one stop real estate shop is a first in dubai
Smith and Ken launch brokerage catering for maturing market and foreign investors
A new breed of real estate agency was today officially launched in Dubai, offering a one-stop-shop for purchasing real estate in the emirate.
Smith and Ken Real Estate, formed by two professionals with more than a decade of combined experience selling property in Dubai, will focus on the burgeoning foreign investment that continues to flow into Dubai's property market.
Director, Benjamin J. Smith, explains the firm will be the first in Dubai to offer property brokerage, mortgage advice, life and property insurance under one roof, in order to make property purchasing as simple as possible for foreign and local investors.
He said: "The property market in Dubai is maturing and both myself and business partner, Gaber Kenger, believe any ambitious real estate agencies will need to shift focus to foreign investors, who will be crucial to the emirate's continued economic growth.
"There have been five major property boom cities worldwide within the past 25 years, namely Dubai, New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. The interesting thing is that out of these five, London, Hong Kong and Singapore have only relied upon 20 per cent foreign investment. However, Dubai and New York have both registered around 80 per cent from foreign inward investment.
"These statistics suggest to us that, if foreign investors are catered for properly, Dubai's current growth is sustainable for at least the next five years.
"The new regulations have made the market much more transparent and this is a good thing for the economy and property industry here if it is handled correctly. We have noticed market demands changing and have established this one-stop-shop to take advantage of this gap in the market.
"Properties that were previously being bought by investors to sell on are now more regularly being bought by end users, who of course need mortgages. Legislation dictates that buyers make arrangements for life and property insurance and, by providing these services in-house, everything can be put in motion during only one visit to our office."
Around 60 per cent of Smith & Ken's clients are international investors, based throughout the globe covering a diverse range of nationalities. Hence Smith and Ken has employed a team of 15 multinational and multilingual consultants.
"A key element when dealing with foreign investors is that they expect European sales and customer service standards and this is another element we provide and believe real estate companies will need to consistently offer.
"Our fully interactive comprehensive website in eight different languages and state-of-the-art targeted customer relationship marketing system will give us the edge when communicating foreign investors, and we expect competitors to follow our lead.
"The good news is that we believe the real estate market is becoming more 'home grown'. Regulations now in place, namely Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and Escrow, will see fly-by-night developers and property brokers slowly drift out of the market and this will further inspire confidence for both local buyers and foreign investors.
And Smith explained that the regulations should also improve lending in the future.
"As the market becomes more mature and 'home grown', lending from both local banks for end user mortgages and international lending to foreign investors will become a crucial element for the industry's longevity. The regulations in place will instill extra confidence in these lenders and encourage more approvals, better lending products and, hopefully, more competitive interest rates."
Smith added: "The majority of new clients we are handling are foreign investors and the key to servicing this key group is to make the experience as easy as possible.
"Websites are the first point of contact for foreign investors and providing these property databases over the web in an easy to use format and in as many languages as possible is a vital tool for success."
