City&Country: Zerin Properties unveils exclusive service for ladies

It comes as no surprise that women are increasingly taking the lead in the property purchase or investment decisions of their families as well as the corporations they represent.

Acknowledging this, real estate agency and consultancy Zerin Properties Sdn Bhd has come up with a product that caters for the needs of this growing group of customers — a new service that is aptly named Exclusively Ladies.

This gender-specific service is provided by a team of ladies at Zerin. It provides information on investments that are either personal in nature or to meet corporate real estate requirements. It also offers property advice on mergers and acquisitions and private wealth real estate management, says CEO Previndran Singhe.

According to him, the ladies are taking charge of their own investments.

“Lady investors and women working in the corporate sector are increasing in numbers as more of them become emancipated and take charge of their lives and investments.

“There have always been lady decision-makers. Now, this is a growing trend and a market to be reckoned with,” he observes.

The real estate agency receives between 20% and 30%, and counting, of its leads on property deals from ladies. Indeed, Previndran estimates this to grow by 5% to 10% per annum.

He expects Exclusively Ladies to account for about 20% of the company’s overall business and this contribution to grow by 5% to 15% per annum.

Ladies have different requirements when they discuss potential investments or deals with property agents, Previndran remarks.

“From experience, we realised that ladies are more comfortable dealing with ladies. Also, many ladies work and sometimes can only view properties late in the evening or on weekends, and generally feel safer if the agent showing them the house was a woman and one who was well versed in the real estate market.”

It took Previndran and his team several months to get the product off the ground. While there were some challenges along the way, there was no difficulty that the team could not handle.

Made up of 11 women who have sound knowledge of the industry, the team understands the wants of women clients and can offer them advice and assistance on achieving their property investment targets.

“The team has a singular focus — to ensure that the lady clients are comfortable when they engage or interact with its members,” says Previndran.

Zerin Properties is no stranger to offering services aimed at specific areas or types of property investment. So far, it has launched focused services for areas such as KLCC, Mont’Kiara, Bangsar and Sentul.

According to Previndran, the real estate agency has dedicated portals with a host of staff members servicing the aforementioned areas.

“The staff members are very familiar with those locations and provide dedicated services to tenants and purchasers alike looking for their dream home or investment in the locales. We list the properties, for example the condominiums or landed properties, on the website and it is an easy search for someone looking for assets.”

Previndran says Zerin Properties also offers specialised services for office space on its website www.officespace.com.my.

“It is a dedicated service for corporates looking for office space to rent. We also have a dedicated website for serious hotel investors.”

The office space and hotel investment services can be downloaded as an app for smartphones like the BlackBerry, Android and iPhone.

Established in 2002, Zerin Properties has become one of Asia’s leading teams for real estate mergers and acquisitions. Deals conducted using their expertise include the sale of Four Seasons Langkawi, Intercontinental Hanoi and Landmark Office Assets in Cyberjaya. Within just two years of its incorporation, the company had branched out to Singapore, Sydney, New Delhi and London, reaching clients globally.

Zerin Properties has also received several awards, including two from the Asia-Pacific Property Awards in 2011. Previndran was named Outstanding Individual for Real Estate Investment by the RFP Outstanding Individuals in Industry Awards in 2007.

The company also bagged Highly Commended awards, one in the property consultancy marketing category for closing a RM333 million deal between Aseana Properties Ltd and ARA Asia Dragon Fund for 1 Mont Kiara and another for best commercial website for its office space division’s website www.officespace.com.my.

This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 911, May 21-27, 2012