Next Property off to new shores.

The real estate portal is half owned by the cantonal banks and real estate companies. These have pooled their interests in Next Property AG. Recently, the General Meeting elected Claude Ginesta as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. A good opportunity to ask him about his plans for the future.

Congratulations on your election. What does this office mean to you?

I made myself available because Next Property is in a phase of upheaval and new impetus is good. I see it as a service to the real estate industry. You must not always think only of your own advantage and the next day. Farsightedness and making a contribution to the industry has already moved me the last 6 years as Vice President of the Chamber of Realtors.

 

What priorities would you like to set as CEO?

We want to protect our shareholders' customer interface and data by all means. In addition to the ownership of the data by one of the leading marketplaces (Newhome), it is now important that the real estate industry as a whole is integrated into a comprehensive ecosystem, giving each real estate company sovereignty over the customer journey.

We are a team in this fight and have put together a powerful Board of Directors, which will soon set the necessary new accents.

How do you assess the situation with marketplaces?

Actually, exactly what we have always warned about has happened - simply more quickly. This is not just a theory, but the merger of Zillow and Tulia in the USA has demonstrated it. It's worth taking a close look across the pond to understand where Switzerland's two largest marketplaces are headed. Because the exact same thing is threatening to happen as in the USA. This should make it clear to even the last doubter that Homegate and ImmoScout are not the partners of the real estate industry.

It was therefore very important that Next Property was founded. We currently have 506 shareholders from the real estate industry. Together with the French-speaking counterpart Immobilier.ch with another 120 shareholders, we already unite over 600 companies that have taken the reins into their own hands and want to determine the future themselves.

Currently exciting: ImmoScout is trying to implement price increases of 15-20%. We know this from Germany, where ImmoScout.de has increased prices almost every month.

How will newhome.ch develop after you?

The current user numbers are positive in a difficult market environment with short insertion times and fewer properties. Both sales properties (fewer properties are on the market for shorter periods of time) and rental properties (shorter vacancy periods) require fewer and fewer property days. What can be said for sure: The prices at newhome.ch are too low, here the portal delivers much more response per invested franc compared to the expensive marketplaces. Newhome.ch could even increase their prices due to the performance.

You've been inspired by America for many years. What have you brought back from your travels for the real estate industry?

Like you, I follow Mike Del Prete and consider him to be the most knowledgeable expert following the global development. His analysis shows that the new battle is about the customer journey and conquering the customer interface. The marketplaces are the first to realize that a tenant or buyer is looking for something. So in the future, they will want to sell the real estate industry tenant and buyer leads for 30-40% of the commissions. This is already the case in the US and Germany. Switzerland will not remain an island of bliss for the real estate industry if no one fights back.

Where do you see the real estate industry in terms of digitization?

The marketplaces are doing everything they can to master the interfaces. They are buying up all the well-known software companies for brokers and property managers. This is another dangerous development that worries Next Property.

In management it looks like this: Important add-ons such as marketing features, "document management systems" or tenant onboaring tools are intentionally not integrated into the management program. One sells the use of the interfaces (API) again expensively to the customers. The software providers also obtain customer data sovereignty with their solutions and monetize this in their ecosystems. For example, with the digital rental process, they try to steer management companies and property owners directly to the platforms. This is a way to lure prospective tenants away from the providers' websites.

What have you personally digitized at your company?

This is an ongoing process. We have defined all our processes in checklists, a kind of digital ISO certification. Here, I take the view that we should work with checklists like pilots (who know how to fly). A customer should always receive the same quality of service, whether in St. Moritz or in Zurich North. Now we are in the process of automating all administrative processes to a large extent and are finding that the current brokerage tools still offer too few innovations. This year we are also building a new website that communicates directly with the brokerage tool and will offer our clients new customer experiences and services.