 welkom to the developer show, a program when we showcase up and coming developments, talk investments and discuss how you can find yourself in this latest development often pile called La Vie estates. Today we are joined by Troy Muton, who is the head of marketing and sales at Salsa properties. Troy, thank you so much for taking some time out to join us. My pleasure. Glad I could be here. I'm looking forward to the discussion. Now Troy, you've mentioned to me about this latest development often pile La Vie estates. Before we jump into that, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit about your team and what a potential customer can expect if they decide to purchase within this development. Excellent. We started off as a very small real estate company in 2004 and since then we've just been growing from strength to strength over the years. We've been in the market now, been involved with real estate for 16 years. Like I said, we started off as a small company, just doing a few rentals, just doing a few sales and then over the years we progressed into pretty much a new development powerhouse where we've been specializing and being very involved with new developments, seeing developers in marketing their developments, taking everything from marketing to sales and to the end product of handover. We've put ourselves in a position where we've got quite a strong development game. Over the years we've completed anything from about 30 plus developments so we've sold over 2, 3000 new development units so we're very, very involved with that aspect. We've got a very strong rental portfolio of company. We've got a strong sales division as well but like I said, what we do product salesing is our new development game and what we can offer the client and the public in terms of that. It's always nice to hear when I have these discussions with different developers and estate agencies how many of them have got such a long and storied history in the real estate market because to me as somebody has these discussions and speaks to estate agents it brings a lot of reassurance knowing that you've been in the game for so long because obviously you're doing a lot of things right. Correct and you know what's nice I mean we started like a 70,000 for that 16 years experience and myself I've been involved here for nine years so I mean I've got more than enough experience and we've assisted you know majority of clients what we like to do is to stop clients from A to Z you know where initial contacts made from them from a response that we receive or an inquiry and we can sort of run them you know through through all the questions and concerns they might have up until date of handover you know when they receive their keys so we like to be involved you know with our client from initial response all the way through to the final process or when they get the keys to their home we like to be involved of you know as fast possible throughout that home ownership process no that's absolutely great here so today we're talking about levier state can you introduce us to this development talk me through it okay so levier state the the reason or the behind levier state how we pride in ourselves on finding the the correct position for the development is we we realise that the student accommodation market there's there's a shortage of student accommodation a lot of guys don't want to be you know in still and bosh paying excessive you know rental amounts and then guys also there's a lot of you know places in wellington as well student campuses as well that they need suitable you know affordable student accommodation so we found that levier in the middle of the commute between the still and bosh and wellington polls positioned nicely there you know in the newly developed area and in the growth node and that's that's while in the heart of the wildlands and we thought you know as an ideal spot for students you know to to easy commute in and out between still and bosh for wellington club but you know wherever they they need is for their their velocity in their studies we found poll to be the ideal position because it's affordable and it's like i say it's a mere 15 to 20 minutes drive to still and bosh the guys don't need to be in still and bosh you know paying excessive rates on one of two bedrooms here in levier itself i mean they can pay affordable rates and like i said the safe secure and it's a very short commute so levier state is actually ideal for students as well as you know first time buyers we we thought that's our target market guys you know trying to get into the market that's a very reasonable and realistic market price and that's that's how levier state came along still and bosh being such a popular university town how is that affected the demand on these units well the thing is we've seen the demand because still emboshed because they're such a they're such a under supply and over the mon at the moment over there we've seen a lot of students and a lot of you know parents of students coming and approaching us and saying to us listen here our kids need accommodation can we assist with that and based on that we've been helping and assisting you know many students in terms of rental accommodation and then many parents also seen it as you know the next sort of boom in terms of student accommodation the poll area because the fact that like i said still embosh is becoming overpopulated there's not as much accommodation as they as they would like to have and then you know that's why the parents and the families of these kids are looking at areas you know in the surroundings still emboshed to try and you know make make ends meet looking at this at least i'm mistaken and i'd love you to chat to me about this as well it's not really just a purchase that's going to solve a short term problem which is my child's going to university where am i going to put them at an affordable rate it's also something that you can look at as a future investment because still embosh is going nowhere so there's always going to be people who are housing in the area yes no definitely i mean we saw from from day one we saw the the whole reason behind the development and the location and as well the fact that we see we're going to position ourselves where we did we said that you know like you say there's such a shortage of