has always been to provide this comprehensive service to estate agencies, of which there are more than 12 000 throughout South Africa. However, since there are currently 64 000 registered estate agents, CyberAgent had to find a solution that can cater for the needs of the individual agents.

"Estate agents are constantly out in the field and do not actually have the time to be in the office and manage their daily tasks. But with the CyberAgent Mobile system this couldn't be simpler. We now take the "office" to the Estate agent"

Working through the means of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) device, this innovative technology allows individual agents to administer, catalogue and publish properties online without being anywhere near the office, saving them both time and money. All CyberAgent actions are completed in real time meaning everyone has easy access to the latest information. The software is designed to be user friendly, and will run on any handheld device supporting Microsoft CE (Windows Mobile)

An added advantage is that included in CyberAgent Mobile there is a powerful Website Interface catering for those agents without handheld devices, CyberAgent Online. This can run from any laptop or desktop with Internet access

The response to this offering has been phenomenal and a recent road show held in Johannesburg and Cape Town during May this year to showcase the solution has received excellent feedback and has also sparked further interest on a National and International level

There are currently more than 600 agencies using CyberAgent on a national basis and the CyberAgent offering includes free website submissions to all major search engines, free articles in the weekly newsletter with 17 000 subscribers, free SMS facility and also free "Keep me informed" feature.

Key services that CyberAgent offers are to make canvassing easy with the use of data from SAPTG, CyberTrade and the Deeds office to do mail drops, to manage properties and print reports at the click of a button. CyberAgent also enables the estate agency to keep track of sales related commissions, VAT, outstanding payments and more. CyberAgent links with the transfer attorneys, sends and monitors transfers electronically, and more importantly, agencies are able to work offline and only go online when updating their own website that is linked to CyberAgent.

Estate agents who are interested in improving profits and productivity through technology can now catch more than a glimpse of the future, by visiting www.cyberagent.co.za. The site even provides a facility where agents can obtain the system and pay by credit card, but better still, you can try CyberAgent Mobile for yourself, by downloading the trial version and putting it to the test.

Read more about CyerAgent and CyberAgent Mobile at www.cyberagent.co.za or contact us at 011 955 9100
Closing of offices over the festive season

Pls. take note that we will not be closing for the festive season.
However, we will be operating with skeleton staff.

Support contact detail:

Email - support@cyberprop.com
Telephone - 011 955 9100
Quotation of the month

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt