Commercial property investors on the increase in cape Town
Soon after the start of this year, a new powerful interest in commercial property investment in the Greater Cape Town area became evident, says Liz Grimbeek, a broker and co-franchisee at Rawson Commercial, Cape Town.
"Since the middle of January we have signed up eight new leases and one important sale - and there are signs that this uptick in turnover will now continue. To meet the increased demand we have increased our broking staff from three to six and by the end of this year we expect to achieve a 40% growth in turnover."
The high demand and shortage of stock situation, she said, is exacerbated by the serious lack of stock in the high demand areas such as Marconi Beam, Montague Gardens or Killarney Gardens and Paarden Eiland for industrial space and Century City, Milnerton, the CBD and Claremont for office space.
Asked where Cape rents are now pitched, Grimbeek said that 'good' industrial space is now leasing at R45 to R65 per m2 and the less expensive areas at R38 to R44 per m2, while in high demand office space is renting at R110 to R160 per m2 and in the low demand areas at R70 to R110 per m2. In all areas, she said, rents are now rising by 6% to 8% per annum.
Century City, said Grimbeek, is almost always high on clients' preference lists and the reasons are obvious - a clean, well maintained environment, good transport, a wide offering of facilities and excellent security.
Apart from stock shortages, the only limiting factors in the year ahead, said Grimbeek, are likely to be those which arise from the banks' caution in awarding bonds. Usually, she said, the bank will insist on a 30% deposit and on a repayment period of ten years.
"On the other side of the coin, however, she said, is the simple fact that a large percentage of our buyers are able to pay cash and such buyers, we have found, are in the process of building up large portfolios in the confident expectation that capital values and rents will continue to rise satisfactorily."
In recruiting new staff, said Grimbeek, people with considerable property experience or university graduates with business-orientated qualifications such as a BCom or Property Studies are always preferred.
"The reason why we opt for such graduates," said Grimbeek, "is that there is a great deal more to property broking than simply selling or leasing property. The broker has to be a business consultant to the landlord or tenant. He has to understand the constraints on, and opportunities open to, businesses of all kinds and he must be able to advise professionally on such things as affordability, cash flows, profit margins and risk. The good broker in short will 'partner' his client and help him to achieve his goals - and, let it be said, doing this is highly satisfying."
In dealing with landlords, said Grimbeek, it helps to draw up a list of five or six preferences such as area, aesthetic appeal, security, cost range, parking, access to major freeways and access to public transport. However, she said, it is almost always impossible to meet all the client's requirements - "three out of five is the average hit rate".
When dealing with prospective tenants, said Grimbeek, it is essential to insist on the strictest possible credit checks (once the broker has been given permission to do this by the tenant). The broker must be given a chance to see the tenant's turnover and cash flows and he must also use whatever other investigatory avenues are open to him, for example, the testimony of the tenant's clients or even the sophistication of his website.
Following through in this way, said Grimbeek, has enabled her team to avoid any serious defaults in payments over the last year and they are currently operating with no defaults at all.