accommodation affordable accommodation that's safe and secure you know that sort of satisfies the student's needs from a to z we came along we said levies perfect for that and you know we what we do as well as we we've put together the packages that you know can sort of assist the client as well as a student in terms of you know making ends meet on on their side so you know we definitely believe that levies state is and will be you know the next sort of boom and the area that the power area around our development as well is you know it's newly developed there's a lot of scope for new developments coming up around this so from mcline's perspective we definitely expect there's going to be a good capital growth in the area there's a lot of positivity and all of that you know that's that's coming along as well now troi i'd love you to tell me a little bit about the units what units are available and what do the units look like can you give me a rundown so pretty much the development was comprised of three unit types we had we had smaller bachelor units or studio apartments and then we had smaller one bedrooms and now we've got the the bigger one bedrooms that we currently still have available so the development was comprised originally of a few blocks we've had some of the blocks already being sold out so at the moment we're sitting with three blocks that are still available where you just can be bought which is blocks a b and g those blocks collectively have a availability of 51 units are still available these 51 units are still available they are the one bedroom 42 square meter one bed units and those units have a very spacious and open plan living in the kitchen area separate bathroom on the side and then it's a separate spacious bedroom so that case is pretty much for a student or you know a young professional working couple trying to to kickstart themselves of an affordable rate and what are the amenities are available within the development for potential tenants well what we do at the moment is we've got the clubhouse which is up and running there they're very nice and neatly finished off clubhouse the clubhouse offers a laundry mat with the drying yard so the laundry mat can you know be used on a on a coin basis en then what the tenants can use know once they've done they they're washing at the look at the clubhouse they'll take it to the drying yard they can hang it up it's very well supervised I mean there's not a concern I mean obviously a lot of people have concerns about hanging in laundry and stuff like that there's no concern in terms of that because there is a security on site so that is quite a nice initiative the fact that if tenants don't want to you know do their laundry in the apartment then they can always going to hang it up at the drying yard make use of the clubhouse en the laundry mat facilities you know it shows just how much thought you've put into this development and it's catering towards students knowing that the the the parents wouldn't need to also then get them a washing machine and also possibly get them a tumble dryer then we've really got those facilities on the on the on the grounds that that's the thing I mean like you say with the the full process we can just beforehand and we said to ourselves you know what sort of added bonus can we you know give towards students or our dog market being students and the younger individual I mean now they don't need to go you know upfront and go and buy and put money into getting washing machines and all of those concerns what they can do is just make use of the development clubhouse with the laundry mat and drying facilities and there they go I mean they don't need to go and fork out that initial expense you know for for those appliances you mentioned earlier that that Sals has got quite a strong rainfall portfolio and I wanted to ask you when you said that but I thought let me leave it just later into this interview in that if I decide to purchase within this development as an investment would you guys would you guys offer the facility to to find a tenant for me or to market that house for rent or is that something I'll need to take on and just make sure I handle all of that no so it's actually it's actually good that you also appreciate that because what we do is based on our new developments we've got a lot of our investors on the charity of our investors come back to us and ask us to further take over the rental management of the units so what we do is we you know once they bought the place and they've taken registration beforehand we ensure that they've got tenants in their units so that by date of registration you know they've already got an income being generated in the apartment and that's what we do so we can offer the assistance you know the rental assistance in terms of management of the apartments and the the investments to our investors that we you know facilitate and run the whole process from a to z in sourcing securing collecting rental en doing all of that on behalf of our clients which which is often very satisfying for them again another one of the the stresses or the potential stresses that you guys alleviate completely you purchase into the development knowing that you're going to hand all of it is absolutely fantastic my next question i know that this development is located in paul so maybe it isn't something that's top of everybody's mind but it's probably something that's quite good if we do go through it and that is security can you talk me around the security of this development well like like before and with any development we we obviously going to do the necessary research ensure that you know the correct security measures are put in place and that's what this development offers we've got a good security in the sense of completely boarded off the estate the estate then further offers electric fencing on the on the boundary walls and at the front we've got a wild access control 24 hour man security so they obviously ensure you know that that people that aren't or visitors that are meant to be there on you know allowed in and that's very well regulated in terms of allowing only the residents and you know the other visitors here and they in and out and security shouldn't be a concern to anyone looking to purchase in the development and within the development itself within