August 2026 edition: full text

CONTENTS

AUGUST 2026 #193

PUBLISHING CREDITS

4 - Publishing & Editorial Team

EDITORS VIEWPOINT

6 - Opportunity favours prepared investor

ASK THE EXPERTS

8 - 10

14 - 23

24 - 35

24 - Just Property

FRONT COVER

14 - Paul Stevens

COVER FEATURE

8 - Nicole Tavares

MASTER INVESTOR

Front cover Image: Paul Stevens - CEO Just Property

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24

PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS

36 - Global Platform, Local Scale

LEGAL

WEALTH

70 - 81

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

96 - 104

RESIDENTIAL

106 - 114

106 - Buy-to-Let

FINANCE

116 - 135

116 - Do the Maths. Build the Wealth. 132 - Don’t let investment override the numbers

TECHNOLOGY & AI

140 - 156

140 - AI is rewriting Real Estate

82 - 95

82 - Your Property. Our Expertise. 88 - AI Readiness

58 - 69

70 - 13 Years. 350+ Transactions.

44 - 57

44 - Love, Marriage, Property & the Law

INVESTING

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

96 - When the Airbnb plan failed

58 - The banks want to lend you money

36 - 43

TAX & STRUCTURING

156 - 164

156 - Move property into a company

EVENTS

166 - 176

166 - SAPIN Women 2026

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156

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PUBLISHING TEAM

CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHERS

NEALE PETERSEN

FOUNDER & EDITOR-AT-LARGE neale@rei.co.za

ADDRESS

10 Howard Studios, Sheldon Way, Pinelands, Cape Town, 7405

WEBSITE

MARISA GEORGE

ACCOUNTS MANAGER marisa@rei.co.za

www.rei.co.za

CONTACT US

+27 21 761 3848

Office Whatsapp 0768147639

info@rei.co.za

GRAHAM MILLER

WEBSITE SPECIALIST graham@rei.co.za

SUBSCRIBE

NEWSLETTERS

ADVERTISE

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the respective authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies or positions of Reale Activation (Pty) Ltd.

JADE NICHOLSON

SENIOR DESIGNER design@rei.co.za

Nicole Tavares Paul Stevens Michelle Smit Andrew Thompson

Khanya Gundwana Charlene Van Zyl Nicola Ryan Cor van Deventer

Ingrid Olivier Jean Joubert Maritza Botha JP Pretoius

Jaco Grobbelaar Retha van Rooyen Daniel Lombard Nick Morgan

Jason Lee Renier Kriek Alani Keiser Gareth Zebron Claire Johnston

CHRISTIAN SCHUTTE

DIGITAL MARKETER christian@rei.co.za

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Property is changing. The smart money Is changing with It.

This August edition of Real Estate Investor is about something every serious property investor and professional needs to understand: the market is evolving, and standing still is no longer an option. Our cover story captures that perfectly. Just Property CEO Paul Stevens is leading one of South Africa’s established property brands into its next growth chapter. From its rental roots to a network spanning more than 100 offices, Just Property’s story is increasingly about much more than transactions. It is about combining people, technology, training, local expertise and scale to create lasting value through property.

That theme of evolution runs throughout this edition. In Investing, we get back to fundamentals. Renier Kriek launches our new six-part Property Wealth Masterclass, reminding investors that sustainable wealth starts with understanding the maths. Jaco Grobbelaar looks at another critical wealth-building tool, leverage and why understanding how banks think can help investors finance their next move more intelligently. In Residential, we examine how to approach your first buy-to-let investment with discipline rather than emotion, while our Student Accommodation feature with Retha van Rooyen delivers an equally important lesson: when Plan A fails, successful investors adapt. Sometimes the market you expected isn’t the market that ultimately delivers the return.

And then there is AI. Our recent REI webinar with experts from NOX, Y-Dangle and WeconnectU showed just how quickly artificial intelligence is rewriting real estate, from search, marketing and dynamic pricing to automation, property management and customer engagement. The takeaway is simple: don’t adopt AI because it’s fashionable. Use it to solve real business problems and create measurable value.

“The opportunity belongs to those prepared to change with the market.”

Across all these stories, one principle connects this edition: successful investors remain curious, informed and adaptable. Markets change. Technology changes. Financing conditions change. Customer behaviour changes. The opportunity belongs to those prepared to change with them.

Enjoy the August edition.

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Founder & Editor-In-Chief

QUOTE OF THE MONTH The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. 7 ALEBERT EINSTEIN

ASK THE EXPERTS

Trustees, fines or the Police? Know where the law draws the line

When residents ignore conduct rules, what are trustees legally allowed to do and when must matters be referred to the CSOS or SAPS?

Meet the Expert NICOLE TAVARES

CO-FOUNDER | DIRECTOR OF TVDM CONSULTANTS

Nicole Tavares is a specialist in community scheme governance, sectional title law and regulatory compliance. She advises trustees, managing agents and body corporates on legal best practice, governance and dispute resolution.

INVESTOR QUESTION

Our body corporate has owners and tenants who regularly ignore the conduct rules, including excessive noise, parking violations, short-term letting and damage to common property.

Some residents want trustees to issue immediate fines, while others believe certain matters should be referred to the police or the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS).

What are trustees legally obliged to do when dealing with complaints, rule transgressions and possible criminal activity? Where does their authority begin and end, and what is the correct process for enforcing rules fairly while avoiding legal challenges?

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Expert Insight from Nicole Tavares

One of the biggest misconceptions in sectional title schemes is that trustees automatically have the power to fine owners or tenants for breaking conduct rules. That is simply not the case.

Trustees have a fiduciary duty to manage the scheme responsibly and to apply its rules consistently and fairly. However, the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act (STSMA) and its prescribed rules do not automatically grant trustees the power to impose fines.

When can trustees issue fines?

A body corporate may only impose fines where it has adopted amended conduct rules that specifically provide for a fining process.

Those rules must:

• Clearly define the offences. • Include a schedule of fines. • Provide written warnings before any fine is imposed.

Allow residents an opportunity to respond or request a hearing. Be approved by members.

Be submitted to the CSOS for approval.

Importantly, these amended rules only become legally enforceable once the CSOS has issued a Certificate of Approval. When should the CSOS become involved?

Where trustees have followed the approved internal process but an owner or occupier disputes or ignores the outcome, either party may lodge an application with the Community Schemes Ombud Service for formal dispute resolution.

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ASK THE EXPERTS

Similarly, disputes between owners or occupiers that cannot be resolved privately may also be referred directly to the CSOS. “The CSOS exists to provide an independent, affordable disputeresolution process where internal procedures have failed,” explains Tavares.

When is it a police matter?

Trustees should also recognise the limits of their authority. Where conduct involves criminal offences such as assault, theft, malicious damage to property or other unlawful behaviour, trustees have no policing powers.

In these cases, the matter should be reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Trustees may still enforce any applicable conduct rules separately, but criminal investigations remain the responsibility of law enforcement authorities. Key Insight

“Trustees may enforce approved conduct rules—but they cannot act as judge, jury and police. Due process is essential, and criminal matters belong with SAPS.”

What trustees should do

Ensure your conduct rules have been properly amended and approved by the CSOS.

Follow the prescribed warning and hearing process before imposing any fine.

Refer unresolved governance disputes to the CSOS and criminal matters to SAPS.

Have a property investment or property management question?

Email your question to info@rei.co.za and our panel of South Africa’s leading property experts could answer it in a future edition of REImag.

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Your Story Matters.

INVESTOR OF THE YEAR 2026

Where Credibility Meets Opportunity

ENTER NOW

www.investoroftheyear.co.za

Brought to you by SAPIN in partnership with Absa Home Loans

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MASTER INVESTOR

Paul through

By Neale Petersen

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Stevens: Building wealth property & purpose

How curiosity, discipline and a long-term vision transformed a farm boy into one of South Africa’s most respected property leaders.

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MASTER INVESTOR

There are business leaders who chase success, and then there are those who quietly build businesses that endure. Paul Stevens belongs firmly in the latter category.

As Chief Executive Officer of Just Property, one of South Africa’s most recognisable real estate brands, Stevens has helped shape an organisation that today spans residential sales, rentals, commercial property, property management and investment services through a nationwide franchise network.

Yet ask him what defines his career, and the conversation quickly shifts away from market share, turnover or awards. Instead, he talks about people.

“The greatest satisfaction I get isn’t from growing the business,” he says. “It’s from watching people grow within the business.”

It is a philosophy that has become synonymous with his leadership style. Under Stevens, Just Property has evolved from a successful estate agency brand into a diversified property ecosystem built on relationships, recurring income and long-term value creation.

Along the way, he has also established himself as a respected property investor, business strategist and thought leader whose insights resonate far beyond the walls of his own organisation.

Those who know Stevens describe him as calm, thoughtful and intensely curious, qualities that have shaped every chapter of his remarkable journey. And perhaps that journey started in the most unlikely of places.

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PAUL STEVENS

PAUL STEVENS Quick Facts

Name: Paul Stevens

Company: Just Property Group

Current Position: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Qualifications: Psychology background with extensive executive leadership, property investment and franchise management experience.

Company Description: One of South Africa’s leading real estate groups, offering residential sales, rentals, commercial property, property management and investment services through a national franchise network.

What makes Just Property different? A fully integrated property ecosystem built around long-term client relationships, recurring rental income, technology and franchise success.

Family: Married to Andrea with two children. Family remains central to both his leadership philosophy and personal values.

Hobbies: PProperty investing, travelling, reading, continuous learning, embracing new technology and keeping fit through daily exercise.

Best book read recently: The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel.

Favourite Quote: “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.”

Personal Motto: “Success isn’t measured by what you’ve accumulated. It’s measured by the opportunities you’ve created for other people.”

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EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Where it all began

Long before boardrooms, investment portfolios and franchise networks, there was a farm outside Ficksburg in the Free State. Growing up on the farm gave Stevens something no business school ever could. It taught him patience. On a farm, success cannot be rushed. Seasons dictate outcomes, weather ignores carefully laid plans, and rewards come only through consistent effort over time.

“My parents instilled values that have remained with me throughout my life,” he reflects. “Hard work, integrity, resilience and respect for others were simply part of growing up.”

Looking back, he believes those early lessons laid the foundation for everything that followed.

“The principles of farming aren’t very different from investing. You prepare well, you make good decisions, you stay disciplined and then you allow time to do the work.”

It is a philosophy that would later define both his investment strategy and his approach to leadership.

Understanding people before property

“I’ve always been fascinated by people,” he says. “I wanted to understand what motivates them, how they make decisions and why relationships matter.”

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Unlike many leaders in real estate, Stevens did not begin his career studying finance, economics or property. Instead, he chose psychology. It may seem an unusual route into the property industry, but today he considers it one of the most valuable decisions he ever made.

LET WITH US

Less vacancy, just property.

Empty properties don’t earn revenue. Serious investors use property professionals.

17080-14283

www.just.property

BUY | RENT | SELL | LET

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MASTER INVESTOR

Only years later did he realise how perfectly those lessons would fit the property profession. Every property transaction, he explains, is ultimately a human story. Whether it is buying a first home, growing a family, building an investment portfolio, or selling a lifetime’s memories. Behind every contract lies emotion, aspiration, uncertainty and hope.

“Property has never really been about buildings,” he says. “It’s about helping people create better lives.”

That insight continues to influence how he leads today. Businesses succeed because people succeed. Culture drives performance. Relationships build trust. And trust remains one of the most valuable assets any organisation can possess.

A world beyond South Africa

Like many young graduates eager to broaden their horizons, Stevens packed a backpack and set off to explore the world. The experience would prove transformative.

Travelling through different countries exposed him to cultures, ideas and ways of thinking that challenged many of his assumptions. “It teaches adaptability,” he says.

“It teaches independence and reminds you how much there still is to learn.” That curiosity eventually led him to working aboard luxury yachts, an environment where excellence wasn’t optional.

Service standards were uncompromising. Attention to detail was everything. Every guest expected perfection. “It taught me that people don’t always remember every detail of a transaction,” he explains. “But they always remember how you made them feel.”

That lesson has never left him. Today it remains deeply embedded in Just Property’s customer-first philosophy.

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PAUL STEVENS

The business that changed everything

Returning to South Africa, Stevens initially launched a digital photography business. It was entrepreneurial, creative and rewarding. But another opportunity soon emerged that would alter the course of his career. He purchased a Just Letting franchise. Looking back, he describes it as the defining business decision of his life.

The rental market introduced him to something he had never fully appreciated before, the power of recurring income. Unlike one-off sales, rentals create ongoing relationships. They require trust, consistency, excellent service and above all, patience.

“I realised sustainable businesses aren’t built transaction by transaction,” he says. “They’re built relationship by relationship.” That philosophy still underpins Just Property today.

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MASTER INVESTOR

Becoming an investor

Running a rental business naturally sparked another interest. Property investing. Stevens began building his own portfolio, focusing primarily on sectional title residential properties, while also exploring opportunities in self-storage and other income-producing assets.

Every acquisition reinforced the same lesson. Property rewards discipline far more often than speculation. “It’s never been a get-richquick investment.” “It’s a get-rich-slow investment.” His philosophy is refreshingly uncomplicated.

Buy quality, understand the numbers and manage debt responsibly. Then remain patient and allow time to compound returns. It sounds simple, but as Stevens is quick to point out, simplicity and ease are rarely the same thing.

The Investor’s Mindset

One of Stevens’ greatest strengths is his ability to separate investment decisions from emotion. Markets rise, markets fall, interest rates change and headlines come and go. Disciplined investors stay focused.

“The biggest mistake people make is believing they need to perfectly time the market.” “You don’t.” “What matters is consistently making good decisions over many years.” He believes successful investing is driven less by intelligence than by behaviour.

That thinking was reinforced by one of his favourite books, ‘The Psychology of Money’ by Morgan Housel, which he describes as one of the most influential investment books he has ever read.

The book reinforces something Stevens has learnt through experience. Financial success isn’t usually built through dramatic decisions. It’s built through small, sensible decisions repeated consistently over decades.

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PAUL STEVENS

Learning never stops

If there is one characteristic that defines Paul Stevens above all others, it is curiosity. He reads constantly. Travels whenever possible.

Listens carefully. Asks questions. Studies emerging technologies.

Recently, artificial intelligence has become another area of fascination. Not because he believes technology will replace people. Quite the opposite. “I believe AI gives people the opportunity to become even better at what they already do.”

