Why I Avoid New Development Properties in South Africa

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Louis Reynhardt

Joined: Mar 2024
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Why I Avoid New Development Properties in South Africa


Why I Avoid New Development Properties in South Africa
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46 Comments

  1. A real scam that benefits the developer &never the buyer. Currently paying rent & levies for 3 months on my new development apartment ( no choice) till transfer process is finished. Please read OTP before signing, don’t let anyone pressure & smooth talk you into signing anything quickly, wish I discovered this channel earlier

  2. This post is scary. I was looking into buying a property with igrow and almost did. I'm glad i watched this. I'm definitely not going to buy a tin can with such heavy short falls

  3. you are dammnnnn right about this. they are fly by nite developers. The development, pay some corrupt officials and dissapear. I know people have have bought them with endless prbs. I bought a 1975 house and its as good as can be. I have my roof and doesnt fly away in bad weather,, no leaks, strong structure etc. Thank u for the explanation as people always think they get a good deal. Sometimes, they duck without even completing the development with YOUR DEPOSIT

  4. A huge problem with new developments selling to anyone and everyone. Havens of Nigerian and Zim AirBnB owners. They are not favourable for owners wanting to live in them due to loud, disrespectful thugs renting these units per night. An absolute nightmare for permanent owners and tenants!

  5. New developments increase property supply, which should drop the prices, but the opposite is happening in Cape Town because they are pricing and marketing these properties for wealthy foreign investors. The prices don't makes sense for locals earning a salary in rands.

  6. Super informative! I really think these developments are to make the developers money. They are so tiny and having lived in one -as a tenant, I know first hand that they use the cheapest materials. I was the first tenant there but the drains were already getting frequently blocked, some of the things were falling apart and there were notable cracks all around the estate and it was not even three years old. Learnt a lesson without getting burnt!

  7. The worse is who are your property managements or the body corporate. There's two well known companies that is heavily invest in these kind of properties but their service is extremely poor.
    1. They love taking advantage of the property owner and makes the tenants suffer
    2. Levies was cheap in the beginning but in the months that follows the levies goes higher and higher with excuses to raise it
    3. ANY secure structure in a complex, house or semi-garden complex. You are ONLY allowed 2 medium pets or approval by the body corporates. so for example: 2 small dogs/cats then you cannot have any lizard/bird/aquarium fish.
    4. The building quality of the materials are cheap or not done right or up to standards especially if your house/complex is made mostly of plaster walls (leaves dirt marks, they crumble into pieces).
    5. If a problem arise like a broken geyser, it's up to the property owner to fix the problem BUT it HAS to go through the approval of the body corporate and through the registered companies they approve.

    All this is within a secure complex which is mainly all new developments whether you own a house in it or renting. Owning a house back in the 80's to early 2000 is the best choice due to the foundation is quite solid and quality in the materials. Not all but most.

  8. Someone I know bought a new development apartment during Covid times. She's had to get a flatmate now because she can no longer afford it. And above that, there are so many problems with the apartment. The developers cut so many corners when building the apartments. She's had to call them multiple times to fix things.

  9. The only reason to stay away is build materials these days chinese cement and iron is flooding africa, either way new developments still shouldnt have damp mould and upcoming repairs. Unlike these random handbuilds from after apartheid. But obviously a rich area has a higher chance of being more qualified workers + architects and use higher quality resources. So its not really fair to judge. Sure appartments you can say the owner fixes it himself anyway

  10. You’re using a platform to push your opinion but you intend for it to be factual, but yet this is just your opinion.. the first problem is that you’re using igrow, as a main contractor to build an investment property. Howmuch percentage markup are they making on your construction process?
    We can all agree that a negative cash flowing property is not really an asset and is rather a liability – but there is still enough meat on the bone with new construction, to create equity – if done correctly. As an Engineer working as a site engineer in construction, I can rest assure you of that fact.
    It’s about finding the correct main contractor; if you’re really immersed in the property game, you’d take it upon yourself to work hand in hand with a “main contractor” or create your own little construction team to maximise equity and profits.
    Building costs will always be less that your ARV asking price in which a property is sold; otherwise the construction sector would perish.

  11. I used to work in the building industry and have also been a professional landlord for over a decade. My advice is to NEVER buy off-plan or in a new development. The initial expenses to fix all the shoddy building work can be staggering for the first few years.

    Your best bet is to buy a place that's 5 -10 years old. By that time the worst problems will have been fixed at the previous owners expense and/or the problems will be obviously visible. This means that you can at least see what the problems are and get an estimate to fix them.

  12. Hi Louis,

    Very informative.

    Do you perhaps have a financial feasibility model/excel spreadsheet for (buy vacant land to develop) i.e. purchase or sign OTP to purchase vacant agricultural zoned >>> Rezoning /township establishment >>>>bulk service installation and contribution >>> sale of zoned land and / or development of top structures for sale or rental .

    Please share your email address

  13. A lot of new freestanding home developments in estates are also constructured with concrete bricks (or worse, cinderblocks) rather than clay bricks. The concrete/cinderblocks tends to not breath like clay, and is prone to cracking.

  14. They love marketing new developments as luxury apartments/townhouses and there is absolutely nothing luxuries about them. The rooms are so small, can’t fit a king sized bed in the master bedroom and rooms are not north facing. At this point it’s clear they just want to make money not wanting to build actual functional homes

  15. I'm looking to buy soon and I'm surrounded by new developments everywhere, that's where my attention was focused on as everything else is so far.

    Are there any recommendations on good developments in Johannesburg? I'll be using the place as a primary residence.

  16. Louis, as you correctly state, the value of a property in a new development will first depreciate. One reason is: why would someone buy your unit when they can buy a brand new unit directly from the developer, PLUS with those perks you took advantage of i.e. no transfer costs, rental assist, etc. If you're not 100% able to stay invested in your unit in these new developments for at least 3 years, it could end up very bad for you.

  17. You chose a very bad example and one of the worst developers with this example but you made good points nonetheless. There are great value new developments around that can be used for wealth building. Like any property investment be sure to shop around, run the numbers and choose a good location and reputable developer to work with.

  18. Thanks for the video, I recently bought in a new development. I'm definitely not happy at all with the development. Also I saw someone else here on whatsapp who moved in to their new place less than a year ago and already her roof collapsed.