Entegral Blog

Invitation Homes, a joint venture between the Rabie Property Group and Kloof Capital South Africa, recently launched a brand new responsive website powered by our industry-leading Flex framework . Our team of highly skilled developers worked closely with the design team of Invitation Homes to create a custom-built Flex website for them.  The site is not only branded according to their corporate identity but is also armed with leading, custom-developed technology which will enable them to provide an online presence for their business. The website embraces responsive technology, secure browsing, and optimal UX design to deliver a unique browsing experience that is based on the latest design and industry trends. A lot of attention has been paid to make the property search experience as fast as possible. The website’s custom-built search functionality allows a user to search according to the various developments in particular Cape Town areas owned by the groups, ensuring that vi...

Creating a professional online presence has never been more important and to ensure that we offer the very best to our clients, we continuously work on not just the way your website works but how it is presented to visitors. With that in mind, our designers and developers have made it possible for clients to choose from new themes that adhere to the latest design trends without losing what makes our Flex product unique in its offering. As always all our websites are responsive, hosted on the cloud and backed by our unrivaled tech to produce a 24/7 lead generating machine. Starter Theme Our Starter theme no-frills, no-fuss cost-effective real estate website solution you have been looking for. We have worked tirelessly to create a product that would offer real estate agents the perfect base to get started from in the digital landscape. Our new Starter theme boasts with all the basics you would need to get started and will be available as either the Normal Starter theme or as ...

Having a multitude of lead conversion strategies and systems in place might seem like the right approach to converting leads - however, all your efforts might be moot if there is no accountability. We take a deeper look at how you can make sure accountability is a part of your real estate agency culture. Setting goals You cannot grow a culture of accountability without having a set of clearly defined goals. Lead conversion will fail every single time if agents do not know what they are working towards - are you trying to grow your business in a new area? Launching a new property management division? These plans and corresponding goals for your real estate team will serve as the backbone of your culture of accountability. If you or a member of your team falls short of a goal, it’s much easier to pivot and address problems if you have a strong foundation in place. Increasing productivity with management tools  This is not about policing your agents - after all, micromanag...

By offering competitive industry tools, supporting an agent's personal brand, and investing in a collaborative workplace culture, agencies can make themselves indispensable to their agents and future talent as well. Invest in technology that makes agents better According to an Inman report, real estate agents overwhelmingly support tech tools provided by their agencies. The vast majority of agents at franchised agencies and independent agencies use tech products either on a daily basis or at the very least, a few times a week. Additionally, they have come to rely on their agencies sharing the costs of these technologies. Investing in technology that aids in their productivity will help you retain your current agents and will also become a great selling point for agents considering joining your agency. Here are a few examples of technology that will aid in productivity in your real estate agency: Document Management Contracts, inspection checklists and other real estat...

A recent firmware upgrade to Matterport 's existing technology has reduced the amount of time it takes to capture footage when creating an immersive 3D listing tour. The firmware update increases the speed at which the camera rotates, allowing more square footage to be scanned in less time. The company published a comparison video that shows a new Matterport scan finishing 50 percent faster than it did prior to the upgrade. Matterport vice president, Mark Tepper, told Inman in an email that "real estate agents who own a camera and choose to do their own scanning can now save time, getting in and out of a property listing in a fraction of the time it would have taken previously.” He added that customers using Matterport Pro2 and an iPad Pro should also be able to capture a space in half the time it previously took. Customers wanting to try the update can register on Matterport’s website. The update is free for current customers and requires no new equipment. Tepper ...

While online tools can serve as an excellent supplement to any real estate agency, they are by no means a replacement for traditional quality service. Here are five key components of good service that will never go out of style: 1. Go the extra mile Unfortunately, many real estate agencies these days do not make customer service a priority. As a result, they end up having mediocre service that leaves clients and customers frustrated. Therefore, if you choose to prioritize good service, you will differentiate yourself from the competition and customers will appreciate you for it. A little extra effort goes a long way, so show your clients that you care, and you will be creating a positive relationship that could last a lifetime. 2. Maintain strong internal communication If you don’t have your act together within the company, it will be immediately obvious to the outside world. So in order to achieve good customer service, start from the inside out. The first step is to organize you...

Over the years our developers and designers have created amazing tools and products to help busy real estate agents streamline the way they do business. We take a look at some of our key products that will change your business. Most real estate agents will tell you that they need a few more hours in a day to get to everything they need to do, with these products you might just find yourself with an extra hour or two to drink a cup of coffee. Office Management System First things first - any successful real estate agency needs an office management system that will assist them with their day-to-day admin work. Our Office Management System (OMS) is the powerful tool that you have been looking for. Backed by countless hours of development the OMS lets you list your properties once and publishes them on all the leading portals, including your own Entegral website, print automated brochures, manage your contacts and referrals, draw property reports, send out SMS’s to your briefcase...

