 And secondly, it comes to why, why now? Why buy property at a young age? Because most of us only think property when we want to sort of settle down. And we do that at a later stage. So we don't see the benefit of having property at a young age because we don't understand no value of what it offers. Good evening and welcome back to the First Time Homebuyer Show. I'm your host, Estie Klaasen. Every week we speak to amazing guests. But before I get into this evening's guests, as you know, we have amazing content coming to you live every weeknight this week. We have Zaman Tungua Kumalo on the Private Property Podcast. That's from Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. All your technicalities when it comes to property. If you want to know more about that, that's definitely the show for you. And if you're interested in farming, we have Mbali at 8 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday night. If you're ready to speak a little bit more about agriculture, buying farms, investing in farms, that's definitely the show. And, of course, last but not least, we have Chad Vaviros with the Home Shopper Show every Monday and Friday. And they travel around Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, looking at amazing townhouses, mansions. That's Chad Vaviros with the Home Shopper Show every Monday and Friday night at 8 p.m. If you're interested in making that big investment, whether it's mansions, little apartments in Santon, or big, absolute big beach houses in Mshlanga Rocks or Camps Bay, well, that's definitely the show for you. So, without further ado, we're sitting with the absolutely amazing Loazi this evening. We're talking about youth in property and also all the goals that he's achieved in such a short amount of time and his upbringing and things that have made him reach these goals. And, of course, Loazi, good evening. How are you? Good evening, SD. How are you? I'm well. Thank you so much for joining us. You know, we speak about youth in property and how one of the biggest questions from a lot of viewers and even friends in my own circle is, is it possible that there's this assumption that only the older people can invest in property? What would you say are your thoughts around that? So, when it comes to the property market, I feel that it's accessible to anyone who wants to access it for whatever reason, okay? And it's a market, meaning there's trade involved. And with trade, finances are involved. And with property, or in my experience, we need to approach the financial institutions when it comes to finances. And some of us are sort of fortunate to have cash, meaning there needs to be a financial source in order to access the property market. Now, let's come back to the youth. As to one, it's a huge financial commitment because with the traditional banks, they offer loans between 20 and 30 years. And we just not ready to commit to such at a young stage. And secondly, it comes to why now, why buy property at a young age because most of us only think property when we want to sort of settle down and we do that at a later stage. So, we don't see the benefit of having property at a young age because we don't understand no value what it offers. And all that goes back to knowledge, meaning we, as the youth, we lack the knowledge in terms of what property offers, what are the benefits when it comes to buying property at a young age. So, for example, there are many benefits in terms of owning property at a young age, coming to us as a youth. When it comes to property, let's say you want to buy property, the benefits of buying property at a young age. So, the traditional banks offer data or 20-year bond finance. If you buy property, let's say 25, meaning at the age of 45, you're finished paying for that house. Or even if it's stated at the age of 55, you're done paying for that property. And if you buy it at a later stage, you still have that bond, you're taking that bond to your retirement. And if you were not saving enough to have money or to access cash when you come to retirement, meaning now, come with your pension fund, you need to sort of deal with the bond. Exactly, the payment, yeah. Yes, pay back those repayments. So, those are things that we sort of don't think about. And it's not only about just buying your home. There are a lot of things that you can achieve through property, be it you're buying investment type of property. And even when you own property, you can do other things. Let's say you want to start a business. You can refinance your house when you've sort of finished it. And let's say you were paying more. You can sort of access that amount bank, banks call it an access account or a flexible account. So those are the benefits of owning property that I feel we as a youth don't sort of know. And it all goes back to knowledge. And I think you speak about, you know, having, committing to something long-term. And I think that a lot of, and I speak for my own self and my own circles, is that, you know, we're trying to make money really quickly. And property is a long-term goal, right? And we're trying to be like, okay, so what can I buy now that is quickly going to give me money or that can make me money fast? And so, again, you speak about commitment and I forgot to mention that you're a doctor. So you had to commit to a degree for seven years. Not a lot of us can commit that long. So you already have this mindset of commitment. So when it comes to