Renovation Don’t move, improve!
The owner of this old house tells us how he increased its value by developing it into a sectional title scheme with three properties.
After Eben Barnard’s divorce, he had two options: buy out his ex-wife’s share of a spacious house in Gardens, a sought-after suburb in Cape Town, or sell it and buy a new place.
For some time, he had played with the idea of splitting the property in two. A friend, Werner du Toit, was at that stage looking for a bigger house near schools, with a garden for his young family.
“Werner saw the potential and benefits and bought out my ex-wife’s share,” explains Eben. They then approached Werner’s mom Ansie and suggested that she also buys in; she was considering a ‘lock-up-and-go’ in the city where she could be close to her grandchildren. Security was also an important consideration.
And then the process to convert the original three-bedroom house into three separate units could begin... >>