Dear CyberAgent user,

The caliber of estate agents and franchise application has improved. This according to Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties. “We are now witnessing the demise of the housewife/part time agent who comes into the industry to make a little spare cash. Today’s applicants quite often have tertiary education qualifications and among those applying for franchises the majority have had previous successful careers and business experience”. This is indeed good news for the real estate industry.

As an agent is it not time to set rules for buyers and sellers to adhere to? In our previous edition we asked you to send us your viewpoints and received numerous emails from agencies that would like to know more;

I try to sell Farms / game Farms in the Waterberg. I would like to charge a professional fee for taking clients to view Farms, in part to separate the " free game-drive " weekenders from serious Buyers as well as covering my costs (diesel , wear and tear ) and time ! People don’t walk into a Doctor or Lawyers Office for a Day not expecting a Bill . Would this be ethical?

Should you wish to get involved with other real estate agencies regarding this issue mail us at news@cyberprop.com.

CyberAgent’s commitment to the real estate office; to continually develop products or modules that will consistently ensure cutting-edge technology that caters to any changes within the market. When you use CyberAgent you don’t have to use any other application as it is the one-stop-shop that any real estate office needs. CyberAgent has a whole new module available, the Advert Generator. This module allows users to create their own adverts e.g. newspaper adds, single ads and various others. This has an easy to use interface with various pre-set templates available and allows for multiple selected properties to be used to generate a single advert. This module is available to all our desktop users (CyberAgent Professional and CyberAgent Lite) at NO extra cost. Read more in Programme Enhancements

Good Luck!
The editor

CyberAgent now has an Advert Generator Module.

The idea behind this module is so that the agency can generate its own adverts for newspaper or for distribution as a pamphlet.

The module has 11 templates to choose from.

The templates range from a single listing advert, up to a 30 listing full page advert spread.

Each template has its own top margin, bottom margin, left and right margin images for the agency to setup.( As required by template)

The module is split up in 5 pages.

• Page 1 is a preview of the template(No data just place holder)
  
• Page 2 is Listing selection
  
• Page 3 is arranging the advert per listing
  
• Page 4 is page setup ( includes company log image file and such)
  
• Page 5 is printing the advertisement to screen, printer, pdf or word document.

Each advert campaign is given a name, date published and a template selection.

On the property selection page, you can filter based on certain criteria. You then add the listing to the advert campaign

You can add, remove and reorder the selected listings.

On Page 3 is the advert campaign setup. This includes captions note detail and picture selection

On page 4 is the advert layout page, here you select margin images and company logo if required by template

Page 5 is for printing the advert campaign.

Template 5 with the right images and text input would look something like this

For more information on this module, please contact Support@cyberprop.com

Click Here for printable .pdf file

We provide you with FREE training session in the following areas;

• Gauteng
• Kwazulu Natal
• Western Cape
• and the Garden Route

During these training sessions more information will also be provided on:

• CyberAgent Anywhere
  
• Keep me Informed Function
  
• New developments in CyberAgent
  
• New Update Manager
  
• REEP (Real Estate Evaluation Portal)

A warm welcome to all new Agencies April 2010:

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 April 2010:

Company Profile

Introduction
The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) is a public entity established to regulate and control certain activities of estate agents having due regard to the public interest and is mandated through the Estate Agency Affairs Act, 112 of 1976:

• To maintain and promote the standards of conduct of estate agents;
  
• To manage the registration of qualified applications of estate agents
  
• To issue Fidelity Fund Certificates
  
• To manage the educational and examination standards of the estate agents
  
• To regulate the activities of estate agents.

The EAAB is listed as a Public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) Act 1 of 1999.This legislation places responsibility on the Board of the organisation, as the accounting authority, to manage the resources in a manner that encourages efficiencies and accountability for the use of public funds. A key responsibility is to present to the Executive Authority with an annual Strategic plan for a rolling three year period.An additional responsibility conferred on the EAAB is to be supervisory body in terms of the Financial Intelligence Act.

Vision, Mission and Values

Our organizational Vision:
To be a world class regulator that is responsive to, and surpasses, its stakeholder needs and expectations.

Our organizational Mission:
To regulate, protect, guide and enhance the integrity of the real estate profession.

Our Values:
After comprehensive consultation and interaction with all relevant stakeholders, both internal and external, within the real estate environment, consensus has been reached that the following values will underscore the Board’s behaviour as it strives towards the achievement of the ideals encapsulated in its vision and mission, namely:

• Integrity: Quality of adhering to high moral principles and/or professional standards
  
• Responsibility: The authority to make decisions independently and to be accountable for
  something or someone;
  
• Excellence in service delivery: Exceed client expectations is service delivery;
  
• Communication: The effective exchange of information between individuals and/or
  organisations by using written and verbal means and in such a manner that there
  is a mutual understanding;
  
• Participation: Involving all relevant stakeholder in what we do; and

Living up to its promise to give its members the best training possible, the Western Cape branch of the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa has appointed Sandy Walsh to head up its training and education division.

Before joining the property sector in Zimbabwe, Walsh had 14 years marketing, public relations and training experience. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she was the top agent with Pam Golding Properties in Harare and in 2001 became a co-franchisee of the PGPZim franchise, of which she was the principal. Her team, it is said, were the leading agents in Harare for several years...

BETTERBOND BLUE DOOR AMAZING RACE CHALLENGE - FIRST THREE WINNERS ANNOUNCED -

Betterbond, South Africa’s largest bond originator, recently announced the first set of winners for its Blue Door Amazing Race Challenge, which commenced in March this year. The Challenge will officially end on 31 October.

Rozelle Homann of Welgedact Properties in the Western Cape, Thorsten Weiss of TW Property Investments in Johannesburg and Peter Harrington of RE/MAX First in the Freestate have each been awarded a R500 cash prize for the highest rand value deal granted through Betterbond in March.

“The prize money was uploaded into their Blue Door Visa Electron debit cards, which means that they can now spend it at any retail outlet nationwide,” confirms Rudi Botha, CEO of Betterbond. He says that the estate agent with the highest rand value of bonds granted through Betterbond for the period 1 March to 31 October 2010 will win R35 000 in Blue Door Cash while the three runners up will each receive R15 000 in Blue Door Cash.

Participating estate agents can earn R50 for every R150 000 of a bond granted through Betterbond. They also stand a chance to win a share of R15 000 in spot cash prizes each month.

Here are propertyadguru.com’s Top 10 Tips for Generating New Leads:

1. Have a compelling marketing message. Be prepared to convince people why they should do business with you. Know what sets you apart, what you can offer and ensure the message is commensurate with the demographic of the advertising medium...

The recent International Franchise Expo at Sandton, Johannesburg, and a 110% increase in “hits” on the Rawson Properties website (since January 2010), indicate clearly that the calibre of those applying to become franchisees or estate agents in the SA residential property sector is improving by leaps and bounds, says Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties, which claims at the moment to be the fastest growing residential property franchise group in SA...