“This says what we do and where we do it,” said managing director Michael Bauer, “and clients will immediately know what we’re about. Up to now, we have had a large percentage of our clientele come from Europe as well as other foreign countries, and have had great success rates both in the rental and sales divisions of our company in certain areas of the Cape and Gauteng.”
While the company name might be changing, it remains German-owned and managed, and the ethos and philosophy will remain the same, said Bauer.
The company’s recent sales figures show that a large percentage of their sales and long-term lets are to foreigners, and in some areas, Blouberg and the City Bowl for instance, a very high percentage of cash buyers (over 50%) has become prevalent. With some foreign buyers and tenants, said Bauer, once they know what area they’d like to be in, they are very likely to make a decision quickly. A recent case illustrates this, where an Italian found a property he liked while going through photographs sent to him and signed and paid for a year’s rental upfront without physically seeing the property. This has also been known to happen with sales, and it’s not unprecedented for a buyer to bid over the asking amount in cases where they really want a property, said Bauer.
Recent SAProperty.com clientele include buyers and tenants from Portugal, Italy, the USA, the UK, Germany and from other parts of Europe and Africa. “With buyer and tenant profiles such as these it makes sense for us to expand our range of properties available to them, which would mean broadening the net of areas from which to choose as well,” said Bauer.
