Rawson Properties plan to expand steadily throughout Gauteng and, in particular, to cover all the major areas in Johannesburg, has been taken a step further by the sale of the Wilgeheuwel franchise to Frederick Lange and his wife Joanita, a qualified conveyancing attorney. (He also studied law at Potchefstroom University, but has never had any inclination to practice in the legal profession). Since establishing the new franchise in August last year, he has built up a stock for sale of ± 40 homes valued from R500,000 to R3 million.
Like many other recently recruited Rawson Properties franchisees, Lange previously ran his own agency but, he said, he had always envied Rawson Properties franchisees and agents the benefits they derived from the strong rand and high profile of their group '“ and he had always seen Wilgeheuwel as a desirable area with huge potential. This, in recent years, he said, had been further boosted by the growing popularity of adjacent areas, especially Willowbrook, Eagle Canyon and the Ruimsig Golf Estate.
"I think that we are now seeing the very tough trading conditions starting to ease off," said Lange, "and values will, I believe, start to rise from about the end of 2009 onwards.
"What will make the difference in the coming years is the quality of the training given to the Rawson Properties agents and the support from the franchisor. In both these respects Rawson Properties is proving to be ahead of its competition. We particularly appreciate the regular, well researched analyses of the market and the advice we are given on how to operate in current conditions."
Lange said that he had absolutely no regrets about joining the group.
The Rawson agency training takes place weekly and the group has, in Lana de Villiers, one of the best support managers in South Africa today."
One of the things that he has learned from Rawsons, he said, is that if an agency provides a good service there is no need to work to completely cut-throat commissions.
Rawson commissions," he said, "are very competitive but they are not nearly as low as those on which I operated when on my own. I am now attracting far more stock and far more enquiries than I was able to do as an independent operator on minimal commission. This makes it clear that if a group has a good reputation it will attract buyers in good or bad times without having to cut commissions."