With more than 13 years of experience in the property industry, Kainos Properties, are industry leaders that have built and expanded their brand from the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town to now include the breathtaking properties along the Western Seaboard. www.kainosprop.co.za Situated in the picturesque Welgemoed, Cape Town affords the dynamic real estate agents of this busy agency a unique understanding of the old saying that you are not buying a home but the neighbourhood - they know that finding the right home also means finding the right lifestyle. With this in mind, their newly launched Entegral responsive Flex website is not only a showcase of their latest listings but also an online marketing tool for their agency and the areas they work in. From here they can market their for sale properties, feature their recently sold listings and attract tenants on the hunt for new rental accommodation on any screen size without compromising on design and most importantly functiona...

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can seem like a daunting (and very technical) task but by avoiding a few common pitfalls you are already increasing your chances of ranking higher on Google’s search results page! Pushing the wrong keywords A few years back generic keywords would have done the trick, but times have changed and with it how keywords are used in SEO. If you want to rank in Google you have to make sure that you’re using the right keywords for every page. If you are a local real estate agency pushing “property for sale”, you’re aiming too high. You should consider something a more specific. It is estimated that up to 80% of searches are long-tail keywords. Long tail keywords are those three and four keyword phrases which are very, very specific to what you are selling. This means content with the phrase ‘Lonehill property for sale’ will fare better than simply ‘property for sale’ when you want to ensure you are getting better ranking in personalised search results. ...

The internet has made it possible for people to transfer information quickly, cheaply and paperless - similarly blockchain technology has made it possible to transfer money and assets. In simple terms, blockchain consists of a distributed ledger and a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin. But how can it be applied to real estate in the future? Streamlining the sale process Considering all the parties involved in a real estate transaction, the whole process can be cumbersome and expensive. However, cryptocurrency cuts out some of these parties. Public blockchains are a distributed database where anyone can record information, without it being censored, and without needing permission. Equally, anyone can access that information. For example, there are numerous databases of property ownership records. This information includes the address, previous and current owners, and various encumbrances such as mortgages. Prior to the internet, the government and title companies were neces...

Established in January 2017, Mikaya Real Estate has grown in leaps and bounds, expanding their real estate footprint in Bloemfontein and with that came the need for a cutting edge real estate website that would reflect their brand and showcase their latest listings. www.mikaya.co.za With years experience in the real estate industry, the dedicated Mikaya Real Estate are poised to ensure the very best service to their clients whether they are on the hunt for a rental property, new family home, an agricultural property or commercial real estate. Mikaya Real Estate chose Entegral Technologies to be their service provider for all their online marketing and property management needs.  Their business is run and managed by our Office Management System (OMS) which is linked to their brand new Momento themed Flex website . Not only do they now boast with a fully responsive website, but is also one of the very first of our clients that have taken advantage of our new theme! Visi...

Operating in various cities across South Africa, the real estate agents from Hamptons Realty Group needed a website that not only reflected their brand but would also promote their listings - both residential and commercial - as well as their other services. http://www.hamptonsrealty.co.za/ With our industry-leading Flex real estate website solutions you are not just getting an online home for all your listings but a marketing tool with all of the latest technology backing it. The responsive design allows for the website to automatically scale itself to the screen size it is viewed on - this means that the site will never lose its functionality whether you are viewing the site on a smartphone, tablet or laptop. This counts in your favour when it comes to Google ranking and you can find out more about that here:  Responsive vs Mobile websites, which is best for your real estate agency? The Hamptons Realty Group chose our Franchise theme which boasts with all the standard F...

Believe us when we say, Content is still very much King. However, content as purely SEO is definitely dead. Today, SEO means creating content for users. The idea that SEO should be created for users and not search engines seems counter productive but it isn't. A decade ago, SEO content was about keyword density and not entirely about the quality of your content or user intent. However, times have changed and many search engine marketers no longer refer to it as search engine optimisation but search experience optimisation. What does this mean? Before we dive into the technical side we have to look at why SEO is no longer the SEO that we remember. These days a search query, such as ‘property for sale in cape town,’ is often the starting point of a journey. In this case, the user might type in the phrase, find a real estate website, find a house they like, then they need to find out as much as they can about buying a house, then maybe a bond originator...and so forth..wha...

