INNER CITY INVESTING
Solly Ramalamula first made contact with ICHUT ( which would become TUHF two years later ) in 2001 when he was a Director at African Housing Company ( AFHCO ). In the 21-years since , Solly has grown a successful company – Take Shape Property Management – and developed 11 affordable residential rental properties in the inner cities of Johannesburg . Seven of these have been funded by TUHF , and Solly says he ’ s not done yet !
A former policeman , Solly was the liaison between TUHF and AFHCO in the early 2000 ’ s , reporting on the performance and condition of TUHF-funded buildings in AFHCO ’ s portfolio . Solly ’ s relationship with TUHF , and his knack for building management , led to his first TUHF-funded property refurbishment in 2009 . Boland Court in Turffontein was a “ small project ” according to Solly , in which he converted and refurbished six units into 13 good quality rentals .
He sold Boland Court in 2015 for a R600 000 profit , which he used to put down equity on another project in Primrose . “ Working with TUHF has been a big help in growing my property portfolio ,” Solly says . “ I used my pension from the SAPS as the equity deposit on my first property , but it wasn ’ t enough to qualify for the loan with TUHF . Fortunately , they offered to fund the rest of the equity through the Inthuthuko Equity Fund
48 AUGUST 2022 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine