 Good evening and welcome to episode 346 of the private property podcast. I'm your host Uzama Donwa Kumalo. It is the Wednesday edition of the private property podcast. If you're joining us for the first time, welcome to the family. You've missed out on a whole host of incredible episodes. So do make sure that you go to our Facebook or YouTube page or wherever you get your podcast, whether it's Spotify, of course, or on the Apple podcast platform, then catch up on the great episodes that you have already missed out on. And so all our regular viewers on Facebook, on Instagram, on YouTube, welcome back. You know how we do it. Every single weekday, you and I have an appointment at 7 p.m., we're always in conversation with the property expert who helps us make better property decisions. It doesn't matter whether where you are in your property journey, we're certainly here to make it better, smoother, and empower you to make better decisions. And talking about empowering you to make better decisions, you can tune into a whole host of other shows right here across private properties, social media platforms, every weekday at 8 p.m. As it is a Wednesday, you can catch S.T. Colson on the first time home buyer show later on, which is always in conversation with people who've walked that first time home buying journey, and have gone on to grow their property portfolios from strength to strength. And of course, every Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ombalino Agua brings you the farming podcast tackling all things agriculture. So if you want to certainly get your green fingers working and understanding the business side of agriculture, that is the show that you want to tune into. And every Mondays and Fridays, Chad brings us the home shoppers show where he takes us through exquisite properties that you can find on www.privateproperty.co.za. So do make sure to not miss that show every Mondays and Fridays. And of course, there's myself as I'm at Ombalino every single weekday at 7 p.m. I am on your screens and always learning from each other across our social media platforms. And I really see some of the love that we're getting on to see who is present and watching, whether you're watching us on Facebook, on YouTube, or of course on our Instagram page. Do show us some love down here below. This evening, we are talking about research and upmarket retirement housing. And I know that whenever we talk about retirement housing, I always think, oh gosh, I'm so young, that sort of thing, I have to think about. But the reality is we have family members who we have to always consider because sometimes we may have to make those plans for them. And of course, some of us, some of you, let me just say some of us, I'm so quite young, some of you are getting older and also looking at different ways to potentially change your lifestyle. The moment you are, of course, older. That's exactly what we're going to be looking at this evening. I already see some of the love. Vanessa and now saying hello, beautiful summer, saying evening fam, Varane Siddiqui, also watching, saying evening fam. Vanessa now is also watching. And of course, a whole host of you on our Facebook page, Michelle Volmarans, mochale mochale, sending those green hearts on our Facebook page. So do keep the love coming. Absolutely love to see it. I want to find out from your home. I mean, is a retirement home something that, A, you would consider for yourself or you would consider for a loved one. And whether you have already started looking at retirement housing options. And what have you found as you're doing your research when you've spoken about this topic before on the show when we're just covering the basics of what we need to know when it comes to retirement housing. But to get us to help us get a bit of sense of this, you know, demand in the more upmarket retirement housing. I'm joined this evening by Gus van der Spachter, the CEO at Review Property Developers and owner of the upmarket retirement estate with him, his state. And I think also later on in the show, as many of you know, as we're running our competition, where you can stand a chance of walking away with 500 grand cash every single weekday right here on the private property podcast, we're going to be announcing who the potential lucky winner is. We didn't get a winner yesterday. We didn't get a winner the day before. So we've got, I think it's now 2000 rounds that's in the money bag. And I hope that the winner that we're going to call is indeed watching and will be able to claim their prize. And of course, do you keep the comments coming through? Have you ever considered, you know, going moving into a retirement home or even for your family? And have you started already having that conversation when you see those comments down here on our page? Gus, good evening. And thank you so much for joining us on the show. Evenings. Thank you very much for having me again. You know, Gus, I think before we even look at, you know, what we should be asking for and, you know, some of the trends that we've seen or that you've rather picked up when it comes to the demand for retirement housing in general. I think first, perhaps paint a picture of us around the difference between, I'll say, the sort of classical standard retirement housing offers versus the more upmarket ones. You know, what are some of the distinguishing factors? Because I think so many of us generally not being used to retirement housing as much, we probably don't quite know what we would expect on the, you know, higher end when we look at this offering. Yeah. Look, thank you. Good question. And I think the whole industry has changed a lot of the last sort of 10 years, you know, we're looking at lots of the sort of lifestyle estate is what the product is at the moment that is very much in demand. You know, it used to be old age homes when sort of my granny was in a place and then it turned into retirement estate. So now we're looking at lifestyle living and lifestyle living is really around having a bouquet of services that and healthcare being sort of the central one of those that differentiated from a regular sort of block of flats or development estate. It's got that sort of care portion of it. But the people are demanding sort of or asking for a lot more