the blocks you can purchase are they completed are they still being built what what stage is the development in well that's actually the nice part is the development of the the client initially doesn't have to worry about you know wait in a year or 18 months or so before they can take occupation and then subsequent registration of the unit what what's nice is we've already got the units built the blocks are already built units are painted everything's ready for occupation so should the should the investor purchase one of these units they've got the option to take occupation readily already put tenants in the tenants all the the the client is going to pay the developer the occupation or until up until the point of registration but what's nice is like i said should the client be by to live looking to purchase to state himself they can always move in prior to registration say within the first month or two paying occupation or into the developer and then they've got the accommodation you know that's that they don't need to wait you know 12 to 18 months before it's constructed well that's a huge selling point specifically with everybody going back to university now knowing that this is an option and you can move right in but it does beg me to ask the question how does that affect transfer duty well the thing is the development offers a nice a nice i'm going to say bonus and benefit is that no duties are payable so no transfer costs are applicable to a purchase in this in this development so from a purchase perspective you don't you're on live of any cost the only cost of the purchase is liable for is the bond registration cost should they opt to go the route of taking out you know home and finance on one of the units which is a which is a mere portion of the of the cost so they actually save quite a bit of money because they're not liable for any transfer costs or transfer duty in the development and only their their bond registration costs with that being said another great selling point the development is many developers or many times the client's going to be asked for a five percent or 10 percent deposit or initial deposit upfront you know to to guarantee and or for their commitment to the to the purchase here in this development we don't charge any deposit views whatsoever so the client is just liable for this the security of their purchase price whether it be by means of a home loan or whether it is you know getting the cash and guarantees in place that is very very nice to hear the other question i wanted to ask before we cut to break that is probably the question that every single student wants to know immediately is what is the situation with um was fiber is there really fiber installed in all units and are there any other benefits to to the to the tenants that we might have skipped on well definitely i mean with most developments now that we that we involved with we always like to have the facility or the the option you know for fiber installation in the complex so the infrastructure is already there fiber has been laid out to the development and it's just the it's just for the tenants you know on their behalf that they need to take out package of their choice but the like i said infrastructure is there it's really available the tenants can just take out that package from the service provider and they can have their fiber you know up and running in 15 hours so that is that is great so once again it just shows how much thought you put into this and i think everybody's very very keen for us to cut to break and take a look at this beautiful offering from salsa so let's take a quick break en we will be right back after it troi go to us good afternoon and welcome back to the developer show my name is Chad and i'll be your host and today we are joined by troi muton who is the head of sales and marketing for salsa properties troi is talking to us about their latest development right there by stalin washerby is located in paul and it is called la vie estate it's a very fancy name troi i must admit i do like it no thanks there's a bit of thought behind that as well but i think we we came to a good name for for the development that does sound nice and beachy and specifically where that's going into summer i think that's exactly what everybody wants to hear now troi i want to ask you we've been speaking about this development people have now had a good chance to look at it and take a feel through it i want to ask you what is its most unique selling point what is that one thing that somebody's going to see this development or maybe more than one thing they're going to see it and be like wow that is absolutely incredible well chad that's a great answer question because i mean i i certainly without a doubt until you know that what this development offers now at the moment stands out you know sixfold over any other development i can think of currently the unique selling point for me not only is all cost included the fact that we're not asking the deposit upfront on the purchase of a unit furthermore to that what we do is the developer from their side is offering a unique offering to the public now that should someone purchase a unit they're going to pay that client that invested a 2000 rand rental assistance from date of registration on their unit so let me give you a idea in a breakdown as to how it works should a client purchase a unit they wait two to three months for registration from that registration when they take ownership of that unit they need to have a tenant in place already which like i mentioned we can definitely assist with before hand but as from date of registration when they when they take ownership of the unit that tenant needs to be in place from that point onwards that 2000 rand rental assistance kicks in what the developer then does is pays that investor 2000 rand a month for 12 months over and above the current rental income they're currently getting on a unit so example if you're going to get between 5000 5000 500 rand rental return on one of these units the developer is further giving additional 2000 rand rental assistance to the purchaser so where your initial return on investment on a purchase of these units at say 5000 rand rental income was about say called seven eight percent you're now looking at a 10 to 11 percent return on investment which is it's Israeli really i mean it's unheard of nine terms of of new developments and purchases so definitely our 2000 rand rental assistance is something that definitely stands out and it's definitely one of the most unique selling points that we can offer the public with that being said this rental assistance only is effect effective of 12 months from date of registration given a tenant is in place already but should that investor only have a tenant in place after three months they then only going to get the regulations for nine months that it's only valid for a 12 month point while you have any tenant in place so in other words if the the tenants only put in place from registration after three months they lose after those three months of rental assistance they only get it from the first month that that tenant is in the remainder of the 12 month period so it's all in all is a 12 month period at 2000 rand a month which the developer that's just the purchaser because Troy that is absolutely incredible it really does seem like you guys have went over and above to not only appeal to students who are potentially the biggest clients for this but also to potential investors to move into the area yes and i mean that that's what we thought about as well we know that Mark has been hit hard by covid i mean many people are in a financially unstable position and just for reassurance and just you know give our assistance and you know try and assist as fast as possible from outside as well as the developer that is what was thought about and you know this is a proposal not that we give to the public this this rental assistance definitely you know stands out and this is i can i can really now mention it is really assisted our sales tremendously now over the past few weeks since we've implemented this and i'm sure it will definitely assist you know with future sales in the development because any any investor i mean they all look at this and they'll say listen yes and no brain i mean you can't go wrong with that absolutely you know you mentioned covid now and i did want to touch on that as well in that covid affected a lot of people's construction timelines and and their due dates and has it affected you guys at all has it affected your developer and if so did you guys have to take any any different routes to mitigate those delays while fortunately we were in a position as such that covid didn't affect us or our construction or development timelines whatsoever like i mentioned previously in the first half of the of the talk our development is ready up and running our construction is complete our blocks are ready both so that the the client has the option to take occupation readily we're not going to have any further delays in terms of covid so a client you know with with a accommodation you know problem could come to us and say listen yeah they would like to take occupation you know prior to transfer and we can gladly assist them you know with ready readily available accommodation so the units are up and running everything is in place it's just a matter of you know client will need to take occupation prior to transfer or not but like i said we get for that covid didn't affect us whatsoever how important is it for real estate companies to to properly properly vet their developers or do they do diligence before they move into business with different developers yes i mean that that is very important it's obviously a big factor we need to take into consideration but luckily you know we've we've been involved with this developer you know that's on the project currently we've we've walked a long road with them and we've had a long successful relationship over the years with past developments as well and we know our clients i mean we know the the service and the and the end product that we're going to get from them and based on that we we'd love to continue doing business with them because we know the product it's always going to be that of satisfaction the clients in public are happy with it and i mean they also look off to the the clients you know there's any problems at a later stage in terms of the snags and all of that so i must say from outside we've we've always been very comfortable working with developer and developer if the the public was ever you know concerned they can always go and google them and they can see they are a beautiful name in the industry and i will without a doubt you know go ahead and purchasing for the developments that they have to offer well that's a great year which leads me to the next question is take me through the process if i decide i want to purchase within la vie estates take me through the process of the moment i call you up and i say look i'm looking to purchase to the moment you give me the keys what happens there and what do you guys assist with um what is it maybe good to know for other people looking to purchase what's that advice you'd give to other people looking to purchase that they need to keep in mind when doing this as well or remember i mean most importantly and from the get go i'll say you know just make sure the agent you're working with the agent and subsequently the agency most important is to ensure that you're working with a reputable name in the industry that's got the necessary experience and qualifications as well as the fact that they've got the necessary knowledge and the knowledge of the market at the moment with that being said you know from the moment the initial contact is made the response is received by us an inquiry is received on the development we contact the client immediately and we will just have a walk through a chat with them you know just clarifying any concerns or any you know further questions they might have subsequently we will arrange a viewing on site with them take them through a show unit which we have which is already furnished which gives a great idea of the space in the development and the way you can lay your unit out in terms of furniture and all of that and then from that initial introduction we have with them should they express interest in your purchasing we then run them through the whole contract we we sit down with them explain the contract to them running through all the integrated parts of the contract get the contract signed and then from that point on was should they be subject to a home loan