Today’s property buyers are not just looking for a house but they are looking for a lifestyle.
They want shorter commutes, safer neighbourhoods, good schools, reliable internet, nearby amenities and a community they can see themselves being part of, Francois Nel, a real estate agent in Benoni Boksburg wrote in a LinkedIn post.
He says a property’s location is no longer just an address-it is part of the lifestyle people are buying into.
“The homes that stand out are the ones that meet both practical needs and personal aspirations.”
Meanwhile, Bryce Young, a luxury estate agent at Dainfern and Steyn City also wrote that energy resilience features now appear in almost every premium listing in SA.
However, he says most buyers do not know how banks treat them and that matters.
“Banks value the property, not the solar system separately. The inverter and panels are fixed improvements that form part of the property value the bank assesses. But a valuer who doesn’t specialise in energy systems may undervalue them or ignore them entirely.”
What to do before an offer goes in
The luxury estate agent says they must ask the seller for the solar installation certificate and capacity specs and get the specs to the bond originator before the bank valuation.
They must then request that the valuer notes the system in their report.
“Why it matters: a well-specified solar system (panels + inverter + battery backup) can add R80 000-R200 000 in genuine value. If the bank valuation ignores it, you may face a larger cash shortfall than expected. In the current SA energy environment, a solar home isn’t a luxury it’s a risk mitigation tool”
Load shedding is an inconvenience for most households. For a solar home, it’s irrelevant, Young says.
“First-time buyers especially: ask about the solar system before you fall in love with the price. Save this. Share it with anyone buying a solar home this winter.”
Many developments succeed or struggle because of factors that lie well beyond the site boundary.
When people talk about successful developments, the conversation almost always starts with the building: its architecture, location, tenant mix and investment value, says Landseer Collen, the Director at BPAS Architects.
He says all of those things matter, of course. At the same time, he says he has become increasingly convinced that many developments succeed or struggle because of factors that lie well beyond the site boundary.
“A well-designed office building still depends on functioning infrastructure. A residential development is influenced by the quality of the surrounding environment. Even the most carefully considered project ultimately relies on systems, services and governance that sit outside the architect’s control.”
The CEO says this has become more apparent to him over the past few years. He says increasingly, developers and investors are asking questions that would once have been considered secondary.
“They want to understand the reliability of infrastructure, the efficiency of approval processes, and the long-term trajectory of the areas in which they are investing.
Buildings do not operate independently from the cities around them
“Perhaps this is because buildings do not operate independently from the cities around them. In many respects, the most successful projects, I have seen are not those that stand apart from their context,” Collen says.
“They are the ones that strengthen it. Good buildings create value. But I suspect good cities multiply it.”
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