Shared spaces in South Africa Partnerships are already being developed between leading property developers in the country and companies that excel in the shared work space arena . Growthpoint , for example , has recently partnered with OPEN to create a network of co-working spaces across the country .
“ Technology is only going to become more synonymous with the replacement or enhancement of every core human function in property rental .”
OPEN has already designed and developed Workshop 17 at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town and the Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg ’ s edgy City Centre . According to Mark Seftel , co-founder of OPEN , “ What was a novel idea five years ago is now becoming mainstream . Even at 1 % of the office property pie there is significant growth opportunity in South Africa ”.
Crowdfunding Online platforms , like Realty Africa and the soonto-be-launched Real Estate Crowdfunding website , have been developed to provide enthusiastic investors with an opportunity to invest in real estate projects of their choosing . This new model enables investors to
access private property investments directly ‒ minus the involvement of traditional middlemen institutions ‒ and at greatly reduced fees .
Realty Africa provides developers with an online platform for showcasing their vetted projects . Investors can view these projects at their leisure and then pledge an amount towards any development that catches their attention . While projects do have a minimum investment requirement , these are far more reasonable than the amounts needed for more traditional property investments .
Looking ahead , Leverton proposed that the next step in crowdfunding might be for traditional real estate developers to integrate these functions into their own offerings by “ embedding crowdfunding capabilities directly on their project websites , facilitating investments with just a few clicks .”
Virtual Reality ( VR ) VR is changing the way that people engage with real estate . It is being used in both the design and construction phase of property development to increase collaboration between construction , design and engineering teams .
VR enables all involved to experience and see what a completed project will look like via a virtual 3D model . In this way , design elements can be tweaked and adjusted long before a project reaches the construction phase . Marketing to clients is also made easy through a more tactile and informationrich engagement with the project .
More tech disruptors in South African real estate South African investors and innovators with a keen taste for innovation have already begun to embrace the fresh opportunities that digital innovation
12 MARCH 2017 SA Real Estate Investor www . reimag . co . za