RealNet Properties opens local office
Top property attorney Louis Visser – who went “walkabout” in the Zambian bush three years ago – has returned to his home town of Paarl to open a brand new RealNet franchise.
Visser worked as a conveyancer in Cape Town for more than two decades before he decided to take a sabbatical and satisfy his wanderlust and love of nature by investing in the Croc Valley Camp game lodge on the banks of the Luangwa River in the east of Zambia.
“It was a blissful experience, and with no fences between the lodge and the South Luangwa park, we regularly rubbed shoulders with elephants, leopard, lion, buffalo and hippos,” he says.
However, the opportunity to open a RealNet franchise in Paarl and to once again experience the excitement inherent in property transactions has lured him back to the corporate world.
“Paarl is a charming town with many lifestyle choices and offers lovely wine farms in the countryside while still being central to Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Wellington. It is exciting to be back here and to be a part of this wonderful community again. And I relish the chance to get back into the real estate industry, this time as a professional estate agent,” says Visser, who was born in Paarl and attended Paarl Boys High.
He returned to SA at the beginning of March to lay the groundwork for the new franchise with partner Eugénie Kempff, who is the owner of the RealNet Bloemfontein franchise but is moving to the Cape to join the new enterprise.
“And we are currently recruiting agents who have the integrity we require as well as a passion for people and excellent service, and are planning to appoint between eight and 10 agents to serve Wellington and Franschhoek as well as Paarl,” he says.
Paarl, with about 190 000 residents, is expanding rapidly and growing towards Franschhoek, he notes. “And although it is not part of the Cape Town metropolitan area, it falls within its economic catchment area, with many buyers here being willing to commute to Cape Town jobs in return for the privilege of living in the beautiful Paarl valley and enrolling their children in one of the four best schools in the country.
“Paarl is also home to the headquarters of a number of large agricultural, manufacturing and financial concerns, which has an immensely positive influence on the town’s economy. Apart from the spectacular surroundings and rich history of the town, it has made Paarl a top choice for property buyers and investors from around the country,” Visser says.
Paarl and its surrounds offer a diverse array of properties including townhouses, small-holdings, country estates and apartments. Prices start at around R250 000 and escalate to around R14m in the luxury sector. Full-title family homes currently sell at an average of R1,632m, while sectional titles are generally priced at R650 000 to R780000.
Visser says the new franchise will also be marketing homes in the nearby Pearl Valley Estate, Val de Vie Polo Estate and Boschenmeer Golf Estate, which are some of the prettiest and best located estates in SA. “And with the town in close proximity to other popular centres, golf in Paarl, lunch in Franschhoek and watching a movie at the VA Waterfront is possible in a single day.”