A lack of business and financial experience prevents many South African commercial property brokers from being able to maximise the benefits they offer their clients, says David Hitch, Rawson Properties franchisee of Rawson Commercial in KZN.
'The plain truth,' said Hitch, 'is that the selling skills which are all important in the marketing of residential property are often of secondary importance in commercial property. Here the ability to structure a favourable deal is vital to success'
For this reason, he said, the Rawson commercial team is led almost entirely by brokers who have held management positions either in their own business or with big corporates or banks.
'The decision to invest in a commercial property for ones own company or on a buy-to-rent basis largely depends on financial viabilities,' he said. 'The broker who has come to commercial property '˜off the street, very often from other or more straightforward forms of selling, is almost certain to be out of his depth here.
'At Rawson Commercial we have found time and again that opportunities favourable to both landlords and tenants have not been realised for the simple reason that the broker did not have an understanding of finance and commercial leasing. Fortunately there are firms like ours which can and do offer these skills'
Hitch made these comments while discussing the growth of the current tendency among cash-strapped industrialists who sell their own premises and then lease them back so that they can ride out the next two or three years of low economic growth and limited demand for their products. Rawson Commercial, said Hitch, is honing up its skills in this field and has found that this apparently drastic action can create a survival win-win situation for all concerned and, in the long run, can sometimes result in the tenant being able to buy back his property.
For further information contact David Hitch on 079 897 8297 or email david.hitch@rawson.co.za.
