The Rawson Property Group is strengthening its presence in Johannesburg’s Kyalami/Waterfall and surrounding areas with the introduction of a second franchisee to this precinct. Nirvan Bhudai is the new franchisee and, like many of the Rawson’s newer franchisees, he brings to his new role impressive tertiary qualifications and over a decade of business experience.
For just over ten years he has run a business development consultancy, the goal of which has been to help small and medium size enterprises to become established and profitable. He and his team have helped over 1,000 concerns of this kind.
Bhudai said recently that he has all his life been fascinated by both the development and marketing aspects of property. To acquire some hands-on experience of this kind he built and furnished his own home in Centurion East (in a short five months) and could now sell it at a substantial profit for close on R6 million.
Bhudai held back on his decision to get going as a franchisee for several years, knowing that it was essential to acquire not only sufficient capital to purchase a franchise but also enough money to last the first six to nine months with minimal income. He has already recruited three agents and many factors have led to this big step in his life, he said, but one of the most important has been the growing realization that in the coming years Johannesburg’s expansion will focus on the Waterfall, Vorna Valley and Halfway Gardens areas, which are already growing with unprecedented speed.
“The new businesses springing up all along the N1 highway from Allandale to New Road (and further south in the already established Woodmead area) are drawing a stream of new residents into the area and attracting residential developers in large numbers. The attraction of this area is that it is so conveniently sited in relation to the Johannesburg and Tshwane CBDs and OR Tambo and Lanseria Airports. A move to this area will also be spurred on by Sandton property now being not only expensive but also extremely hard to acquire. This territory will have the fastest growth of any in Gauteng. Carlswold will soon be seeing a start on the biggest retail centre in Southern Africa and the area is already served by some seven secondary schools and 15 primary schools and/or crèches.
Those moving into the area outlined above, said Bhudai, can still find secondhand apartments in the R600,000 to R900,000 bracket and new apartments in the R800,000 to R1,2 million bracket. Freehold homes in the less expensive suburbs tend to be priced at R1 million to R2 million, but moving up the scale into the more expensive areas, freestanding homes and gated estate units tend to sell in the R1,6 million to R2,5 million bracket. In Waterfall and Kyalami the least expensive freehold home will probably be priced around R3,5 million, with the largest properties now selling at anything up to R15 million to R20 million.
Bhudai plans that, by the end of this year, he will have four to six agents in operation and he expects to be selling four homes per month. He also plans to expand into rentals within the next eight to 12 months as demand for them have been quite high in the area recently.
“Although this area has been well served by certain estate agents, I believe that the introduction of new blood will be welcome and, with so much going on, there certainly is room for all of us,” he said.
