Use of AVMs in residential property valuations in Pretoria, South Africa

Dear potential participant

You are being invited in a research study conducted by Andries Thebe, a MSc Property Studies student at the University of Cape Town. The research is supervised by Mrs Karen Le Jeune of the University of Cape Town and the results of the study will be presented to the Department of Construction Economics and Management in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc Property Studies in Construction Economics and Management.

If you have any question or concern about the research, please feel free to contact me at mldmol001@myuct.ac.za. The research supervisor, Mrs Karen Le Jeune may also be contacted at karen.lejeune@uct.ac.za.

Purpose of the study: The primary aim of the study is to assess the level of awareness and knowledge about the use of AVMs as a tool to appraise residential properties and determine the extent of use and perception of South African property valuers and how this may impact their traditional practices.

Procedures: Your participation in this study is voluntary. If you volunteer to participate in the study, we would you to set aside roughly 10-15 minutes of your time to complete the survey.

Potential benefits to participants: At your request, the anonymized research findings will be shared to you.

Confidentiality: Every effort will be made to ensure confidentiality of all information gathered will be maintained. Each survey shall be assigned a four-character code, consisting of two letters and two numbers e.g., IN08. These codes shall be randomly assigned and have no relation to your personal information or the company that you work for. The information gathered through the survey process will be used solely for this research purpose. The raw data of the survey will only be known to the student/researcher.

Participation and Withdrawal: You may choose to withdraw from this study at any time of your wish. You may also refuse to answer any question that you do not want to answer.

Rights of research participants: You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without any penalty. This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance from the University of Cape Town.