Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2013 | Page 44

INVESTOR STORY

BY ANGIE REDMOND

Building A Property Empire

Jacques Stoltz tells you how you can do it too!

B

oth of Jacques Stoltz’s parents were selfemployed and invested in property for
their retirement, this is the example
Jacques chose to follow when he decided to
invest in property. He currently manages his
own successful real estate agency in Sasolberg,
but a self-maintained business is just one of
Jacques’ jobs. He is also an active property
developer, manages his own development
team and attempts to complete at least one new
development per annum. So what started him
on the path of investment?
“My parents invested in property since I was
a young boy and I use to contract myself out
to them during school holidays for paintwork
or minor maintenance work. I bought my first
property at the age of 21 (1991) for R50 000
and sold it two years later for R65 000. I bought
my second property then for R84 000. During
this time was I working at Iscor and after six
years resigned to start my own business. I sold
this business after a year and made R100 000
profit. I bought my first property purely for

speculative reasons; I have since bought around
70 properties on auction, renovated them and
resold them,” says Jacques.
His financial strategy is simple, he uses a
number of commercial property finance bonds,
and re-finances the properties as and when he
needs to for new developments, but as investors
know this can be risky, which is why Jacques
doesn’t bond all his properties. “Commercial
property finance is an expensive route with very
strict conditions attached to it. As my longterm goal is to generate an income for me once I
reach retirement age, I believe that I must invest
as much as possible of my cash flow back into
my developments,” says Jacques. Having learnt
a lot from his parents, Jacques has seen how
investing in property has provided his parents
with a reasonable monthly income during
their retirement years, and that their property
portfolio has enabled them to live comfortably
in their later years. But having a good mentor is
also important, something Jacques realises, “I
also believe that having a good mentor is good

idea. This person should be somebody that has
the same interest and views as you, somebody
to look up to. I found my mentor in Jef Zidel.
He is well known in the property industry and
manages huge property investment funds all
over the world. He is not actively involved in my
business but I try to visit him on a regular basis
and exchange some ideas,” explains Jacques.
It’s not just about buying a property though;
with long-term investments you need to have
the right management structure in place to
succeed. Jacques believes that a hands on
management approach is the way to go, he
manages his own portfolio, has admin staff and
an in-house maintenance team, ensuring the
tenants’ complaints, problems and maintenance
issues and fixed immediately. “My tenants are
my bread and butter and they should be treated
accordingly. I found that my tenants are my best
advertisement,” says Jacques, “I like to add some
value to my properties by installing solar geysers
with a bit of landscaping and irrigation systems.
This encourages the tenants to live clean and
considerate lifestyle, which also improves the
value of the property.”
With a portfolio worth around R27 million,
Jacques is in the process of developing two
new industrial workshops. Once completed
these will bring his portfolio worth to around
R30 million. A portfolio of this size generates
a substantial monthly rental income. Jacques
has spread his risk in the commercial and
residential property sector, investing in office
complexes, retail shops, workshops, and
townhouses and f lats. “I focus on the lower

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October 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

www.reimag.co.za