finances, and we'll get to that later about your savings plan, because you say, you've said in your bio that you've learned quite a lot about saving money. But just before we go into that, I want to talk about Loazi, you know, your upbringing. What has made you, the man that you are today, you are, I'm sitting with a 26-year-old this evening. And I mean, that, for me, we even spoke about this just before the show that like, I mean, I'm older than you and you've achieved, you know. But I know it's not a comparison. It's not a game because I solely believe that we're all on our own journey. I believe that we're running a different race, different pace. And that one day, of course, we also have different goals. And I'm sure that you have multiple goals that you still want to reach. This is only a few, you know. And in the beginning, when I introduced you, I said that you've done this in a short amount of time. And I saw you react in the corner of my eye. So maybe I lied there. So maybe how long did it take you for you to achieve all these goals, like amount of years or what? And then I want to get into what did you have to put in to get what you've got right now? Okay. So just to make sure that I'm getting you, do you want me to talk about property or property and career? Let's separate the two. Let's start with property. How long did it take for you to achieve your goals within the property, within your property journey? Because you're building a property portfolio. You've got a few properties under your belt, right? And I know we often talk about on the show about property stock falls. And we often talk about, because I know earlier when you were talking about the youth and how the youth need to get into the market, it's not that easy if we think about it. Like you just graduate and then maybe a few months later or even a year later, you then only become permanent. So no bank will finance you if you're on contract, right? And I look at this and I'm like, but property stock fall, if we just own 25% of something or 30% of, it's so much, we can do that without getting finance, you know? Taking your salary at the end of the month, taking a 2000 yen and contributing it to a stock fall. So let's go back to your property journey. How long did it take for you to reach where you currently are? And then I'd like to know what is your goal, your long-term goal? Well, honestly speaking, I've been in the property industry two years, two years. I'm done. I wash my hands, I'm done. Yeah, because I graduated in 2018. I only started working in 2019 at Steve. So with us, it's a little bit different if you're a medical doctor when it comes to finance. Right. Because truth is that the banks are sort of comfortable with taking that risk if you're a medical practitioner. Yeah. And that sort of allowed one to, or that was the advantage to sort of enter the property game without having to deal with the other things of having had taken time to sort of build your credit score and having to sort of, I don't want to say fight with the banks, but in that struggle that they sort of make other individuals sort of go through. So your career basically saved you. Exactly. Exactly. Because we look up to doctors and we know doctors have money. That's the truth. My career saved me, it gave me the advantage in time when it comes to the property market. So that's your property journey? Okay. You intertwined both of them though. You spoke about career and property. I did, I did. So currently, let me just lay out what I've done in the past two years. I own two investment properties. One in Campton Park, one in Cape Town. And I was fortunate enough to buy my folks a home, a place they can call home. And I also started a property investment company last year. And it's been operational for about a year with a few of my other friends, Appium, Jengu, Lisa and Asavela. And we own two properties as a stand. It's just sectional title and of which we own 25% share. Right. So we, on a monthly basis, so we came together and we sort of, there's this guy, Gavin, Gavin. When I was starting my property journey, so I did a lot of reading and attending property seminars. And I met Gavin, he's a property investment strategist and of which I sort of bought the two investment properties through the company he was working with at the time. Then I also wanted to do more because I sort of made this promise to myself that I want 30 properties, not 30, sorry, 10 properties. Because you're very capable of getting 30 properties before you turn for 30. Yeah, yeah, so 10 at the age of 30. Okay. So we're on how many now? Because we need to hold you accountable. That's what we do on the show. Wow. So do we count the primary residents? Count all of them. Yes, it's yours. Really? Let's do that. It's yours. Okay, so three under personal capacity, then two of which we own 25%. 