Throughout his career, curiosity has become his competitive advantage. “The moment you think you know everything,” he smiles, “is usually the moment you stop growing.”

The road ahead

Looking back across his journey, from a farm in the Free State to leading one of South Africa’s most respected property businesses, Stevens sees a common thread running through every chapter.

Those principles would ultimately shape not only his own investment success, but also the future direction of Just Property itself.

Relationships, integrity, patience, curiosity and an unwavering belief that property is about far more than buildings. It’s about creating opportunities. Creating financial freedom and creating choices.

“Property has never made me wealthy overnight. What it has given me is something even more valuable, the freedom to create choices, opportunities and a lasting legacy.” Paul Stevens

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COVER FEATURE

Built on Rentals. Engineered for Growth.

By Neale Petersen

After 25 years, Just Property is entering a new growth phase. explains how rental expertise, technology, training and a team are helping the proudly South African brand compete REI MAGAZINE AUGUST 2026 24

CEO Paul Stevens strengthened leadership differently.

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COVER FEATURE

South Africa’s real estate industry isn’t short of estate agencies. Hundreds of brands and independents compete every day for listings, landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers and agents.

Technology has lowered barriers to entry, property portals have transformed how consumers search, and clients increasingly expect faster service, better information and greater transparency.

In that environment, being another estate agency isn’t enough. The businesses positioned to win will be those that can combine local relationships with national scale, technology with human expertise, and property transactions with measurable long-term value.

That is the territory in which Just Property CEO Paul Stevens wants his business to compete. The company has evolved substantially from the business established as Just Letting in 2000.

Today it operates as a full-service property group spanning residential and commercial sales and rentals, developments and property management, with more than 120 franchises across Southern Africa. In 2025, the group expanded into Ethiopia following its earlier entry into Zimbabwe and Namibia.

But its original rental heritage remains important. And that may be one of Just Property’s biggest competitive advantages.

From collecting rent to creating wealth

Property sales generate headlines. Property management creates relationships that can last for decades.

Just Property’s roots in rentals mean the organisation grew up looking at property differently from businesses built predominantly around sales.

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JUST PROPERTY

A sale is a transaction. A rental investment is an operating asset that needs to perform month after month.

Landlords need tenants. Tenants need service. Rentals need to be collected. Maintenance needs to be managed. Vacancies need to be minimised. Compliance matters. And investors ultimately need to know whether the asset is delivering what they bought it to deliver.

Today Just Property describes rentals and property management as being at the core of its business, while its broader purpose is to help clients build wealth and create security through property.

That distinction matters for an investor audience. An investor doesn’t simply need someone who can sell them another property. They need property professionals who understand yield, tenant demand, rental escalation, vacancy risk, operating costs and the long-term performance of the asset.

That rental heritage gives Just Property a powerful position as South Africa’s residential investment market becomes increasingly sophisticated.

Paul Stevens: building beyond the transaction

Stevens has experienced the business from both sides of the franchise relationship. He joined Just Property as a franchisee in 2003 and became CEO in 2014, giving him direct experience of what it takes to operate a property business at ground level as well as scale one internationally.

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COVER FEATURE

Under his leadership, the business has expanded geographically and broadened its offering while retaining its focus on rentals and property management.

The strategic question now is how to turn that foundation into the next phase of growth.

Just Property’s answer rests on four pillars:

• • • •

People Systems Technology Scale.

And Stevens is strengthening the leadership team responsible for delivering it.

A leadership structure designed for the next phase

The appointments of Lizl Engelbrecht as Chief Operations Officer and Lara-Rachel Machado as Chief Revenue Officer are more significant than changes to an organisational chart.

They effectively divide two critical components of scale. Engelbrecht’s mandate focuses on strengthening operational alignment, supporting franchisees and refining the systems underpinning consistent performance across the network.

Machado brings more than 16 years of industry experience spanning sales, operations, training and business development, with a mandate focused on expanding revenue opportunities across the group.

Stevens describes the strategy succinctly: Machado will drive and expand group revenue while Engelbrecht strengthens the systems powering the organisation.

That combination matters. Growth without operational discipline can destroy service. Operational excellence without growth eventually creates stagnation. Just Property is attempting to build both simultaneously.

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JUST PROPERTY

Technology should make agents better, not irrelevant

Real estate’s technology race has accelerated. AI, automated marketing, CRM systems, data analytics and digital lead generation are changing the economics of being an estate agent.

Just Property’s approach isn’t simply to bolt technology onto the existing business.

Its franchise network has access to a suite of technology services, cloudbased software and integrations with property-industry platforms including PayProp, TPN, Loom and Prop Data. The group says its systems are intended to streamline workflows from lead generation through to client engagement and administration.

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COVER FEATURE

That is increasingly important because the agent’s value proposition is changing.

• • • •

Consumers can find listings themselves. AI can create property descriptions. Algorithms can help estimate values. Automated systems can communicate with leads.

The agent therefore has to add value somewhere technology cannot easily replicate: local intelligence, negotiation, relationships, judgement and trust.

The best technology should give property professionals more time to do exactly that.

Training as competitive infrastructure

Technology without skilled people achieves very little. Just Property has therefore invested in a dedicated Training Academy, combining digital learning, workshops and mentorship.

Training extends beyond regulatory compliance into skills development, systems, leadership and professional performance, with gamification used to encourage ongoing participation and development.

For Stevens, this is strategically important. A national franchise’s reputation is ultimately delivered locally.

The consumer doesn’t experience “head office”. They experience an individual agent, property manager or franchise office.

That means a property group’s brand can only be as strong as the service delivered by the people representing it.

In an industry under increasing pressure to professionalise, continuous development therefore becomes more than an HR function. It becomes a competitive advantage.

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JUST PROPERTY

The rental market is changing and Just Property is positioned for it

There is another reason Just Property’s rental heritage matters. The relationship South Africans have with renting is evolving.

Stevens argues that renting is increasingly becoming a strategic lifestyle decision rather than simply a temporary stop before homeownership, as affordability, mobility and changing consumer priorities influence housing choices.

That creates opportunities on both sides of the transaction. For tenants, professionally managed rental stock becomes increasingly important.

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COVER FEATURE

For investors, deeper and more sophisticated rental markets can create opportunities for recurring income and portfolio growth. But the investment case still has to be proven property by property. Rental demand, acquisition price, financing, levies, rates, maintenance, location and tenant profile ultimately determine whether an asset performs.

This is where a property company with deep rental data and operational experience can add considerably more value than simply finding a tenant.

Local expertise, regional scale

Scale in real estate is useful only when it makes the local office stronger. Just Property now operates through more than 100 offices across Southern Africa and has expanded beyond South Africa into Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

Its opportunity is to use that scale to create a network effect: international brand recognition, technology, training, referrals, marketing infrastructure and shared intelligence, while individual offices retain detailed knowledge of their local markets. That balance between centralised capability and local entrepreneurship is particularly important in South Africa.

There isn’t one South African property market. Cape Town doesn’t behave like Johannesburg. Ballito doesn’t behave like Bloemfontein. And within cities, neighbouring suburbs can produce completely different rental yields, vacancy profiles and capitalgrowth prospects.

The advantage belongs to businesses that can combine big-picture intelligence with street-level knowledge.

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JUST PROPERTY

From estate agency to property ecosystem

Perhaps the most interesting part of Just Property’s evolution is that it is becoming harder to define simply as an estate agency.

Its offering now spans residential and commercial sales, rentals, property management and developments, while its network supports landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers, investors, agents and franchise entrepreneurs.

That creates the possibility of a much longer client relationship. A young professional might first rent through the company. Later, they buy their first home. Then an investment property. They become a landlord. They expand their portfolio. Eventually, they sell.

The opportunity for Just Property is to remain relevant throughout that property lifecycle rather than competing for a single transaction. That is a fundamentally different commercial proposition.

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COVER FEATURE

What makes Just Property different?

Strip away the branding and marketing, and its differentiation comes down to something relatively straightforward.

Just Property understands property from the perspective of both the transaction and the asset.

Its rental heritage gives it an operating understanding of what happens after an investor buys. Its franchise structure gives it local market knowledge. Its scale provides brand, systems and referral capability. Its technology is designed to improve productivity.

Its Academy invests in professional development. And its strengthened executive team indicates an organisation preparing deliberately for another growth phase. None of those elements alone guarantees success.

Combined, however, they create a proposition that is harder for smaller competitors to replicate.

The next 25 years

Just Property celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025. The more interesting question is what the next 25 will look like.

The real estate industry Stevens entered as a franchisee in 2003 bears little resemblance to the industry emerging today.

AI will accelerate. Consumers will demand greater transparency. Agents will need to demonstrate more value. Property investors will become increasingly data-driven.

And large property brands will be expected to deliver both digital efficiency and highly personalised service. Just Property’s challenge is therefore not simply to become bigger.

It is to become more useful, to its investors, landlords, buyers, sellers, tenants, franchisees and agents.

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JUST PROPERTY

The group’s stated mission remains Creating Wealth Through Property. If Stevens and his leadership team can translate that promise into measurable value at every point of the property journey, Just Property won’t merely be competing for market share.

It will be positioning itself to help define what the next generation of South African real estate looks like.

________________________________________________________

Contact Head Office

Website: just.property

Contact Link

Physical Address: Sync Unit 15, 253 Main Road, Walmer, Port Elizabeth,

6065.

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PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS

By eXp Realty South Africa

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Global AGNT, Inc.’s Mean for

Platform, Local Scale: What Record Q2 2026 Results South African Real Estate

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PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS

The global real estate landscape reached a pivotal milestone as AGNT, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGNT)—the parent company of eXp Realty®, NextHome, Inc., FrameVR.io, and SUCCESS® Enterprises—released its Q2 2026 Global Platform, Local Scale: What AGNT, financial and operational results. Formerly known as eXp World Holdings, Inc., the holding company delivered revenues Inc.’s Record Q2 2026 Results record Mean for of $1.4 billion (an 11% year-over-year increase) alongside a 129% surge in South EBITDA African Real Estate Adjusted to $25.7 million.

The global real estate landscape reached a pivotal milestone as AGNT, Inc. (Nasdaq: Beyond the headlines, the report showcases a strategic evolution: the AGNT)—the parent company of eXp Realty®, NextHome, Inc., FrameVR.io, and SUCCESS® completion of the corporate transformation into as AGNT, Enterprises—released its company’s Q2 2026 financial and operational results. Formerly known eXp Inc. and redomestication Texas. From the revenues perspective eXp Realty World its Holdings, Inc., the holding to company delivered record of $1.4 of billion (an 11% year-over-year increase) a 129% surge in Adjusted EBITDA to $25.7 or million. South Africa, this alongside transition is more than a ticker update corporate restructuring—it is a powerful validation of the cloud-based, agent- Beyond the headlines, the report showcases a strategic evolution: the completion of the centric continues to disrupt empower to property markets company’s model corporate that transformation into AGNT, Inc. and and its redomestication Texas. From the across South Africa. perspective of eXp Realty South Africa, this transition is more than a ticker update or corporate

restructuring—it is a powerful validation of the cloud-based, agent-centric model that continues to disrupt and empower property markets across South Africa.

Key Q2 2026 Performance Highlights

Key Q2 2026 Performance Highlights

AGNT’s Q2 2026 results reflect expanding agent productivity, operational AGNT’s Q2 2026 results reflect expanding agent productivity, operational efficiency, and market efficiency, and market expansion: expansion:

Financial & Operational Metric

Q2 2026 Result

YoY Change

Total Revenue

$1.4 Billion

+11%

Real Estate Sales Volume

$60.5 Billion

+15%

Total Closed Transactions

132,497

+12%

Adjusted EBITDA

$25.7 Million

+129%

Cash & Cash Equivalents

$111.2 Million

Debt-Free Balance Sheet

Global Agent Network

87,338 Agents & Brokers

+6%

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1

Revised:

EXP REALTY SOUTH AFRICA

The quarter marked the formal completion of the holding company’s transformation to AGNT, Inc. and its corporate relocation to Texas. As Founder, Chairman, and CEO Glenn Sanford emphasized, the AGNT identity formally unifies multiple brokerage and operating models under a single enterprise dedicated to serving agents.

Crucially, the move to Texas law establishes a governance framework where corporate officers and directors are explicitly permitted to consider the interests of key stakeholders—specifically agents—when exercising their fiduciary duties.

For eXp Realty agents in South Africa, this legal structure locks in an operational alignment rarely seen in traditional real estate models: corporate decisions, platform investments, and technology rollouts must directly serve the agents driving transaction volume on the ground.

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The AGNT Transformation: Purpose-Built Governance

PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS

Connecting Global Financial Strength to South Africa’s Property Market

Since launching locally under CEO and Country Leader Andrew Thompson, eXp Realty South Africa has emerged as one of the fastestgrowing international operations in the company’s global footprint. The parent company’s Q2 financial strength provides direct advantages for South African property practitioners and real estate investors:

1. Robust Financial Foundation Without Debt

With $111.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, zero long-term debt, and positive operating cash flow ($38.8 million in Q2), AGNT offers unprecedented stability. In a volatile macroeconomic environment where traditional, high-overhead brick-and-mortar brokerages/real estate agencies face margin pressure, eXp’s lean operational model protects agent earnings and business longevity.

2.Utility-Driven Agent Retention & Productivity Gains

As eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja highlighted, retention remains highest among top-quartile producers, with transactions per agent continuing to rise. In South Africa, where top-performing estate agents manage complex residential and commercial portfolios across major hubs like Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, access to proprietary technology—such as FrameVR.io and AI-driven workflow tools—enables local practitioners to close more deals per agent without administrative drag.

3.Sustainable Multi-Model Opportunities

The inclusion of NextHome, Inc., SUCCESS® Enterprises, and specialized business divisions reinforces AGNT as a resilient ecosystem. South African team leaders and independent agency owners moving to eXp leverage these multi-stream growth initiatives—including stock equity programs, cash dividend distributions ($8.2 million paid to shareholders in Q2), and global revenue sharing—to build true long-term wealth beyond transactional commissions.

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PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS

Outlook: Driving Scalable Profitability in 2026

Looking toward the back half of 2026, AGNT, Inc. projected full-year revenues between $4.85 billion and $5.15 billion and full-year Adjusted EBITDA between $50 million and $60 million. This operational discipline ensures that as global transactions ramp up, eXp Realty South Africa will continue to benefit from platform innovations, localized marketing collateral, continuous 3D virtual environment support in eXp World, and unmatched commission structures.

