Establishing complete trust is the only way for an estate agent to be successful says Wian Ingram

The most accurate indication of how good or bad an estate agent is, is the amount of repeat and referral business that he generates, says Rowan Alexander, director of Alexander Swart Property of Brackenfell, formerly a franchisee of a leading national property group but now wholly independent.

“When clients recommend an agent to their friends or use him for a second or third time, you can be sure that he or she is a top performer,” says Alexander, “and on that score Wian Ingram rates highest of all agents in Alexander Swart Property.

Since Alexander Swart Property became independent four months ago, Wian has sold no less than 11 properties for a total sum of R12,990,000, i.e. with an average sale price of R1,800,000 – and right now he has a further four sales in the pipeline.  For the majority of the sales in Brackenfell Wian has made use of the new freedom gained by Alexander Swart Property to work beyond their previous prescribed boundaries by also selling homes in Goodwood and Stellenberg.  For the first time, too, he has sold a home off plan (in Sultana Street).  The price here was R2,127,000.

Wian has been in property since he was 19 years old.  After studying marketing at Boland College in Stellenbosch, it was during his practical year at the college that he worked for the Rawson Property Group and despite being a trainee did so well that he stayed with them and now, therefore, forms part of the Alexander Swart Property staff.

“As a very young inexperienced estate agent I had a great deal to learn, but I was always prepared to work for 11 or 12 hours a day and that made a big difference,” says Wian.

What factors does a young estate agent have to learn?  What factors will make him successful?

According to Wian the most important lesson to be learned is how to build up a totally trusting, mutually respectful relationship with the client – and this, he says, can only be done if, firstly, the agent has a sole mandate for the property, secondly that he or she is 100% honest and truthfully and thirdly that the new agent genuinely works for the clients and not for his own interests.

“On occasions,” says Wian, “this can even be advising a client not to sell.  If, for example, he is very undecided about selling or if he has not the cash for a successful move, it becomes my duty to deter him from selling.  Operating honestly and truthfully also means becoming involved in the client’s financial affairs and encouraging him to budget and save properly, something many South Africans are not too good at.”

One of the major advantages of building trust with a client, says Wian, is that it will enable the agent to set a realistic, genuinely market-related price, with the result that the home will usually sell within 50 days or even half that time.  It will also, he says, enable the agent when dealing with a buyer to help him prequalify for a bond and therefore avoid the disappointment and time wasting that so easily results from making offers on homes that are too expensive for the buyer – only to find that the bank will not finance the purchase.

Wian, now 26 years old, married earlier this year.  He was whilst a student a professional track and road cyclist, riding for Bellville, but today he sticks mainly to social off-road cycling and workouts at the gym.  He has himself bought two properties and this has given him further insight into property dealing which he finds invaluable.