Stop me if this sounds familiar. You’re in the market for a new home, and your estate agent takes you to see a series of houses that are totally out of your price range, or that tick none of your boxes. As a seller, you get streams of uninterested or unqualified people traipsing through your home, and you end up paying fees of anywhere between 5% and 7.5% of the selling price for the privilege.

For years the South African property industry has existed like this. Change? There was no reason to. There were few market disruptions or new entrants, and so it continued with its antiquated business model: stagnant, stuck in time, and profiting off a lack of choice. Times have changed, and real estate should too...