For South African real estate professionals seeking freedom, agility, and backing by a Nasdaq-listed powerhouse, the message from Q2 is clear: eXp Realty isn’t just adapting to the future of real estate—it is leading it.

Inside eXp South Africa: Leadership, Growth & Opportunity

This video features CEO & Country Leader Andrew Thompson discussing the rapid expansion of eXp Realty in South Africa and how the platform’s financial and operational model supports local agents.

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Global Recognition & Celebrating Women in Leadership

Complementing its financial momentum, eXp’s collaborative culture and operational excellence were recently recognized on the global stage, with the brand named one of America’s Best Companies of 2026 by TIME Magazine. Furthermore, as South Africa celebrates Women’s Month this August, eXp Realty highlights the formidable female executives driving this innovation and growth. Chief Operating Officer Wendy Forsythe was named to the prestigious 2026 HousingWire Women of Influence list—selected among just 100 honorees shaping the future of property markets. Joining her in the international spotlight, VP of eXp International Marketing Sarah Hutchinson was recognized as one of Ragan’s Top Women in Marketing 2026 for Leadership in AI and Innovation. These corporate and executive milestones reinforce that AGNT, Inc.’s strong balance sheet is powered by visionary leadership dedicated to elevating the real estate experience for agents worldwide— and right here in South Africa.

Visit: https://www.expsouthafrica.co.za/ Article Sources:

https://www.agnt.inc/press-releases /exp-world-holdings-transformation -agnt

https://www.agnt.inc/press-releases/ agnt-inc-reports-q2-2026-results

https://www.agnt.inc/

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LEGAL

By Neale Petersen

Love, Marriage,

What every South to protect their

From buying a home together and living as partners to marriage, customary unions and divorce, understanding your legal rights today could save you years of heartache and millions of rands REI tomorrow. MAGAZINE AUGUST 2026

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Property & the Law

African couple needs to know property, wealth and legal rights

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LEGAL

Marriage isn’t just about love, it’s about the law

Buying a home together, getting married or moving in with a partner are among life’s biggest milestones. Yet few South Africans fully understand the legal consequences that accompany these decisions until a relationship breaks down.

Whether married in terms of civil law, customary law or not married at all, your legal rights and financial obligations, can differ dramatically.

According to Cor Van Deventer, Director at VDM Incorporated, many of the country’s most expensive legal disputes arise not because people intended to create problems, but because they failed to understand the legal implications of their relationship before things went wrong.

“People spend months planning weddings, but very little time planning the legal and financial consequences if the relationship ends,” he says.

Understanding the law before rather than after a relationship breaks down can save years of emotional stress, costly litigation and financial hardship.

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PART ONE Divorce in South Africa: Understanding Your Rights

Unlike many jurisdictions, South Africa operates largely under a nofault divorce system. There is no requirement for spouses to prove wrongdoing or to live separately for a prescribed period before approaching the courts.

Instead, the focus is whether the marriage has irretrievably broken down, making reconciliation impossible. According to Van Deventer, South African law recognises only three legal

grounds upon which a court may grant a divorce:

• Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage • Mental illness • Continuous unconsciousness

The overwhelming majority of divorces rely on the first ground. “Even where one spouse opposes the divorce, the court will grant it if the evidence shows the marriage has irretrievably broken down.”

Divorce doesn’t have to become a battlefield

Not all divorces follow the same path. Van Deventer says couples generally have three options.

1.Uncontested Divorce

The quickest and least expensive option. Both spouses reach agreement on:

• • • •

Division of assets Maintenance Children Contact arrangements

Typically completed within six to twelve weeks, with costs generally between R8 000 and R20 000.

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2.Mediated Divorce

When agreement proves difficult but litigation can still be avoided. An independent mediator assists negotiations before attorneys prepare a settlement for court approval.

This route generally concludes within three months.

3.Contested Divorce

The most expensive and emotionally draining option. These disputes commonly involve:

• • • • • •

Asset division Child care Maintenance Businesses Investments Pension interests

Some cases continue for years and legal costs can run into hundreds of thousands or even millions of rand.

The issues that create conflict

Van Deventer says six issues dominate contested divorces:

• • • • • •

Property and investment portfolios Spousal maintenance Child custody and parental responsibilities Child maintenance Domestic violence and protection orders Pension and retirement benefits

Each carries significant financial consequences. The message is clear. The more couples can agree outside court, the better the outcome for everyone, particularly children.

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LOVE, LIFE AND PROPERTY

Property and Divorce: What happens to the family home?

For many couples, the family home is not only their largest financial asset but also the most emotionally significant one. Deciding what happens to that property is often the biggest challenge during a divorce.

According to Cor Van Deventer, the outcome depends largely on the couple’s matrimonial property regime, whether the property is bonded, and what is in the best interests of both parties and where children are involved, the family.

“The family home is often where legal, financial and emotional issues collide. While every divorce is unique, there are several practical options available to separating couples.”

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The most common options

1. Sell the property and share the proceeds

This is often the simplest solution. The property is sold, the outstanding bond and selling costs are settled, and the remaining proceeds are divided according to the divorce settlement or matrimonial property regime.

This option allows both parties to make a clean financial break.

2. One spouse buys out the other

Looking ahead

Where one spouse wishes to remain in the property, they may purchase the other’s share. This usually requires:

• A professional property valuation • Agreement on the equity value • Bond finance to refinance or assume the existing mortgage

“The spouse retaining the property must also demonstrate that they can comfortably afford the ongoing bond repayments and associated ownership costs,” says Van Deventer.

3. Delay the sale until children are older

Where young children are involved, couples sometimes agree to postpone selling the family home.

The primary caregiver continues living in the property until the children reach a specified age or complete school, after which the property is sold and the proceeds divided.

While this arrangement provides stability for children, it requires careful legal drafting to address maintenance, bond repayments, rates, insurance and future sale arrangements.

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LIMITED SEATS

PROPERTY INVESTORS EVENING

GQEBERHA

Hosted by Jaco Grobbelaar From R595 Per Person Sharing

SCAN HERE TO BOOK

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LEGAL

4. Retain the property as a joint investment

In some cases, particularly where the property generates rental income or has strong long-term investment potential, former spouses may agree to retain joint ownership.

This approach is less common but can work where both parties maintain a cooperative relationship and clearly define responsibilities for:

• • • • •

Bond repayments Maintenance Rental management Future sale decisions Distribution of income

Without a detailed written agreement, however, disputes can easily arise.

5.Transfer ownership as part of the settlement

A divorce settlement may award the property entirely to one spouse. This commonly occurs where other assets are used to balance the overall division of the marital estate.

Depending on the circumstances, transfer duty may not apply, although legal transfer costs and bond registration expenses still need to be considered.

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LOVE, LIFE AND PROPERTY

Don’t forget the hidden costs

Many divorcing couples focus solely on the market value of the property while overlooking the ongoing costs of ownership. Van Deventer says couples should also consider:

• • • • • • • •

Outstanding bond balances Municipal rates and taxes Levies Insurance Capital gains tax implications Maintenance and repairs Estate agent commission Conveyancing costs

“Making the wrong decision about the family home can have long-term financial consequences. It’s important to understand not only what the property is worth, but what it will cost to keep or sell.”

The Investment Perspective

For property investors, divorce often involves more than just the family residence. Investment portfolios may include:

• • • • •

Buy-to-let properties Commercial buildings Holiday homes Property-owning companies Trust-held assets

These require specialist legal, tax and valuation advice to ensure a fair division while preserving long-term investment value.

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PART TWO Living together isn’t the same as being married

One of the biggest misconceptions among South Africans is that couples who have lived together for years automatically enjoy the same legal protections as married couples. They do not.

Unlike marriage, cohabitation creates very few automatic legal rights. As a result, Van Deventer says Life Partnership Agreements have become one of the fastest-growing legal documents drafted by his firm.

“South African law simply doesn’t provide unmarried couples with the same protection as married spouses.”

Even pets can become legal disputes

One surprising issue? Pets. Unless specifically dealt with in the agreement, pets remain the legal property of their registered owner. For many separating couples, that can become one of the most emotionally difficult disputes.

Van Deventer also recommends having Life Partnership Agreements notarised, particularly where immigration, medical aid registration or international recognition may become relevant.

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LOVE, LIFE AND PROPERTY

PART THREE Customary Marriages: Equal before the law

South Africa’s Recognition of Customary Marriages Act gives customary marriages exactly the same legal standing as civil marriages.

However, many couples remain unaware that customary marriages can only be dissolved through the courts. Traditional separation ceremonies alone have no legal effect.

Registration Matters

Although failure to register a customary marriage does not invalidate it, registration significantly simplifies future legal processes. Evidence such as:

• • • •

Lobola agreements Wedding photographs Witness affidavits Bank records

This may all become important should the marriage later need to be proved in court.

Lessons from the ‘Black Coffee’ case

One of South Africa’s highest-profile divorces highlighted the importance of legal timing. Because lobola had already created a valid customary marriage before an antenuptial contract was signed, the court ruled that the marriage remained in community of property.

The later civil contract could not alter that legal position. It serves as a reminder that antenuptial contracts must generally be concluded before marriage.

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Divorce still requires a court

Whether civil or customary, only a court can legally dissolve a marriage. The process mirrors ordinary divorce proceedings, requiring proof that the marriage has irretrievably broken down before a decree of divorce can be granted.

Key Takeaways

Before marriage

• Understand your matrimonial property regime. • Sign an antenuptial contract before the marriage if required.

If living together

• Draft a Life Partnership Agreement. • Record ownership of major assets. • Protect yourself financially.

In customary marriages

• Register the marriage. • Keep documentary evidence. • Obtain legal advice before making financial decisions.

The Bottom Line

Relationships are built on trust, but property ownership, financial commitments and family responsibilities require legal certainty.

Whether couples marry, live together or enter into a customary marriage, understanding their legal rights before problems arise can prevent years of emotional conflict and significant financial loss.

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LOVE, LIFE AND PROPERTY

As Van Deventer concludes: “The law cannot save a relationship, but it can protect people when relationships come to an end. The best time to understand your legal rights is before you ever need to rely on them.”

Before you say “I Do”... Consider these Five Questions

Lessons from the ‘Black Coffee’ case

• • • • •

What matrimonial property regime suits your circumstances? Should you have an antenuptial contract? What happens if one spouse contributes more financially? How will investment properties be treated? Do you both understand the long-term implications of your decisions?

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INVESTING

PROPERTY INVESTORS EVENING

The banks want to lend if you know the rules 16 APRIL

DURBAN

by Jaco Grobbelaar

2026

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Many investors believe banks don’t want to finance property. The reality is very different. Here’s how smart investors use leverage, equity and disciplined borrowing to build long-term wealth.

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you money,

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INVESTING

One of the biggest myths in South African property investing is that banks don’t want to lend you money.

In reality, banks are in the business of lending. They actively compete for financially responsible borrowers who understand affordability, manage debt wisely and invest strategically.

Following a recent conversation with Nondumiso Ncapai, Managing Executive of Home Loans at Absa, one message stood out above all others: today’s property market offers disciplined investors some of the best financing opportunities in the world.

Banks are in the business of lending money. They want to finance property. They want good customers. And when an investor has the right financial profile, understands affordability, manages credit responsibly and buys the right assets, South Africa offers an extraordinary financing environment in which to build wealth through property.

My conversation with Nondumiso reinforced something I have believed for many years: South African property investors have opportunities available to them that investors in many other parts of the world simply do not have.

South Africa’s property market is full of opportunity

There is plenty of negativity around South Africa, and if you consume enough headlines, you could easily convince yourself that nobody is buying property.

The data tells a different story. Absa’s Homeowner Sentiment Index showed overall confidence in the South African property market reaching a record 88% in the first quarter of 2026. Buying, selling and investing sentiment all improved during the quarter. (propertyinsights.absa.co.za)

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BANK MONEY

Home-loan activity is also recovering strongly. ooba reported that by Q1

buyers represented 48% of applications. (ooba.co.za)

2026, home-loan application volumes had risen 15.9% from their Q4 2023

low, while the value of applications had increased by 30.4%. First-time

That is not a dead property market. It is a market with opportunity. Nondumiso made a crucial point during our conversation: there is no single “South African property market”.

Cape Town is different from Johannesburg. Johannesburg is different from

Gqeberha. One suburb can behave completely differently from another

suburb only a few kilometres away.

We have seen enormous demand and constrained supply in parts of the

Western Cape. Gauteng, on the other hand, has significant stock available,

with properties often remaining on the market for longer. For an investor,

that can mean negotiating power. I said during the interview that just

because all the fish are swimming in one direction does not mean you

should automatically swim in that direction too.

Property investing is not about following crowds. It is about following

numbers.

Leverage remains property’s greatest wealth-building tool

I recently travelled through Switzerland, Germany and Hungary, and I

was struck again by how favourable South Africa can be when it comes to

property finance.

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In many markets internationally, buyers need significant deposits. In South Africa, banks compete aggressively for good home-loan customers.

Absa currently advertises home-loan financing of up to 110% for qualifying borrowers, while broader market data shows continued strong demand for both 100% and cost-inclusive loans. (absa.co.za) Think about what that means.

Property is one of the few asset classes where an ordinary person can potentially acquire a R1 million asset without first saving R1 million. That is the power of leverage.

You contribute your capital, the bank contributes its capital, a tenant can contribute towards servicing the financing, and over time you participate in the ownership of the asset.

Used responsibly, this can become one of the most powerful wealthbuilding mechanisms available. I know this personally. If banks had never been willing to lend me money, I would not have the property portfolio I have today.

Banks invest in people, not portfolios

One of my favourite parts of the conversation was discussing how investors manage to build portfolios of tens or even hundreds of properties. Nondumiso explained that, from the bank’s perspective, the important question is not simply how many properties somebody owns.

The question is whether the customer can demonstrate affordability and whether the lending remains responsible. That distinction matters enormously. There is a misconception among investors that eventually a bank simply says, “You already own enough property.”

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BANK MONEY

In reality, sophisticated investors focus on continuously improving the financial profile that banks evaluate.

That includes your income, expenses, credit behaviour, repayment history, existing debt, property values, rental income where applicable, and the quality of the transaction you are presenting.

Your credit profile therefore becomes an asset in itself. Before you start scrolling through property portals looking for your next “deal”, understand your finances.

“Banks don’t finance properties, they finance financially prepared investors.”

