Saturday, September 30, 2006
[RealEdge] BT : SingPost dives into real estate services with ERA tie-up
| Published September 30, 2006  | |
| SingPost dives into real estate services with ERA tie-up Customers can transact property at 3 outlets initially
By LAUREL TEO
THE neighbourhood post office has added yet another dish to its growing menu of services. From Oct 16, property advice and transaction services will be offered at Singapore Post outlets, starting at three places: Ang Mo Kio Central, Marine Parade and Toa Payoh Central. The tie-up between SingPost and property agency ERA Realty, dubbed PostREALTY, will see a team of ERA staff set up shop in each of the three outlets. A customer service officer, aided by a small sales team, will attend to walk-in customers and help them to buy, sell, or rent HDB flats, private homes and commercial properties. Asked if there were plans to extend the new service to its 59 other outlets, a SingPost spokesman told BT yesterday: 'SingPost and ERA Realty will monitor the demand for the PostREALTY service and we will increase the number of post offices accordingly. ERA Realty president Jack Chua explained that this was a partnership and not a landlord-tenant relationship. As such, no rental will be charged by SingPost. But the two have made arrangements to share advertising and commissions, details of which he declined to disclose. The property service is but one of many recent efforts by SingPost to unlock more value from its network of 62 storefronts, which receive more than 20 million customer visits each year. It has already diversified into personal loans and pawnbroking services. Earlier this month, it also announced a tie-up with advertising agency Focus Media to screen TV ads in all its outlets. In a separate announcement yesterday, SingPost said that it had completed the sale of its HDB shop unit in Marine Parade for $5.68 million. Given that the property's net book value is about $830,000, and factoring in agent commission and legal fees, this leaves it with about $4.78 million of gain on disposal. The Marine Parade outlet will move to a nearby spot, details of which will be released at a later date, said a SingPost spokesman. The new premises will also begin operations on Oct 16, she added. |
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