5%. Then the goal is to have 30. Why do I keep on saying 30? It's the age because you want to do it before you turn 30. So you need five more basically? Yeah, hey, I hadn't thought about that. So I need five more. So I want 10 before the age of 30. And so when you approach traditional banks, so they use what they call affordability when it comes to property finance. So they allow one 30%, according to the National Credit Act, is 30% off your gross. Okay. So I was mixed out in terms of investing as an individual. But the goal still stands. I want 10 properties before 30 years. Okay. So I had to sort of find other means. And I was reading this book and it spoke about investing as a unit or as a team. Then I spoke to friends who then sort of bought into the idea. Then we sort of needed to formulate a structure. Then we spoke to Gavin and he told us that, okay, you can start up a company. Right. And contribute basically like a stock fell. Right. Contribute on a monthly basis, but to buy properties. Because then it's a legal entity which you can sort of approach the financial institutions when it comes to financing. Yes. And as we all medical doctors, let me just say that. Find doctor friends, guys. We medical doctors. And in the bank's eye, we are capable. Exactly. We are capable. You're probably like out of all the industries, all the careers, you're not as much. You're not a high risk. Yes. We're less. An actor or creative. Exactly. And they look at the buying power. So the buying power of us as individuals combined, we can achieve a lot more. 100%. So that's why we sort of went for this approach. So let's buy property as a unit and then company structure. Because we all want to, so we come from different or disadvantaged backgrounds. Right. And we want to sort of lay a foundation to sort of build generational wealth. So it's a concept that each of us, each four of us understand that one, we want to change where we come from to financial freedom, generational wealth. And we understand that property is a long-term investment. And we share that very same goal as individuals. So it was much more easier then to sort of formulate a company and have the thing going. I think that's so important because that's literally a solution for the youth to get into property. Exactly. If you can't do it as an individual, find others to sort of do the invest in property. Exactly. And I love how you were so specific on the fact that you share the same values. You don't necessarily need to have the same upbringing. But your goals are now similar, very much the same. And I think that, like I said, for the youth, if we can grab a few friends, start a company, and I feel like it's, I feel like, yes, property is not an easy journey. There's a lot that we still need to learn. But just before this, you know, we always talk on the show about having a mentor and having people who guide you through this. And of course the show is one way that we do guide the viewers at home, how and ideas that we give them ideas and educate them, you know, on how they can put that foot into the property market. And I like how you said earlier that, because I asked you if you have a mentor and you were like, no. And I was like, oh, so it's not that important. And you were like, no, it really is important. And so tell us a little bit how you, because you said it took you two years. What did you do to, you know, give yourself this knowledge of property? What did you do to educate yourself around the property market? So in my final year of studying, I did a lot of reading. Because I knew that I wanted to enter in the property market. So I read a lot, attended property seminars and that's basically how I gained my knowledge. Obviously it's ideal to have a mentor, but those people aren't readily available. People are busy and it's a matter of who you know as well. I didn't know anyone who was in the property industry because in my environment I'm not surrounded by such, but we do have books. And there are people that are in the property game, written books, made mistakes and they talk about their challenges, their experiences and how you start. And basically a whole, what's this thing? Like a framework. Framework, yes. Framework of how they think. So you gain that through books. So that's what I use. I use books and attended seminars. And what I love recently, we've had a few guests, property investors slash authors. We have so many property, South African property investors who are now writing. And I love that because it's very difficult to resonate with the property story from America. It's very difficult to resonate with someone who did not grow up the way I did. And now you read these books written by these South African property investors who resonate on a personal level. You feel like you can achieve these goals. Because someone, the person who wrote this book, let's say example Gavin, a guy we had on the show recently, I could sit next to Gavin in a bus tomorrow. I can resonate with him on a level like that. I can't sit next to Robert Keele though. True. Because you know. And then, yes, I wanted to find out, so just before we carry on and talk more about your property journey, you spoke about growing up and your bio really moved me. I'd like for you to share that story with our viewers at home. Because after you share that story, I have a follow-up question which is very, it's related to you moving around often. You know, you growing up in KZN, what was that like for you? And because I know growing up already, you had a goal, you need to buy your mother a house. So what was that journey like for you? Okay, so I was born at Engwela's on a hospital, 1995. Okay? Just proof. He is 26 guys, proof. Just more proof. More proof. Yeah. So my mom was unmarried and unemployed and we moved around a lot. So we moved from Langeza to Stanga and it was tough. So we stayed in this one room. So when I say one room, I just mean four walls. Right. So there was eight of us in this place. We slept, bathed, cooked, ate on that one room and only had one meal per day