Electronic data on residential property is invaluable

Residential property buyers, sellers and many others needing information on the property market, have come to rely more and more on data that far-sighted analytical companies have now learned to collate, and present in an easily understood form.

"Researchers such as Lightstone, CMA Info and Windeed," says Rowan Alexander, Director of Alexander Swart Property, "have done the property sector a real favour. So much so that it is difficult to see how we managed without them previously. Our data base was certainly not as accurate as it is now. The necessary information was always available from the Deeds Offices - but until  recent years, no one tried to put it together in a user friendly way that benefits us all."

Statistics such us how much people paid for their homes, the area's home price growth year on year for the last decade, how these prices  compare with others locally and countrywide, the incomes of residents in the area, how long they have lived there, their  ages and the ages of more recent buyers, information on which banks are supporting these buyers with bonds and what the average size of bonds awarded has been, along with other facts, enable the prospective buyer (or seller) to gain a very good idea of how the area is progressing or going downhill. This information, says Alexander, can be bought online via the compiler's website. Certain banks, notably Nedbank and FNB, are also willing to offer clients this data in a simplified form. Property 24 and Private Property provide inexpensive shortened online versions of the longer reports.

The property buyer or seller using these online portals to get the background information that he needs, may be tempted to feel that he is now in a strong position to handle his property deal on his own. Alexander warns that this would be a serious mistake to make. "Over the last 20 years there have been regular attempts to make the estate agent superfluous. All of them have failed and the reason is quite simple: the agent time and again concludes a deal where the DIY amateur seller or buyer bungles, wastes time and ends up achieving a price that is NOT market related. Sometimes in excess of 10% less than the fair price of the property at that time. The agent's commission  almost invariably turns out to be very small in comparison to what they can contribute towards achieving a quick, hassle-free, completely legal and fairly priced transaction. This claim is not made on the basis of self-interest as an agent but purely on my experience gained over many years in this business."