than that nowadays. And that's really being provided for by developers as we look to differentiate ourselves from other products in the market. There is, as you say, a sort of a drive nowadays towards this sort of seniors living market where there's a lot of housing coming online in this sphere. And the look is really to or the drive is really to provide services that people need in a centralized eat and healthcare and search with their friends and that sort of thing all in the same area. So nowadays, sort of differentiators are shuttle services, you know, there'll be a tennis court or something on the grounds, sort of high end food healthcare that's obviously provided as part of your your packages or things that are sort of seen as the standard. And then and then it depends different developments offering different services in our place. We've got a hotel now. So if you've got family and friends coming to stay, there's a hotel for them to stay. And we've got laundry, you know, there's there's there's a whole range of new services that are that are being sort of provided. It's like living in a in a hotel, but not a hotel. It's a home. But you're getting a lot of the hospitality services that you would have got, you know, that you would normally get in places like that. I mean, I think one of the key things that are really just jumping out is that you're certainly going to be living a very soft life in your old age. And I can imagine a lot of people you've worked really hard. By the time you know, the kids are gone, you probably have grandkids and also don't want to be a bother, right? Because I think one of the realities that sometimes your kids can be spread out across the country or across the world. And so being able to have some of these services where you live certainly does become a very big perk. And so that's then what would you say is the, you know, what are some of the Welcome back to episode 346 of the Private Property Podcast. I'm your host, Uzaman Tomah Komalo. It seems the long weekend gremlins are already at it. That's what I'm going to blame it on there. As of course, I got cut off. I think that the gremlins are excited. They're looking forward to the long weekend. And I don't want to stop our buzz, but of course, we're not going to do that. We're still going to be looking at the surge in upmarket retirement housing. My guest this evening is Gus from the SPAC who's the CEO of a View Property Developers. And before that interruption, Gus, I was asking you around some of the trends that you've seen when it comes to retirement housing. And this is from sort of the standard offering that we have in the market right up to the high end offerings. So yeah, some of the trends are definitely more of a centralized collection of services. You know, not leaving the development, I think, over this lockdown period and COVID has definitely focused people on living in these communities. I suppose it's always been about a community of people. I suppose that is really one of the key focal areas of a retirement development is people get older and they will get a bit smaller. And people look for the companionship that these places provide. So, you know, building on that, there's a lot of community organizations that come out of these places. My folks have just moved into one. And, you know, my mom's already joined the gardening club and the knitting club. So there's all the sort of sad line things that aren't advertised in the brochures, but are definitely very much a part of these societies that come together in these kind of places. You know, I always say to people, you're back to your student days just with some more disposable income, because you're living in a collection of people together where you see your friends every day, but you don't have the hassle of having to study for exams. So, yeah, I think it's a very social place. And that's definitely one of the things that are coming out of it. So, you know, the trends are definitely focused around building on that. So, you know, we're seeing developments where there's a shuttle service and when the flowers come out in Cape Town, then everyone jumps in the shuttle bus and go out to see the flowers. So those are the sort of things that are community based projects and services that are coming out. And of course, I want to find out from you at home, whether you've considered, you know, retirement, housing, retirement, living, whether for yourself or for your parents. And I think what are some of the things that you're, you know, that are going through your mind as you're making these considerations, especially if you're planning on taking out the offer for your parents. I think many of us are still very young and don't quite have to think about it for ourselves. But we do have loved ones who would potentially, you know, benefit from, you know, living in a retirement estate, because as Gus has pointed out, it is a whole experience. It's a lifestyle offering. And there are so many different ways that, you know, the loved one would be almost reinventing themselves really in those particular communities. I see here, Balisa on our Facebook page, Balisa Salane saying, you know, I rather take care of my mom, Kazi, Maubet saying that they would, and that is that they would, you know, opt for retirement living. Kazi also said that they'd probably consider it for investment opportunities. So not just for, you know, living there yourself. I saw Matha Shingange, one of our top 10 gang members, and of course, you know, who regularly stands in when I'm unavailable, saying that, you know, it seems like retirement is the new 50. So there are different kinds of offerings that you can look forward to even in that space. And I think it speaks to what Gus was saying, that it's almost like varsity life, except you don't have the stress of, you know, exams and having to meet your assignment deadlines, which of course we know, we all know how angst-inducing those tend to be. I want us to go for a quick break. Do keep the comments and some new questions coming through. I want us to see who is going to walk away with this 2000 rand. I see a lot of you commenting about how much money is now in the money bag. I hope that whoever walks away with the money is indeed watching and can walk away with the 2000 rand. Let's see who this evening's lucky winner is. And the lucky winner this evening on our competition that we're running on our Facebook page is O'Fullo Felo, Michelle Hope. I do hope that you're watching. 