Dear Subscriber
Welcome to the SA Hometraders Newsletter for the month of July. South African consumers continue to feel the pinch as food and fuel prices soar in response to interest rate hikes and the spiraling cost of oil. While pressures are more intense in emerging markets like South Africa, there is comfort in the knowledge that measures taken by local banks to combat inflation essentially take this responsibility out of the hands of politicians, thus increasing economic credibility. With house prices continuing to drop, SA Hometraders is determined to weather the storm and remain at the forefront of innovative online property marketing, ensuring that your product commands the best possible reach.
This newsletter contains:
- Updates on current activity,
- Information on our cutting-edge new features,
- Advice on technical issues.
At SA Hometraders, our goal is to meet the demand for alternative forms of advertising with progressive online marketing ideas and state-of-the-art design features. If you have any queries regarding our various products or services, please don’t hesitate to contact us: sales@sahometraders.co.za.
Yours in online marketing
The SA Hometraders Team
Subscriber Update
- Tuning in to the Mobile Generation
SA Hometraders recently announced the mobile launch of the national site, tapping into a resource that offers additional exposure to an estimated 12 million cell phone users throughout South Africa. Agencies with sites hosted by SAHT could soon benefit from this dynamic marketing tool, as there are plans in the pipeline to offer the mobile launch of agency sites as an additional option. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information regarding this exciting new development.
- Welcome Aboard
With the current economic climate in South Africa putting pressure on all sectors of the property market, it’s vital that estate agencies stay at the top of their game. Multiple listing on SA Hometraders and affiliated sites provides your product with extensive reach, but having your own website is the ultimate marketing tool, allowing you to showcase your entire property portfolio.
SA Hometraders would like to apologise for a misprint in last month’s newsletter and offer a warm welcome aboard to new members Platinum Affinity and Betvick Investments.
Other members who have recently come on board include:
Shiraz Valley Properties Falcon Estates
Stately Homes White House Estates
Seeff Property Hout Bay PJ Property Investments
Terri Dicks Properties Vhangona Properties
Admiral Island & Port Owen ERA Thabazimbi
Andrea@ Wilderness Props ERA Bloemfontein
Chateau Properties ERA Unique Upper Highway
- Make Uploading Property Simple
When it comes to achieving positive results, it’s vital that agencies utilize their resources effectively. Instead of agents taking on the added pressure of optimizing photos for property listings when they could be focusing their attention on making that all-important sale. Endorama Property Administrators provide a service to optimize and upload property listings for you. Email sue@sahometraders.co.za for more information.
- Updates on the Legal Front
This month’s legal update from C & A Friedlander Attorneys has to do with Phased Sectional Title Developments. “It happens increasingly that sectional title developers choose to reserve for themselves the right to develop schemes in phases…” Click here to view the full article.
New Features
- Back Office Evolution
When it comes to those all-important enquiries, it’s vital that none are missed, particularly in light of the current market. Subscribers can now check enquiries by period with a new reports tool in the back office.
To make your back office experience even more convenient, there is now an option to delete multiple listings. This applies to properties for sale, rentals, farms and commercial properties.
- A Way to List on Portals Overseas
Last month it was announced that those wishing to list properties on an overseas portal could now do so through an XML feed. XML is essentially a file format and each portal has different sequencing, so agencies interested in taking advantage of this option will have to provide SAHT with the particular portal’s specifications and we will then develop an interface and customize the format of the feed. For more information on how this works and the costs involved, please contact support@sahometraders.co.za.
- How to Get the Desired Results
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to optimize your listings in terms of the content and images. The key to marketing property effectively online is understanding the importance of factors that affect both potential buyers and search engines. SA Hometraders has developed an Optimisation Guide for Online Property Listings: a well-worded listing with well-taken images could have a profound impact on your sales turnover rate. Click here to access the guide.
- Keeping You in the Know
The SA Hometraders landing page continues to evolve, supplementing our value-added service with quality tools and useful information. The latest addition to the site is an Events Calendar, detailing what’s happening when and where in each of South Africa’s nine provinces. Any contributions to the content would be much appreciated and can be sent via email to support@sahometraders.co.za.
Technical Issues
- The Downside of Technology
No doubt, many of you were affected by the recent virus attack on our server’s database that caused the widespread corruption of data. Unfortunately, this is a malicious global phenomenon and the recent attack on SA Hometraders is not isolated, with many of the larger property portals also experiencing similar attacks this year. We have since developed software to combat this kind of assault and have cleaned up and restored any data that may have been corrupted.
- Taming of the Email Gremlins
SA Hometraders has experienced problems with the delivery of email in the last couple of weeks and can now confirm that the gremlins creating havoc in our system have since been tamed. Unfortunately, this is yet another issue that has to be dealt with from time to time, particularly when working in such a technical field.
Marketing Services
National Site: SA Hometraders has over 600 subscribers, marketing 25000 properties for sale, 4000 rentals and a selection of farms, businesses and commercial developments.
Database of Contacts: This database consists of past and potential clients with whom you wish to remain in regular contact. Ideally, the list should be expanded and updated on an ongoing basis.
Product Range:
- List Management
- Monthly/Quarterly Newsletter
- Electronic Signatures
- Newsflashes
- Various SMS Options
We would be happy to design an appropriate package to suit your particular needs. Should you be in the process of setting up a similar arrangement elsewhere, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a competitive option.
Agency Website Design and Hosting
In addition to the national site, SA Hometraders has designed over 180 agency sites. These sites are template based, but are personalized in terms of look, feel, branding and any additional information that may be required.
The Bottom Line:
- Once-off all-inclusive cost of R3876 for agency website design
- Thereafter a charge of R171 p/m for website hosting
- Subscription fees: R228 p/m for 10 listings or R399 p/m for unlimited listings
- All costs include VAT
If you are interested in taking advantage of this option, have a look at some of the sites that we have designed recently:
www.platinuminvestmentproperties.co.za
We look forward to hearing from you and are more than happy to discuss further detail telephonically, or where practical, it can be arranged for us to call on you. You can email us at sales@sahometraders.co.za.
Please visit www.sahometraders.co.za if you would like to buy or sell property in South Africa.
