Welcome to The Address – Issue 6

People endeavor to live longer and more fruitful, if not easier, lives. This is why we embrace the use of technology in work and play. Aspects of residential property markets can be enhanced using specialised technology including artificial intelligence, which is featured throughout this issue, but as an industry we must not diminish the value that humans add to each purchase and sale, to repairs and maintenance and to the long-term relationships which foster successful careers for property practitioners. Having a home is a human need, and we cannot disregard the importance of maintaining connections between each other.

This issue of The Address considers how people relate differently to property, especially about where we choose to live and when and why. We ask ourselves these and other questions throughout our lives, especially when we undergo monumental events like childbirth, marriage, or the loss of a loved man. Do we want to work from home if possible, and do we want to do so Monday to Friday? Do we choose to rent or buy? The residential property market is always changing even if some aspects change day to day and some practices take decades or even centuries to change. It is well known that moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do. Humans are emotional, unpredictable and not always reliable and, as a result, property practitioners, leasing agents and other people working in real estate need to bear this in mind as they navigate their way through the industry.

We look at what people demand from their landlord and from their tenant. We also consider the arguments around whether AI and other recent breakthroughs in tech will revolutionise our industry for the better. Can our industry embrace these technologies, and will we need fewer people involved in a deal or could that risk a house sale falling through. Where does AI help make architectural and quantity surveying processes more efficient? Does AI assist with property matching?

In this issue, we feature estate agents who understand how important it is to connect with the human condition when selling, renting and managing homes. This includes Lerato Mokgosi, founder of Lerato M Real Estate, who after being retrenched in 2011, turned her agency into a success, selling homes in underserviced towns. We feature Julia Finnis-Bedford, who has worked for more than twenty years helping global and local production companies source locations through her business Amazing Spaces, which has expanded its business to include sales and rentals in the luxury market.

Absa Home Loans is also thrilled to share the latest news around our group. We believe that South Africans who embrace the residential real estate industry can enjoy fruitful careers and help numerous people and their families to live more comfortably.

Happy reading!