LJ Hooker will invest $100 million in the next three years to accelerate the real-estate industry’s digital transformation with a mission to turn Australia into the world’s most advanced and well-served property market.
The initiative will kick start with the unveiling of LJX-Lab, a digital research and development vehicle which they say will foster innovation through identifying, incubating and commercialising home-grown ‘proptech.’
LJX-Lab’s first development from this venture is titled ‘Real Edge’, which is a digital learning and coaching platform that LJ Hooker says it will deliver its agents “the best practice training online anywhere anytime for a continuous personal development of real-estate professionals”.
In the long term, Real Edge has been constructed by LJ Hooker with the aim of enhancing the education of real estate as a profession and career; to enable real-estate specialists to reach their full potential, and set what they see as a new internationally-recognised standard in customer service and satisfaction in the domestic market.
Its company chairman L Janusz Hooker said Real Edge is a first for an Australian real estate network and currently in beta with LJ Hooker’s 8,000 real estate professionals.
“It’s the first of many innovations LJX-Lab will release leading up to 2020 to continue LJ Hooker’s rich pioneering heritage,” he said.
“The digital revolution is enabling us to merge the property knowledge accumulated over our 88-year history and the expertise of our current 8,000 real estate professionals across 600 offices with the latest technology to better serve our customers,” he said.
To provide insights into the products and services created by the LJX-Lab, Hooker said he had assembled business leaders such as Freelancer.com chief executive Matt Barrie, managing director for CSIRO Innovation Fund and & Founder of Black Bird Ventures Bill Bartee, the Co-Founder and Principal of RFR Holding Michael Fuchs, and the director of Zoopla.com and former CEO of Countrywide Real Estate Group Grenville Turner into to the loop.
LJ Hooker’s Network Chief, Graeme Hyde, said Real Edge’s ‘digital learning and coaching platform’ had been tailor-made for real estate professionals.
“We understand the need to ensure our industry is continuously upskilled with the best legislative, compliance and soft skills training so that in turn they will optimise the experience for their customers.”
“Throughout the last century, LJ Hooker was renowned for being the leading training ground for the industry; it is now continuing this heritage by combining its 88 years of knowledge into the new century.”
“Real Edge appeals to this, allowing 24-hour online access to engaging videos, practical role-play scenarios and up to date legislative content to strengthen knowledge and daily activities.
“If you’re in real estate, part of your DNA should be the desire to learn something new every day and consistently develop your knowledge and skills to the highest levels; our modules are designed to provide that.”
Hyde said Real Edge acted as a supplement to LJ Hooker’s extensive in-person training programs and was able to cater to the specific career experience and functionality of our real estate specialists and to provide a full career pathway of learning.
“We have segmented teaching modules based on an individual’s development needs including customer feedback. Users will have their own personalised access to programs based on their current performance and experience level.
“Progressive career learning is activated by modules completed and professional improvement. It makes sales agents and property managers accountable to themselves, their peers and their employer to ensure continued growth.”
