A GLOBAL NORTH CYPRUS BRAND
There have been some very interesting purple advertisements put up on billboards around the island, have they caught your eye? This is how the company started by colouring the island in purple and inspiring people to feel the Mediterranean’s amiability. It is now possible to see the Quantum Realty brand everywhere in the bustling property sector, they were even on the cover page of the magazine’s last issue; surely you remember the elegant and stylish cover of Propertync issue 108. Here we have a new brand entering the real estate sector in an assertive manner. Although the brand is new, the team has years of experience in the property sector. We have been invited to Quantum Realty’s office to interview the company’s young, enterprising director, Dilara Aka.
- Can you please tell us a bit about yourself Dilara?
I was born in London in 1993. I studied Psychology at Yeditepe University but fashion had always been a large part of my life therefore, after graduation, I continued my studies in Fashion and Marketing in London.
- Let’s start with your office. You opened in September 2019 and unfortunately the uncertainty of the pandemic followed. Now you are a property consultancy working at full capacity. In the past, weren’t you known as North Cyprus Keller Williams? Tell us about your journey from being Keller Williams to becoming Quantum Realty.
Keller Williams is the largest realty franchise brand with about 1,000 area managements and 180,000 consultants worldwide. We are a founding partner and as Keller Williams Turkey we have 14 area managements and over 1,000 consultants. Keller Williams was established in order to bring a new perspective to the Turkey realty consultancy sector; this is also our vision.
We introduced Keller Williams to North Cyprus in 2016 but over time we realised that this American system could not be adapted to the conditions on the island. This is the reason why we decided to continue on our journey as Quantum Realty and established the brand in 2019. We have been providing our services over the last year and our main goal is to introduce the North Cyprus brand to the whole world. Firstly, we opened Quantum Realty Istanbul and are now planning to open Quantum Realty London in 2021.
- We appreciate your brand vision and we can see that being a part of a global brand in the past has added a lot to your work. How did you become a director of such a large brand? What is your vision?
Whilst I was studying in London, my family was living in Istanbul. As I said before, my family is a founding partner of Keller Williams Turkey, so when I went to Istanbul during my vacations, I would take part in the Keller Williams training courses. I started with the self-improvement courses then I joined the realty training. At the same time I had completed my undergraduate studies and had started to work in my own field. Nevertheless, whenever I came to Istanbul, I participated in the Keller Williams training courses. As time passed, the more I learned the more I realised that I was enjoying the work, so I resigned from my job in London and entered the world of realty in Istanbul. In time, I improved myself in luxury housing consultancy and became a luxury-housing consultant.
"Everyone at Quantum Realty has an area of expertise. I
want everyone to be able to do the job they love."
- Are your buyers mostly investors or people relocating to North Cyprus?
North Cyprus’s success in overcoming the pandemic has been discussed in England and in Turkey. Its untouched resources, clean air and natural habitat are the characteristics we all know. Natural social distancing is created through detached housing. Perhaps for the first time, we have the advantage of being an island with a small population and having services to meet our daily needs. Therefore during the pandemic, interest in our island increased and the number of people who would prefer living here rose steeply as well. Of course people aren’t allowed to travel freely as yet. The number of flights are restricted and there is quarantine. I believe that buyers will start coming to the island once flights start again. People need places where they can feel safe during the pandemic. Many working class citizens have already made retirement plans. The phone calls we have received show that people will be moving to the island soon mostly from Turkey, Russia and Sweden.
- Training and self-improvement is very important in this sector because like other professions, this occupation doesn’t have a school you can go to in order to learn the tricks of the trade. People who become realty consultants are generally from other professions, similar to how you started off in psychology and fashion. Could you introduce the Quantum Realty team a little?
I agree. We can say that this sector is a meeting point for a variety of professions. We also give importance to this factor at Quantum Realty. We give our consultants training in many areas such as on how to communicate with customers or how to quote the value of a property. Our office has three floors and we have a team of 30 people. We intend to grow, but slowly, so that we can maintain quality. Everyone at Quantum Realty has an area of expertise. I want everyone to be able to do the job they love. Our team is made up of buying, selling and rental experts and generally we carry out all our procedures at the office. For example, a portfolio that comes to our sales department may be appropriate for a consultant in the buying department so it is passed on and the procedures are quickly finalised at the office. As well as this, we also sell projects completed by construction and development companies and work very closely with them.
