Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2015 | Page 13

MASTER INVESTOR

J

ustin Clarke is the co-founder of One Africa Media (OAM),
Africa’s largest online classifieds group. OAM owns some of
Africa’s most prestigious and lucrative online properties, chief of
which is PrivateProperty.co.za, South Africa’s leading property website.
Where it all Started
1991 marked the year the Justin Clarke began his sojourn in the world of
Property Development. After putting a proposal to the bank, he bought
the property next door to his father’s Medical practice in Umhlanga
Rocks Drive, in Durban and began to draw up plans to zone it for
Commercial development, building a combination of retail units, and
Medical suites for the area. This marked the beginning of a passion for
Justin, where he became hooked on property.
From here on he began to develop and sell off niche residential,
entry-level townhouses on Durban’s Berea. The initial smaller spec
developments worked well, and he began to gradually develop larger
schemes. To keep costs within a target range (which was between R200
000 and R250 000 at the time) for a three-bedroom townhouse, Justin
developed an interest in the direct marketing of the units. In the early
1990s South Africa was brimming with opportunity and in anticipation
of the lifting of sanctions Justin invested heavily in Industrial buildings
in the Jacobs industrial area, a decision that nearly sunk him.
“it looked so good when the deal was going down that I geared myself
to the hilt, then the area started to implode. At one stage my total rental
income only covered the rates bill. I exited by selling off some factory
space literally before the bank foreclosed” says Clarke “I guess that is
when I realized that reading the market was everything”.
The Privateproperty.co.za story began in 1998 with a rudimentary
website and no permanent employees. The idea was initially totally
disruptive and the hypothesis was that if there was a perfect marketplace
for buyers and sellers to meet there would be no place for an estate agent
and the result would disrupt the real estate industry.
In fact Justin only became involved in Private Property later in 1999,
giving the company a more structured business plan and moving it into
a converted outhouse at his home. His intention was to continue with
property development, but soon become hooked on the internet.
PrivateProperty sent jitters throughout the South African Property
industry and a number of systematic attempts were made by real estate
heavyweights to shut the company down. The main concern was that
Private Property effectively removed the need for an estate agent.
Private Property would take an upfront fee of between R3 000 and
R5 000 and provided the seller with all the tools needed for the sale
of their house, putting buyers and sellers in direct contact with each
other through the website and its SMS alerts system. The company also
offered a sale facilitation service free of charge where an employee of
the company would help the buyer and seller close the deal. The revenue
derived from the Mortgage origination was the largest revenue stream
for the company. “
The company became the pariah of the real estate industry. The
estate agency industry was not happy with the market share that the
young upstart company was gaining but all was not well. Providing a
www.reimag.co.za

The mind is
an incredible organ,
and no doubt it is
those with passion
and complete belief
that win.
The world is full of
very cleaver people
but it is the obsessed
ones, the outliers
that stand out.

PERSONAL STATISTICS
AGE: 54
EDUCATION:

University of
KwaZulu Natal – B.Soc
Durban Institute of Technology - CIS,
Accounts, Economics, Company Law,

MARITAL STATUS: Married
NOVEMBER 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

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