Know your budget. Pull your credit report. Know what the banks see when they look at you. Then shop.

Equity is where portfolios begin to grow

For me, the most exciting part of our interview was our discussion about equity.

Many people look at a successful property investor with a large portfolio and imagine that person must have started with enormous amounts of cash.

Frequently, that is simply not what happened. Many investors build portfolios by recycling capital.

They buy well. The property increases in value, or they create value through improvements. The outstanding loan reduces. Equity develops. Then they approach the bank again.

Nondumiso explained equity simply: it is essentially the difference between what a property is worth and what you still owe on it.

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If you own a property worth R1.3 million and your outstanding financing is R1 million, there is theoretically R300,000 of equity sitting inside that property. That does not automatically mean the bank hands you R300,000.

You still need to satisfy affordability and credit requirements. But it creates options.

Absa describes a further advance as a mechanism through which qualifying customers can potentially increase their home loan to access some of the value created in their property. (absa.co.za)

Then there is the re-advance. Imagine your original bond was R1 million and you have reduced the balance to R800,000. Subject to the bank’s assessment and the facility available, you may potentially be able to access some of that R200,000 again. Another powerful tool is the money investors pay into an access-bond or Flexi Reserve-type facility over and above the required monthly instalment. Instead of allowing surplus cash to sit unproductively, investors can reduce interest while potentially retaining access to some of that capital, subject to the bank’s rules and affordability requirements.

That capital can later help fund another opportunity. This is how leverage begins to compound:

• • • • • • •

Buy Create equity Access capital responsibly Buy again Repeat Not recklessly. Strategically.

Small finance decisions create big future opportunities

We discussed something I have practised for years: registering a bond for a higher amount than the initial loan where appropriate.

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Suppose I buy a property for R1 million but believe, based on evidence rather than wishful thinking, that its value could be R1.3 million. Where possible, I prefer having the bond registered for the higher amount from the beginning. Why?

Because if I later want to increase the financing and the property supports that valuation, some of the registration work for the higher bond amount has already been done.

That can make future refinancing more efficient and can avoid certain additional bond-registration costs.

Small strategic decisions at purchase stage can have enormous consequences when repeated across a portfolio.

Leverage is powerful, but leverage can also destroy you

This was perhaps the most important warning in our conversation. Debt magnifies outcomes. When things go well, leverage can accelerate wealth creation. When things go badly, leverage can accelerate losses.

I have seen investors with sizeable portfolios get into serious trouble because interest rates increased by only a few percentage points. On one property, an extra R1,000 or R2,000 per month might be manageable. Multiply that shortfall across 20, 30 or 50 properties and suddenly you have a crisis.

That is why a professional investor does not calculate whether a deal works only at today’s interest rate. Ask:

What happens if interest rates increase?

• What happens if the property is vacant? • What happens when maintenance arrives? • Have I included levies, rates, insurance, management costs and repairs?

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A property that works only when everything goes perfectly is not a robust investment.

Every property needs a purpose

This may have been the most important investing lesson Nondumiso shared. She spoke openly about having purchased a property herself that did not experience the capital growth she expected. That happens.

There is a dangerous idea in property that you can simply buy anything, anywhere, wait long enough and inevitably become wealthy. You cannot. Location matters. Supply matters. Demand matters. Tenant profile matters. Purchase price matters.

And most importantly, strategy matters. If I am buying primarily for capital growth, I need evidence supporting future demand and scarcity. If capital growth is limited, then the property had better produce strong cash flow. Every property needs a job.

Prepared investors create lasting wealth

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from speaking with Nondumiso is that the home-loan industry itself is evolving rapidly.

Applications are becoming digital. Decisions are becoming quicker. Banks are using more data. Switching between banks is becoming increasingly normal. Green financing is developing. Rental-income propositions are evolving. Financing solutions are becoming more sophisticated.

Absa, for example, now promotes an online home-loan application process that can be initiated in around 15 minutes, including applications from individuals, joint applicants and legal entities. (absa.co.za) That last point is also important.

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INVESTING

Companies and trusts can obtain property finance.

The process may involve more documentation because the bank needs to understand the entity, its ownership and the people behind it, but the idea that you cannot finance property through a properly structured legal entity is simply incorrect.

For investors serious about building portfolios over decades, understanding financing, taxation, legal structures and risk management becomes increasingly important.

The investors who win will not necessarily be the people who predict the market perfectly. They will be the people who are prepared.

• • • • • • •

They understand their numbers. They protect their credit profiles. They build relationships with banks. They buy properties strategically. They create equity. They refinance responsibly. They maintain financial reserves.

Above all, they understand that property investing is not a sprint.

INVESTOR CHECKLIST

Before applying for your next home loan, ask yourself:

• • • • •

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Have I checked my credit profile? Can I comfortably afford repayments if interest rates rise? Have I budgeted for vacancies, maintenance and levies? Does this property suit my investment strategy? Will it generate income, capital growth or both?

REI MAGAZINE AUGUST 2026

BANK MONEY

The biggest lesson from my discussion with Nondumiso wasn’t that banks are lending more money. It was that banks are looking for investors who are prepared. Investors:

• • • • •

Who understand their finances. Who protect their credit record. Who buy strategically rather than emotionally. Who build equity patiently. Who think in decades, not market cycles.

Property remains one of the few investments where disciplined borrowing can help ordinary South Africans build extraordinary wealth. Used wisely, leverage doesn’t simply help you buy property. It helps you build a legacy.

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13 Years. 350+ layers of investor

By Daniel Lombard

How more than a decade of real-world residential property transactions has shaped a smarter, more secure investment framework.

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Transactions. Seven protection

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Experience is the investor’s greatest advantage

Every successful property investment begins long before an offer is signed. It begins with experience.

Not simply experience of buying and selling property, but experience of navigating complex transactions, managing risk, protecting investor capital and delivering successful outcomes across changing market conditions.

Over the past 13 years, Wealth Assist and Real Estate Assist have structured and managed more than 350 residential property transactions, continuously refining every agreement, process and control designed to protect investors throughout the investment lifecycle.

The result is not simply another legal document. It is an investment framework built from real transactions, real challenges and real lessons.

Seven layers of investor protection

Sophisticated property investors know that successful investing is about far more than location, purchase price and future capital growth.

The strongest investments are built on clearly defined legal structures that protect capital, manage risk, regulate cash flow and provide certainty from acquisition through to exit.

Every transaction has helped strengthen the framework. Every challenge has improved the process. Every lesson has been incorporated into the next version of the agreements.

The result is a continuously evolving investment model built around seven integrated layers of investor protection, designed to provide greater transparency, stronger governance and increased confidence throughout every stage of the investment journey.

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Turning experience into better investment outcomes

Property investing will always involve risk. Markets move. Values fluctuate. Costs change. Counterparties may default. Delays can occur. No agreement can eliminate every uncertainty.

What experience does provide is something equally valuable: The ability to identify foreseeable risks before capital is committed and to allocate responsibilities, controls, remedies and exit mechanisms long before problems arise. That is where real investor protection begins. Every transaction makes the next one stronger One of Wealth Assist’s greatest competitive advantages is its continuous reflection-loop methodology.

Rather than treating every transaction as a completed deal, every project becomes an opportunity to improve the next one. The team reviews:

• • • • • •

What worked exceptionally well. Where delays occurred. Which contractual provisions required greater clarity. What affected cash flow or transfer. Which remedies proved effective. Where investor protection could be further strengthened.

Those lessons are then incorporated into the next generation of agreements, operating procedures and investment structures. The result is a framework that continues to evolve with every completed transaction.

A Complete Investment System not just a property transaction Residential impact investing often involves far more moving parts than a conventional property purchase. One transaction may include:

• • • • • • • • •

Property acquisition Debt settlement Investor funding Continued occupation Rental administration Property maintenance Future repurchases rights Eventual resale Profit distribution

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Managing these independently creates unnecessary complexity. Managing them as one integrated system creates greater certainty. That is why the complete agreement suite has been designed to work together as a single investment framework.

• The Offer to Purchase governs acquisition and transfer. • The Lease regulates occupation and ongoing obligations. • The Option and Joint Venture Agreements establish repurchase rights, capital protection, improvements, marketing, resale and profit distribution.

Together, they create a coordinated structure designed to protect investor interests from the day capital is committed until the investment is successfully concluded.

Why this matters

Successful property investing isn’t only about choosing the right property.

It’s about choosing the right structure. Because while markets will always change...

A well-designed investment framework helps ensure your capital is protected every step of the journey.

Experience written into every clause

Why sophisticated residential investors look beyond the property itself—and into the agreements that govern capital, cash flow, risk and exit.

Residential property investors usually focus on location, purchase price, market value, rental demand, improvement costs and resale potential. All are essential.

In a structured investment, however, another part of the asset deserves equal attention: the agreements that determine how capital is handled, obligations are monitored, returns are calculated and exits are executed.

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This is where 13 years of focused experience creates real value. Wealth Assist and Real Estate Assist have worked across more than 350 structured residential property transactions, combining property, finance,

conveyancing, recovery, occupation, maintenance and resale considerations. That history has created a practical knowledge base from which the product agreements and operating processes can be tested and improved.

Risk does not disappear. Property values may change, counterparties may default, costs may increase and enforcement may take time. The advantage lies in identifying foreseeable risks before capital is committed and allocating rights, duties, controls and remedies in writing.

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The reflection loop: Experience converted into investor value

Wealth Assist’s reflection-loop strategy turns every completed, delayed or unusually complex transaction into a source of learning. The team reviews what worked, where uncertainty arose, what affected cash flow or transfer, which responsibilities required greater clarity and which remedies proved practical. Those lessons are considered in the next version of the agreements and the supporting process.

This matters because residential impact transactions can involve an owner under financial pressure, an investor seeking a defined riskadjusted return, continued occupation, debt settlement, property maintenance, a possible repurchase and a future sale. A conventional buy-to-let lease or flip agreement seldom coordinates all these moving parts.

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7 Reasons investors can invest with greater confidence

1. Your capital is protected every step of the way Investment funds are managed through regulated attorneys’ trust accounts, with payments released only once agreed milestones, signed documents and contractual conditions have been met.

This provides a secure, transparent and independently managed process that protects your capital throughout the transaction.

2. Your return is agreed before you invest Every investment is structured around clearly defined purchase prices, profit-sharing arrangements, minimum return expectations and distribution priorities before funds are committed.

This enables investors to assess the potential return and understand how profits will be distributed, subject to transaction performance and contractual obligations.

3. Your investment Is secured against the property Specialised legal mechanisms, including first rights of refusal, conveyancer undertakings, cession of rentals and sale proceeds, title deed controls and, where appropriate, covering bonds are designed to connect investor rights directly to the underlying property and its future value.

4. Your asset is professionally managed and protected From tenant occupation and rental collections to maintenance, compliance, inspections and project management, every stage of the property’s performance is actively monitored to help protect both cash flow and long-term asset value.

5. Your investment is backed by risk management Appropriate insurance structures and continuity planning help reduce defined property-related risks, protecting both the physical asset and the investment strategy should unforeseen events occur.

6. Clear exit strategies reduce investment risk Should delays, defaults or unforeseen challenges arise, the agreements provide predefined legal remedies, resale strategies, alternative exit mechanisms and structured enforcement processes, reducing uncertainty and protecting investor interests.

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7. Transparent profit distribution and legal protection The agreements clearly define how proceeds are distributed, ensuring mortgage debt, approved costs, investor capital and agreed returns are addressed in a transparent order of priority.

Formal mediation, arbitration and legal remedies provide an established framework should disputes arise.

More than an ordinary buy-to-let or flip

A conventional buy-to-let generally relies on an offer to purchase, transfer, finance and a lease. A flip concentrates on acquisition, renovation and resale. Both can work well, but the investor often must manage funding, occupation, renovation, compliance and exit as separate risks.

The Wealth Assist and Real Estate Assist model is differentiated by integration. A transaction can connect feasibility analysis, valuation, legal agreements, conveyancing instructions, trust-account flows, lease management, owner recovery, debt facilitation, due diligence, maintenance oversight, insurance and resale facilitation.

The agreements are therefore not paperwork added after the investment decision; they form part of the investment design.

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Why experience matters in South Africa and beyond

Structured residential impact investment occupies a specialist space between property ownership, private capital, asset management and owner rehabilitation. An experienced partner brings pattern recognition: the ability to identify warning signs, ask questions that are easily missed, test budgets and timelines, coordinate professional parties and distinguish a workable solution from a transaction that should not proceed.

In South Africa, this is particularly important where mortgage pressure, municipal obligations, transfer requirements, continued occupation and consumer vulnerability intersect. The legal documents are jurisdiction-specific, but the underlying methodology is relevant internationally: responsible impact capital requires disciplined underwriting, clear rights, active management and fair, transparent outcomes.

Impact with commercial discipline

Impact investing should not mean weaker commercial standards. Sustainable impact requires a structure capable of withstanding scrutiny. The investor needs a defined return framework, appropriate security, monitoring and exit rights. The property owner needs transparency, dignity and a realistic pathway to recover, repurchase or achieve an orderly sale. The property must be maintained and responsibly managed.

When these interests are aligned, an investment can generate a return while preserving value, stabilising a household or property, improving the asset and contributing to a healthier neighbourhood market. The agreement is part of the asset

The strongest opportunities are not defined only by a discounted entry price or an attractive projected return. They are also defined by the quality of the assumptions, the clarity of the agreements, the operating plan and the credibility of the exit.

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Thirteen years and more than 350 transactions have enabled Wealth Assist and Real Estate Assist to build, test and refine a specialised framework around these requirements.

The reflection loop will continue as markets, legislation and transaction experience evolve. For the residential impact investor, partnering with an experienced specialist offers an integrated system in which the property, the people, the capital and the exit are considered together.

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Your

By ITC Hospitality

Twenty years in short-let more than how to manage properties. that success is built on people.

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Property. Our Expertise.

Group

management teaches you It teaches you

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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

As ITC Hospitality Group celebrates 20 years in Cape Town’s short-let management industry, we’re reflecting on the people, partnerships, and experiences that have shaped our journey. From homeowners who trusted us with their investments to guests who return year after year and the team behind every stay, people have always been at the centre of what we do.

To celebrate this milestone, we’re releasing a documentary that shares our story through the voices of the people who have lived it. Featuring long-serving team members from across the business, it offers an authentic look at the moments, challenges, and memories that have shaped ITC Hospitality Group over the past two decades.

