A new Rawson Properties Constantia marketing team owned and run by Eugene Pienaar and business partner Erik Borge Blaugsted has hit its sales target within five months of being established and nine months ahead of the date that they had scheduled for this level of sales.
'We have to stress, however, that we do not measure our success by the number of homes we sell or by the turnover that we generate,' said Pienaar. 'The only real test of an agent is whether he or she quickly and without fuss, can match the buyer with his ideal property. To achieve this you have to do your initial research meticulously and establish in detail the qualities and facilities in a home for which the buyer is looking. It calls for a deep-rooted instinct for what really will suit the buyer'
This instinct, says Pienaar, can only be picked up through selling experience. He himself after graduating at Pretoria University and going on to do an MBA, before setting up as a franchisee, has spent three years with Rawsons Knysna and Newlands franchises while Blaugsted has had some 15 years in the property arena.
From the outset, said Pienaar, he and Blaugsted decided to devote most of their assets to 'going big' on newspaper advertising, taking more and bigger advertisements than is usual. On several occasions, he said, they have taken four or more pages in 'Cape Argus' property supplements '“ sometimes devoting a full page to a single property '“ and they do this irrespective of whether the home is on a sole or shared mandate. The response to the advertising, said Pienaar, has always made this worthwhile.
Pienaar fully endorses the statement by Lanice Steward (of Anne Porter Knight Frank) that Constantia property offers one of the safest and fastest appreciating investments in SA '“ because it is still very much in demand, with local and overseas buyers and is 'almost ridiculously' low priced in comparison with much other property of similar standard worldwide.
Rawson Properties Constantias stock includes homes valued from R3 million to R17,5 million. The R17,5 million property is an ultra-modern home in Zwaanswyk built only four years ago after close liaison between the owner and his architect.
'This is architecturally the most impressive home that I have ever seen,' said Pienaar. 'It has real comfort and hi-tech convenience without being ostentatious or grandiose'
Constantia homes prices at genuine market levels usually sell within one month, says Pienaar. Overpriced properties or those with exceptional attributes not required by most buyers can take as long as three to six months to sell.
