By Providence Adetinka

The real estate space in Africa, especially Nigeria, is yet to be tapped into, said real estate expert, Mr. Femi Austine.

He is currently serving as the Chief Strategist for DPkay Homes and Property Limited.

In a statement, Austine stated: “Real Estate players in Africa are still scratching the surface.”

The real estate strategist who has set up a community where over 2,000 realtors carry out business dealings, was recently honoured for his outstanding performance in the sector.

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Austine pointed out that public perception is a major pillar out of the seven pillars that must be built in order to keep winning internally and externally in the sector.

He stated: “To build a long-lasting real estate brand, you must be a law-abiding player. The authenticity of your property must not be compromised.

“Your legal team must be extremely sound and be proactive. A land without a title is like a company without a CAC certificate; People don’t want to associate with that except for a few friends and family who probably do not know the adverse effect.

“Other pillars are strategic positioning of your properties, excellent team of architects and engineers, public relations team, strategic partnerships and unveilings to aid marketing and sales intentions, consistent customer relationship and retention programme and account and the administration Pillar.

“We are yet to have a player whose pillars are in complete measure in full view of the seven pillars. We are still scratching the surface in the real estate space in Africa but there has been progressive developments over time.

“We can’t compare it with the last decades neither can we compare it with the new sets of well-travelled and experienced developers this new decade will produce.”

However, recently, Femi played a major role in DPkay Homes by redeeming its image after a wrongful execution of court order was carried out by AMCON on one of its properties on Lekki Epe Expressway.

He said: “A brand is like a building; it takes years of experience to plan and then to build, but it doesn’t take so much effort to bring down a brand with one terrible event.

”This is why we have to let the public know that it was a wrongful execution so as to retain the integrity we have built over the years.”

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