Motivation / rationale of the programme

Selling residential property is a lucrative income-generating business. Ineffective management, as well as a lack of proper controls, training, processes, and procedures in both the back office (supportive and administrative) and frontline (property practitioners), will not only result in financial losses but could severely and publicly impact a company’s reputation. Legal and civil suits could also arise from improper or unethical conduct, maladministration, and incorrect paperwork.

The industry watchdog for property practitioners, the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA), has set minimum qualification standards for agents and principals alike. With this programme, we aim to ensure all sales staff are adequately equipped and properly trained in the aspects relevant to their responsibilities and outputs.

Although property practitioners are essentially intrapreneurs (generating an income and running their own business within a business), it is important to create teamwork and forge cooperation and sound relationships – in the office as well as with service providers, stakeholders, and clients (owners, sellers, tenants, buyers, and investors) alike. 

An efficient back and front office will deliver a smooth-running, high-performing, profitable Property Sales Agency that rewards and retains its staff in a pleasant work environment that tolerates and facilitates a diverse variety of people.   

The purpose of the programme

To equip newcomers to Property Sales (administrative and supportive staff and property practitioners) with a foundational understanding of what the process and outputs regarding their responsibilities entail.

Learning outcomes of this programme

• Understand the Definition and Purpose of Property Sales Management
• Understand the environment and legislation relating to property sales as per the Property Practitioners Act and other legislative frameworks
• Understand, execute and/or manage the property sales and after-sales process
• Run, administrate, and effectively manage a property sales office
• Deliver impeccable client service throughout and maintain sound client relationships
• Maintain brand integrity and ethical standards throughout
• Manage Property Sales Objectives, Employee Benchmarks, and Reporting

Learning Topics

Learning Unit 1:  Introduction to Property Sales Management

• The definition of Property Sales Management
• The Purpose of Property Sales Management
• The role of Property Sales Management in the business
• Applicable Legislation
• Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act
• Property Practitioners Act
• Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA)

Learning Unit 2: The Property Sales Process

• Goal-setting
• The benefits of setting goals
• Selecting a viable farming area
• Analysing property sales in an area or suburb
• Determining a farming area's viability
• Drafting your business (and personal) plan
• Budgeting: making the sums work
• Measuring progress
• Looking further ahead
• Time management guidelines
• Canvassing
• Know your area        
• Environment
• Data and information
• Farming
• Analysing your area
• Get stock
• Prospecting
• Referrals
• Get the appointment
• Daily canvassing activities
• Telephone canvassing
• Door-to-door canvassing
• Canvassing scripts
• Getting the mandate
• Reasons why owners want to sell
• Preparing yourself to meet clients
• Information kits        
• Preparing for and conducting a listing appointment
• Preparing a comparative market analysis (CMA)
• Preparing your marketing and mandate presentation
• Doing (presenting) the mandate presentation
• Getting the mandate
• Marketing
• Pre-marketing preparation
• Preparing: Property
• Preparing: The Owner(s)
• Preparing: The Agent
• Self-packaging
• Your overall impression
• A few guidelines for men
• A few guidelines for women
• What is marketing?
• Marketing in real estate       
• Value chain and how all your activities relate to marketing and selling
• Why would a buyer or owner choose to work with me?
• Ideas to promote yourself
• Overall marketing of yourself and your business
• Specific, targeted marketing for every mandated property
• Advertising
• What motivates buying?
• Practical copywriting tips
• Showhouses
• Real estate photography
• Preparing a shoot
• Editing and publishing
• Your camera and equipment
• Selling in real estate
• Legislation and regulations
• Contracts
• Contractual capacity
• Contractual requirements
• Contractual conditions
• Termination of contracts
• Types of contracts of sale
• Options and rights
• Competency of natural persons and legal entities
• Types of sale and transfer of property ownership
• Various types of tax in property transactions
• Transfer duty
• Value added tax (VAT)
• Income Tax
• Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
• Preparing administration
• Working with buyers
• Sourcing buyers
• Taking buyers to a viewing
• Qualifying buyers
• Servicing buyers: What you need to tell a buyer
• What you need to give a buyer
• Communicating without words: Body language
• Handling objections
• Invite, explain, and take the Offer to Purchase
• Agree to and maintain contact
• Working with sellers
• Transaction and client retention      
• Financing a sale
• Methods of financing a sale
• Costs of a sale
• What the seller pays
• What the buyer pays
• Types of finance
• Types of securities
• Types of mortgage bonds
• Lender’s/ mortgagor’s procedures
• The borrower /mortgagee’s rights
• Transaction processes
• Bond application process
• Transfer process
• Municipal clearance process
• Certificates of compliance
• Administration
• Footnotes
• After-sales administration checklist
• Client retention        
• Building a reliable database
• What makes a good property practitioner?

Learning Unit 3: The duties of a principal property practitioner

• Introduction: roles in an agency
• Duties of a Principal: Planning and Goal-setting
• Planning and goalsetting: Your environment
• Your environment: The big picture
• Your environment: Your country - South Africa
• Your environment: Your specific region
• Eastern Cape: Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
• Southern Cape: George
• KwaZulu Natal: eThekwini Metro (Durban)
• Your environment: On your doorstep
• Planning and goal-setting: Drafting your plan
• The past (three to five years)
• The year ahead
• Your annual plan
• Planning and goal-setting: steps for setting goals
• Duties of a principal: Leadership      
• Defining leadership and management in a real estate business
• What is required to lead in real estate?
• Leadership styles
• Principles of leadership in real estate
• Developing the traits required of a real estate leader
• Duties of a principal: Organising and running of an agency
• Bank accounts and handling monies
• PPRA registration, compliance, and audits
• Compliance and audits
• Legislation
• Processes and procedures
• Aspects of a principal’s activities
• Aspects of a property practitioner’s activities
• Duties of a principal: Managing and controlling an agency
• Exercising Control and Managing an agency
• Compliance
• Financial management
• Marketing
• Staff management and training
• Office management

Learning Unit 4: Property Sales Objectives, Employee Benchmarks, and Reporting

• Balanced Scorecard
• Employee Benchmarks
• Monthly Reporting
• Exception Reports

How to approach this programme

A lot of people who partake in this programme will work through it quickly from start to finish. That's okay, but in order to get the most out of your time, please consider the following:

• First, it's good to know if this programme is right for you. This is a foundational programme that focuses on fundamental Residential Property Sales skills, so it's ideal if you are just starting in Property sales and want to know the basics. Perhaps you are an experienced Property Practitioner who would like a refresher. The programme is also a good resource if you are a Principal Property Practitioner, and you want a training programme to share with your team.
• There are some downloadable worksheets to help you with many of the activities. Complete the activities as you progress through the programme. The worksheets facilitate the application of learning by making it practical. This will reinforce your understanding of each topic and help you develop your skills much faster.
• The Learning Plan Worksheet. This worksheet will help you identify your goals for the programme. It also assists you in creating an action plan to apply what you have learned. It is recommended that you download the Learning Plan Worksheet now and complete it before starting the programme.
• Independent reading – You will be required to download this reader and be guided by the content and instructions it contains.
• Independent research – You are encouraged to read more widely than just this reader and to be curious about the topic.
• Activities – Each Learning Unit is complemented by worksheets. To get the most out of the programme, you are advised to download the worksheets as you progress through the programme material.

Please click here to download The Learning Plan Worksheet

Download Glossary of Terms