 Hi, I'm Chomo Zopoi and I'm an entrepreneur from Soweta. Soweta's come a long way from a small township to a mini city of its own. Soweta's got some really really nice suburbs like Deepgluve Extension but the locals call it Deepgluve Expensive. Orlando is known as a suburb that had the first brick houses built in Soweta. Orlando Stadium for its iconic games between KZ Cheese and Pirates and most importantly Villagasi Street where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu resided. I'm Chomo Zopoi and I'm an entrepreneur from Soweta. Soweta's come a long way from a small township to a mini city of its own. Soweta's got some really really nice suburbs like Deepgluve Extension but the locals call it Deepgluve Expensive. Orlando's known as a suburb that had the first brick houses built in Soweta. Orlando Stadium for its iconic games between KZ Cheese and Pirates and most importantly Villagasi Street where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu resided. To the west of Soweta you find suburbs of Dobsonville and Pretia. Welcome to Episode 39. I'm your host Usamandouma Kumalo. Now a number of us are probably at home and one of the big things that we're probably thinking about is perhaps extending that family house. You know you're probably looking at relatives at home and you're thinking it's long over to probably you know even started that Pinterest board to just spark a little bit of inspiration and you're wondering how do I even get started? How do I budget for this? What are some of the things that I should be looking out for if I want to do that project? Well if that's one of the things that you want to do after this lockdown even during this lockdown then this is the episode for you. To help us better understand you know some of the dynamics that go beyond or that go with renovating a home, some of the things that you need to be looking out for and making sure that you don't work with the wrong contractors. I know a lot of us probably have some of those horror stories. This evening I'm joined by Ululu Mutsikira who is the CEO of Namaste who's going to help us out with this one. I mean a lot of us always have this on our vision boards at the beginning of the year. You want to surprise Umama or Oogogo by extending that family home or even your own home. So to just help us with this particular one. Thank you so much for coming. I'm so glad to be here. One of the things is before we even get excited with you know what should we go shopping for our budgets and those kind of things, four viewers who are probably sitting at home and thinking that's definitely something that I've been wanting to do and maybe it's even something they've been slowly saving towards. What are some of the things that you should be thinking about and start prioritizing even before you start shopping for that extension at home or getting contractors to give you quotes? Okay I think the first really important step before even like you said shopping and looking for contractors is to really sit down with yourself and understand what the intention behind the extension is because we find that a lot of people just have an open space at home or they've just got an open lot and they're like you know what it would be very nice to get myself a bedroom an extra bedroom or an extra lounge. That shouldn't be motivation enough to you know extend because there's a lot that goes into the extension process and um you should really you should really understand or know why you are going into this route or going this route. The second but I think that then starts becoming very important is to understand what the rules of engagement are within your property space. So are you a home owner in a lot in a plot or are you a home owner in an area that has home owners associations such as a complex or a townhouse etc. Different rules apply for those different spaces and you have to work within those rules. So if you're wanting to extend within the the realm of a townhouse within the realm of you know an area that is mandated by a home owners association you have to get those building permissions. There's no way around the planning permissions are an important aspect of the extension of the extension game. You have to you have to understand what the rules are within your your property with regards to extending and then you have to sort of get those permissions in place before you even start the process of getting your contractors in before you even start getting to the the process of getting planners in. I mean you you're mentioning that there's actually quite a lot that goes into the extension process so beyond identifying if for example uh let's say um your family level is either in the township or in the rural area so you certainly know that you don't have to deal with your owners association or or the more kind of stuff and and and now you know that okay here's the house and maybe it's currently a four a four-roomed house or a five-roomed house what are some of those processes that actually then go into thinking through um that particular extension. Okay so now we're at the place where we know that we don't have any there's no permissions that we have to get all into the municipality we got all our permissions in place we know that we can't do this thing. Now we're at the place where we need to get contractors. Yay please guys get the right contractors. Horror stories. I have my own admittedly and and and I think you know sometimes you go in you've heard this yesterday because some of them will even show you some of their past work if you're fortunate maybe you'll get one that you know a friend recommended and it's possible that a friend probably just use them for tiling you know and your project is bigger than just a tiling gig and it might need them to be able to you know do electrical work and plumbing work and you're thinking look this guy is is is reasonable enough is affordable enough so why not you know what's the worst that could actually happen. I know that it's very hard it's what I'm