The much respected Cape residential property developer, Gary Vos, Chief Executive of Blouberg Coastal Properties Trust, is launching his eighth development in seven years in the Blouberg region – and, once again, he will be using the Rawson Properties Blouberg franchise, owned and run by Mike Abrahamse, to handle his marketing.
Abrahamse said this week that his agency has never had any difficulty in finding buyers for Vos’ developments because of his reputation in the area and the fact that he always selects prime sites close to the beachfront and designs that are modern, chic and appealing. In addition, he said, Vos’ finishes, fixtures and landscaping are always “top of the range and of a very high standard”.
“Anyone visiting any of the Vos developments will be struck by such features as the brick paving in the parking and patio areas, the stainless steel balustrades, the clever use of natural stone claddings, the tasteful tiling, carpeting and/or laminated wood floors in the interiors and the use of aluminium for both window frames and sliding doors. These and other upmarket finishes always impart certain panache to the Vos projects.”
The new development, which will consist of ten sectional title apartments and will be called “Sea Rays”, will be sited in Birkenhead Road at Waves’ Edge in the Blouberg region. It is only one block off the beachfront and the beach itself, and many good restaurants are a mere two or three minutes’ walk away.
Six of the units will be single bedroomed and four will have two bedrooms. The floor sizes will vary from 37 m2 for a neat bachelor pad to 50 m2 for one of the larger two bedroom units. The prices will range from R579,900 to R789,900 for a single bedroom unit and from R759,900 to R858,900 for a two bedroom unit.
The five ground floor apartments will have private wind free gardens and those on the first floor will have Juliet balconies offering views of either garden or mountain views.
The kitchens will be given granite countertops and stainless steel ovens, hobs and extractors, as well as, top cupboards. All kitchen cupboards throughout the units will have lime washed “beach type” treatments, as will the laminated wood floors, if these are chosen by the buyers. Each unit will have a dedicated parking bay and a limited number of garages will be available at R69, 000 each.
Abrahamse commented that the “Sea Rays” units, like those of all previous Vos developments, will have light-filled interiors and will be decorated in quiet, neutral colours which, he said, will give a beach house ambience to the interiors. The exteriors and the mono-pitch roofs will be unashamedly Avant-garde and facades will have Cape Cod wood claddings, again in neutral beach-related colours.
Another unique feature of this development says Abrahamse, - who believes this is a first in his area – is that buyers can “tailor size” their apartments. Should the desired unit be either a little too small or a little too big, its size can be adjusted to the buyers’ taste. The units will have a set price per square metre and the prices will be adjusted accordingly, but as the units get taken up, this option will of course become increasingly limited.
As buyers will be taking delivery directly from the developers, they will pay no VAT or transfer fees. The only costs payable will be
conveyancing fees, and, if a bond is taken, bond registration fees will be applicable.
Abrahamse said that again, as on previous Vos developments, the buyers are likely to be upwardly mobile singles and young couples, upcountry people looking for a chic holiday home and, perhaps above all, shrewd long-term investors.
“Investing in a project of this kind makes very good sense,” said Abrahamse, “because it is possible to get an 8% net return on your investment from a very early stage and capital appreciation at a similar level, compounded annually. Blouberg has in the last three years consistently bucked the national trend towards stagnation. In five to seven years, I predict, these units will have doubled in value.”
Potential investors, said Abrahamse, will have free access to a panel of independent professional consultants assembled by himself. These consultants, he said, will offer advice on estate planning and tax minimization (possibly through the use of trusts which if properly structured can, in Abrahamse’s view, be ideal for this asset class). They will also be able to give help in securing bonds at favourable rates and will be able to offer rental insurance to cover periods when the unit may just possibly be without a tenant. In most cases it will be possible to secure a unit with a deposit of R15, 000.
In addition to the above services, said Abrahamse, buyers will be able to order a full furniture ‘pack’ priced at R20,000 for a one bedroom unit or R23,000 for a two bedroom unit. This comes complete with cutlery, crockery, bed linen and curtains. This service, he said, is especially suited to those buying-to-let and wanting to have an internal décor which the developers can assure them will be popular with the vast majority of tenants.
The launch of “Sea Rays” will take place in late July to early August. Construction is expected to start in August and handovers should begin in March 2013.
Abrahamse said that in the last six months his franchise has seen a 20% upswing in sales – and investor interest in the area, he said, is now as strong as it has ever been. He therefore expects to sell six of the units by the end of August and the remainder in September/October.
“What we have here,” he said, “is a tried and tested residential formula and an area that has always proved popular. In my view this is an unbeatable combination and a wonderful investment opportunity.”
Abrahamse himself owns some five rental units within a few kilometers from this site.
