Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa February/March 2019 | Page 11

RHYS ROCKE
KEY STATS - RHYS ROCKE
Age: 33
Current position: Managing Director, FWJK
Family: Wife – Michelle & son Huw (5 months)
Books currently reading: Sapiens (Yuval Noah
Harai); Zeckendorf: The Autobiography of William
Zeckendorf
Life motto: Old ways don’t open new doors.
Development with a post-graduate Honours degree in
Quantity Surveying. University taught him the value of
hard work and dedication.
FWJK has been home to Rhys for his entire business
career for the last 10 years. He first started out as a
Quantity Surveyor and later moved directly into the
property development arena within the company. He
has continuously and steadily progressed within the
organisation and currently assumes the role of Managing
Director of their Gauteng office.
The investor
Since the day this innovative concept was launched they
have flourished as a practice.
About Rhys
Rhys was born the eldest in a family of three boys in
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He grew up in the suburb of
Everton where his folks still reside. His father is a medical
doctor and Professor of anaesthetics while his mother gave
up her teaching career to look after their three boys. Rhys
was educated at Highbury Preparatory School and Hilton
College in the Natal Midlands. He thoroughly enjoyed his
school career which he says taught him life the true value
of friendships, loyalty and team work.
Rhys acquired the property bug from his father, who
aside from teaching and practicing anaesthetics, invested in
property and exposed Rhys to the benefits that the property
industry can offer both as a career and as a solid investment
asset class for investors. He was guided by his father to
start the Property Development undergraduate programme
at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He subsequently
completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Property
Rhys is a passionate property player, so much so that his wife
Michelle says he is one-dimensional, as all he talks about is
property. According to Rhys, property is streets ahead of
any other asset class such as shares and bonds in terms of
risk and return. He has personally invested successfully in
shares (Mr. Price) before, which once doubled in value in
little more than a month. He attributes this to a bit of luck.
He eventually lost faith in stock and share investments
when his portfolio lost virtually more than half of its value
overnight as a result of the GFC, hence his move into real
estate investing. Real estate is his first love and he knows
that if invested wisely on sound principles, it is by far the
safest and most lucrative investment category.
He confidently accounts that property in the form of
bricks and mortar (or concrete and glass) has given him
consistent above average solid returns over an extended
period. He also puts his money where his mouth is and
has consistently invested personally in his own products
including the FWJK development at cost methodology.
This has consistently brought him returns on investment
(ROI) from 40% to 60% annually as well as for their
investors in the last ten years.
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019
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