Built on Trust

From humble beginnings, ITC Hospitality Group has grown into one of Cape Town’s trusted short-let management and corporate accommodation providers.

That growth has been built on long-term relationships with homeowners, corporate clients, guests, and our team.

We’ve also navigated some of the industry’s biggest challenges together, including the 2008 financial crisis, the Cape Town water crisis, load shedding, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Through every challenge, trust remained the foundation that allowed us to keep moving forward.

More Than Managing Properties

Short-let management is about far more than preparing apartments.

It’s about creating great guest experiences, protecting homeowners’ investments, and delivering consistent service every day.

Behind every reservation is a team working across guest services, housekeeping, maintenance, finance, marketing, operations, and property management to ensure every stay runs seamlessly. It’s those people who make the difference.

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ITC HOSPITALITY GROUP

A Team That Grows Together

One of our greatest achievements over the past 20 years isn’t just the growth of the business—it’s the growth of the people within it.

Many of our team members have spent years building their careers at ITC Hospitality Group, developing their skills while helping shape the company into what it is today.

That experience, combined with a culture of collaboration and support, continues to drive the service our homeowners, guests, and corporate clients rely on.

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Looking Ahead

Since opening our doors in 2006, ITC Hospitality Group has continued to evolve.

From operating out of an apartment in Cartwright’s Corner to expanding into larger offices, welcoming guests during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, navigating COVID-19, launching One Thibault Hotel, and growing our corporate accommodation portfolio, every milestone has strengthened the business.

As the short-let industry continues to evolve, so will we—while remaining committed to the service, relationships, and expertise that have defined us for the past 20 years.

Your Property. Our Expertise.

Watch Our Story

This article is only part of the story.

Our upcoming documentary brings together the voices of the people who have helped build ITC Hospitality Group over the past 20 years. Through personal memories, behind-the-scenes stories, and reflections on the journey, it offers an inside look at the team behind the business and the values that continue to shape the way we manage short-let stays today.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications to be among the first to watch when the documentary premieres. Subscribe here:

Your Corporate Accommodation Specialist

www.inthecity.co.za

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YOUR PROPERTY. YOUR PROPERTY. OUR EXPERTISE. OUR EXPERTISE.

Full-service short-let stay and property management from Cape Town's most trusted Full-service short-let stay and property operator. management from Cape Town's most trusted operator.

salesdirector@inthecity.co.za

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+27 72 544 8569

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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

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When the Airbnb plan demand took over

By Retha van Rooyen

A Cape Town property missed its Airbnb targets and attracted the wrong student market, yet ultimately became a stronger investment. Retha van Rooyen shares what investors can learn when Plan A fails.

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failed, student

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Property investment rarely follows the spreadsheet.

At the end of last year, I shared a beautiful student accommodation property in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs that had undergone a substantial renovation.

The strategy appeared straightforward: complete the renovations, operate the property as an Airbnb over the December and January tourism season, then transition it into student accommodation for the academic year. On paper, it made sense.

Cape Town plus Airbnb plus peak tourism season = strong short-term income.

Then reality arrived. Some things went worse than expected. Others ultimately worked considerably better. And therein lies one of the most important lessons for any property investor:

A strategy that doesn’t work as planned doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve bought the wrong property. Sometimes you simply need to find the right market for it.

Expectation #1: Airbnb would carry the summer cash flow

The owners invested substantially in upgrading the property, creating a modern, attractive product with fresh finishes, quality appliances and new furniture.

It looked ideal for Cape Town’s peak December and January tourism market. We listed it and bookings began arriving, including some longer stays. Everything looked promising. Until it wasn’t.

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Reality #1: Small details can destroy a short-term rental strategy

The listing clearly stated that there was no secure on-site parking and that guests would need to use street parking. That became a bigger problem than anticipated.

Two bookings were cancelled almost immediately because guests were uncomfortable without secure parking. Then another group arrived. They stayed for approximately ten minutes, inspected the property and left because they believed it smelled too strongly of fresh paint. The property had just undergone a major renovation, and although the smell wasn’t obvious to us, the guests were particularly sensitive to it for medical reasons. Just like that, our summer Airbnb strategy unravelled.

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Airbnb income: R0.

It was frustrating, but it delivered a valuable investment lesson. Parking, ventilation, renovation timing, guest expectations and cancellation risk may appear to be operational details, but in shortterm accommodation they can materially alter your return.

“The student market you expect isn’t always the market that fills your property.”

A beautiful property does not automatically make a successful Airbnb.

Location, access, amenities and understanding exactly what your target guest expects are equally important.

Expectation #2: UCT students would fill the property

Once the renovations, furniture and accreditation requirements were complete, we moved to the property’s primary long-term strategy: student accommodation.

Given its location in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs, we expected demand to come predominantly from University of Cape Town students.

It didn’t. We placed one UCT student and two Eduvos students, but the latter remained for only a month. Once again, the market wasn’t behaving according to our assumptions. Then something interesting happened.

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Reality #2: The market told us who our customer really was

The property began attracting strong interest from students attending the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s District Six campus. Once CPUT students discovered the property, it filled quickly. That experience reinforced one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt in student accommodation:

The students you expect to fill your property aren’t necessarily the students who will.

Demand may originate from a different institution, campus or student demographic from the one identified in your initial feasibility. The investor’s job is therefore not simply to validate the original assumption. It is to identify where the real demand is coming from and respond quickly. The numbers finally started working. Once occupied, the property achieved:

• R6,500 per month for single rooms • R5,500 per month per student in shared rooms

These represented strong rentals for the area. The owners also began receiving payments relating to NSFAS-funded students, although not without delays.

Cape Town was again affected by pilot-programme challenges, administration and changes within the student-funding system. For an investor, this matters.

A rental may look attractive on paper, but cash flow is determined by when the money actually reaches your account, not simply by what you’re entitled to receive.

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Investors targeting the NSFAS market therefore need sufficient working capital to absorb potential delays. Most importantly, however, the property moved from losing money to generating meaningful income. After a difficult period, the owners were finally beginning to see the financial benefits of their investment.

The renovation wasn’t wasted, it repositioned the asset

The failure of the Airbnb strategy didn’t mean the renovation had failed. Quite the opposite.

The owners had invested in a more functional layout, improved finishes, new furniture, quality appliances, compliance requirements and a better overall student-living environment. Those improvements enabled the property to command stronger rentals and helped differentiate it from competing accommodation. Students notice quality.

They notice their bedrooms, shared spaces, furniture, security and the overall condition of the property. The difficult work completed upfront therefore positioned the asset more strongly for future student intakes.

Property success rarely follows a straight line

Almost nothing happened exactly as we had anticipated. The Airbnb strategy failed. Expected UCT demand didn’t materialise. Two private students left earlier than anticipated. NSFAS payments were delayed. Renovations and placements took longer than expected.

Yet once the dust settled, the picture looked very different. The property filled with CPUT District Six students, rentals were strong, NSFAS income started flowing, the renovations supported the property’s appeal and the investment became operationally more stable. This is the reality of property investment.

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• A spreadsheet can forecast rental income. • A feasibility study can estimate demand. • A construction programme can predict completion.

Successful investors aren’t necessarily those whose original plan works perfectly. They’re the ones who recognise when it isn’t working and adapt quickly.

But none of them can eliminate every real-world variable.

What would we do differently?

With hindsight, there are several things we’d change. We would allow more time between completing renovations and accepting short-term guests. We’d assess the importance of secure parking more critically before targeting the Airbnb market.

Most importantly, we’d place greater emphasis on the property’s core student accommodation strategy from the outset. The student market ultimately proved to be the more sustainable opportunity. And that brings us to perhaps the biggest lesson from this property.

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Don’t fall in love with Plan A

A change in strategy does not automatically mean an investment has failed. Sometimes the asset needs to find the right market, customer and operating model.

Before buying or converting a property for student accommodation, investors should establish:

• Which institutions and campuses genuinely drive demand. • What rentals students can realistically afford. • Whether the property meets accreditation and compliance requirements. • How students will physically travel between the property and campus. • How the property will be marketed and filled. • How leases and student placements will be managed. • How NSFAS payment delays could affect cash flow.

Whether the investment remains sustainable after operating costs and vacancies.

A beautiful building is only the beginning.

About the author Retha van Rooyen is the Founder and CEO of My Student House, managing more than 2,000 beds across 51 properties in five regions. She is the author of How to Create Wealth with Student Accommodation in SA and is working on her second book, The Investor’s Guide: Student Accommodation in South Africa.

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Strategy, systems, financial resilience and good management are what turn that building into a sustainable student accommodation investment.

MAXIMISE YOUR PROPERTY’S POTENTIAL WITH SMART STUDENT ASSET MANAGEMENT WITH MY STUDENT HOUSE

getinfo@mystudenthouse.co.za

084 575 1000

www.mystudenthouse.co.za

AS NSF dited

re

Acc

Private Student Accommodation Management

WHAT WE DO

Investor, Conversion, Accreditation Services Turning Properties into Purpose Student Placement & Rent Collection Filling Rooms, Building Trust Incident Management Protecting Students, Landlords & Reputations Facilities & Operations From Repairs to Disciplinaries Transport Management Moving Students Safely & Seamlessly Student Management & Wellbeing More Than a Roof, a Support System Neighbourhood Engagement Changing How Communities See Students

Smart investors choose partners who deliver results. Our proven model combines compliance, care, and community to maximise occupancy and protect your ROI.

FIND US

Cape Town Bloemfontein Gqeberha Gauteng 105 Potchefstroom

RESIDENTIAL

By Jason Lee

Buy-to-Let: first investment

Jason Lee shares the key principles first-time investor should consider buying their first buy-to-let apartment.

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How to choose your apartment

every before

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Buying your first investment property is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. Get it right and it can become the foundation of long-term wealth creation. Get it wrong and it can become an expensive lesson in cash flow, vacancies and unexpected costs.

However, purchasing an investment property differs significantly from buying a home to live in. Every decision should be based on financial performance rather than personal preference.

If you’re considering your first investment apartment, here are the key factors to help you make a profitable and sustainable choice.

1.Invest with your calculator, not your heart

One of the biggest mistakes first-time investors make is buying a property they personally love rather than one that tenants want. Remember, your goal is to generate income and grow your investment. Before making an offer, calculate the expected rental yield by comparing the annual rental income against the purchase price. While capital growth is important, positive cash flow can make a significant difference, especially during periods of rising interest rates. Also factor in all ownership costs, including:

• • • • • • • •

Bond repayments Levies Rates and taxes Insurance Maintenance Vacancy periods Letting or management fees Utilities not covered by tenant

Understanding your true monthly costs will help you determine whether the investment is financially viable.

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2. Location still determines long-term returns

Property markets differ significantly across South Africa, and choosing the right location is often more important than choosing the right apartment.

Look for suburbs that have:

• • • • • •

Strong rental demand Good transport links Access to schools and universities Business districts nearby Shopping centres and healthcare facilities Ongoing infrastructure investment

Areas experiencing population growth and urban regeneration often present excellent opportunities for long-term capital appreciation. Research vacancy rates in your chosen suburb. A property that stands empty for several months each year can quickly erode your investment returns.

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3. Buy for your tenant - not yourself

Every investment property should appeal to a clearly defined tenant market. For example:

• Young professionals often prefer modern apartments close to business hubs. • Students look for affordability and proximity to educational institutions. • Small families value security, schools and parks. • Retirees may prioritise convenience, accessibility, low maintenance and larger unit sizes.

Understanding who your likely tenant is will influence everything from the apartment size to the location and amenities. Rather than asking yourself, “Would I live here?” ask, “Would my ideal tenant rent this property?”

“The best investment property isn’t necessarily the one you’d live in, it’s the one your ideal tenant wants to rent.”

4. Security remains one of property’s biggest selling points

Security remains one of the strongest drivers of rental demand in South Africa. Apartments within secure complexes generally attract more tenants and can often command higher rental prices.

Features such as controlled access, CCTV, electric fencing and 24-hour security provide peace of mind for residents and make properties easier to let.

Secure developments may also experience lower vacancy rates during challenging economic conditions.

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5. Understand what your levies really buy

Although higher levies are not necessarily a bad sign, it’s important to understand exactly what they cover. Well-managed sectional title schemes often use levies to maintain common areas, security, gardens and long-term maintenance reserves.

Many first-time investors focus solely on the purchase price and bond repayments while overlooking monthly levies.

Ask for the body’s corporate financial statements and determine whether there are any planned special levies that could affect your investment.

6. New developments aren’t always the best investment

New developments can offer several advantages for first-time investors. Many require little immediate maintenance, attract modern tenants and often include attractive lifestyle amenities such as gyms, workspaces or swimming pools.

Developers may also offer incentives such as reduced transfer costs, making the initial purchase more affordable.

However, don’t assume every new development is automatically a good investment. Compare expected rental income against similar established properties in the area and assess whether supply could exceed demand.

7. Leave yourself financial breathing room

While it may be tempting to maximise your borrowing capacity, successful investors leave room for unexpected expenses.

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Interest rates fluctuate, tenants move out and maintenance issues inevitably arise. Having a financial buffer can prevent your investment from becoming a financial burden.

Before purchasing, stress-test your budget by calculating whether you could comfortably afford the property if interest rates increased or the apartment remained vacant for a few months.

8. Property rewards patient investors

Property investment is generally not a get-rich-quick strategy. Successful investors focus on building wealth over many years through a combination of rental income, bond repayment and capital appreciation . Avoid making decisions based solely on short-term market fluctuations. Instead, choose quality properties in desirable locations with strong long-term fundamentals.

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9. Build the right professional team

Buying your first investment property involves legal, financial and tax considerations that can have lasting consequences. Surround yourself with professionals who understand the investment market, including:

• • • •

An experienced bond originator A knowledgeable real estate professional A conveyancing attorney An accountant or tax adviser if required

Their expertise can help you avoid costly mistakes and identify opportunities you may otherwise overlook.

Final Thoughts

Your first investment property is far more than a single purchase. It establishes your investment discipline, shapes your future borrowing capacity and often determines whether you’ll buy a second, third or tenth property.

The most successful investors don’t chase the cheapest apartment or the latest trend. They buy quality assets in strong locations, understand their numbers, manage risk carefully and think in decades rather than months.

Buy your first investment property as if you’re building a portfolio, not simply buying an apartment.

