Real Estate and technology initiatives – OM Property Solutions (M. Schirning)
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BURN R120 MILLION OF R10 NOTES?
> Yowzer! A US internet real estate company, Goldman Sachs funded-Zethus,
> recently filed for banckruptcy after reportedly burning through $15
> million in less than a year and a half. That's more than R120 million!
>
> A recent report from Banc of America Securities called 'Real Estate and
> Technology' indicates that Goldman has lots of company. The report lists
> 84 real estate dot-com companies (both commercial and residential) that
> are out of business or almost out of business. And collectively these
> companies must have run through hundreds of millions dollars. The report
> is particularly skeptical of transaction-related companies - '....many of
> these transaction-related companies are having a hard time convincing
> users to log on and conduct business online, especially for large
> transactions.' For sure.
>
> Suddenly I'm not so sad that SA is a bit behind the times when it comes to
> property and the internet! Hopefully we'll take to heart the lessons
> learned (expensively!) in the States.