2000 rand is up for grabs and of course in the money bag. So if you're watching, drop us a text down here below so you can claim that 2000 rand. I know a lot of people in the comments section was just saying this is so much money that they would absolutely love it. And if anything, it would be a great kickstart to the upcoming long weekend. If we have a roll over by the time we come to the long weekend, we'll see how much money we have in the money bag. Of course, we are talking all things upmarket retirement housing this evening, the offering, what you should be looking for, and some of the mistakes to avoid. And that's exactly what we're going to be exploring now in conversation with Gus van der Spak, the CEO at the property developers. Now, Gus, when we look at particularly the upmarket retirement housing offerings, what are some of the mistakes as consumers should we avoid making? And especially as we are planning, whether it's for ourselves or for our loved ones, because I think this is one of those things that more often than not, you probably only do once, right? It's not like buying a house where you might probably buy it a couple of times and change it. This isn't quite one of those instances. So what are some mistakes should we be careful of and certainly try avoiding? So obviously, some of the mostly mandatory things are the ones that jump out. When you're comparing levies between different developments, we see a lot of clients that are shopping around, they're looking at a few different places. I always say, compare apples with apples. So really look down into the levy and see what services you're getting and what it replaces, the cost that replaces in your life right now. So if you're living in a house and there's ABT or whatever, if you move in some way with centralized security, you're going to replace that cost with a different cost. And then look across all of the different offerings that you have. Put in a spreadsheet or something and build out that cost to make sure that you understand exactly what each development is offering you, because often there are things that are hidden away, not purposefully, but are excluded from certain developments, which you will then have to pay in for later. So you want to really find out what the worst case scenario is in terms of what it's going to cost you to live somewhere. Retirement developments generally are cheaper to live in, because there's a collection of people paying for a set of services, then living in the house and getting that same services, but really trying to understand the levy. If someone says, look, my levy is 3,000 a month and the other person says, my levy is 7,000 a month. Generally, it's not because one person is just cheaper than that. It's because there's a different set of services that you get for that levy. And then the other thing is, I would say, we deal a lot with people that are qualifying ages from 60, some places are 65, and a 60-year-old is a young person still with a long term left to live. So people consider the change now and what they need in their life right now, but when you are making this move, project that 10 years ahead and then project another 10 years ahead from that and then project, so you need to make a decision, that's a 20-year decision, if you're 60 or if you're 70, a 10-year decision or depending on how long you're planning on living, but it is a longer decision that you need to make. So don't make it for today, make it for 10 years from now. So I would say that's very much something you need to consider. Things like living near your kids becomes more and more important the older you get. And so the ideal of retiring to a beachside town might seem like a great idea when you're 60, but when you're 80 and driving and longer distances becomes a problem, then all of a sudden that decision wasn't the best decision. So I think it definitely should be something you consider the longer sort of future when we're making that call. And I see that our winner full of fellow Michelle Hope is indeed on the live watching, she's dropped messages down here below claiming that 2,000 rands. Congratulations to you full of fellow for of course firstly entering the competition and being and watching us laugh so that you're able to claim the money. And if you want to be just like all you have to do is to comment on the pin post on our Facebook page and you send a chance of walking away with the 500 grand cash that would give away every single evening right here on the show and live. And so do make sure that you keep commenting and your name might be one of the names that gets called up. And just like full of fellow all you have to do is to drop us a text down here below to claim your money and full of fellow remember to slide into our DMs so we get your details so that we can make sure that you get that cash. You know guys as you're speaking I think one of the things that I came up for me was then what are some of the best ways to prepare right? So I mean we're now fairly clear on some of the mistakes we want to avoid that the big thing being get a good sense of finances and I think that's one of the things that of course even at that age you don't want to get wrong. Actually because you would have worked all your life and you now want to practice and so to speak or some of the things that you should do to best prepare before you obviously either buy into the retirement home at which age should we start preparing as we make that consideration of moving from a kind of home or house rather or property that you're living in. Yeah Zama I think the last time I was on the show with you we were speaking about you know being financially prepared and that really is a such an important concept to grasp when you're younger of saving for your retirement. I think working into your 70s is not everyone's plan but some people have to do it because they haven't prepared sufficiently. So start early you know I think that's probably the best advice I would give my 18-19 year old self for whenever I started working my first job you know is take 10% of your