Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2015 | Page 7

FROM THE EDITOR
‘Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture
by raising monetary contributions from a large number
of people, today often performed via internet-mediated
registries…Crowdfunding is a form of alternative finance,
which has emerged outside of the traditional financial system’

T

his is the description given on Wikipedia
to describe crowdfunding, one of the more
successful means of project financing over the
last few years. Property as an investment is a tangible
asset that everyone understands and can put a value to,
and as such lends itself well to the crowfunding model.
Given the Rands freefall over the last couple of
month’s, investors may be concerned that they have
missed the investment boat, given how much less
the Rand is now worth. With a possibility of further
depreciation of the Rand, and of the global market
in general, the importance of diversification through
different means of investing can only be underlined.
Opportunities abound though, both locally and
offshore. From the vast new opportunities throughout
Africa, the long established markets of the UK
and US, and the residency programmes offered to
investors in Europe and the smart new alternatives to
traditional buy to let in commercial property (such as
crowdfunding and economy sharing), investors still

have many options open to them. Successful Investors
in the current market are selecting good investments,
keeping their gearing low and diversifying their
investments in emerging offshore markets.
In this issue we talk to Master Investor Justin
Clarke, head of Private Property, one of South Africa’s
largest Property Investment websites and Meyer
de Waal examines the ins and outs of successful
Bond repayment. We take a deeper look at the risk
management involved in the Buy to Let business as
well as examine the potential of US-focused Real
Estate Investment Trusts. And finally we examine
the rise of crowdfunding in the Property Investment
sphere, and the effect it is having on the market.
As always we aim to bring the most comprehensive
and up to date Property investment news and advice to
you our reader, as we start to wind down 2015.
Enjoy the read

DREW HOOK

EDITOR

Dolf De Roos, Giles Beswick, Andrew Rissik and Neale Petersen

Neale Petersen and Samuel Seeff

“The emotions of man are stirred more quickly than man’s intelligence...it is much more easy to have
sympathy with suffering than it is to have sympathy with thought.”

OSCAR WILDE
www.reimag.co.za

NOVEMBER 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

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