8 / 60
October/November 2016
News
Fake Sisulu social media pages
T
he Ministry of Human Settle-
ments has warned that there
are a number of fake LinkedIn
and Facebook accounts, which claim
to be those of Human Settlements
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.
The Ministry says that these fake
accounts promise people tenders,
work and economic opportunities
within the human settlements sector
in the name of Minister Sisulu.
There are currently five LinkedIn
D
elegates at the Real Estate
Business Owners of South
Africa (REBOSA), Salomone
said that the peak home buying
years are between 25 and 45 years old.
The sheer size of the millennial gen-
eration should mean a peak in home
sales and a good time for realtors.
There are now even more millennials
than baby boomers. Census records
indicate 92 million millennials versus
77 million baby boomers in the USA.”
According to Salomone technology
is central to themillennial generation
as primary home buyers, their reli-
ance on tech is dramatically influ-
encing the way property is bought
and sold.
“Agents are increasingly finding
more value in advertising on the prop-
erty portals, as opposed tonewspaper
adverts as the buyers are online.” Jan
le Roux, Chairman of REBOSA agrees
and adds, “At themomentmaking use
of tech like portals and social media is
quite advanced in the US and it’s been
very informative to learn how estate
agents there are incorporating this
into their marketing and sales. Real
estate is a relationship-centric busi-
ness.”
While it is imperative that agents
become tech savvy in order to reach
the millennial generation Salomone
says that the biggest question he
is asked wherever he goes is, ‘Will
technology render the role of an
estate agent obsolete?’ “The answer
is always a resounding ‘no’, there is
a new threat every day; sometimes
it’s a start up looking for more home
buyers by under cutting agent com-
mission rates, or by offering an online
transaction platform that by-passes
the need for an agent altogether!
And we’re only at the beginning of
this transformation, where new tech-
nology and business models seek to
make inroads into gaining consumer
trust, inmanaging themost important
transaction in their lives.”
According to Salomone, even
though 50% of buyers in the US start
house hunting online, 90% will use
President of the National Association of Realtors, in the
UnitedStates, TomSalomone recentlyaddressedSouth
African estate agents on the technology challenges
facing estate agents today and what it takes to
make a great agent.
Are realtors a thing of the past?
a real estate agent by the time they
buy. He says that it is at this junction
where estate agents have won the
game for years, and will continue to
do so.
“Practitioners must never un-
derestimate the importance of the
human factor in the transaction and
that’s where we all need to master
our skills. Relationships cannot be
replaced by algorithms and technol-
ogy platforms butweneed continually
update our knowledge of new tech-
nologies,” says Salomone.
Le Roux adds, “We firmly supports
our estate agents and provide them
with thebest informationandwewere
delighted that Tom Salomone shared
his knowledge, insights and inspired
REBOSA members.”
■
accounts under Lindiwe Sisulu and
all of them are fake.
Facebook has 10 accounts under
the username Lindiwe Sisulu. Of
these, there is only one legitimate ac-
count, which has an underscore in be-
tween the username – Lindiwe_Sisulu.
Industry stakeholders, media and
members of the public are advised to
block these accounts and also report
them to the respective social media
platforms.
■