salary and put in savings account. It's amazing what you can do with time and time really creates money. It's people save themselves rich you know it's a real concept I mean I've seen people that are that haven't earned huge salaries but they've been big savers and they've secured their futures at 65 you know they can set you retire and live their life on their own terms at that point. So yeah I think the other thing to consider is that we're all living longer nights so you know if you're prepared to sort of you know your timeline is to 80 you might live to 90 you might live to 95 so these are all things that that are difficult to sort of conceptualize when you're younger but I think you can give yourself a big head start by starting early and putting some money away and don't touch it but it's somewhere you can't touch it and then just keep on putting it there and it's amazing what will build up and it's like one of those things you know you start off small and it doesn't seem like much but when you look back in a couple years there's a significant part of money and then it becomes a challenge to build it up even more and what I've seen with my mother is a big saver and she doesn't want to ever touch that part of money so she's now very reluctant to start looking at it but you know I think she's been a very good sort of example for me to follow in that sense of just scrolling money away every month it becomes a sizable investment at some point but yeah so that's that's one of them you know some of the other things you can do in terms of retirement there's been a scarcity of retirement developments across all fields you know from the sort of entry level through the mid range to the higher end there's been this sort of lack of sufficient units and so you always hear about these waiting lists to get into retirement developments and my sort of advice would be if you are living in an area find your local retirement developments and put your name down you know there's nothing there's no harm in it there's no cost in it just put your name on the list you're generally going to get an update every now and then of what units are available and when the time comes then you'll be ready for it you know what you're looking at you've educated yourself in the offering you've watched the process at the time so you know what you can afford so so start looking at these things earlier rather than later it's not all dreary it's doesn't have to be considered the last move you know it really is just preparing yourself for a certain phase in your life where you need a collection of services that these these developments provide that's before I let you go I mean I saw the the great news that you know have you have you property developers are going to be recognized at a very prestigious you know awards the Arabia property 2021 awards tell us a little bit about the awards and of course what you are going to be recognized for next month I know that the event will be taking place virtually next month tell us a little bit about that it's always great seeing you know South African companies and projects getting recognition in in in award ceremonies that aren't just local but of course have you know international people also coming in international projects so can you tell us a little bit about the work that you're going to be recognized for and a little bit about the awards yeah sure we were contacted during the course of last year by the international property awards who had come across our development and thought we had a chance of of doing okay in in the in the in the award ceremony we put together a sort of an entry pack and we heard the good news the other day that we played in the Africa and Arabia region which is which is the start of the competition so so we've won a prize there for residential development of the year and also our website won an award there as well and basically what happens now is we go into the next round which groups all the regions together and there's sort of a world number one that will come out of it and so that all happens on the 7th of October it's a virtual they used to have the big award ceremony in Dubai but obviously with COVID and that sort of thing that's all being held online now but yeah it really you know it's it's been sort of three three and a half years of very high intensity of development on and keeping this thing on track and learning about the business and you know you're not just developing a housing project there's there's a human element to it where you know you've got these social elements and food and cleaning and so you're sort of building a hotel and a hospital and a development all in one so to be recognized for that is definitely you know makes it all sort of worth it at the end of the day all the hard work that we've put in and I'm just happy for my team who you know sorry I missed you there I think I mean certainly congratulations firstly to you and your team and thank you very much Summer yeah I'm looking forward to the 7th to see how you fare with the you know with the rest of the international community thank you very much in the awards we're going to leave it there this evening on the private property podcast with myself Osama Dunga Kumalo Gus thank you so much for joining us on the show it's always a pleasure to have you with us thank you very much so am I always good to chat and that is Gus van der Spijk who's the CEO of a View Property Developers Wrapping Up the Wednesday edition of the Private Property Podcast with myself Osama Dunga Kumalo congratulations yet again to all fellow Michel Hope for walking away with that 2,000 rands we're back to 500 rands in the money bag tomorrow I'm very excited to see who's going to win tomorrow I do hope that they're going to be watching and to claim their prize remember if you want to participate comment in the post that is pinned on our Facebook page to stand a chance of walking away with the cash prize that's it from myself I'll be back on your screens tomorrow tomorrow I'm here we've got a recess at school so I'm certainly able to be on the show on Thursday so I'll be on the screens tomorrow evening at 7 p.m and of course it is a Wednesday so you can catch the first time home by show with Esti Klassen at 8 p.m until then hoping you stay home and stay safe