Watch this video to see how Annemarie Stander, a rental agent at Terblanche Properties in the Garden Route, assisted a client in urgent need of a rental property.
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Tag Archives: garden route
Director of Terblanche Properties shares his thoughts
Okkie Terblanche, one of the directors of Terblanche Properties in the Garden Route, shares his thoughts with us.
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The importance of professional property management
What difference will a professional property manager make to your residential community scheme? Annetjie Terblanche, head of property management at Terblanche Properties, explains.
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De Rust Farmyard Spring Market
Check out the De Rust Farmyard Spring Market in October 2011
A few creative ladies of De Rust decided to do some creative marketing for their town. They contacted us recently to let us know about the De Rust Farmyard Spring Market.
For those who didn’t already know this, De Rust has recently been crowned as Kwela (KykNet) and Rapport newspaper’s Town of the Year, 2011.
The De Rust Farmyard Spring Market will be held on 7 and 8 October 2011 (from 10 in the morning to five in the afternoon) at the farm, Aangenaam, which is about 11 kilometers outside De Rust on the R341. Proceeds of the event will be donated to CANSA.
You can expect to find locally produced products, ostrich leather products, Christmas gifts, toys, paintings, plants and freshly baked treats at the market. The De Rust ladies have promised something for everyone. They’ve even managed to arrange with a local wine cellar for some wines to taste and purchase.
Don’t worry about getting hungry. A tea garden with homemade beverages, cakes and light lunches will ensure that no one goes hungry. You will also be able to see how to roast coffee beans, drink your roasted beans or purchase a bag of roasted coffee beans to take home.
The guys are more than welcome too. They can entertain themselves with fishing at the farm dam, target practice at the shooting range, mountain bike trails or a challenging 4×4 route close by. There is no need to stay home.
For more information, contact us and we’ll get you in touch with these dynamic ladies. Make your way to De Rust and enjoy the day at the Farmyard Spring Market.
New brochure for cyclists visiting Mossel Bay
Cycling is becoming very popular in Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay Tourism has published a new brochure with a comprehensive map of local cycling routes to promote cycling in the area.
“Cycling is one of the fastest growing sports in South Africa today, and even the casual observer will have noticed that a huge number of visitors’ cars come to the Garden Route equipped with an incredible number of bikes,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm.
“This brochure aims to put local knowledge in the hands of our visitors, so that everyone can enjoy cycling while they’re here.”
The brochure includes a map of the area’s cycling routes, information about Mossel Bay’s major mountain biking venues – Eight Bells Mountain Inn, Bonniedale Adventure Farm, and the Jakkalsvlei Wine Estate – and an outline of the annual cycling diary.
“All this information is available here - where we are also able to provide more detailed information like descriptions of individual events and contact numbers for the cycling clubs,” said Ms. Holm.
She said that an excellent network of roads and pathways has attracted a number of cycling events – and that the local race diary is growing almost as fast as the sport.
Some of the other races on the annual calendar include:
- The Attakwas Xtreme Mountain Bike Challenge, which is held annually in January, and includes a 121 km MTB marathon as well as a 52 km mountain bike ride;
- The Eight Bells Enduro, which takes place in August, and includes 15, 40 and 65 km mountain biking courses in the Ruiterbos area;
- The DCM Cape Pioneer Trek (October) which is a six-day mountain bike stage race on a route that traverses two mountain ranges, crosses the Klein Karoo and passes through the forests of the Garden Route coast to end in Mossel Bay;
- The Jakkalsdraai Mountain Bike Challenge, which will take place for the first time this year in October, and will include 10, 30 and 50 km courses that will take in the vineyards at Jakkalsvlei – Mossel Bay’s only wine estate; and
- The Great Brak Grabadoo, which is held by tradition on Old-year’s-day (31 December) and includes 55, 35 and 15 km mountain bike routes, 40 and 20 km road routes, and 5 and 10 km walking routes.
