When people decide to stake their life savings on a piece of property, they want to make sure they are not throwing their money away. So real estate companies have to rely on both their names and their reputations to lure buyers.

As of 2007, a company that has been active in the Czech Republic since the 1989 revolution will lose one of those key elements. Real-Treuhand, formerly Raiffeisen Real Estate, entered the Czech market in 1990, but is now faced with the challenge of establishing a new name and logo in a business where brand means everything.

Real-Treuhand manager Tomáš Jícha, branch manager Petr Kozojed and broker Jaromír Hájek sat down with The Prague Post to discuss the reasons for the change, how the company plans to handle it and the current state of foreign investment in the Czech Republic.

The Prague Post: Why are you changing the name of your company?

Petr Kozojed: Because of a decision of Raiffeisen International. The bank is beginning to trade stock in Europe, and the name of Raiffeisen has been reserved for the bank only. So we had to change our name, each of the groups, at the beginning of the new year.

TPP: Why did you pick the name Real-Treuhand?

PK: It is a German name — Real-Treuhand Reality. It's the German name of our Austrian mother from the group Raiffeisenlandesbank OberOesterreich.

TPP: What is its relationship with Raiffeisen?

PK: We were not founded by the Austrian bank; we are not part of the bank. We are a company founded by a real estate agency that belongs to a bank in Austria. So we have a connection to the bank, but the most important point is that we are not a child of the bank.

TPP: Then why did the company originally decide to adopt the Raiffeisen logo and name?

Tomáš Jícha: The company started shortly after the revolution, and it wasn't really clear which way the market was going to go — it was quite uncertain. It was decided from the beginning that the logo and the name would be used for several companies to create a unity. It wasn't just real estate. They decided to give the Raiffeisen name to all of their services in the Czech Republic: insurance, leasing and everything else that is now registered as separate companies. As of 1992, all of those services were conducted under the Raiffeisen name.

TPP: Do you deal in primarily residential or commercial projects?

TJ: Since residential real estate is the biggest piece of the market for anybody, of course it is one of the biggest sources of income for our company. But we have in no way limited ourselves to the residential sector — we have commercial properties. But the biggest activity now in the Czech Republic is in the residential market.

TPP: Doesn't branding matter more to individual residential clients, because they are drawn to names that are familiar to them?

TJ: We don't think the name will influence the attitude of our current clients to us because we are not changing our attitude toward the clients. There are certain relationships that we have cultivated. We also make sure our services are the best quality and we have assured that for the future. We are not going to hide our relationship to the banking sector.

TPP: Will it affect your ability to draw in new clients?

TJ: The name change will be a positive thing because we can further distinguish ourselves from the bank as a real estate firm. In the past, we were commonly misunderstood as a bank. In the future, we believe it is better if people know that we are strictly real estate and we don't open accounts. The name Raiffeisen won't disappear from our name. The "Company of Raiffeisenlandesbank" still appears on our cards. So this way we can actually extend our potential. We can be independent but also get clients drawn to the relationship with the bank.

Jaromír Hájek: The name Real-Treuhand is not familiar to the Czech market. But on the other hand, we are confident that our services, which are already known, will be enough to actually strengthen our position.

TPP: Will you run an ad campaign to let people know about the change?

TJ: Yes, we are going to have a campaign, but not one that says, "We are canceling this old name and starting a new one." That is not really apropos. The campaign is really aimed at providing a transition where we are explaining to clients that the company is not disappearing from the market and another one is appearing, but simply in transition. This campaign has been going on since the end of August.

TPP: Since you deal in both German and Czech, do you find yourselves getting a lot of German-speaking clients?

PK: We offer services to any clients, but most of our foreign clients are German-speaking. It's to our advantage compared to other companies on the market that orient themselves to the English-speaking clientele.

TPP: Has demand from German-speaking investors grown with the market?

JH: I think the German clientele has increased alongside all of the other foreign investors. They are not the only ones that have come here, nor are they a majority. But the demand from German investors has definitely increased.

TPP: Have property ownership laws changed the way you handle accounts?

PK: Based on my experience, nothing has changed. The demand is still the same. There are some foreigners who now buy on their own, but I cannot say that they bought more property as a result of the law or as a result of the Czech Republic joining the European Union. I felt no significant change.