Report on Records and Finances in Real Estate - A37, Task 2 Analysis

This report, titled A37 - RECORDS AND FINANCES IN REAL ESTATE TASK 2, provides a detailed analysis of record-keeping and financial management practices within a real estate agency, Ray White. It covers key areas such as system management, including legislative requirements, roles and responsibilities, communication strategies, and employee training. The report emphasizes the importance of document control, detailing types of documentation, record classification, identification protocols, and version control. Security and access protocols are also discussed, including storage requirements, security measures for hard copy and electronic files, and password protection. Furthermore, the report addresses achieve and disposal strategies, including retention policies, archiving of obsolete documents, offsite storage options, secure disposal methods, and environmental considerations. References to relevant books, journals, and online resources support the analysis. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the best practices for managing real estate records and finances effectively.

A37 - RECORDS AND FINANCES IN REAL
ESTATE TASK 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
(a)System management....................................................................................................................1
Legislative requirements..............................................................................................................1
Roles and responsibilities............................................................................................................1
Communication............................................................................................................................1
Training........................................................................................................................................1
(b)Document control........................................................................................................................2
Types of documentation to be retained........................................................................................2
Record classification....................................................................................................................2
Identification and naming protocol..............................................................................................2
Version control............................................................................................................................2
©Security and access.......................................................................................................................3
Storage requirements...................................................................................................................3
Security of hard copy files...........................................................................................................3
Maintenance of electronic files....................................................................................................3
Electronic file protection and password as well as access...........................................................3
(d)Achieve and disposal..................................................................................................................3
Retention policy and requirements..............................................................................................3
Archiving obsolete documents....................................................................................................4
Offsite storage..............................................................................................................................4
Secure disposal............................................................................................................................4
Environmental issues...................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