About the author Jason Lee is a South African born property investor, educator and entrepreneur with extensive experience in residential property investment and buy-to-let strategies. He is passionate about helping first-time investors build sustainable property portfolios through sound financial principles, disciplined decision-making and long-term wealth creation. Jason is also the author of several property investment books and regularly shares practical insights to help investors make smarter property decisions. Books by Jason Lee Making money out of property Retire rich through property

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FINANCE

Do the Maths. Build the

The financial principles every

by Renier Kriek

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Wealth.

property investor should know

PROPERTY WEALTH

MASTERCLASS

Part 1 of 6

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Don’t Buy Property First. Build your strategy first

I grew up in a house where property development was the family business. Real estate and construction deals filled much of the dinner-table conversation for decades.

Property therefore felt less like an asset class to be selected and more like part of the natural order of things.

When I was 19, my parents were prepared to spend money on a car for me. I persuaded them to let me use it as the equity for an investment property instead, and they agreed to sign as co-purchasers. It helped that this was during the heady property boom before the Global Financial Crisis, and before the National Credit Act changed the lending environment.

That first purchase was sensible in some respects and lucky in others. It was not the product of a considered investment strategy. I had not compared property with shares, bonds, a business, cash or simply paying down debt. I had not decided what return I required, how much risk I could carry, or what role the property should play in a wider portfolio. I bought because property was familiar, finance was available and the transaction seemed possible.

At that stage, I had no real knowledge of finance as a formal discipline. And that is the point of this article series: sharing valuable successes, mistakes and lessons learnt, viewed through the lens of finance, so that you can navigate your property investment journey responsibly and with greater confidence.

Finance is a study of the future

Finance is the applied science of making decisions about money, risk, time and scarce capital. In property investment, it allows you to compare a rand received today with a rand expected years from now, distinguish yield from return, and decide whether debt improves an investment or merely magnifies a mistake. We place much stock by accounting and accountants in South Africa, but accounting is a study of history, while finance is a study of the future, of the next money move.

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Viewed a little more poetically, finance is one of the principal languages of business. Without a working command of it, investment decisions remain overly dependent on instinct, enthusiasm and the persuasive abilities of the next person who happens to be selling a deal.

A subscription to Claude or ChatGPT does not remove the need to

understand what an internal rate of return means, which assumptions

produced it, and whether the model is answering the right question. Unlike

in academic disciplines like sociology, in finance the Dunning-Kruger

effect tends to dispense its lessons swiftly and without much compassion.

I learnt much of real estate finance incrementally and haphazardly, while

already investing and living with the consequences of earlier decisions.

I also learnt a great deal from a Finance for Non-Financial Managers

course, the sort still offered by most universities. Taken together, it was

an expensive and risky way to acquire knowledge that should ideally have

preceded the first transaction. You should not build a plane while flying it.

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The proper starting point is therefore not a listing, a suburb or an advertised rental yield. It is also not the choice between buy-to-let, Airbnb or student accommodation. Those questions come later. The first question is the one I failed to ask at 19, ‘why invest in property at all?’

Why invest in property?

Different investors want different things. Some want current income. Others want capital growth, inflation protection, retirement income or diversification. Some value the control property offers, including the ability to improve performance through renovation, redevelopment or better management.

Property also has one major advantage over almost every other asset class available to an ordinary investor: it can usually be financed with long-term, secured debt on comparatively sensible and safe terms.

The economist Thomas Piketty popularised the proposition that the return on capital tends to exceed the rate of economic growth: r > g. The policy implications are substantial, but the practical implication for an individual investor is simpler. All else being equal, you should aim to build the largest possible productive capital base early.

Property allows an ordinary investor to do that with leverage. An investor might contribute R150,000 to buy for R1.5 million, with the balance funded by a lender. The rental and capital return is generated by the whole R1.5 million asset, not only the investor’s initial equity.

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If you have a Lightstone subscription, just sign in on your phone and go.

Go to toolkit.lightstone.co.za

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That is the attraction. It is also the danger. Leverage improves the return on equity when the investment performs well but magnifies losses and cashflow pressure when it does not. The instalment remains payable when the property is vacant, the tenant stops paying, or the geyser chooses a Sunday morning to make its contribution to the investment thesis.

Used responsibly, however, debt allows an investor to put a larger capital base to work much earlier than would otherwise be possible. In an r > g world, that is a considerable advantage that attached to property to the exclusion of other asset classes.

Income keeps the property alive; capital growth builds the wealth

New investors naturally focus on rent because rent arrives monthly and so does the loan instalment. Cash flow determines whether the investor can hold through vacancies, repairs and interest-rate increases.

Over time, however, much of the wealth created by a successful property portfolio often comes from capital growth on a leveraged asset base.

There is also a useful timing advantage in the tax treatment. Rental profit is generally taxed as it is earned, after permitted deductions. Capital growth on a property held as a capital asset is ordinarily brought into account on death or sale. The increase in value can therefore compound inside the asset without an annual capital-gains tax charge.

The saying that a tax deferred is a tax avoided is not literally true, but it captures the economic benefit. Money not yet paid in tax remains part of the capital base and can continue compounding.

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MASTERCLASS PART 1 OF 6

The end game is therefore not necessarily to own the highest-yielding properties forever. Income yielding properties are useful early on because they help support their own financing and protect the investor against mistakes.

Once the portfolio has sufficient equity, scale and cash-flow resilience, the investor can consider larger, higher-quality assets in stronger capital-growth markets, even where the initial yield is lower.

Those later investments are difficult for beginners to carry. A well-located property in a strong growth area may require a large deposit and a monthly contribution. An established investor can support that shortfall from portfolio income and gain the tax benefit to boot. A new investor may be forced to sell before the capital-growth thesis has had time to work.

Start with the investor

Before choosing a strategy, the investor must assess his or her own position. The same property can be appropriate for one person and disastrous for another.

The first consideration is purpose

Is the investment meant to produce income now, accumulate wealth over twenty years, diversify a business owner’s balance sheet or create retirement income?

A low-yielding property bought mainly for long-term growth may suit a high-income professional, but not a retiree who needs income from the first month.

The investor’s tax position also matters

Someone with substantial taxable income may evaluate a negatively geared property differently from someone who needs the property to pay for itself immediately.

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Legitimate expenses may affect the taxable result, subject to the applicable rules, but tax cannot rescue a poor investment. Losing one rand to save a portion of it in tax remains a loss.

Time matters too

Some strategies are relatively passive. Others are businesses that happen to operate from buildings. A person with a demanding career and no appetite for cleaners, guests or student disputes may be suited to a conventional buy-to-let managed by an agent. The same person may be miserable running short-term accommodation, however impressive the projected gross revenue.

The investor must also assess income stability, borrowing capacity, available capital and liquidity. The amount required is not limited to the deposit. Transfer and finance costs, improvements, furniture, vacancies and repairs all consume cash. A transaction that uses every available rand by transfer date is already undercapitalised before the first tenant moves in.

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Property is not one strategy

“Property investment” is too broad a category to be useful. A residential buy-to-let property, rent-to-rent operation, Airbnb apartment, student house, small factory and retail unit do not generate returns in the same way.

A conventional buy-to-let investor owns the asset and lets it to a household under a longer-term lease. Returns come from rent, debt repayment and capital growth. The model can be relatively passive where the property is already lettable and management is outsourced.

Rent to Rent

Rent-to-rent is closer to an operating business. The operator leases a property and sublets it, often by the room or for shorter periods, at a higher aggregate rental. The return comes from the margin between rent paid and rent collected. Capital requirements may be low, but the operator does not own the property or benefit from its capital growth.

Short term rentals

Airbnb and other short-term rental models combine property investment with hospitality. Gross revenue may exceed ordinary monthly rent, but the comparison is meaningless until cleaning, linen, utilities, platform fees, management and vacant nights are deducted. The investor is also exposed to seasonality, reviews, competition and regulatory or body-corporate restrictions.

Student Accommodation

Student accommodation can earn rent per bed rather than per dwelling, but it brings furniture, utilities, intensive management, academicyear seasonality and frequent turnover. Success depends heavily on understanding the institution, transport routes and student demand.

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Industrial

Light-industrial property may offer longer leases and less day-to-day management but usually carries greater concentration risk. One tenant may produce all the income, and a specialised factory may be difficult to re-let.

Office and retail

Office and retail property introduce tenant creditworthiness, fit-out costs, rent-free periods, parking, foot traffic and lease renewals. A lease is only as valuable as the tenant’s ability and willingness to perform.

Why buy-to-let is probably the best place to begin

For most first-time property investors, a conventional residential property let to a long-term tenant remains the safest starting point.

It is less glamorous than short-term accommodation, student housing or a clever rent-to-rent structure, but that is part of its appeal. Residential buy-to-let usually offers long-term secured finance, a broad tenant market and a reasonably understandable operating model. The investor owns the asset, receives rent, benefits from debt repayment and participates in capital growth.

The risks remain real. Tenants default, properties stand vacant, levies rise and maintenance is rarely as low as the spreadsheet predicts. Even so, the number of variables is generally smaller than in hospitality, intensive accommodation or specialised commercial property.

It teaches tenant selection, budgeting, maintenance, financing and cash-flow management without also requiring the investor to build an operating business.A sensible first strategy is therefore often conventional: buy a residential property that can survive ordinary adversity, finance it conservatively, let it on a long-term basis and hold it long enough for debt repayment and capital growth to do their work.

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REAL ESTATE

INVESTOR

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Connect your brand with South Africa's largest engaged community of property investors, developers, entrepreneurs and real estate professionals through REI's magazine, digital platforms, newsletters, events and webinars.

Download our Media Kit or visit rei.co.za to learn more.

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A practical first-pass checklist

Before looking at listings, an investor should be able to answer these ten questions:

1. For the first investment and the eventual portfolio, what must it achieve: income, growth, diversification or retirement funding?

2. How much capital can I commit without exhausting my liquidity?

3. How much monthly shortfall can I carry during vacancies or weak periods?

4. Does my tax position affect how I should evaluate gearing and deductible expenses?

5. How much time do I genuinely have to operate the investment?

6. What property, financial or operating skills do I already possess?

7. How much vacancy and tenant-concentration risk can I withstand?

8. How long can I leave the capital invested?

9. Do I want to own the property, or operate a propertyrelated business?

10. What assumptions must prove correct for the intended strategy to work?

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MASTERCLASS PART 1 OF 6

The answers should then be converted into a simple buy box: property type, price range, location, required return, maximum debt, acceptable monthly shortfall and intended holding period. The first asset to analyse is not the property. It is the investor, that is you.

A collection of properties is not necessarily a portfolio. Sometimes it is merely a collection of decisions. The purpose of a strategy is to ensure that each property has a defined role, that the financing supports that role, and that the investor can survive long enough for compounding to do the real work.

About the author Renier Kriek is the Managing Director at Sentinel Homes a non-bank housing finance provider. He is also qualified and admitted attorney and a Chartered Banking Professional (SA).

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Built on Disciplined Execution. Trusted by Private Investors.

Opportunity Private Capital is an investment company based in Cape Town. The firm provides access to structured capital investment opportunities, enabling investors to gain exposure to property development projects that are typically not accessible through traditional investment channels. The investment approach is designed to target attractive, risk-adjusted returns, supported by downside mitigation through development assets.

Real Assets. Structured Capital. Disciplined Approach.

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www.opportunity.co.za

O

Opportunity Private Capitals’ aim is to provide private investors with alternative portfolio diversification by granting access to targeted residential property development returns, supported by tangible property assets and disciplined capital structures.

Key Investment Characteristics Targeted returns from 14% to 17% p/a tiered per capital committed. Asset-backed downside mitigation. Minimum investment from R100,000. Targeted investment horizon: 18 - 24 months.

10 YEAR PERFORMANCE

Investor Profile These investment opportunities may be suited to investors seeking: Exposure to returns associated with residential property development. An alternative to direct property ownership. Investment structures supported by underlying property assets. Opportunities with an established track record. Exposure to developments located in high-demand areas of the Western Cape.

Key Investment Highlights Over R600 million in private capital invested. Over R1 billion in completed residential project value. 27 completed investment cycles across multiple developments. Investment activity spanning more than a decade. Outcomes achieved across varying market conditions.

R 630 750 264

R 1.23 Billion

16.3 Months

Total Private Investments

Total Project Value

Ave Investment Timeframe

AVERAGE INVESTOR RETURNS vs CPI

The average return for the period represents the capital-weighted average simple interest rate of investments exited during the year, across the applicable investment tiers.

Source: Opportunity Private Capital and Macrotrends.net

Risk Profile Investment in property developments carry inherent risks. These are addressed by: Asset-backed downside mitigation supported by property assets. Residential projects located within resilient high-demand areas in the Western Cape.

Independent Capital Oversight Independent Security Trust governance structures. Trust oversight of invested capital and safeguarding of investor interests. Trust governing the authorisation of capital use and investor repayment. New investment Cycle now open pelase enquire here - reilink inbox for that

New Investment Opportunity Now Open

Interested in investing? Contact us at invest@opportunity.co.za to find out more.

Opportunity Private Capital (Pty) Ltd, is a licensed Financial Services Provider, number FSP53400.

www.opportunity.co.za

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Don’t let investment hype

By Neale Petersen

Strong returns can attract attention, investors look beyond the headline structure, assets and risks before

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override the numbers

but disciplined and understand the committing capital.

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Investment markets have always had a powerful emotional component.

When an opportunity is generating attention, returns look attractive and other investors appear enthusiastic, the fear of missing out can quickly replace disciplined analysis.

That is where investors can make expensive mistakes. The principle is straightforward: never invest in something simply because everybody else seems to be doing it and never commit capital to a structure you don’t properly understand.

For property investors, this becomes particularly important as the investment universe expands beyond directly buying residential or commercial property into private capital, development funding and other alternative real estate investments.

Understand what you actually own

Opportunity Private Capital (OPC), headed by MD Nick Morgan, specialises in structured, asset-backed investment opportunities linked to residential property development.

Rather than relying solely on speculative future property appreciation, OPC says the investment structures are aligned with measurable stages of the development lifecycle, including land acquisition, infrastructure and construction. The investment framework centres on asset-backed downside mitigation, structured investments and targeting attractive risk-adjusted returns.

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INVESTOR PSYCHOLOGY

That distinction highlights an important question every investor should ask: What is actually supporting my investment?

A collection of properties is not necessarily a portfolio. Sometimes a compelling presentation or attractive targeted return isn’t enough. Investors should understand where their capital goes, the underlying assets, investment term, exit mechanism, security structure, fees and what could prevent the investment from performing as expected.

