Human touch beats apps when selling houses, says Pam Golding boss

The human touch still reigns supreme when it comes to selling houses, says Pam Golding Properties CEO Andrew Golding. “People still want a warm body when they buy or sell a house, which is a highly emotional deal”, said Golding. He said suggestions that human agents have no future are misplaced, with 70% of successful house sales conducted using traditional methods in SA. More black South Africans are entering the residential market than before, making up 60% of first-time buyers on a national scale. Most of these buyers want to buy a house using an estate agent, Golding said. Many technology providers have said estate agents’ careers will end in the next few years as they expect customers to use applications such as FNB’s nav, which allows an FNB customer to sell a house to another of the bank’s customers without an intermediary. Golding criticised the bank’s innovation, saying it does not take into account the intricacies of a house sale. “I’m not sure what FNB is trying to achiev...