(a)System management
Legislative requirements
Some of the legislative requirements that real estate agency, Ray White need to follow
are:
 Agency agreement documents that are signed with client must be available in the office.
 Transaction records must be maintained in books of accounts.
 In respect to sale of property, sales contracts copies must be available in the office
(Bokhari and Geltner, 2011).
 Price estimates related record for different duration must be in relevant folders.
 There must be proper record of customers’ complains and steps taken by real estate
agency to solve this problem.
Roles and responsibilities
Roles
Some of the roles in respect to job that are observed in Ray White premises are as
follows: Record keeping: Employees have to keep track record of client real estate transactions
and documents that were filled in respect to same. Thus, in case any inquiry happened in
respect to transaction there will be proper evidence related to same that is done by client
in collaboration with real estate company. Maintenance of finance records: All finance related records must be maintained by real
estate company that it done on behalf of client. Statistics documentation: Real estate agents time to time maintain statistics related to
varied sort of transactions that are done by client. Such kind of data help firm to analyze
its performance. Maintaining client database: Real estate company employees also maintain database of
clients where all information related to them is available in detail. Hence, if regulatory
body require any information in respect to client same can be easily made avilable by the
company to former entity.
Responsibilities
Responsibility of employees at Ray White are given below:
 Increasing knowledge about rules and regulations.
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 Identification of records and their classification (Debrezion, Pels. and Rietveld, 2011).
 Carrying out time to time risk management activities.
Communication
In order to make better communication, portal is developed by the firm where employees
can download any sort of record from the database. All these things ensure that all relevant
information will be communicated to the employees collectively through the portal. Hence,
employees get information on time about firm operations.
Training
Time to time, many new rules come in respect to real estate sector and accordingly,
process need to be changed by the company. Currently, there are large number of real estate
companies that are planning to do online documentation of business deals. In such case, training
need to be given to the employees. Thus, survey should be conducted and training needs of
employees must be identified and accordingly, training program need to be developed by the
business firm.
(b)Document control
Types of documentation to be retained
There are varied documents that need to be retained by the business firm. Some of the
common documents that must be kept in the office premises are sales contract of client, purchase
contract of client and lease related document copies must be stored in the premises (Ben-David,
2011). Apart from this, documents that reflect transaction details also need to be kept in the
company.
Record classification
Record classification must be done in proper manner. Many times, documents are mixed
with each other in the folder and due to this reason, it becomes hard task to identify relevant
documents (Nicolas, 2004). In order to sort out this problem, records must be placed in specific
folder. There must be single folder for purchase related documents and within the same, varied
folders should be prepared month-wise. In this way, records can be classified in proper manner.
Identification and naming protocol
There should be specific protocol that need to be followed while saving file in any folder.
Under this when in folder word file is saved date must be mentioned in it and name of individual
who do business deal should be mentioned. By doing so, it can be ensured that proper renaming
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of documents is done. Moreover, it will be possible to identify any document person wise and
date wise within specific month. Such kind of practices are usually followed by real estate
agencies in their business practice (Dettling and Kearney, 2014). This is because whenever any
record is required, it becomes hard to identify files in respect to specific person. This problem is
solved by the naming protocol that is used by the firms at the workplace.
Version control
With passage of time, many new rules and regulations are prepared by the government in
respect to the real estate companies. Hence, due to this reason, amendments need to be made in
the documents that were prepared in past time period. If any sort of code or any number is
generated by the government or any additional documentation process is required by government
body, then in that case, old files also need to be updated. Thus, version control have huge
importance for the firm.
©Security and access
Storage requirements
As part of storage requirements all files need to be saved in computers as real estate
agency must avoid to save documents in paper format. At initial stage, storage capacity that is
observed in computer will be sufficient and according to requirement, additional hard disks can
be purchased and old documents can be transferred in it which are no longer in use. Hence, disk
space of computer will be sufficient for the firm (Friedman and Lindeman, 2013).
Security of hard copy files
Security of hard copy files is maintained in the business firm and under this in premises
in specific room all hard copies are stored. Moreover, CCTV cameras are installed which ensure
that none of unauthorised person can approach hard copies without permission. All these things
ensure that there is full security of documents that are stored in the premises of the business firm.
Maintenance of electronic files
Electronic files will be on PC and cloud. Employees from office or any other place can
access relevant document and can modify it (Kaklauskas and et.al., 2011). All files will be cross
checked by employees multiple times to ensure that none of mistake is made while preparing
electronic copy of the file. Apart from this, all those documents that are related to previous years
will be removed from PC and saved in the external hard disk so that only relevant files can be
kept in the PC.
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Electronic file protection and password as well as access
In order to protect electronic files, passwords will be used and under this, specific code
will be saved which will be known to top manager and other relevant employees (Obeng-
Odoom, 2010). By doing so, it can be ensured that file will be protected from access of
unauthorised person.
(d)Achieve and disposal
Retention policy and requirements
In the business firm some parameters must be determined and by considering same it
must be identified that which documents must be kept in computer and which not. Thus, all
documents that are related to previous year will be removed from PC and stored in cloud. In this
way, document retention will be done.
Archiving obsolete documents
As mentioned above, old documents will not be kept in the PC and will be saved in
cloud. By doing so in proper manner archive will be formed for relevant documents in cloud
(Feng, Price and Sirmans, 2011).
Offsite storage
As mentioned above, as part of off-site storage either data will be stored in external hard
disk or on cloud (Yuan and et.al., 2013).
Secure disposal
As part of secure disposal, all documents that are more than five years’ time period will
be deleted from the external hard disks because same are already stored on cloud (Toller and
et.al., 2011). Hence, if relevant data required same can be taken from cloud for business purpose
and to make decisions in respect to specific situation.
Environmental issues
Systems or varied departments that are in the workplace must be integrated with each
other so that congenial work group environment can be developed in the company. By doing so
good working environment can be developed and greater flexibility is possible to be given to the
employees at workplace.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Ben-David, I., 2011. Financial constraints and inflated home prices during the real estate
boom. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 3(3). pp.55-87.
Bokhari, S. and Geltner, D., 2011. Loss aversion and anchoring in commercial real estate
pricing: Empirical evidence and price index implications. Real Estate Economics. 39(4).
pp.635-670.
Debrezion, G., Pels, E. and Rietveld, P., 2011. The impact of rail transport on real estate prices:
an empirical analysis of the Dutch housing market. Urban Studies. 48(5). pp.997-1015.
Dettling, L.J. and Kearney, M.S., 2014. House prices and birth rates: The impact of the real
estate market on the decision to have a baby. Journal of Public Economics. 110. pp.82-100.
Feng, Z., Price, S.M. and Sirmans, C., 2011. An overview of equity real estate investment trusts
(REITs): 1993–2009. Journal of Real Estate Literature. 19(2). pp.307-343.
Friedman, J.P. and Lindeman, J.B., 2013. Dictionary of real estate terms. Barron's Educational
Series.
Kaklauskas, A. and et.al., 2011. Crisis management in construction and real estate: Conceptual
modeling at the micro-, meso-and macro-levels. Land Use Policy. 28(1). pp.280-293.
Obeng-Odoom, F., 2010. Urban real estate in Ghana: A study of housing-related remittances
from Australia. Housing Studies. 25(3). pp.357-373.
Toller, S. and et.al., 2011. Energy use and environmental impacts of the Swedish building and
real estate management sector. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 15(3). pp.394-404.
Yuan, X. and et.al., 2013. Toward a user-oriented recommendation system for real estate
websites. Information Systems. 38(2). pp.231-243.
Online:
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Nicolas, B., 2004. [Online]. Documentation: Keep it or Weep. Available through:<
http://realtormag.realtor.org/law-and-ethics/law/article/2004/11/documentation-keep-it-or-
weep>.
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