Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2016 | Page 12

MASTER INVESTOR
your first property investment
3Describe
and the most important lessons learnt.

My first property transaction was way back in the
early 90’s. My brother and I saw a huge residential
opportunity in Berea where prices were depressed due
to the transition that Berea node was going through
at the time. We both saw good demand from tenants
as there was an influx of people into the area and saw
huge exit price potential when developers started
investing in the node to restore its former glory. We
were partially right on our investment thesis, tenancy
was good and our tenants paid on time. What we
did not bargain for was our tenancy being sub-let
to other families without our approval. Our flat was
being occupied by 3 families as opposed to one which
resulted in accelerated wear and tear and increased
maintenance costs. The property developers also never
arrived.
Key lesson here is to always do your homework
with property investments, check on your property
on a regular basis even if your have outsourced the
management of the building and stay tuned and close
to what is happening in the node. We did not make
the killing we anticipated but we did manage to read
the environment and exited with a good return on our
investment.

What do you consider to be your
4
most significant property deal or
achievement?

We did many property transactions during my time
at Old Mutual Properties. The one significant one
that stands out for me is the redevelopment of the

Rosebank node, the Zone redevelopment. Rosebank
at the time was lagging the developments that we had
seen in Sandton to date and the developments that we
taking place in Melrose. Given the diverse ownership
of the node, we managed to get all the significant
owners of the node together and started crafting a
vision and plan to create a value proposition that will
be differentiated and compete with the Sandton node.
The result was significant investment that went into
the node and a coordinated master plan that offers
consumers a vibey place where they can shop, work,
and play. The Gautrain station was just the cherry on
top.

opportunities do you foresee in
5What
your sector/industry.

Although we are experiencing headwinds in terms of
slowing growth, volatile currencies and low interest
rates, we continue to see real demand for real assets.
The need for infrastructure continues in SA as well as
the rest of the continent, residential property offers a
unique opportunity in SA and opportunities to fund
and invest in small and medium enterprises continue.
These opportunities are off the back of increasing
urbanization and improving demographics. Sanlam
Alternative Investments will continue to seek out
opportunities to bring access for Real Assets to
individuals and funds that are seeking real returns
and looking to diversify their exposure to traditional
assets. We will continue with our expansion activities
in the continent.

BEN KODISANG
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NOVEMBER 2016 SA Real Estate Investor

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