ERA opens Vietnam office
By Angela Teo
/ The Edge Property |
On June 30, a partnership was signed between Singapore’s ERA Realty Network (ERA) and Vietnamese property brokerage agency EuroCapital. This move opens up a channel by which to increase the professionalism of real estate agents in Vietnam, particularly in the resale market, where licences are not required and the agent profession is not well regarded, says Jack Chua, CEO of ERA Realty.
As master franchiser of the ERA brand in Vietnam, EuroCapital will be renamed ERA Vietnam. It is set to increase the number of agents from 150 to 500 by year-end and to expand its presence in Ho Chi Minh City. It also plans to expand to the capital city of Hanoi and other cities in Vietnam by next year.
This is not the first franchise agreement that ERA has signed with a local partner to expand in Asean. ERA Indonesia was also set up through a master franchise agreement with a local Indonesian partner. ERA’s Singapore office has benefited not only in terms of royalties, but also referrals from its Indonesian office, which have brought in their Indonesian clients interested in purchasing a property in Singapore, says Chua.
He wants to adopt a similar strategy in Vietnam. “We’re seeing Vietnamese venturing abroad to buy properties, including in Singapore,” says Chua. In addition to Vietnamese buyers, he also sees the potential of marketing projects from Vietnam in Singapore.
According to Tuan Pham, chief operating officer of EuroCapital, the company was interested in working with ERA because of its international brand recognition, training programme and real estate know-how.
Nguyen The Nhien and Pham were involved in property development before they decided to switch to real estate brokerage two years ago.
For now, EuroCapital has its head office in Ho Chi Minh City and three other offices in the city with a total of 150 agents. Last year, it transacted US$90 million ($124.4 million) worth of real estate.
According to the terms of the franchise agreement, ERA Vietnam aims to have 3,000 associates and 25 offices in Vietnam within the next five years. “This will make ERA Vietnam the largest agency in the country,” says Pham.
This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 787 (July 10, 2017) of The Edge Singapore.
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