House-hunting in KwaZulu-Natal just became a whole lot less stressful with the introduction of a new on-line property directory.
Launched by Harcourts Hilton and covering the whole of the province and beyond, WhatsOnShow? promises to take the hassle out of finding a new home to buy or rent. Melissa Line, manager of the new service said: "Instead of waiting for the property section of the weekend paper to appear, prospective homeowners or renters can go on-line to plan their weekend of house-hunting. When they find a show home that interests them, they can simply follow the link to the home listing on a particular agency's website to find out more."
Estate agents pay a monthly fee to sign up with the website which offers them the ability to update their listings as often as necessary. "We will also update the directory once a week, which means that home buyers are assured of only fresh properties on the site. Individual agents can remove a property at any time ensuring that there are none on-line that have actually been let or sold, thus avoiding disappointment for clients," Line said. The directory carries properties for rent, and for viewing by appointment only, with the main focus on those on show.
The website offers prospective buyers additional services to smooth out what can be a bumpy road to finding a home. These include an e-mail and sms link to the agent selling the property, the facility to download and print a Google map to find the house, a facility to draw up a shortlist of likely properties, and, in case browsers see a home they just know will interest a friend, a link to forward the details to them.
WhatsOnShow? has been in a testing phase for several months and the response from agents and buyers has been positive so far. "With the major shift to on-line sales and advertising in business generally, we felt the time was right for a service like this in the property industry. We have registered the URL nationally and internationally so that we can expand our coverage as the idea catches on and demand for it grows. We look forward to expanding into other provinces and in time across the globe," Line said.
For more information go to www.WhatsOnShow.co.za