about to say is is is almost counter-intuitive but budget should not be the driving force against you choosing the contractor for your home it shouldn't you should be able to vet this person so getting the right people means being able to vet the people that you're you're getting to view your your space but before you even vet them they need to be able to come to your space and be able to tell you how the space needs to be planned out because there's also different elements so like I said there's no owners association that's mandating you to do anything in a certain way but if you want to build a double story for instance what does what does what does that mean for your neighbor what does that mean for the people in and around your your space if you're wanting for instance to build a space that is vertical so something on the ground what does that mean for the for the for the the sewers in the in the area is is your home within a piping system that that affects everybody in your space so only a professional a real professional can answer those questions for you this is why we're coming with problems where we wait especially in Makaya like you've said where umai has built or the daughter has built a beautiful room for umai but suddenly it's pulling apart because there's water damage everywhere nobody came and told that person that you can't build on top of this land because there's water underneath underneath here that's going to affect your structure um so critical to get the right people so it's not just about getting Iplamba and getting uh the you know the the guy who's going to be able to do the cement the guy who's rhino lighting the guy who's selling the bricks it's about getting either an architect or a draftsman if you don't have you know the budget nor do you have a need for an architect to come into the space get a draftsman just somebody who's got the professional eye to be able to see what the lay of the land is and what the capacity and the capability of that land is then we go into the contractor pick them properly as well and you know when you when we're talking about some of those checks or some of the municipalities we're already getting questions around that particular one one of the questions that's coming in of course two viewers at home please do send those questions and comments if you're looking to extend whether it's your own home or their family home and you have quite a lot of question marks still not particularly sure how to best go about that project you don't know who to reach out to the questions that you should be asking to that particular contractor then do send through those questions and Lulu is more than happy to address them this question is coming in from OTAN Degahate who asks I have a standing house so do I need to go to the municipality office before drawing up the plans to extend yes so you are building permissions or something that the municipality deals with you have to go to them especially if you're going to do any infrastructural changes to the space whether you own the house yourself and it's like I said it's on a plot of land that you own you still have to get those municipal um permissions um to extend from from an infrastructural perspective you have to take it through the municipality and I think at that stage you know what are some of the um like what are some of the ticks that somebody needs to do so you now here's the family home and you're working or you've maybe let's say I've identified I want to work with Lulu and they know that certainly you as a service provider you know how to advise your clients in terms of before we even talk about your budget or what needs to be done you need to make sure that you go to the municipality this is what needs to be done maybe you are actually extending and putting a double story so your neighbors also need to be signing to say that yes they are aware that this extension is actually happening so there and you show the plans because I mean we I've even seen horror stories where people build you know those rooms and people complain about the view because you've essentially now blocked them all like completely right so you're not even passing those um you know requirements when you're building that those homes so is that first check then um before you make that extension particularly the big ones to go to the municipality and get permission for it so before you're even thinking about going overboard because I know a lot about I I know I probably start within this first before I need the inspiration and and I want to make sure that I at least know what a color palette that I want is and then I'll go to the municipality so is the municipality essentially one of the first places that you want to go to to make sure that um you get the right signal from them first okay so let me there's three there's three layers to what you've said the first one is it's really very much dependent on the scale of the project you're doing and whether there's an there's an infrastructural change some extensions and some renovations are not necessarily something that you're doing on the outside of your home sometimes the inside right you're changing your kitchen you don't have to go to the municipality to change your kitchen but if you're extending the extension to to to build another layer or another another building in your property that is something that you have to get municipal permissions for they also sometimes require what they call an architectural report it it's very much dependent on the on the on the municipalities and they all run differently but it's very good especially if you're doing a very a very large um is sort of infrastructural change to get that architectural report take it to your municipality get all those permissions in place and then you can proceed to the next step now in as far as your statement around getting your neighbors permission you are not mandated to get your neighbors permission but it is a courtesy and it is something that we definitely encourage people to do because there's nothing worse than having being a neighbor we had a huge amount of light um coming into their house and suddenly there's a whole you know structure that's been built that that's a blocking the light for that neighbor they're not going to be happy um and then municipality unfortunately or whatever body that you're mandated to engage with is not necessarily at a place where they understand all those sort of nuances and dynamics and so it is it is advised that you do go to your neighbors you tell them listen this is what I'm thinking to do this is how it will affect you um I'm just letting you know as a courtesy there's no there's no sort of and then they can they can choose if they're not happy and you're saying I'm going ahead they can go then themselves go to the municipality and say I'm not happy with what is happening in in within within my property area and that's how sort of the the conversations happen with your neighbors but where you are mandated is definitely your municipality and a question on this you know so they first you know you know our viewers first essentially want to clarity now you know that you need to go to the municipality depending on the type of project that you're doing so some of the projects won't necessitate you having to go there some of them will so in the event then that you are doing the type of project that would necessitate you going to the municipality a question here coming in from Stephanie Woodboy who says okay so when you go to them meaning the municipality would you have to have a design in place or do you only ask for permission to to basically build no so you must have you must have something that you're you're showing them so you have to have an architectural drawing or a draftsman's drawing um something that basically shows what you're planning to do I mean you can go and say I'm planning to build is this something that that I'm allowed but they're going to tell you to bring whatever it is that you're planning to do and then and then give you those those permissions and listen something that also you must take into cognizance and it does take a little bit of time some municipalities are faster than others some you get those those permissions within a week and you can hit the ground running sometimes you can take two weeks if your project is really a massive one it can literally take up to three months to get those those permissions because they have to make sure that everything all the all the knots and crosses all the all the issues are are before you start and you know what I think one of the things is probably so many of us probably didn't understand just how complex a project can be because like you're saying I mean you could be growing up in your family house and you're thinking one day I'm going to extend this house maybe make it a double story and you think it's just as simple as getting in a few guys who can help you out they give you a quote of the labor and the material and you start working but we're slowly beginning to see that it's actually not that simple um there are certain checks that need to be put in place there are certain professionals that you need to be working with um but of course it does get to the exciting part so now you've done your checks you've got the architectural adjustments um you know uh report and you've taken it to the municipality the municipality gives you that green light they say listen we're happy with the plan you're not able to start building and now the problem might potentially start we're going to go for a quick break and when we come back we're going to look at now what happens we've got those checks the municipality says yes you can go ahead what happens next what do we need to be looking out for next because this is probably the more daunting part I mean you think regulation is daunting but more than anything this is the part that would probably gives a lot of us gray hairs I have gray hairs so I think it probably gives me even more gray hairs than I have and and there are so many things you can look out for the type of professionals that you want to be working at the types of contractors the different ways you can optimize a particular project maybe if it's too big you want to like chop it up into you know different sections to also make sure you've got the budget because I think we underestimate how expensive building can actually be we're going to go for a quick break and I'm going to come back we're going to look at what happens after we've gotten all of those checks of course I am on the line with um is the CEO of namaste and we're looking at what some of the things that you need to look out for when you're looking to extend your home remember you can always participate in our youtube competition where all you need to do is subscribe to our youtube channel take a screenshot share it right here below and you stand a chance of winning one of two one thousand brand prizes when we come back we'll be looking at more of what you need to be looking out for when you're extending we'll go back just after this property podcast I'm your host ozaman don't want things that you must look out for if you're looking to extend your house it might be your own perhaps your mother's house or the family house whichever house it is if you want to you know embark on that project we're looking at the things that you want to make sure you tip off understand before you even walk down that path so help us better understand this one I'm joined by Ululu Motekira who is the CEO of namaste and you know before the break we're talking about the regulations and making sure you get all the green lights coming municipality and and that's a big chunk of you know your project depending on whether or not of course your project requires it so as you were saying earlier not every renovation or extension will require you to get those permissions from the municipality so if it does you want to make sure you get them in especially if you're going to you know sell your house in the future because they're going to want those building plans and if they were not signed off you're going to struggle to sell that particular house especially if you're going if they're signed up higher it's going to want it to be financed so you really don't want to skip that step in your home renovation journey so now Ululu we've tipped all the green lights as far as regulation is concerned we know that the municipality has a way of this project that we want to do and we're working or we certainly got the right plans in place what happens next like I mean I think this is probably the part where people start using their money essentially because you get in contractors they run away with your money they will tell you you must give them X amount of deposit before they even start working or their workers come to your house and and it can be such a headache I I mean I can just imagine the different stories I've certainly heard from friends and family and even my own experience a lot of us have always had a lot when it comes to you know home renovations or expansions and we want to make sure I think more than anything want to help viewers at home not go through that process so what happens next and what should we do next in order to have a process that is as smooth as possible building is not a DIY process that's why don't DIY a build please because a lot of contractors out there are literally DIY contractors I've I've seen horrors where people pick up builders literally open the side of the street that's the most dangerous thing you can do I understand like I said you've got a budget you're trying to stick within that budget but you must understand that you're trying to build a structure here and so you need to get the right people to to help you in that process of building that structure they are professional bodies in which builders real credible contractors are mandated to be members of not all contractors will be members of their professional body but getting getting contractors that are members of the MBSA or the NHBRC those are the two professional bodies for contractors in South Africa if you can get people that are are members of those kind of bodies at least you know that they are mandated to operate within the realms of those of those bodies fine not everybody you know not everybody can get that level of contractor or that kind of contractor I think the next step the next step they know the next layer they would to that would be to definitely vet the contractors that you're getting get people that somebody has actually used before and somebody's house that you have seen and you are satisfied with the way in which it looks um get referred get references because references are an incredibly important part of the of the vetting process get credible real references um and through your due diligence don't rush the process of of getting contractors in place because you are going to end up paying you know that the term cheap is expensive with regards to contractors it can get very very expensive and and we were doing that due diligence you know what are some of the things that we are essentially asking looking out for because I can imagine for a lot of years at home you're thinking look I've never done this I'm I'm an accountant or I'm a lawyer or whatever your profession is this is not what you do right so you're not really accustomed to even knowing what kind of due diligence questions you're asking of the potential contractors that you're about to work with so what are some of those things that we need to be asking them and following it following up on before we actually choose the right one okay like I've said uh asking them and getting getting feedback around which professional bodies they're a member of is is the first sort of step to kind of get to a point where you understand that at least they're operating under those mandated rules and rigs the second bit is is uh you know asking having an understanding of at what level have they have they built building a garage still needs somebody who's who's you know build something at a relatively high at a high level building something at a high level because the garage is still brick and mortar you still need to build something up um so also we need to get away from this from this sort of thinking around ah you know your garage or it's just it's just a small something there's no need to get somebody professional because it's just their room no a room is as important one room is as important as a whole floor the same process goes into that so maybe also having a conversation around what processes they they they put in place what kind of materials and where do they source the materials very important because also you want to be shy shyed by way of price um in the beginning of my professional career I obviously was very focused on the interior design element of my business and not necessarily the construction over the years I've had to get really down into the intricacies of the construction part because then you get an understanding of what I'm what am I being charged or the material cost do your own homework we are in a place in society now where we've got so many resources to get information um don't take the first quote that you get as well get through quotes it's important get three quotes from three different uh supplies or three different contractors to get an understanding what the cost and uh the cost variations are the price variations are so that you can start asking the critical questions because once you get three quotes you're able to say my guy you told me that uh you know the the rhino lighting cost this much but somebody else has said it's costing this much can you explain why there's a difference in this in this cost but when you go with the first contractor who gives you a quote it becomes very difficult to understand the nuances of pricing and therefore not and then you don't understand the nuances of materials being optimized upon and already as you even you know saying that a part of me is is anxious on behalf of people who are going to embark on this process because you're already I mean if for example you're extending a house maybe putting two three rooms you're already thinking there's so many different checks there's so many different like line items that would even go into an invoice when you're buying the material so even getting familiar with some of the words that you would find then asking those kinds of questions becomes so important because some contracts some contractors will tell you well you're just given the area that you're in and the and and the kind of project that you want to do you want modern finishes it's going to cost you four thousand per square meter another one will tell you six thousand per square meter and you're not even understanding okay what what does that even mean right why is this guy charging me two thousand and more than the next guy and yet I gave all three of them the same and the same brief and and the pricing that I'm getting is so different from each other so I think even that already can be such a daunting process and of course we're still getting some of those questions from viewers at home and one of them is where does one find some of these suitable people to assist us in this home renovation so you're almost thinking is there a marketplace maybe your friends haven't you know extended the houses at home or if they have maybe they were just not happy with the contractor so that also doesn't help where do people even go to try and source the right kind of people to then get those respective quotes from okay so I know the like I said the professional bodies they've got almost lists or lists of contractors that are part of their body so within the NHR NHBRC there's they've got their own sort of list of contractors that they they work with it's the same with the interior design industry this this the people are part of the body but in the same breadth there are people that are not part of those bodies that are very credible and very good I think you when you're making a concerted effort to renovate your space or to extend extending your space it's very important to understand that this is something you're committed to so you must do the homework of you know you can use the Google Facebook those are not those are not platforms that are are not not credible it's just you have to see through them a little bit more carefully to find the right people but those are we're in a space where we've got a lot of resources to try and get those those those contact details but I will not lie word of mouth is a very is a very important and very very credible way of finding people even if it's not necessarily your friend or your neighbor but you've got colleagues you've got people within your your your immediate circle who have must have done something and those are the those are the kind of people that you engage in because also understand that somebody who's who's used the contract that they're not happy with at some point they find on somebody to fix the problems of that that that botched job and so that person then becomes the the person that they ultimately will end up recommending so I really put a lot of I put a lot of cloud or emphasis on word of mouth but you definitely can do your own homework by way of using social media using the professional bodies I mentioned to sort of get these people so Lulu we've now you know so earlier in the conversation we had done our checks now we certainly know where to go and find these credible contractors we've sifted through them we've done our due diligence and we've settled on on who to work with and now I want to work with Lulu what are some of the conversations am I having with Lulu after I've chosen you for example to say this is this is what I want to do um what questions should I be asking the contractor and how do we measure the project in the like whether it's the daily or weekly I mean obviously because it's a home extension a lot of those types of projects are not going to last three years for for example it's not a made up project so perhaps it will be a few weeks or even maybe a few months but it's it's a relatively short term project how do we mitigate that relationship how what are the conversations the questions we should be asking because I think sometimes you don't because you don't know what you don't know you also don't know what should you be asking that person so even if you want to report back on a daily basis because you go and check the progress what are you actually asking for asking regarding that progress that's a very good question and and it's an unfortunate but oh fortunate sort of conversation so when you're in this department for instance a designer interior designer or an interior design team it becomes easier to have those conversations because you're almost using myself as your as your as your landing port to ask the the critical questions to your contractors I would have in any case for instance I recommended people that I know that are credible so you're already feeling at a level of comfort but when you are doing it yourself so when you are in the process of doing it yourself I think any contractor with their salt has as almost a standardized way in which they work by way of timings by way of a report back report back is a very important part of the building process and I think a lot of people don't don't they do it off the cuff you know you walk in you decide today after work I'm going to go to the to the building and take a look at what's happening I see that there's things on the floor I call the contractor can you come in and tell and tell me why this hasn't been done and that's not how it's supposed to be happening what is supposed to be happening is that you at the beginning of the process the contractor should tell you how long that they are they are stipulating or estimating this thing is going to take once you guys have agreed upon that timeline obviously there are deviations especially in the building in the building process don't hold that timeline to as you know I'm having a party I've had situations of people say the Friday you said you're finishing your rule I'm having a party my family's coming that don't do that but there must be and then what like because I'm sure that a lot of people had these plans lockdown happens your project's going to come to a halt so you factor in that look there are other factors that come into play that that may disrupt your particular project rain if it rains for two weeks straight while you're trying to build there's no way you've lost that two weeks so those kind of things are but but like I said a contractor will have that conversation with you and explain those things to you and they will consistently communicate when there are deviations to the plan that's a very important one you don't want somebody who's quiet from beginning up until end that's not a that's not a contractual relationship especially from a building perspective you need somebody who's going to be able to keep you keep keep you up to date with what's happening throughout the process as well as give you weekly or buy weekly depending on what your preference is or monthly updates on what is happening and where you are within the project and that means having some tough conversations because building is not a pretty and fun exercise in general there's a lot that can go wrong there's a lot that comes up that you weren't you weren't you weren't expecting but a big part of that of maintaining that relationship and making sure that everybody's happy is communication on a consistent basis if you know Zama that you know there was a burst pipe that happened within this the first week of construction you're not going to be angry that construction delayed by a week because the contractor would have really told you listen we came to this this sort of problem you see it yourself so I think a contractor who can who can stipulate and outline what their working process is from the from the cuff of the cuff and then keep you consistently updated in a formal manner not in a haphazard you know is over on a come take a look but in a really formalized manner so that you can you can keep up to date with what's happening here and I think you know I feel like a lot of us probably have those experiences where the feedback was quite informal there was no it wasn't regular so sometimes what happened because you are the one who actually calls and says within two weeks I haven't heard from you or you end up coming on site to actually check on what the progress is or your mom is saying no they haven't been here in you know in a week and I just thought maybe you guys have an arrangement of sort and it as far as you are concerned workers are supposed to be working for that particular week so you know what that also does and what that helps with is us as as contractors as well we we like to work peacefully without the client coming every day looking at it because if I've given myself a week to finish something that means on day two it's not going to be a perfect it's not going to be a perfect picture so if as as a contractor I'm communicating with you on a regular basis and I'm taking you through the process with me you're not going to feel compelled to come every day to see the mistakes and you know be questioning every single part of the process because you know that Lulu is going to give me feedback or my builder is going to give me feedback towards the you know towards the end of the week then I'll know where we are so it also helps contractors once if they've laid out something concrete it helps them as well manage you as the client and I think Lulu I mean one day is already clear we're definitely going to bring you back because there are so many tips and tricks that we certainly need to learn not just from an exterior perspective but even from an interior perspective because I think it's one thing for us to extend the homes you then want to of course work on the interior but before I let you go we're now you know we've done the project you're happy with the progress you're happy with the updates now we're slowly getting to you know the project closure what are some of the I'll say ticks that need to be ticked before your contractor is done and you make that final payment to them you know almost that that you want to go through to make sure that I'm I'm thoroughly happy I know that the things that we agreed on have in fact been done before you send that this bit of money because more often than not the moment you made that last payment sometimes some contractors are not going to come back in because they think look I'm done and you know you saw the place you pay me the money why am I spending any more time with you so before that last transaction what is that checklist that we should be going through with our contractors okay so the first one you definitely be is this as per what we agreed upon in the beginning so as per the the drafts the draftsman's plans or as per the architectural plans it does this thing look like what we had agreed to look like um obviously outside of the deviations that you would have agreed upon during the process maybe you you had not wanted a toilet and now suddenly added a toilet those are obviously deviations that came in the process facts uh on the on the greater sort of on on the on the whole does this look like what we had agreed upon and then what what you must do as a as a client is give yourself a grace period for snagging give yourself a grace period for the snags very important don't pay and if there are any contractors in there forgive me do not pay your contractor the day that they give you the keys and say here's your house no you have to have a period and any contractor must give you a period to look for the problems because obviously we've been we've been in we've been part of the process the builder has been building this house and they've obviously done their checks so they've done the quality control checking so that's a very important aspect as well they need to do before they hand over to you they need to do the quality control checking to make sure that everything that they've said they've done as well as the health and safety measures of that space have been looked into okay then they give you the keys you also need a period and different contractors do it for a different time frame you need a period a week sometimes it's two weeks but more especially with more than four more contractors it's about a week where you have time to really look at your your property because the minute you get the keys it looks really stunning it looks beautiful but you're gonna walk around and you're gonna notice this and that and this and that and those are the things that you need to be able to notice within the week and then you go back to your contract and say can you please fix this this this this and then post the fixing of that it's called the snagging the desnagging process post the the the fixing of all those snags then you can pay your contractor so before I let you go what are the three tips you would give to years at home who are looking to extend you know the family home or their own respective homes you know three tips to help them navigate that home renovation journey first one is get the right people by way of structural planners if you're doing a big a big job so a draftsman if your if your job is not that massive or an architect if your job is massive so that's step one that's tip number one get the the they get the right people to do the plans for your space because that will also make your municipal life very easy so going to municipality with proper plans and a proper architectural report will definitely help you out the second bit is take your time in choosing your contractors very very important don't rush the contracting job and the contracting process and I think the third tip is put a budget in place don't work off the cuff and I know we didn't discuss this in great detail but a budget is is a really important aspect of the building process that doesn't mean that you're not going to have a gain some variations some deviations to the plan but for the greater part try and build a very strong solid budget from the get go so that you can understand what is happening within your within your process those are three tips Lulu thank you so much for joining us I think we're so excited and look at how do we even budget for something like this I mean the when when so some people tell us about their let's say kitchen renovation and the kitchen costing 80 000 rand you're already getting chest pains because you think well how is the kitchen that expensive how do you begin to then you know budget for putting in a you're extending the kitchen and then a bathroom and and and because there's so many costs that are involved in the home renovation journey so we certainly bring you back on and perhaps the next time we bring on we want to look at how we do it on a budget because a lot of us are probably not going to have 100 000 rands lying around to to do those projects so how do we then go about doing it on a budget efficiently and for it to still look relatively modern uh and and something that we'd be happy to put on our instagram feeds Lulu thank you my thank you so much for joining us this evening thank you for having me and that is Lulu Mutsukira who's the CEO of Flamastei if you want her contact details perhaps you've got your own home renovation needs the contact details are right here below on our facebook page of course we're back again tomorrow with episode 40 we're still cooking up a great prize that we're going to give away for episode 50 I did promise that uh we'll give something away I think for where a lot of us are very excited to be making a two episode 50 which is coming very very shortly so if you have any ideas of what we can give away do send those suggestions right here below we can't give a house yet uh and yet is the operative word I think one of the big things is the day we can give away a house is probably the day I'll feel quite excited I'm excited about the prospects of giving away a house but it's something we're still working on so do you send those suggestions of what you would want us to give away on episode 50 and tomorrow it's a Friday we're going to be speaking to Alexa and really tomorrow's conversation is actually going to be quite interesting we're going to be speaking to the young professionals to the young black professionals in property and to be saying who is going to tell us a little bit about the work that they do as cyber and really some of the interesting innovations that they have in store for us so you certainly do not want to miss that one but until then I hope you're staying at home and you stay safe I'm Jared Siegel I'm a local restaurateur and the owner of Jared's espresso bar and eatery in Seapointe I'm a Cape Town local Camps Bay born and bred I've been living in Sydney Australia for the last few years living abroad I've always been drawn to the mother city and I've recently decided to come back home taking lifestyle factors into consideration Bantry Bay has been the perfect fit for me living on the Atlantic Seaboard really resonates with what I'm all about from the active lifestyle the amazing food culture its family friendly environment and amazing natural beauty the quality of life we have on offer is really unique the Atlantic Seaboard has some of the most beautiful suburbs in the country I'm Jared Siegel I'm a local restaurateur and the owner of Jared's espresso bar and eatery in Seapointe I'm a Cape Town local Camps Bay born and bred I've been living in Sydney Australia for the last few years living abroad I've always been drawn to the mother city and I've recently decided to come back home taking lifestyle factors into consideration Bantry Bay has been the perfect fit for me living on the Atlantic Seaboard really resonates with what I'm all about from the active lifestyle the amazing food culture its family friendly environment and amazing natural beauty the quality of life we have on offer is really unique