being should they be subject to a home loan being approved we've got in-house bond origination services that we offer further so our in-house bond originator offers the client you know the the assistance and facilitates the whole process with the client from A to Z in terms of applying at the banks negotiating fighting for better rates and then so once that is complete and we've got the favorable you know home loan in place or if the client is just meet you know to make cash deal they then secure the cash and the guarantees for the purchase price from that point onwards we then wait it out for transfer and registration to go through which is anything from two to three months i'd say about three months to be conservative at this point and then once once transfer and registration has gone through we meet to the client on site and then give them the keys you know to their to their new investment on new new home Troy another question i wanted to ask you when you mentioned bond originators why is it so important to rather go through a bond originator rather than just go hop on your banking app and apply for finance there you know i get also quite often and it's actually very simple many clients think you know what let's just approach our own bank and yes it's all while it being said clients often think they're going to get preferential rates especially their private bank and clients but it's not always a case what's nice is the bond originator and the services we offer is the bond originator doesn't go to the client's primary bank the bond originator then goes to the other banks as well so many a time the other banks might find more value in the client than their own bank does and offers them much better offerings in terms of full loan amounts as well as better interest rates in which event the client you know is alleviated the fact that the only you know being forced to go with their own bank or their own bank is offered they can see the other banks are even more eager for their business so many a time other banks give much better offerings which the client often pursues as opposed to go in the route of their own bank so the the originator fights and you know often just goes to the extra mile you know to get the better interest rates and the better offering on behalf of that client so that is always a a great initiative that we offer it's very interesting to know because i think a lot of people like you said think because i've been banking with this bank for so long they're going to give me the best rates and you don't often to think hold on what are the other banks going to do so it's nice to know that sals and yourself offer that option that you guys are going to take that handle it and come back to me with my best options well with all the options and then we can start boiling it down to the best actually just just rest assured for the client i mean at the end of the day the clients are responsibility so we just want to ensure that they get the best possible service at the best possible offerings that the market has to offer now we've been speaking about investments quite a bit today and i wanted to ask you just before we close off is what advice would you give to somebody looking to invest into property today well quite simply i mean i've always maintained in my my sort of what has always been the best time to purchase is yesterday i mean there's never better time than to purchase than the given time i mean any investment you're going to make now is always going to pay itself off you know in the long run so best you can do is the best property but i would always recommend that now is a very good time for for the clients the first time buyers specially you know to jump into the market and get their foot into the door because of the fact that take advantage of the current you know buyers market and the current market that we want at the moment as well as the fact is take advantage of the current interest rates i mean the interest rates are at a all time low i mean as we all aware seven percent been the lowest in you know 50 odd years or whatever it is so now is a very good time for the client you know to get into the market at a seven percent interest rate their bond and their monthly repayment is going to be much much lower than it was you know years ago so now is a very good time but actually better than ever for you know a client to get into the market and to get their foot into the door to start you know investing in property now truly last year i wanted to say is that salsa has had a long standing relation with private property and can you talk to me a bit about how much that's affected the way you market your products well you know private property is being they've made life so much easier for us from from an agency perspective and from a marketing perspective i mean the platform they provide everything is just very accessible very easy it's very user friendly and i mean they've also just given us the exposure to you know platform and market our developments and our listings and all of that in a very professional and and a market market how can i say in a way that the market would would like to see it i mean they also you know offer the option of us to do you know metaports and all the added bonuses you know that the industry likes to see you know where you can sit in the comfort of your own home and have a metaport or 3d where you can walk through the property virtually yourself without having to physically view the property so private property is definitely assisted us you know a lot in terms of the platform they provide to market on and also just the benefits like the show that they offer the public i mean i think it's definitely something that makes him stand out in terms of one of the marketing platforms that you can use nowadays troi thank you so much for taking some time out to join us today it has been enlightening and i think everybody who's joined in definitely is very interested to jump hop on to private property and take a good look at levier states so thank you very much it's my pleasure thanks chad and thanks to the private property team for taking the time today anytime i'm hopefully going to see you again on your soon but for everybody that's joined us thank you so much for tuning in and i will be seeing you tomorrow thank you again and goodbye