and school was a bit far. So you had to walk quite a distance to go to school and that was in 2003. So we had rented out this place and my uncle was the only one working. Then the very same year we moved again to within Stanga and rented out another room which was now about an hour, 30 minutes away from school. So imagine as a kid having to walk that distance. Yeah. In 2004 we moved to Durban. It was nice because now we had a home. Right. A home. Then there was this, I remember at Durban Claremont me and my mom were walking and there was this political organization that was sort of handing out t-shirts. Then my mom sort of jumped to reach for one of the t-shirts. Not that she's a political person, but she just wanted something to weigh. And then when she sort of reached for the ground she missed a step and sprained her ankle. So as a kid you can imagine that that's not a good thing to watch. And I made a decision then and then that I want to buy this woman a home. I need to take care of this woman. I don't ever want to see my mom in that state. Then following year unfortunately she passed away. Then I had to move back to Langeza and stay with my dad who was also figuring things out. So with him I think I moved there about four times. And school was my only escape. Then fast forward I'm in metric. Obviously did well. Obviously you're a doctor. Obviously. Then I got accepted to do medicine at UKZN. But I made the promise to myself that I need to buy my mom a home. And yes she was no longer around but I still needed to sort of do that. That's how this whole thing about property started. It was a promise then a promise grew into love. Because now with doing research on how to enter the property market I saw wow there's actually a lot more involved than just owning a home. And I wanted to give a place for my folks and siblings they could call home. Because as you can imagine moving around a lot as a kid it's not nice. You don't keep friendships. It affects you academically and socially. Exactly. So I don't want that for my siblings. And now I'm at ease because they have a place they can call home. And I have a place that I can sort of go to during the holidays. I remember this other time I was in Varsity. Then came June holidays. Then my father was like ehhh time. We no longer stay at that place. Now I had to sort of take a taxi to go to that place they were staying at now. So you continue to move around. Exactly. I tell Varsity even. So you say this right I just want to quote you. You say all of the moving I've experienced throughout my life has given me a strong sense of what I want and what I don't want in property. And a great appreciation for stability. If anything I think stability is so it's key and a roof and shelter. Stability and shelter you know. So you say appreciation for the stability a home can bring you. I love that you said a home because a lot of people will be like no stability and you know a roof over my head that my house brings me. No you call this a home because for such a long time such a big part of your life you didn't have a home. Something you could call home. So just before I ask you my million dollar question which I ask every week on the show before I get there I want to ask so because you've moved around and you've said that now you know what you want and what you don't want in property. What don't you want in property? Well basically living in one room and having to do everything I don't want that experience again. Okay and one thing let me just speak about what I want. Because I don't want what I experienced growing up of not having a place I call home. I don't want having to travel long distances just to access education. So amenities are a priority at this stage. So one I need to have a home or a house, a stable place, a stable home that I can always go to as an individual. But on that note of home my million dollar question is what does home mean for Loazi? What does that mean for you, that word? I'll say I'm grateful to have a place that I can always go to during the holidays or now since I'm working when I'm off. Not having to inquire as a way to stay. Where you guys now? Where did I come? That's one. And as an individual I also feel that I'm not yet at that stage to a place that I call home as an individual. Yes, because I feel like that's a decision that one makes when you circle down. So I'm not yet there when it comes to yes, I have a home, my parent's place. Of course, but you don't... At this stage, no. I still want my own place that I call my home. Right. You, I mean, and that makes so much sense because yes, you're 26, you're still part of the youth, you still fit in the youth bracket although you're doing things that you know we're not doing ahead of the game. But it's so important for us to acknowledge that we have not yet found home. And for me, I think what's so... I love this question because I don't necessarily find home in a place. I find home in people. So for me, it's very easy for me to move from one place to the next because my home is all the people I surround myself with. And that is why... That feels good. Thanks. On that note, you're a doctor, right? And doctor. And you help people. And I'm sure that there have been certain things... Let's actually, before I even ask that question, what inspired you to study medicine? Well, you know when you're growing up, most of us choose careers based on what we're exposed to and growing up the only options