Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - July 2017 | Page 7

EDITORIAL VIEW
With Crisis Comes
Massive Opportunity
S
outh Africans are a resilient bunch - despite
an economic meltdown and the fact that
we are in a technical recession, mainly as a
result of junk rating downgrades and political
uncertainty. I see proactivity in the investor
community to unlock value. We rather need to
focus on which opportunities we need to create
to grow, and how investors can benefit from it.
Many financial experts are predicting that there
is an imminent worldwide financial crash, which
can wipe out the middle class and the poor. As
the Chinese say: with crisis comes opportunity,
we just need to be creative and ready to be able to
identify them and implement.
It is going to take a different kind of thinking to
get us out of the macro-economic mess. While the
politicians and economists have to work it out, there
is money to be made in real estate - specifically
for investors. Urban regeneration is a big topic,
specifically in Cape Town and Johannesburg right
now, which will drive growth, employment, and
investment. Cape Town CBD has managed to
transform itself over two decades and has had
massive investment into infrastructure, along with
an enormous inf lux of business, restaurants, bars,
retail, fibre and tourists to the city centre. The
focus now switches to the second biggest metropole
in Cape Town to the city of Bellville. Being home
to over 100, 000 students from leading universities
presents big opportunity.
Investors are finding new ways to survive and
thrive and need to develop goals and a specific
investment strategy. Our main feature story is with
international finance guru Robert Kiyosaki. His
methods are counter cyclical and his perspectives
as to how we can equip ourselves with knowledge
and skills in order to acquire more assets in a
market especially when finance is difficult to
acquire.
Yes, the recession could have a negative effect on
residential home buying and selling but it can be a
profitable time for investors to buy below market
properties. The residential market is valued at
R3, 9 trillion according to MSRI research for the
Property Sector Charter Council, which is a major
contributor to SA’s economy. However, we are
still sitting with a massive housing backlog and
we need to address the inequality and unhoused
communities with affordable accommodation
solutions. We need to identify property with
alternative uses and consolidation of space or even
houses of multiple occupation.
The private sector is looking for a number of
ways to address traffic congestion with smart
mobility and technology. Most commuters are
suffering from what Professor Francois Viruly of
UCT calls 40/40/40 syndrome. He says 40% are
unemployed, who live 40km away from home,
spending 40% of their income on transport.
Technology is also disrupting and driving
change as to how people buy properties, rent
properties and invest in properties. ‘FinTech’
(Financial
Technology)
and
‘PropTech’
(Property Technology) are the new buzzwords.
New technologies are emerging in new and
exciting ways. No longer will you have to visit a
showhouse to view your property, but rather be
able to sit at home and select the one you want
with virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality
(AR) mechanisms. Airbnb is giving property
owners opportunities to have short rents for their
properties and allowing owners to pay off their
mortgage bonds in record time. Yes, there is
always risk but too many opportunities abound in
a downturn.
Successful investing
NEALE PETERSEN
FOUNDER & PUBLISHER
“The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.”
JOHN D ROCKEFELLER
www.reimag.co.za
JULY 2017 SA Real Estate Investor
5