E-tools which augment property agents’ personalised services launched

More user-friendly e-tools which enhances property agents productivity, much like the Home Loan Report, have hit the market in recent weeks. ERA Realty Network (ERA) in May announced that it has launched a website which will allow customers to find property agents based on the latter’s reviews and past transactions.

ERA said that the rollout of the website, FindPropertyAgent.sg (FPA),  comes with an industry-first feature that allows users to match with their preferred property agents in under a minute. This works similar to a ride-hailing platform.

Users can search on the service they require, be it buy, sell or rent, and they will be prompted with a database of agents who are online. Thereafter, they can choose the agents they feel can best address their needs, and connect with them in real time.

ERA Chief Operating Officer, Marcus Chu says: “The phase two of FPA will heighten convenience for consumers as they search for property agents. Not only that, in the event that they have an urgent matter that requires immediate attention, they can find a suitable property agent who is available to help them in real time.”

He added: “For agents, this feature helps them to acquire more leads and encourage them to respond to consumers’ enquiries in a timelier fashion. We hope to aid our agents in embracing digital technology with solutions specifically developed to increase agent’s productivity though our mobile applications (i-ERA, ERA SG Projects), website (ERA.com.sg), customer relationship management system (24/7 PropWatch) and an internal portal (myERA).”

FPA is a dedicated website for consumers to customise their search experiences for the right property agent. Smart algorithms enable consumers to find the most suitable property agents who can cater to their needs. FPA encompasses the most complete property agents’ profile pages with past transactions statistics, customer reviews, awards achieved, and trainings completed, to increase transparency and build better trust with consumers.

ERA said that it will soon launch artificial intelligence which will be used to help agents serve consumers more efficiently by answering common queries and predict preferences. This time-saving feature, another industry-first, will enhance overall effectiveness.

ERA’s announcement comes as property agents face the increasing prospect of their jobs being displaced by automation in an already overcrowded market. New technology that is being developed by established listing platforms and startups may lead to automated services ultimately edging agents out of the picture.

Mr Paul Ho, chief mortgage consultant of icompareloan.com said that in this new landscape, property agents “must upgrade or die”. He believes that agents must adopt technology and automate their workflow or risk being replaced by automation or technical tools.

Mr Ho said that iCompareLoan.com’s Home Loan Report is one such tool agents can make use of to augment their services.

The Home Loan Report tool is a Singapore’s first one-of-a-kind analysis platform that provides latest updates of detailed loan packages and helps property agents, financial advisors and mortgage brokers to analyse home loan packages for their clients and give unbiased home loan / commercial loan analysis for their property buyers and home owners.

As buyers of the future grow more discerning, agents cannot afford to just rely on their personality or their experience to attract clients. Buyers and sellers of the future will increasingly rely on agents to have knowledge on property finance calculations and this is where the Home Loan report comes in.

This trademarked tool is a one-stop solution that can help deliver a detailed home loan report to property agents in 3 minutes flat.

This is especially helpful when agents who do not have knowledge on property finance calculations make cold calls to potential clients and need to have a thorough analysis at hand in order to best direct each client on what their property buying and selling options are.

Such a report will not only help agents deliver the best possible property options to their clients, it will also help prevent the agent or potential buyers or sellers from wasting each other’s time since they already have all the information they need on the potential client’s buying or selling prospects at hand.

Mr Ho asserted that property agents who want to continue working in the industry must set themselves apart and position themselves as thought leaders, especially in this day and age where digital marketing largely drives the economy.

What’s especially good about the trademarked Home Loan Report is that the more agents use tool, the more traffic it will bring to the agency’s website. This feature is great for leads capture and brand recognition.

Tools like FPA and icompareloan.com’s trademarked Home Loan Report, plug into the Government’s Real Estate Industry Transformation Map.

The National Development Ministry had earlier said that its goal of promoting such tools is for property agents and property portals to be able to automatically verify key details all with the click of a button. The Ministry believes that this will be an opportunity for firms a well as agents to undertake significant process innovation to become more productive. And at the same time make the process so much more efficient, effective, transparent, and competitive.

If you want more information on our trademarked Home Loan Report, just email our chief mortgage consultant, Paul Ho, with your name, email and phone number at paul@icompareloan.com.

If you are home-hunting, our Panel of Property agents and the mortgage consultants at icompareloan.com can help you with affordability assessment and a promotional home loan. The services of our mortgage loan experts are free. Our analysis will give best home loan seekers better ease of mind on interest rate volatility and repayments.