- How do you market your portfolios? AfterCovid-19, all sectors have reevaluated their marketing strategies. What are your strategies?
We have continued to concentrate on our digital marketing techniques as we did before the pandemic. As everyone knows, we are going through an out-of-the-ordinary period, this is why we prefer to use new marketing techniques. One of mine, and the one I strongly advise to all consultants, is to love their portfolio. Creating a bond with your portfolio is very important, then you move on to creating a professional photo gallery including bird’s eye photos taken with a drone and presentation videos which can be shared over all the marketing channels, including social media. Firstly, a potential buyer should get to know their consultant then show interest in their portfolio. This is most vital and will bring successful results.
- I would like to go back to the time you were in Istanbul, you are a luxury-housing consultant and were able to gain experience while you were in Istanbul. I was wondering how different being a consultant in Turkey is compared to being a consultant in North Cyprus.
The market in Istanbul is much bigger so if you add the stressful life of living in a metropolitan city and the bustling market there, you find yourself in a very aggressive environment. Working in North Cyprus has a certain calmness which comes from living on an island, even if the market is still as busy. The island offers a much healthier work environment. There is serious competition in Istanbul because people do not know each other. Here, everyone knows each other, even if it is through someone else. This of course gives you the opportunity to do your job in a more peaceful, friendly and trust worthy environment.
- As a luxury-housing consultant, what do you do?
In Istanbul, I worked mostly on mansions, waterfront manor houses and large hotels. I have promoted my portfolio from Istanbul to many people around the world. I am especially interested in manor houses with a background story and I enjoy promoting them the most. Luxury houses must stand out from other residences and they must be the only one of their kind. This is why I am interested in Mansions and waterfront manor houses. There are also many examples of beautiful luxury residences here in North Cyprus.
- Why should people prefer to use corporate realty companies?
The number of real estate companies is increasing uncontrollably and the profiteering policies of these companies cause major setbacks in the sector. For example, one property being sold by more than one consultant at different prices creates a lack of trust. Vague service fees and incorrect pricing policies cause buyers and sellers to distance themselves from the real estate sector. As legal regulations are introduced to the sector, increased responsibilities will bring about the need for experts in areas such as valuing property and insurance. This is where corporate realty companies are important. Corporate companies provide training for their consultants and keep their knowledge up to date. They keep track of changes and inform consultants through regular meetings. The company charges standard service fees and prepares the required paperwork that includes the correct prices provided by professional quotes. The property buyer and seller come together on trustworthy grounds. Due to its brand identity, the company cannot act or operate illegally or against the company’s policies. It produces marketing strategies, facilitates the promotion of the property and focuses on reaching a large number of people.
- Lastly, I would like to ask about the company’s social responsibility activities. Although people believe that an act of kindness should be carried out anonymously, we believe that discussing them encourages other enablers to do the same.
As Quantum Realty’s employees, we have set ourselves the goal of feeling the excitement and happiness of helping the society at least for one day during the year. On that day, everyone who works at the company, puts all their energy into giving back to the people by using the company fund created for this purpose only. The company consultants and the local community discuss their ideas of what should be done. Our aim is to create projects that are useful to people and help as many people as possible. Some of the projects we have completed up till now are:- changing and repairing the dog kennels at the Nicosia animal shelter, providing food and medication for the animals there, creating a new garden for the Nicosia Women’s shelter, renovating the Caglayan Children’s shelter and providing support for families whose houses were damaged in the Dikmen floods. At present, we are carrying out renovations at the TRNC Disabled Sports Federation. Unfortunately the social event planned for 31st October 2020 has been cancelled due to the pandemic. Our social responsibility activities are not limited to just these, we are still planning many other projects for the future because our main aim is to create a happy and healthy environment.
written by Propertync
Media
date :
05/15/2024
hour : 04:42 PM