Second baby rhino born near Mossel Bay
The Garden Route Game Lodge near Mossel Bay has announced the birth of a second baby rhino in as many years.
“The baby was spotted on the game drive on the morning of Sunday the 13th of March, so it was probably born onSaturday the 12th, some time in the evening,” said the reserve’s owner, Anthony Doherty.
“Game ranger Arbri Olivier had sighted the rhinos and was busy explaining to the guests on his Land Rover how he suspected that the cow may be pregnant when to his surprise the calf showed itself!” he said.
“The inter-calving period is usually two and a half years and this cow gave birth to her first calf just over two years ago – hence our surprise.”
It’s also quite unusual to be able to see the calf at such a young age. “New mothers normally retreat with their calves into the thicket, emerging into the grasslands only in the cool of the day to graze,” said Mr. Doherty
Rhino sightings are a regular occurrence on the Reserve, which offers game drives to both resident guests and day visitors. Other wildlife on the Reserve includes lion, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, cheetah and various antelope species, while a reptile center and cheetah conservation center are particularly popular attractions.
Mr. Doherty said that the youngster – which hasn’t been named yet because staff on the Reserve don’t know whether it’s a bull or a calf – “Is a feisty little thing, a bit of a terrorist, constantly charging its mother’s legs and her horn.
“It’s suckling strongly, and appears to be perfectly healthy.
“Also, the mother has now chased away the older calf – Roxy – so that she can concentrate on the baby, and Roxy is now walking and grazing with our bull.”
Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm said that the Reserve’s wildlife Manager, Hein Schoeman, has put an anti-poaching strategy in place under the guidance of local wildlife expert, author and owner of the Nature College, Johan Fourie.
She congratulated the Garden Route Game Lodge on the arrival of the new addition.
“Situated as it in the fynbos and between the mountains and the sea, Mossel Bay offers a very unusual mix of African wilderness experiences, as the birth of this baby rhino perfectly illustrates.
“We wish him or her a long and healthy life in the pristine environment of the Reserve.”
A short video of the calf has been loaded to YouTube – go here
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Investing in the hotel and leisure industry in the Garden Route
Terblanche Total Property Solutions are proud to offer this investment opportunity to our clients:
Own four businesses for the price of one. This hotel, restaurant, spa and conference facility costs the same as a large guest house. It is located in the ever-so-popular Diaz Beach of the Garden Route region of the Western Cape of South Africa.
Contact Deon Terblanche here for more information.
Serving the industry
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| Deon Terblanche |
The 2010 annual general meeting of the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa (IEASA), Garden Route Chapter, was held on 10 August 2010 at the V.G. International Hotel in Wilderness. At this meeting, Deon Terblanche, a director of Terblanche Total Property Solutions, was nominated to the board of directors of IEASA, Garden Route.
IEASA as a body aims to fully represent the interests of property professionals. It encourages the highest standards in real estate practice by its members. Its unceasing aim is that the practice of real estate be recognised by members and the public as a profession and that its members be respected and trusted by all.
According to Terblanche, recent changes to the education and qualification requirements for estate agents are bringing the industry on par with other professions. “It was (and still is) painful for many property professionals to qualify under the new regulations. However, most agents have embraced the higher standards.”
According to Terblanche, it is important that property professionals become members of IEASA. “IEASA prescribes ethical conduct by members, it provides training to its members, networking opportunities with colleagues, it helps with administrative matters with the Estate Agency Affairs Board, and it provides a mouthpiece for members when dealing with government and other stakeholders.” He says, “it is hard to see how any property professional will be able to operate in a vacuum without access to these tools.”
Terblanche wishes “to give something back to the industry that has been so good to me”. “This is probably the only job that allows you to learn so much about so many things. A property professional is expected to be an agent, a friend, an advisor, a a confidant, a negotiator, a shoulder to lean on, a home repair and maintenance expert, a financial “advisor”, a conveyancing expert, a mathematician, an administrator and so much more”, he says, tongue-in-cheek.