that I was exposed to were medicine or becoming a doctor, teacher, policeman, or a Chetan accountant. So those were the only four. And for me, knowing what I wanted to do, medicine came with stability and in terms of employment, you guaranteed that you would get a job and it would allow me to do things that I wanted to do. And I was curious. I was always a curious individual. So when I was doing grade eight, a learner sort of had fits. And, you know, being kids, you feel helpless. You have absolutely no idea as to what to do. And we're just putting water on this building. And I wanted to know one, what is this? Right. Okay. And how do you stop this? Because it self-apported. Then that's how I sort of chose medicine. I was curious. One, it offered security in terms of employment status. Then I was going to get answers to what's that. And now I know. You chose the right career path. No offense to anyone who didn't. But on that note, right? So I was saying you're a doctor. You help people. You're curious. You want stability. You want security. How do you plan on doing that in the property market? How do you plan on taking that curiosity further on your property journey? Okay. As a medical doctor. Well, I think as a medical doctor and also as a property, you're a property investor because you have big plans. I don't know if you want to share that. Okay. So one of the things that I hold close to my heart is establishing a hospital group. I want to build a hospital which is semi-private. So partly owned by private entity and by the community as a whole. Because currently I work at Engelizana Hospital which is a tertiary hospital. Okay. And it functions both as a level one, two and three. So level one caters for primary health care and two is regional and district services. And it caters for about 18 hospitals in the northern part of KZN. So we receive referrals from all these places. And it's a lot. And at around 12 and one, on Monday to Friday, we get patients coming through with buses. Imagine at 12 am midnight, just for them to access specialist care to be seen by a doctor for about 15 to 20 minutes. And that person is not doing well. And now on top of that they are sleep deprived. Yeah. Yes. So I want to sort of bridge that gap especially in my community. So build a hospital which is sort of work hand in hand with the tertiary institution and also the primary health care sectors to incorporate some of the specialist services so we can also, the tertiary institution can also down refer. Right. And we can also co-manage patients in the primary health care sector and have services like your emergency unit, mother and child and geriatrics and HIV specialist. Because those are the conditions specific to the community as a whole. So that's one of my projects that I'm currently working on. And that's a big project. I mean you're very passionate about this. This is something, firstly it's a necessity in the community. Yes. You're passionate about it. It's a huge gap. Exactly. There's a huge gap. And you've already started this journey? Yeah. Well, I've sort of established a telegram group to send out to the community and they've been sort of reluctant. The surprise I only have seven members. Oh well. And it's a community that has about 10,000 plus. So it's been difficult sort of trying to get the message across because one of the things I believe as, so it's a black community. So most of us are reluctant when it comes to such project and sort of giving cash because my plan was okay, let's form this one, let's say account and contribute on a monthly basis an X amount so that you can build the hospital. Of course, yeah. Okay. Because then if you know that we have a hospital in the area then we can access certain services easily because one, I think nowadays we do have let's say DSTV and we contribute a certain amount on a monthly basis. Every month, yeah. So why not do the same and to access one of the basic needs in society. Exactly. And there's a huge need for health. It's one of the basic needs according to Mosulov's Katerov needs. Exactly. And when something is not up and running, most of us don't want to sort of invest in the idea. However, we want to jump ship when it's already existing which is something that we still need to as a people, as a nation. Exactly. If it's something we need to change. So those have been the challenges that I've sort of encountered in doing this. I've drawn up a plan, sort of sent it to the individuals but then they are not fighting. Spoken to one of my teachers at Kulahai. I went to Kulahai who said, okay, they're also going to try and sort of circulate the message across. I've spoken to one of the attorneys, Prudence, who said, okay, try and form a structure then it will also be allow one to access financial approach people for funding because it affects. People don't, at this stage, they don't want to invest in an idea because they feel like they'll be losing cash. So how can you just trust a guy that you don't know? Exactly. Yeah. So yes, the idea is great. Everyone sees that it's something that they want but no one wants to sort of invest in the idea because imagine having a hospital catered for a Scarveny community. One, it will create job opportunities for the township and also motivate the youth. Yeah. So now, I grew up in that very same community. Exactly. But in terms of the job opportunity that I got to learn at the time, it was just the four that I listed. Now, if