Over 3 million EAAB PrivySeals are displayed monthly - are you one of them? By now you should know that your PrivySeal is a digital seal that authenticates your registration status with the Estate Agency Affairs Board in real-time. This seal is added to your email signature, website, property profiles and listings on your Flex website and other various property portals. Why should you get one? If you are wondering why you should get one, firstly you should know that it is mandatory and secondly it will help your clients know that they are working with a registered estate agent. And in a world where so many people are distrusting of real estate agents due to unfortunate events, this can mean the difference between getting a client or not. The important information appearing on the PrivySeal enables consumers, at a glance, to verify the knowledge and experience of any estate agent. The seal not only reflects your registration status at the EAAB, it also shows your skill lev...

For Pretoria based real estate agents, Arlon Properties, keeping up with the growing student accommodation demand is vital to their business. Established in 1991, this agency has made it their business to supply rentals and investment properties in the vicinity of the University of Pretoria and with their new Flex responsive website , they will be able to keep up with the mobile generation. www.arlon.co.za Backed by hours of innovative development and groundbreaking Cloud Infrastructure their new Vision-themed website allows them to put the focus on what is important - their property stock in one of the most in demand property nodes in Pretoria. The key feature of their new website is its responsive technology that allows the site to adjust and adapt to any screen size it is viewed from, without compromising the aesthetic and most importantly functionality of the website. This eliminates the need for an additional mobile website and also assists with SEO. Other features incl...

While current Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology might not yet be everything we imagined just yet, many are already discussing the impact of what is already out there. What impact will it have on the real estate industry, if any? Russ Cofano, wrote about intelligent software from a real estate agent’s point of view and suggested that it can be an asset and not a threat to real estate agents, as it could add tangible knowledge to the real estate agent’s collective insights. Asking: “ What if cognitive computing enables agents to be better professionals and make better recommendations to their clients? What if access to cognitive computing power, and the data necessary to power it, becomes the 21st century equivalent of the MLS utility?” Further, Cofano states, “Cognitive computing has the potential to add massive value to the real estate brokerage value proposition and do for agent professionalism what no other initiative could touch.” However, Rob Hahn has stated that “…...

A unique property group needs a unique website and office management system solution and with the launch of their new Flex website , DBC Property not only has a cutting edge website but also a truly paperless office management system. www.dbcproperty.co.za As one of six divisions in the DBC Group, DBC Property needed to reflect the brand it is part of but also needed to cement themselves in the property landscape with a website that would showcase their unique approach to real estate and their plethora of listings. With their background in law, the website not only provides their latest listings but also has separate pages to explain the legal process of buying a home and other legal requirements when you buy or sell a property. Every Flex responsive website launch is unique and we revel in finding the right design template for each real estate agency, however with DBC Property, we set out to develop a brand new ‘savings calculator’ for this agency that prides themselves on ...

As part of one of the biggest global real estate brands, our latest Flex responsive website for Engel & Völkers Hoedspruit, had to adhere to the brand identity whilst showcasing the unique beauty of Hoedspruit real estate. For Engel & Völkers Hoedspruit our Elegant themed Flex website ensured that this dynamic team of real estate agents could showcase their listings and well-known brand on a responsive, cutting edge website. The responsive design of the www.engelvoelkershoedspruit.co.za website also allows for optimal user experience whether they are using a tablet, smartphone, laptop or desktop computer. The website now boasts with not only the latest technology but also property videos, an integrated map search, as well as bond and affordability calculators. They also make use of the Office Management System , to capture their listing details once and publish it across our property portal partner network, including their own website. For more information on how...

Operating across Namibia and specialising in beautiful coastal properties, Reef Break Realtors Namibia CC is a real estate agency that lives and breathes their slogan of “converting transactions into relationships” by providing quality service with a personal touch. www.realtorsnamibia.com Their goal of using the latest technology to market their client’s property is aided by the use of our Office Management System (OMS) and cutting edge Flex responsive real estate website solution . With the launch of their new website, Reef Break Realtors, now has a website that adapts itself to any screen size it is viewed from. This means that there is no longer a need for a separate mobile website. Not only is this cost-effective but also helps with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and according to the latest from Google, responsive websites will count in your favour when websites are ranked in search results. The new Reef Break Realtors website is based on our Elegant theme , boastin...

Asset Property Group’s new Entegral Flex responsive website is a showcase of how we can customise the website to fit your real estate business - from residential sales to commercial rentals, Flex can do it all! www.assetpg.co.za Asset Property Group has a wealth of industry experience backing them and as specialists, in the sale and rental of warehouses, factories, commercial land, and office space they needed a website that would not only showcase their listings but the company at large. Using the Elegant theme from our Flex responsive website templates , Asset Property Group can now ensure that their stock of reaches the right audience whether they are browsing the website using a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Property buyers and sellers alike will be able to make use of the integrated monthly bond repayment calculator to see how much they will be repaying on their bond or they can use their map search to find their ideal property! Prospective clients on-the-go will appreci...