Wel done Deon. TTPS is sure you will make us proud.
The Garden Route – the Future in Semi-gration?
The Garden Route has long since been one of SA’s quality tourist and holiday destinations. More recently, though, it appears to have become a popular “semi-gration” destination according to an FNB special survey, as quality of life in the larger metros deteriorates. Many of these “semi-grators” commute long distance to the larger cities. However, rapid growth in the economy of this region suggests that an increasing number of skilled people may be attracted to the region by its own economic opportunities. All of this is great for residential property in the area, and we see the Garden Route as one of SA’s top performing property regions in the years to come.
It is old news that the deterioration in quality of life in some of SA’s major metropolitan areas is becoming a key issue. While crime is a major problem for metropolitan suburbanites, especially in Gauteng, the deterioration is probably about more than just crime. SA’s improved economic performance since the early-1990s has driven up the middle class numbers, fuelling higher demand for housing as well as for consumer items such as motor vehicles.
Higher demand for property has fuelled higher property values, which in turn are fuelling densification of living and working patterns, while far more rapid new vehicle sales than a decade ago means that congestion is becoming more problematic at a steady pace.
The cumulative result must be a rise in average human stress levels, and for an increasing number of people the search for a more relaxed lifestyle begins. Many people emigrate, with crime the key driver in many instances, but many prefer the newly-termed “semi-gration” option, which involves moving within the country to escape some of the problems that confront them.
One of the well-trodden semi-gration routes has been from Gauteng in the direction of Cape Town, a city that prides itself in having a great lifestyle. While this assertion still holds merit, Cape Town also finds itself densifying and becoming steadily more congested and polluted, its crime rates are not low, and in years to come we believe that an increasing number of “semi-grators” will take their lifestyle search to far smaller urban areas as a result.
One such area that really stands out as a potential semi-gration destination is the Southern Cape/“Garden Route” region, which includes the towns of Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, Sedgefield, Wilderness, George and Mossel Bay.
The region has an enormous amount going for it due to its natural beauty, along with man-made beauty in terms of some of the country’s top golf resorts, and thus its attractiveness as a tourism region. It is relatively unspoilt, but yet has enough “critical mass” to have good services such as schools, hospitals and retail. George also has an airport to and from which most of the major airlines fly regular flights, providing the services for those individuals needing to commute regularly to and from the major cities.
Not surprisingly, therefore, a special FNB survey of Estate Agents operating on the Garden Route has supported the anecdotal evidence of the increased significance of“semi-gration”. Approximately one in two Estate Agents report that they have noticed an increase in semigration to the Garden Route recently.
The survey was conducted by FNB in addition to its quarterly Residential Property Barometer in the first quarter of 2008. The Estate Agents surveyed were from the larger, well established agencies along the Garden Route.
Crime rates, traffic congestion and the hectic lifestyles experienced in the larger cities are cited as key reasons for this movement. Gautengers are the predominant group semi-grating to the Garden Route, followed by migrants from the Western Cape and the Free State.
An interesting emerging trend is that of the “Commuters”. Estate agents claim that they are also noticing an increase in buyers who have opted to live on the Garden Route, but who commute weekly for businesses purposes to the larger cities. While the Garden route residential property market has not escaped the downturn, and has slowed significantly in recent years, it may have held up slightly better than many other areas in the country. About 72% of Garden Route properties sold for less than their asking price in the first quarter of 2008, whereas this level was 83% nationally. This may be due to the increased popularity of the region, rapid long term economic growth, as well as buyers generally being more affluent and less affected by the current economic conditions that hound the average national buyer.
In the less holiday-driven towns of George, Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn, average house price inflation still appeared relatively healthy as at the first quarter. The holiday-driven towns of Knysna and Plett fared more poorly, but this should be expected during times of rising interest rates and general property downturns.
Property sellers along the Garden Route are also less likely to emigrate from South Africa. The national average for emigration as a reason for selling property is 12%, compared with 7% for the Garden Route.