Ask better questions before chasing returns

Morgan believes investors should resist being swept up by hype and instead understand the investment proposition before committing.

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“If you don’t understand how an investment works, what your capital is funding and where the risks lie, you shouldn’t be afraid to keep asking questions until you do.” Nick Morgan, MD, Opportunity Private Capital

OPC’s own approach to the investments they offer illustrates the type of due diligence investors should be considering. The company says investor capital operates within an independent trust structure designed to separate operational execution from capital authorisation, while investor onboarding is conducted within FSCA, FAIS and FICA requirements. OPC is a licensed Financial Services Provider, FSP 53400.

Five questions worth asking

Before committing to an alternative property investment, investors should understand:

1. What underlying asset supports the investment? 2. How will my capital actually be deployed? 3. What are the material risks and downside scenarios? 4. How and when is my capital expected to be returned? 5. Who controls and oversees investor funds?

Those questions matter more than the excitement surrounding an opportunity.

Discipline beats FOMO

OPC reports more than R630 million in total capital invested across R1.23 billion in project value in the developments they provide access to, with an average investment term of 16.94 months.

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INVESTOR PSYCHOLOGY

The company says outcomes over the past decade have broadly tracked targeted returns across multiple investment cycles and materially exceeded inflation and traditional fixed-income benchmarks. Past performance, however, should never be treated as a guarantee of future results. The lesson extends well beyond OPC.

Sophisticated investing isn’t about finding the investment with the most exciting headline. It is about understanding what you’re investing in, why the return exists and what risks you’re accepting to earn it.

When everybody else is talking about the upside, disciplined investors should be asking about the downside.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Explore how Opportunity Private Capital approaches structured, assetbacked property development investments and request further investment information.

CONTACT US

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TECHNOLOGY & AI

By Neale Petersen

From AI search and smarter pricing to automated property management, REI’s expert panel explored to in property REI MAGAZINE AUGUST 2026 today. 140 work

workflows and how to put AI

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Artificial Intelligence has crossed an important line. It is no longer simply something property businesses are experimenting with. It is becoming part of how customers find property, how businesses communicate, how accommodation is priced, how property managers process information and how teams eliminate repetitive administration.

That was the central theme of REI’s recent webinar, AI Is Rewriting Real Estate: Will You Lead or Be Left Behind?

Moderated by REI Founder and Editor-in-Chief Neale Petersen, the discussion brought together three specialists approaching AI from very different parts of the property ecosystem:

Nick Taylor, Managing Director of NOX, explored AI in hospitality, short-term rentals, customer experience, bookings and revenue generation.

Eric Nienaber, founder of Y-Dangle Apps and creator of Intelliweave AI and Chatterly, unpacked AI-powered business transformation, automation and productivity.

And Christiaan van den Heever, Head of Data Insights & Digital Transformation at WeconnectU, focused on AI’s growing role in property management, operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making.

The discussion covered everything from ChatGPT referrals and dynamic pricing to AI agents, data security, automated property management and the future role of property professionals. But one message cut through everything else:

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AI isn’t coming to real estate. It’s already here.

The question is what property professionals are going to do with it.

1. Search is changing and Google is no longer the whole game

One of the most important changes discussed during the webinar happens before a customer ever contacts a property business. How people search is changing.

For years, property companies have concentrated heavily on Google rankings, paid search, property portals and conventional SEO.

AI-powered discovery is creating another channel. Nick Taylor’s section of the webinar examined the growth of referrals from platforms such as ChatGPT and how travellers are increasingly using AI to research destinations, accommodation and purchasing decisions.

For estate agencies, developers, short-term rental operators and property businesses, this raises an important strategic question:

Will AI know enough about your business to recommend it? This doesn’t mean Google disappears. It means digital visibility is becoming broader.

Businesses increasingly need authoritative websites, useful content, accurate information, strong digital reputations and structured information that both traditional search engines and emerging AI systems can understand.

The next battle for digital visibility may therefore not simply be: “How do we rank on Google?” It could increasingly become:

“How do we become the answer AI recommends?”

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2. AI is much bigger than ChatGPT

For many business owners, AI still means opening ChatGPT and asking it to write an email.

That’s useful, but it barely scratches the surface. Eric Nienaber’s contribution explored the rapidly expanding ecosystem of AI agents, copilots, automation and workflows, and what those concepts mean for ordinary businesses.

The distinction matters. Generative AI can help create something. Automation can trigger an action. An AI-enabled workflow can connect multiple actions.

And increasingly sophisticated AI agents can potentially interpret information, decide what needs to happen next and execute parts of a business process. For a property company, the opportunity isn’t simply: “Can AI write my listing?”

A much more powerful question is: “Which processes inside my business are people still doing manually that technology could handle?” That is where the productivity opportunity becomes significant.

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3. Stop paying people to do work machines can handle

The webinar deliberately challenged the panel on repetitive tasks that property businesses should no longer be performing manually. Think about the average property business.

People repeatedly:

• • • • • • • • • •

Capture information. Respond to routine enquiries. Summarise documents. Produce reports. Schedule appointments. Follow up leads. Draft standard communications. Transfer information between systems. Compile marketing material. Process maintenance requests.

Individually, these tasks may consume only minutes. Across hundreds or thousands of transactions, those minutes become enormous amounts of expensive human time.

This is where AI becomes commercially interesting. The objective isn’t necessarily to employ fewer people. It’s to stop highly capable people spending their days performing low-value repetitive work.

4. Property management could be one of AI’s biggest winners

Few areas of real estate are more administration-intensive than property management. Managing agents routinely deal with maintenance, compliance, communications, financial information, owners, trustees, tenants, suppliers and enormous volumes of documentation.

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Christiaan van den Heever’s contribution focused specifically on how AI can turn that operational burden into an opportunity. The webinar explored where AI is already making a difference across maintenance, compliance, communication, reporting and data-driven decisionmaking.

The important shift is from simply collecting data to actually using it. Most established property businesses already possess substantial amounts of information.

The problem is often that it exists across spreadsheets, accounting platforms, emails, property-management systems and individual employees.

AI potentially makes it easier to interrogate that information, identify patterns and turn raw data into useful business intelligence. For property managers, the prize could be significant: less administration, faster decisions and better service.

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5. Short-term rentals are becoming a technology business

Hospitality provides an interesting glimpse into where broader residential property could be heading. Pricing a short-term rental correctly isn’t simply a question of choosing a nightly rate. Demand changes constantly according to seasonality, events, booking patterns, competition, lead times and occupancy.

The webinar examined how increasingly sophisticated dynamicpricing technology and AI are helping accommodation operators optimise pricing, occupancy and revenue.

There is a broader investment lesson here. Price is data. Investors who can understand demand in real time and respond accordingly potentially have an advantage over those relying on static assumptions.

And that principle extends beyond Airbnb. Residential landlords, developers, commercial landlords and property managers increasingly have access to better data. The competitive advantage comes from knowing what to do with it.

The journey from homeowner to property investor often begins with a single well-managed asset. House hacking provides that bridge.

6. Customer experience can be automated, but shouldn’t become robotic

Another important discussion concerned the customer journey. AI can increasingly assist from the moment someone makes an enquiry through to booking, follow-up and ongoing communication. That creates enormous efficiency. But it also creates a danger.

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Property is still a people business.

Buying a home, investing millions of rand, dealing with a maintenance crisis or choosing accommodation involves trust.

“The future of real estate won’t be shaped by AI alone. It will be shaped by the people who know how to use it.”

AI should therefore remove friction from the customer experience, not remove humanity from it.

• Routine questions can be automated. • Information can be retrieved instantly. • Communication can become faster.

But negotiation, empathy, judgement and relationship-building remain profoundly human skills. That distinction may become increasingly valuable as automation expands.

7. Will AI replace estate agents? Wrong question.

The webinar also tackled one of the biggest anxieties surrounding AI: jobs.

• Will AI replace estate agents? • Will it replace property managers? • Will businesses need fewer employees?

There is no simple answer.

But history suggests technology tends to change jobs long before it eliminates entire professions. AI can already produce property descriptions, analyse information, generate marketing ideas and automate communication.

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That doesn’t automatically make an experienced estate agent redundant. It changes what clients should reasonably expect from that agent. If technology can produce the basic information, the professional needs to provide something more: market intelligence, strategy, negotiation, judgement, accountability and relationships.

The threat isn’t simply AI replacing property professionals. It is increasingly likely to be AI-enabled professionals outperforming professionals who refuse to adapt.

8. Your data could become your biggest competitive advantage

AI is only as useful as the information available to it. This creates an enormous opportunity for established property businesses, but also a substantial challenge.

Years of transactions, tenant behaviour, rental information, maintenance history, customer interactions and market data potentially contain valuable intelligence.

But if that information is incomplete, inaccurate, fragmented or poorly structured, extracting value becomes difficult.

The webinar therefore asked an important forwardlooking question: What should property businesses do with their data today so they can benefit from AI tomorrow?

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The answer begins before buying another AI tool.

Some of the strongest audience questions dealt with accuracy, confidentiality and personal information.

Businesses need to understand what information they hold, where it sits, who owns it, whether it is accurate and how securely it is managed. In the AI economy, clean, reliable proprietary data could become an increasingly valuable business asset.

9. AI creates a new responsibility: Trust

Attendees asked who takes responsibility when AI produces incorrect information, how businesses should treat confidential client information and how AI use interacts with obligations such as POPIA.

These questions matter enormously. AI can produce convincing answers that are wrong.

Sensitive information should not simply be copied indiscriminately into public AI systems. Automating a process does not automate away the organisation’s responsibility for the outcome.

The principle for property businesses should therefore be straightforward: Use AI to accelerate judgement, not replace accountability.

Human review remains essential wherever information affects money, contracts, compliance, privacy or important client decisions.

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10. Don’t implement AI. Solve one problem.

Perhaps the biggest mistake a property company can make is deciding: “We need an AI strategy.” That’s too broad.

• • • • • • •

Start with a business problem. Where are people wasting time? Where are leads being lost? Where are customers waiting unnecessarily? Which reports take hours to compile? Which communications are repeatedly recreated? Which information does management struggle to access?

Then ask whether AI or automation can improve that process. The webinar’s practical round challenged each panellist to identify what they would implement first if they owned a small estate agency or property business, where AI had personally saved them the most time and which processes businesses should automate next.

That’s the right mindset. Start small. Measure the result. Then scale.

Seven things property professionals can do now with AI

1. IDENTIFY REPETITIVE WORK

2. IMPROVE YOUR AI SKILLS

Find the tasks your team repeats every day.

Learn how to prompt, interrogate and verify AI output properly.

3. USE AI FOR FIRST DRAFTS

Marketing, emails, reports and summaries can all begin faster.

4. AUTOMATE FOLLOW-UP

Don’t allow valuable leads to disappear because somebody forgot to respond.

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5. ORGANISE YOUR DATA

Tomorrow’s AI advantage may depend on the quality of today’s information.

6. PROTECT CLIENT INFORMATION

Create clear rules around confidential and personal data.

7. KEEP HUMANS ACCOUNTABLE

Never confuse faster output with guaranteed accuracy.

The businesses that learn fastest could win

Perhaps the best conclusion to the webinar came from the premise behind its final discussion. The panel was asked to complete the sentence:

“The property businesses that will dominate in 2030 will be those that...” We don’t have to wait until 2030 to understand the direction of travel.

AI is unlikely to reward businesses simply because they’re large. It will reward organisations that can learn quickly, adapt their processes and combine technology with expertise.

As REI concluded during the webinar, the winners over the next five years won’t necessarily be the biggest businesses.

They are likely to be those that learn fastest, adapt quickest and use AI to deliver better customer experiences, smarter decisions and greater productivity. And that is perhaps the most important lesson for the property industry.

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• • • • • • • •

Don’t wait for AI to become perfect. Don’t try to transform the entire company overnight. Don’t automate simply because you can. Find one problem. Choose one tool. Improve one workflow. Measure the result. Then do it again.

Because the future of real estate won’t be determined by AI alone. It will be determined by the people who learn how to use it.

MISSED THE AI WEBINAR?

Watch the full discussion and explore previous REI Live Webinars for practical property insights, expert strategies and ideas you can implement in your business.

WATCH HERE

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TAX & STRUCTURING

Move without

By Cor van Deventer

Section 42 can unlock major tax ownership, but one 18-month rule

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property into a company the Transfer Duty

savings when restructuring property can unravel the entire transaction.

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Section 42 of the Income Tax Act allows you to move property into a company without paying a cent in transfer duty. It’s simple, it’s legitimate and it’s also widely misunderstood because the 18-month lock-in isn’t a footnote but the key to the entire transaction.

Transfer duty is expensive. But there is a lawful mechanism that allows you to avoid paying transfer duty if you’re moving a personally owned property into a company.

For investors who are consolidating their portfolios, planning succession, or formalising commercial ownership, this can be a powerful, moneysaving tool. What they need to remember is that there’s one particular statutory condition which has undone many “tax-free” transfers, often months after the deal was signed.

A swap, not a sale

An asset-for-shares transaction is reasonably simple. Instead of selling your property to a company for cash, you exchange it for shares. The property goes in, shares come out and no money changes hands. You’re not receiving proceeds, what you’re getting is an ownership stake in the entity that now holds the property.

Because the value remains inside the corporate structure, SARS (South African Receiver of Revenue) treats the transaction differently: under Section 42, transfer duty doesn’t apply, and capital gains tax (CGT) is deferred via a base-cost rollover.

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This doesn’t mean CGT disappears, it means the company inherits your original purchase price, pausing the tax until the company eventually sells. While CGT is delayed, the transfer duty saving is immediate: roughly R107,000 on a R3 million property, and closer to R327,000 on a R5 million asset.

For people who understand the mechanism, this is one of the most efficient ways to restructure ownership -provided they adhere to one non-negotiable condition: once the transaction is complete, you must hold your shares for 18 months, and the company must hold the property for the same period. Break the rule, and SARS unwinds the tax relief.

This isn’t a technicality buried in fine print, it’s a statutory requirement that SARS is quick to reverse when investors move too quickly, whether unintentionally, because of life events, or as a result of getting an irresistible offer.

These examples show how easily the rule can be broken, and how costly the consequences can be:

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The early exit Twelve months in, and the tax break disappeared.

