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FEATURE The role of agents Words | Peter Robinson, MD of the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP) Man or machine? Do agents still have a role, or will online searching deal them a fatal blow? www.opp-connect.com D 24 igital companies promoting their portals and social media to the property industry often consider their products the most important part in the client value chain. Always highlighted is the widespread and ease of internet usage and the lower cost of using digital media. Whilst the digital world clearly has a vested interest in promoting online, do they have an entirely valid point? Is it really a case of man versus machine and, if so, who will end up triumphant? In this post-industrial age, when jobs get commoditised as fast as possible, the only good ones left are the ones that must be done by a person, not a machine. This means done by someone figuring things out; done by an individual willing to put themselves on the line and to do so expertly, It is for agents to become the lynchpin in this increasingly digital age – not just another cog effectively and honestly. In the property business, that means working with a good agent. Key Note UK research (conducted in July 2013), backs this up: despite the growing importance of the internet in recent years, nearly two-thirds of those interviewed said they would visit an estate agent’s office if they were looking to buy or rent a property in the UK. This indicates that public perception of estate agents as qualified professionals (at least in the UK) has remained unchanged since 2010. Can the same be said of those agents based in destination markets selling international property? With online property searches, the speed and presentation of the work is the quality of the work. It is for agents, then, to become the lynchpin in this increasingly digital system – not just another cog. NOVEMBER 2013 Due diligence Be visible online Head of Rightmove Overseas, Shameem Golamy, has some interesting data to share from his recent market report based on over 3,000 visitors to the site: “93% of future buyers say they will find their agents online, but not necessarily their property”. So agents certainly need to have an authoritative online presence it seems. Shameem continues, “I think the role of an agent has never been more important. Buyers are now much more adept at doing their own research and the concept of ‘freemium’ [published advice available for all on the internet but signposting the agent as the expert author] is particularly interesting. “Buyers are more likely to buy from an agent who helped them in their research phase as a result of the trust and rapport that has built up, as well as being more likely to recommend their services to a friend or colleague.” The freemium is now in widespread use in many different Why do some buyers of overseas property throw their caution to the wind at the airport? industries, particularly online where digital educational and gaming content, for example, can be created cheaply to bring customers into their world, to be monetised later. According to Rightmove Overseas, market demand in 2013 broke down as follows: Second home 51% – of which 36% were still in a research phase Emigration 36% – of which 33% were still in a research phase Investment 13% – of which 41% were still in a research phase With such a significant amount of buyers still in a research phase there is a good opportunity for agents to connect through expert information – perhaps through freemiums, as Shameem suggests. Even buyers ‘sure’ of their market approach and not actively seeking further research can be reassured when presented with expert agent opinion and use this as the deciding factor with which to choose an agent. www.opp-connect.com Much information online comes with few quality checks. Emerging Real Estate (ERE) Director, Paul Harrison, said, “Before we look at any developments – and as part of the due diligence we do – we look at all the information that would be available to any potential investor. We stress-test values and rental demand and we know our locations well. “That way, when our investors do their own checks, it lifts our credibility and the trust they place in us. I can’t think of any situation where a client would simply rely on the internet before making any investments. Trust is a massive part of the process and having a knowledgeable agent to take you through the experience is still critical to a potential investor.” Yet, at the Association of International Property Professionals we do receive sheepish calls for help from buyers who have bought without doing all their homework – and are now regretting their impulsiveness. These include people who should know a lot better including, in the last year, a property journalist, surveyor and an international business owner. Why do some buyers of international property throw caution to the wind at the airport? Are they overly reliant on internetonly research to reinforce their prejudices? The AIPP Member Disciplinary Panel thankfully only meets around four times a year, but such cases of buyers being rash in their decision-making contributes to the AIPP member complaints we receive. Many of these are groundless due to buyers realising, albeit too late, that they have executed a purchase without being 100% sure of the appropriateness of the property for their needs. This unfortunately and unfairly adds to the poor reputation of the industry in some quarters. Whereas, for example, UK financial advisors must fact-find a client’s wants and needs, produce a risk profile and determine the appropriateness of a financial investment for them, property sales agents are under no compunction to do so (although most successful property agents do take the time to understand what it is the buyer thinks they want and then establish what they need, using their local market knowledge). I suspect some agents can identify with their doctor when a patient presents their self-diagnosis (researched on the internet) as fact and merely needs the doctor to issue the prescription they have already decided they need! 25 FEATURE The role of agents Professionally researching, authoring and publishing such information is quite an undertaking and there are some very poor examples of these around – short on content and quality, but big on marketing and with a ‘venus flytrap’ approach to lead generation that can be offputting to buyers. The best freemium examples take a slightly detached, independent and editorially neutral stance and sometimes enlist the expertise of freelance property writers to help pull the content together. If one may be immodest for a moment, that is what the AIPP did with our own Buyers Guide How to Buy Overseas Property Safely – which is free to download at www.aipp.org.uk. By adding such guides to your own website you also increase the likelihood that buyers will find your company through internet searches, as Google ‘spiders’ like such educational content (and can read PDF format), giving your Google rankings a boost too. Aspirant market expert agents should certainly look at the work The best freemium examples take a slightly detached and editorially neutral stance of The Overseas Guides Company and that of the Global Property Guide for inspiration and possibly contributing content. www.opp-connect.com Generation rent 26 Buyers are also seemingly now more inclined to get ‘on the ground’ for an extended stay before approaching an agent. Sitting on a panel at the recent A Place In the Sun Live! property show this September in Birmingham, UK, I addressed around 100 buyers each day over three days. Approximately 30% A realistic interpretation of the client-agent interface confirmed to me they would be renting a property in the area they were looking to buy over an extended period and seeking out local expertise before taking the plunge into ownership. Compare that with buying property five to ten years ago. Some prudent caution is seemingly being exercised as the market starts to pick up again in Europe. Agents take note – perhaps look at the property lettings business in your area and bring buyers into your world that way? As the international property market starts to tick up again in Europe, it is the authored experts who are going to do best, creating an authoritative human link in what can be a bewildering purchase chain for overseas property buyers. But there are now so many touch-points of communication for the overseas trade to master (FB, Twitter, blogs – if useful and timely, Pinterest, Vine, YouTube etc) that to be highly effective in all of them now seems a pre-requisite to thrive and survive. But what you say is increasingly important, so should you be ‘expert’ or perhaps say nothing? An increasingly sophisticated buyer is going to judge you harshly if you are a lightweight and ‘sales first, knowledge second’ outfit. Certainly, agents that appear to add little value in the digital age of empowered consumer insight – driven by digital connectivity – will be passed over. Product is now ubiquitous, promotion of such often vanilla and interchangeable with many other companies. What makes you different is your expertise and your passion to share that with buyers – they know what you do, now tell them why you do it and how that journey taken with them will be a path better travelled than with your competitors. There’s no getting away from it...