Understandably, first time home buyers account for only 5% of property sales along the Garden Route, while this figure was 14% nationally for the first quarter of 2008. The relatively high prices of properties in this area make it difficult for the first time home buyer. Therefore, the FNB survey supports the notion that the traditionally holiday-oriented Garden Route may be becoming sought after as a haven from the stresses of the larger cities, with some even prepared to commute extensively between home and work. This may positively influence property price inflation in this region, as well as help to generate a demand for rental property in the larger cities.
DATA ALSO SUGGEST THAT THE GARDEN ROUTE MAY BE SA’S STRONGEST ECONOMIC GROWTH REGION
But far from being just a long distance dormitory region for high income services sector employees who are prepared to take on weekly commutes, the Garden Route is rapidly developing an economy of its own, which in time will attract people in larger numbers to increased job and business opportunities locally.
The region may well have become the most rapid economic growth region in South Africa. Whereas the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces have succeeded in growing their real economies in excess of 5% per annum on average over the past 5 years, Globalinsight estimates that the Eden District (including former magisterial districts Heidelberg, Riversdale, Mossel Bay, George, Oudtshoorn, Calitzdorp, Ladismith, Uniondale, and Knysna) grew its real economy at an average of above 9% from 2003 to 2007, far above the national average or any of the provincial averages. The main drivers of growth in this region are believed to be the districts of George/Knysna and Mossel Bay.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, therefore, the Garden Route region is arguably one of the most promising residential property regions in South Africa. Not only does its natural beauty lend itself to a thriving holiday and tourism industry, but its accessibility also promotes it as a long distance commuter region for the affluent. In addition, its rapid growth economy should create solid employment and purchasing power growth in the region, driving local primary residential demand. The region’s challenge? Its rapid growth may mean that its economic size doubles in less than a decade. Its authorities need to plan its development well, and to ensure that it develops in a less haphazard way than SA’s major metros, so as to preserve it as the lifestyle attraction that it is.
(Posted on www.capeteam.org.za)
Why people are moving to the Garden Route
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Mossel Bay was South Africa’s Town of the Year in 2007. There, I said it. I am bragging with my new hometown. All you Gautengers, eat your heart out. I know you’d love to live here down by the sea. How do I know that? Oh, it’s quite simple. I used to be a Jo’burger myself until very recently.
One of South Africa’s big daily newspapers, Die Beeld, recently reported that The Garden Route (Southern Cape) is currently experiencing a major immigration from the major metropolitan centres in South Africa. Of course, it isn’t called the Garden Route for nothing. The scenery is breathtaking, the quality of life is great and the pace is laidback. It’s perfect for someone who wants to escape the breakneck pace of city life.
The whole region has been experiencing fantastic economic growth during the past five years. In fact, the real economy of the Eden towns, which include Heidelberg, Riversdale, Mossel Bay, George, Oudtshoorn and Knysna, has been growing at an average of more than 9% from 2003 to 2007. Compare this to the real economic growth of the Western Cape and Gauteng during this period, which increased at an average of 5% during the last 5 years.
Furthermore, at a time when the general South African property market is experiencing a crunch, the Garden Route is still doing somewhat better than the national average. Nationally, about 83% of properties were sold for less than their initial asking price during the first quarter of this year. In the Garden Route this figure stands at 72%. George, the biggest metropole in the area, is still showing average house price growth of 27% year-on-year, even though the number of sales reduced by 38% year-on-year. Mossel Bay is still showing average house price growth of 16% year-on-year, even though the number of sales reduced by 35% year-on-year. Sedgefield shows similar figures. Knysna is the only town in this region that shows negative house price growth.
This all shows that, even though you might have your property on the market for somewhat longer than before, the Garden Route is still a very good place to be if you’re a property owner. Talk to one of our knowledgeable agents to help you find your dream property.
*Image from gardenroute.com
