The first four months of running the first ever property marketing branch to have an office in Paarl East, a previously neglected area in which the majority of the 4,000 homes are valued at between R250,000 and R1,2 million, has shown that there is a huge hunger for home ownership in this area, but that estate agents here have to be prepared to explain and work through, very carefully, all documentation and the entire home selling/home buying process with clients. The reason for this is that to date these matters have never been properly explained or understood by the vast majority of Paarl East home owners and home buyers.
This was said last week by Lizette Joubert, franchisee for the Rawson Property Group’s Paarl franchise.
Joubert’s husband, Arno Joubert, who has a financial consultancy background, is running the new branch for her and he has four agents working for him. They are currently achieving two to three sales per month and are confidently predicting that this figure will double within a year.
“The biggest educational challenge we have to face,” said Lizette Joubert, “is getting our clients to understand the banks’ credit score card criteria as well as their various stipulations on the level of personal debt that is acceptable. Some appreciate that even a few relatively minor credit blemishes nullify a client’s chances of being a successful bond applicant, but others are not familiar with these rules. We have, however, been doing so well in these first few months that, despite the majority of clients applying for 100% loans, over 75% of our bond applications have been successful.”
“Our team has established a reputation for being friendly and for being prepared ‘to walk the extra mile’ with clients. All of our experience, as mentioned, confirms that there is a very strong demand among Paarl East people to own their own homes. This augers well for the future of the Paarl East property market where already, by our estimation, prices are rising at 7% per annum.”
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