there's health and other allied, well, medical doctors and other allied professionals and now there's construction, so the youth gets to know about that because it's something that they see happening in front of them. Exactly. And when it's already existing, now you get, so yes, it is a hospital but it's also a business. You need people to manage this structure. Yeah. You need security to sort of protect. Exactly. You need cleaning services. You need caterers. So it also uplifts the capacity as a whole. Because there's so many careers within just building that one. Exactly. And I think that, and you know, you spoke about how it's so difficult for us to get people to jump on board because we don't see the idea. And you're right. I think we're very scared to invest in people's ideas. True. True. We need to invest in what is already there. Yes. And I think that that's, I think, a question to ask, like what can we do to make people believe that our idea is worth investing in? Hmm. Well, it goes back to research and a need. So if you've identified a problem and came with or came up with a solution, so for anyone that sort of relate or to do that. Exactly. There is a problem and this particular individual is coming with a solution. Right. Then why not invest in the idea? It goes back to the thing of resonating with people on a personal level. Yes. You know, I would definitely invest in that idea because I come from a similar background and I know that there was a lack of resources in the time, so why not give back to this community? Right? It may not even be my community, but so I would definitely because I resonate with you and I feel like it's so difficult, what's so difficult of this whole situation is that the people or the way you're building the house where you'd want to where you want to with the hospital and bridge the gap, those are people who have gone through very similar things. We have similar stories to tell them as you do and it's just but I also think that we also need to be realistic that a lot of the people if they do want to invest a thousand at the end of the month they're losing a thousand in something else like putting food on the table. True. So understanding people's situations but I think it comes it's with time and I honestly wish you all the best so just you know, add me to the telegram group let me you know add what I can when I can so I think it's a beautiful idea just before we close off because we've gone a little bit over time but that's fine you see this is what these conversations are like we even forget about time you I want to talk about the financial aspect we already spoke about the financial people investing in your ideas whatever the case may be the financial aspect of property you said is very important again I'm going to quote you right you said it's not just about property but it's about personal finance as well as financial literacy budgeting saving and basically everything about money my final question to you is what was one lesson that you learned about finances that you still apply in your day to day living today? In the time that I've had money I found that I suck when it comes to saving Really? Yeah, so that's why I chose property so I channel most of my finances into property and that when you do save or decide to save attach a goal to your savings be it short-term be it short-medium-long-term attach a goal to what you're doing and that's it a goal that benefits you not like couple goals No Don't have a savings account that says I'm so guilty of that You can't have a savings account Joint bonds we want to buy property together You can as long as as you can attain the goal and stay true with your partner Yeah No, but I hear you I think it's so important to have to attach a goal to every but that you're saving and just you know we spoke about this recently with Gavin black tax and everything that we're going through as a people and for me I think it's so important to just even if you're just saving 100 grand a month whatever the goal is that you're saving 100 grand for like you said let this goal manifest and actually try and reach your goal I believe that no financial goal is a stupid goal True I believe that everything that you're saving and putting away for can be used for something and I think what's so difficult we live in a world where it's very difficult to save Loazie, let's be real True It is so difficult I mean every month I already know that I'm getting a new pair of sneakers it is so difficult because I'm like as you look at my sneakers Discipline So let me add discipline So be disciplined If you want to reach that particular goal then certain things need to sort of come out Right It removes certain things Yeah It's a lifestyle change Exactly It's a lifestyle shift Exactly You have shoes on your feet So if You don't need more If you own 5 5 Pays Pays, yeah Then that's fine But why not have 6 I'm joking I'm joking There you are Ladies and gentlemen that is Loazie this evening medical doctor 26 years old we're talking about youth in property and as we heard saving can be really tricky it can be a difficult process to go through but be disciplined Loazie's journey on your property journey absolutely amazing and again I wish you all the best because your goals you have goals within your property journey and you will achieve all of them Thank you so much for joining us this evening Thank you Go well and take care and stay warm Ladies and gentlemen