MAIN IMAGE: Grant Smee, CEO of Only Realty Property Group
This week Only Realty Property Group has announced its acquisition of a majority shareholding in Leadhome, a technology-driven, full-service real estate agency.
Originally established as a Residential Letting Agency Franchise Group in 2009, Only Realty has since expanded, not just into sales, but in terms of acquiring other agencies such as Halbe Properties, Frankie Bells Real Estate, Adrienne Hersch Properties, and now Leadhome.
“Our expansion has been underpinned by our confidence in our systems and the approach to the business, where the focus has been on partnering with our agents. The expansion strategy is one of growing our footprint in terms of geography and market segments through a multi-brand approach where different brands and teams appeal to different individuals”, shares Grant Smee, Only Realty CEO.
Its latest acquisition, Leadhome which was co-founded by Marcél du Toit in 2015, has been an innovator in the South African property industry introducing a fixed-fee pricing model (in contrast to the standard estate agency percentage commission) and employing technology to optimise many of the functions performed by traditional agents. Today Leadhome employs approximately 90 tech-enabled agents and 40 support staff and has a strong presence in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban.
Commenting on the acquisition, Only Realty CEO, Grant Smee said “Leadhome has a solid track record of property sales, having sold over 10,000 properties since their inception in 2015. Their data-driven approach to property acquisitions and marketing will be a hugely valuable addition to Only Realty’s national strategy, enabling us to further strengthen all of our agent teams through the technology, data, and marketing expertise of the combined group. We look forward to this next chapter in our growth and working with the Leadhome team to continue strengthening our presence across South Africa.”
Smee believes that technology already plays a massive role in real estate and certainly more so in the future, “Ultimately property is about human interaction, as home buying is an emotional and stressful time. Technology enables agents to provide a much better experience to their clients through communication, transparency, and much more efficient working processes. Technology will never replace an agent, their role in the future might just change as more and more technology is deployed in the industry”.
