Peasant common sense, the refusal of arrogance and simplicity continue to be our values
Aware of the difficulties that tenants may face, deRham must first respond to the mandates and needs of its clients, whether private or institutional owners, themselves subject to sometimes difficult economic constraints, for example when mortgage rates rise. Despite everything, the management has made proximity to tenants a strong commitment. A promise kept in particular through the digital platforms and tools it has put in place.
Technology race
“During recent years, we have invested considerably in these developments in order to save time and offer a quality, responsive service to our tenants. You should know that real estate players are among the last to have digitalized their activity. By occupying a privileged position in a successful market, few managers have been motivated to change their practices, or to develop them. Today, it is a necessity, if only to maintain the mandates of clients who have modernized quickly and massively.”
Concretely, the digital transformation of its services has enabled deRham to reduce the intervention time in housing from three months to three weeks. Online, the tenant can send a request in the event of a defect to be put directly in contact with the company to request. The latter receives purchase orders and appointments using the same system. “A huge time saving which, by offloading increasingly busy staff, should make it possible to put employees and customers back at the center to concentrate on the human aspect. I see these technological developments as essential, while always ensuring that we maintain a very strong attachment to our values.”
The ancestor of Homegate
The company’s current positioning in the proptech sector also echoes the direction given by Yvan de Rham, who took over the management of the group in 1982. A precursor, he was the first to have been able to integrate the internet into the daily management of the company and has ensured the development of the brokerage profession by developing a dedicated network. At the time, with Edipresse, he even gave birth to an avant-garde platform, which would become the Homegate real estate portal a few years later. Another decisive turning point due to Yvan de Rham, the sale of the real estate investment fund Solvalor 61, one of the first in Switzerland, created by William de Rham second of the name in 1961, when he transferred the management of a company of agricultural management to one of the most important real estate groups in the country. An entrepreneurial momentum, notably driven by the dynamism of the Trente Glorieuses, which had made the company grow in segments that were difficult to reconcile in the long term.
“The management of properties managed by the same entity worried Finma and the group was becoming too large to continue to be managed in the right way. Hence Yvan’s decision to sell the fund to downsize and restore promising prospects to the management by focusing on building management. That’s when I took over as general manager of the company.”
Between disruption and tradition
Today, the digitalization of the sector is also generating stimulating, not to say aggressive, competition, driven by new disruptive players. By focusing primarily on the simplification of processes and the resulting time savings, the new agencies do not hesitate to cut prices in the field of brokerage.
“A segment in which we favor an approach based on tailor-made advice rather than transactional volume. Purchasing a property often represents a lifelong effort and we must supervise this process with the highest level of professionalism. I see these new arrivals as a stimulus that energizes the sector and promotes competition. Which is a good thing. At the same time, I note that they perhaps lack in-depth knowledge of the sector and that their prices are not sustainable in the long term. For our part, with brokers all holding a federal certificate, we have the knowledge of the trade, but may have to revise our commission slightly downward. Which ultimately brings everyone together.”
In terms of brokerage, I see these newcomers as a stimulus that energizes the sector and promotes competition.
The next generation
Managing director of the group for ten years, Jean-Jacques Morard continues to be surprised by the dynamism which still shakes up his sector of activity. An intensity that motivates him, at 60, to work for many more years. At the same time, his role as director also involves training the next generation. Before his premature death due to illness, Yvan de Rham had entrusted him with this role of mentor to his three children.
“Solidly trained and respectful of the values that guide the group, they have for the moment developed, in addition to the management of family assets, a consulting activity in energy renovations through the company Arkey, which they created . For the group, it is also an interesting business vector which demonstrates the necessity and possibility of combining sustainability and profitability in the real estate sector.”
A momentum which embodies the creativity and vigor of the young generation, which the director salutes and encourages. With an average age of its employees of around 30 years, deRham has innovative profiles, demonstrating the agility sought within the company.
“The exploitation of data or even digital innovation represent all disciplines that were previously unknown within the real estate field, yet have become essential today. We must move with the times and deRham has always been able to position itself as an actor aware of the developments to observe and follow. It’s up to us to continue to do it.”