An investor transferred his R3.2 million rental property into a company. It was a simple, clean structure that saved a lot of money, and he assumed that the benefit was permanent. At month twelve, however, he sold his shares to a business partner, unaware that the lock-in applied to him personally.

SARS audited the transaction, reversed the relief, and issued an assessment for transfer duty, interest, and understatement penalties. As a result, his “tax-free” transfer ended up costing more than a standard sale.

“Section 42 relief is earned through compliance, not intention. If you dispose of shares early, SARS wil treat the original transfer as if it never qualified.”

The unexpected offer: When a profitable deal arrives too soon

A business owner consolidated two commercial properties into a company as part of a long-term succession plan. Fourteen months later, a national retailer made an offer on one of the buildings that was well above market value.

The temptation was obvious, and he accepted the offer. SARS unwound the relief, levied transfer duty retroactively, and disallowed the capital gains rollover. So while the profit remained, the tax bill erased a significant portion of the benefit.

“Section 42 is designed for stability. If your structure can’t withstand an unexpected opportunity, it isn’t the

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The family restructure: When personal events trigger tax consequences.

A client moved a R4.5 million residential property into a company as part of an estate planning exercise. Ten months later, after a heated family row, the client changed the shareholding to reflect the new arrangements.

That single act, a share transfer within the 18-month window - triggered a SARS review. The relief was reversed, transfer duty became payable, and the capital gains rollover fell away. The family had unintentionally created a tax liability while in the midst of a personal problem.

“Section 42 doesn’t make exceptions for life events. If shares move, SARS reacts.”

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The DIY disaster:

When the paperwork destroys the transaction.

A property owner decided to create an asset-for-shares transfer without legal guidance. Shares were issued incorrectly, the memorandum of incorporation (MOI) was never updated, and the supporting documents didn’t align with the Companies Act.

During a routine SARS audit, the transaction was deemed noncompliant, which resulted in the Taxman treating the transfer as a standard sale with transfer payable immediately and penalties following.

“Asset-for-shares transactions sit at the intersection of conveyancing and company law.

If one side is wrong, the entire structure will collapse.”

Where this structure shines

Despite the risks, asset-for-shares transfers are extremely effective when done correctly.

They’re particularly valuable for investors who want to consolidate multiple properties into a single corporate vehicle, simplify succession planning, or formalise the ownership of commercial properties.

For long-term rental portfolios, the structure can create cleaner governance, clearer accounting, and more predictable estate outcomes.

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INVESTOR WARNING Section 42 is designed for commercial and residential investment portfolios, not for primary residences. Moving your personal home into a company will forfeit the individual R2 million primary residence Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exclusion and introduce corporate administration costs without providing tax advantages.

The sequence behind the relief

An asset-for-shares transaction isn’t a single act. It’s a series of interlocking legal steps: shares must be correctly issued, the company’s MOI must support the structure, the property transfer must be handled by a qualified conveyancer, and SARS documentation must align with the Companies Act.

The timing of each step matters and the interaction between them matters even more. If any part of the sequence is wrong, the relief fails even if the intention was correct.

The mortgage bond trap

Most investment properties carry debt, which is where property transfers often stumble. If you move a bonded property into a company under Section 42, the company usually assumes the existing bank loan.

However, if the mortgage debt assumed by the company is greater than your original base cost (purchase price plus capital improvements), SARS treats the excess debt as a taxable benefit. What was supposed to be a seamless transfer can trigger an unexpected CGT bill on day one if the debt isn’t structured properly with your bank and legal team.

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Benefits of Section 42

Section 42 is a great tool for property investors if it’s used with discipline. For those who plan carefully, hold their shares, and structure correctly, an asset-for-shares transfer can visibly enhance their portfolios. Just remember: tax relief is never free. It is earned through compliance.

About the author

Cor van Deventer is a Director at Van Deventer Dowlath & Marx Inc.

Phone: (011) 394 1606 Ext 111

Email: cor@vdm.law

Website: Van Deventer Dowlath & Marx Inc

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EVENTS

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From Vision to Women turn ambition

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Action: into impact

SAPIN Women 2026 brought property, business and leadership together for a powerful morning of practical insights, resilience and shared ambition.

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EVENTS | SAPIN WOMEN 2026 On Saturday, 1 August 2026, women from across South Africa gathered at Bryanston Country Club for the annual SA Property Investors Network (SAPIN) Women National Women’s Day Event, built around a simple but powerful theme: From Vision to Action.

The morning brought together voices from property, finance, business and entertainment, but the message extended well beyond property investment.

Having a vision matters. Acting on it is what creates change. Through personal stories of entrepreneurship, career growth, setbacks and resilience, the speakers demonstrated that progress rarely follows a perfect path. It is built through decisions, persistence and the courage to keep moving.

Building businesses from the ground up

Opening the programme, Elize Le Roux, founder of Xpello, shared the story behind building her business and spoke candidly about the decisions and challenges that shaped its development.

Her willingness to discuss the realities behind entrepreneurship set the tone for an event focused not on presenting polished versions of success, but on exploring what it actually takes to create it.

Caroline King, Managing Executive: Strategy for Absa Personal and Private Banking, followed with reflections from her own professional journey. She encouraged women to recognise opportunities, trust their capabilities and remain resilient as their careers evolve.

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The underlying message was clear: confidence isn’t always something you have before taking action. Sometimes it is something you build by taking action.

Turning property ambition into opportunity

Property investment remained an important thread throughout the morning. Representing Tuhf Capital, Velda Derrocks highlighted the organisation’s commitment to supporting women in property and shared examples of female clients who have used property investment to change their financial trajectories.

Her contribution demonstrated the importance not only of ambition, but also of access, to finance, knowledge and the right support structures.

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Musa Nhlapo of Lightstone continued the theme through her own journey, reminding the audience that careers and businesses are rarely built through one defining moment.

They are built one decision at a time.

Claire Johnston brings the room to its feet

One of the morning’s most memorable moments came when Claire Johnston, lead singer of iconic South African band Mango Groove, took to the stage.

As the opening notes of Special Star played, the atmosphere changed instantly. Women rose from their seats and joined Johnston in a spontaneous celebration of a song that holds a special place in South African music history.

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It was more than entertainment. For many in the room, it became a moment of nostalgia, connection and shared memory, a reminder of music’s extraordinary ability to bring people together.

Johnston then took the audience behind the public success and into the much more personal story of how her career developed. She recalled initially dreaming of becoming an actress before her mother recognised her singing talent and encouraged her to pursue it. But success didn’t arrive without adversity. Shortly after Mango Groove secured its recording contract, Johnston lost her voice for an entire year. A setback that could have ended a promising career instead became one of its defining tests.

Through patience and determination, she recovered and returned to performing, ultimately becoming one of South Africa’s most recognisable voices.

Johnston also reflected on navigating a music industry in which women were not always valued in the same way as their male counterparts. Her message was not one of bitterness, but of resilience, gratitude and remaining true to purpose.

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Women supporting women

Closing the programme, Nondumiso Ncapai, Managing Executive of Absa Home Loans in South Africa, brought the different conversations together.

She reflected on the importance of women supporting one another’s ambitions and recognising that behind every successful journey are challenges that may not be immediately visible.

Ncapai also returned to the unifying power of music, connecting her message with Johnston’s story and bringing the morning full circle.

From inspiration to action

The speakers came from very different worlds, but their experiences converged around one idea:

“Vision gives you direction. Action is what turns that vision into a future.”

That is particularly relevant in property investment. Building a portfolio, starting a business, applying for finance or taking the first step towards financial independence can appear daunting from the outside.

But substantial outcomes are often the accumulation of much smaller decisions made consistently over time.

SAPIN Women continues to create a platform for women to connect, learn, exchange experiences and strengthen their confidence as investors and business leaders.

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And if there was one message worth carrying beyond Bryanston Country Club, it was this: Don’t wait for the perfect circumstances to pursue the vision. Start taking the actions that can make it real.

EVENT PARTNERS

SAPIN acknowledged the support of Absa Home Loans, Lightstone, TUHF Capital, Xpello, Kolor Faktory and Nomadic Moon in helping make the 2026 event possible.

Photography: Jandrie Lerm, Bluebird Photography | 074 111 2068

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175

MIXED-USE, MASTER PLANNED DEVELOPMENT LAND FOR SALE IN ZAMBIA

Lilayi City, a landmark mixed-use development in Lusaka, is open for land acquisition. Designed as a dynamic hub for industrial, commercial, residential, and lifestyle projects, Lilayi City offers prime real estate opportunities for investors and developers looking to establish themselves in one of Zambia’s most promising growth corridors.

Strategically located to be the latest development node in Lusaka, Lilayi City is set to become a key driver of economic growth. With large land parcels for light industrial use along the African North-South Railway Corridor, the project is attracting interest from a diverse range of industries.

ICD & Dry Port - Multimodal Logistics Hub

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Logistics and the North-South Corridor

Connectivity is the cornerstone of the Lilayi City value proposition. The development is uniquely positioned along the African North-South Railway Corridor, and provides a critical logistical advantage for the 66 hectares dedicated to Light Industrial and Logistics use. This sector is optimised for warehousing and international trade, serving as a vital link between regional markets. To support this industrial engine, the development features a 15km internal network of high-specification dual carriageway roads, ensuring heavy logistics and commercial traffic move seamlessly and reliably from the site to major regional trade routes.

The New Frontier of SADC Growth

As South African investors look north for portfolio diversification, Lilayi City is the premier entry point into the Zambian market. Strategically positioned within Lusaka’s high-growth southern corridor, this 410-hectare landmark development represents a sophisticated shift in regional mixed-use urban planning. Lilayi City is a meticulously master-planned hub designed to catalyse economic activity across the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors, offering South African developers a secure, high-yield alternative in one of Africa’s most stable emerging economies.

LILAYI CITY IS THE PREMIER ENTRY POINT FOR SOUTH AFRICAN CAPITAL LOOKING TO DIVERSIFY INTO THE SADC'S MOST STABLE EMERGING MARKET.

POSITIONED ON THE AFRICAN NORTH-SOUTH RAILWAY CORRIDOR, WE PROVIDE THE CRITICAL LOGISTICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE OF REGIONAL TRADE.

Diversified Portfolios & Mixed-Use Synergy

The Masterplan provides a balanced ecosystem that mitigates investment risk through sector diversification. Beyond the industrial core, 63 hectares are dedicated to high-demand residential development, while 21 hectares are earmarked for a thriving retail and medical precinct, including clinics and specialised healthcare centres. This is complemented by 35 hectares of green space and education precincts. With integrated lifestyle and commerce, Lilayi City creates a self-sustaining catchment area, ensuring that residential demand is driven by the proximity to new employment hubs and premium educational facilities.

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The Master Plan

OUR INSTITUTIONAL-GRADE GOVERNANCE AND DEED OF ADHERENCE ENSURE YOUR INVESTMENT IS PROTECTED BY INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS.

Institutional-Grade Governance

For the discerning investor, Lilayi City offers a regulatory environment that mirrors international best practices. The project maintains rigorous development standards through a Deed of Adherence, which ensures all construction aligns with the Masterplan’s long-term integrity. Every project is governed by guidelines from the Zambia Institute of Planners (ZIP), the Lusaka City Council (LCC) and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). Furthermore, all plans must pass through the Lilayi City Design Review Committee, guaranteeing that your investment is protected by high-quality infrastructure standards.

Land Use

60m Wide Green Belt

Sustainability and the "Green City" Vision

Light Industrial & Logistics Hub

Integrated Residential Precinct

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Combined Retail & Medical Zones

Green Space, Sports & Education

REI MAGAZINE AUGUST 2026

In an era of ESG-conscious investing, Lilayi City sets a new benchmark for sustainable African urbanism. The development is branded as a "Green City," characterised by 35 hectares of dedicated parklands, sports fields, and recreation areas. To date, over 1,500 indigenous trees have been planted to enhance the micro-environment and provide an exceptional quality of life for residents. While increasing the aesthetic value of the commercial and residential parcels, this commitment to green infrastructure ensures long-term capital appreciation for investors who prioritise sustainable, future-proof developments.

Strategic Acquisition and Collaboration

Why Choose Lilayi City?

Lilayi City offers a transparent and frictionless entry for South African capital. The land acquisition process is designed for clarity, requiring a 30% initial payment to secure a parcel, with the 70% balance due only upon the submission of the local Property Transfer Tax (PTT). Recognising the power of syndication, the development also welcomes joint-venture partnerships, allowing two or more entities to co-purchase land. This flexibility, combined with the requirement for owners to service their own parcels to suit their specific operational needs, provides a bespoke investment vehicle for those ready to lead Lusaka’s next era of growth.

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Excellent Progress to Date

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Strategic location & connectivity, Lilayi City is interconnected to neighbouring suburbs within Lusaka’s high growth corridor by 15 km of dual carriageway roads. Prime Light Industrial and Logistics and Commercial land with easy access to the African North-South Railway Corridor. Dedicated land parcels for Residential, Retirement Village, Medical, Retail, and Education investments, creating a modern, integrated lifestyle. ZIP, ZEMA and LCC Development regulations ensure high-quality infrastructure. Green City planning with 35 hectares of open green space, sports fields and parkland, providing an exceptional and luxurious environment for learning and recreation.

Projects

Flagship Milling Plant & Railway Siding

Railway Logistics - Inland Container Depot

Logistics Hub & Warehousing

Lilayi Road 3 Sidewalk Progress

Warehousing & Storage

Retail Shopping Centre, Filling Station & Office Park

Specialty Hospital and Hotel (Tourism)

Food Processing Plant

Showroom / Warehouse

Partners

Lilayi Road 1 - Northwest

Disclaimer: All information, visuals, and materials provided are for illustrative purposes only and are subject to change without notice. Lilayi Development Company reserves the right to modify plans, designs, or specifications as needed to meet project requirements and investor preferences. The company also retains sole discretion to accept or decline investors based on project suitability and alignment with development goals. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no guarantees are provided, and reliance on these materials is at the user’s own risk. For the latest and most accurate details, please contact Lilayi Development Company directly.

TAKE A TOUR Scan to take an aerial tour of Lilayi City.

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NEWSSTAND ARCHIVES

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DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission. Opinions are authors’. Publisher doesn’t endorse/warrant adverts. Not financial advice, consult your advisor.

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REI MAGAZINE AUGUST 2026

Don’t limit your clients – multiply their options

Don’t just take our word for it – here’s what estate agents have to say about partnering with BetterBond

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