Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Luxury living at the foot of the moutains
First phase of Bergendal Country Villas in Paarl winelands released
BERGENDAL Country Villas, a new phase of the Bergenzicht Country Estate residential property development in the Paarl winelands was launched recently by IGrow Wealth Investments.
The first 112 apartments at Bergendal, where there will eventually be 441 units, are priced from R743 000.
The two- and three- bedroom units, with quality finishes, are in four blocks of 28 apartments. Each apartment has its own parking bay. Security measures in the complex include cameras, electric fencing and a guardhouse.
Bergendal is one of 66 property developments that IGrow Wealth has presented over the past 10 years to its now 43 000 investment clients. Investors in the buy-to-let offerings from IGrow opt for residential property ownership as an alternative to conventional equity-based retirement or endowment funds.
Working on Bergendal in collaboration with the developers, Skyward Housing, IGrow has previously sold 121 houses in four months in earlier phases of the development on the site, for a total of R141 million.
The 29.4ha estate in the Drakenstein district of Paarl surrounds the 300-year-old heritage buildings on the farm Salomonsvlei, belonging to South African runner Danie Malan, famous for breaking the 1 000m world record in Munich in 1973. The homestead buildings have been reserved for the use of the Malan family.
As a national company based in Durbanville, IGrow consults to its clients on the strategic structuring of finances for use in property investment. It provides a specialist holistic service in wealth creation and protection, advising on and facilitating the use of new, entrylevel property throughout South Africa as the underlying asset. Its monthly seminars in Cape Town provide education in property specific investments.
Through the IGrow Wealth Investment model, clients actually own the bricks and mortar of their investment instead of participating in property funds. Investment is based on the buy-to-let principle plus capital growth in sound property investments that with proper gearing can offer up to 30% returns.
“We create legacies as well as retirement funds,” says chief executive Jacques Fouché.
Together with associated companies, IGrow provides services that include education in property investment, financing, risk management, accounting, structuring, establishment and administration of trusts, rental management and financial planning.
It also undertakes all the letting and management of the properties and provides the initial stock from chosen developments. Registered estate agents and also in-house bond originators are part of the IGrow team. Gerhardt Jooste, Igrow’s general manager for new developments, says the introduction of individual units in property developments to investors is structured to provide developers and investors with the most advantageous opportunity. Investors pay favourable prices for the property before it actually reaches the market, and developers are able to discount on the basis of meeting their projects’ financial obligations earlier, with the resultant savings on interest and land holding costs.
“Individual investors enjoy the upside of having their investment grow from a lower base by paying less than current market value for the property.”
A further incentive for investors is a Sars concession that offers a significant tax benefit on residential property under Section 13 Sex of the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962. This incentive allows investors in individual residential units to write off a percentage of the cost of buildings, or improvements, bought or built after October 21, 2008.
“We have established a track record that has seen our clients bene- fit enormously, not only from the investments, but also because we have built up a base of highly qualified in-house professionals who are always available for consultation on every aspect of property ownership, investment and taxation,” says Fouché.
At Bergendal, services and costs included in the price of the units are all attorneys’ fees for bond and transfer – and no transfer duty is applicable. As a turnkey product, 100% bonds are available on the units and a R35 000 refundable reservation deposit is required to secure the sale.
Buyers will only start paying the bond on completion of the building, which is expected to be by mid-2018.
Water and electricity are prepaid, and low-maintenance common property will mean that levies will be kept as low as possible, says Jooste. “Conservative projected rentals are from R7 000 a month and, if applicable, qualifying owners will be able to write off 55% of the purchase price in accordance with SARS Section 13 Sex,” says Jooste.