Tyson Properties has expanded its Western Cape footprint with the opening of a strategically located provincial headquarters and Southern Suburbs office. This comes as the real estate group strengthens its position elsewhere in the country, scoring a top brand award in KwaZulu-Natal, where it has also opened a new Glenwood office, and as it grows its presence in the key Gauteng market.    

Company founder and managing director, Chris Tyson said the new Western Cape office, located on Alphen Estate in Constantia, signalled the company's intentions to the market, while positioning agents to service the surrounding areas.

 "The offices are in keeping with the character of Cape Town's Southern Suburbs while being big enough to match our ambition," he said.  

There is space for 50 staff, including a professional marketing team, including graphic artists, photographers, copywriters and videographers to provide the sales team with in-house support. Nick Pearson, Tyson Properties Cape director, said: "It’s always been my dream to go back to the Constantia area. I’m a SACS old boy. It’s also a really significant area in real estate in South Africa."   

He said the property company had taken its time establishing itself in Constantia and rather than recruiting agents, as was the norm, had been approached by top sales people looking to join.  "We have a clear vision and strategy on taking Tyson Properties to the next level. We have created an agent-centric environment, providing the agents with the right offices, the right tools. Already it’s showing formidable results,” said Pearson. 

He said over the past few weeks, including before the office's August opening, the team had achieved a record sale of a R22 million property in Newlands and significant sales in Constantia.

Meanwhile, Tyson Properties continues to expand in KwaZulu-Natal – and collect accolades.  It has opened a second office in Glenwood, Durban, after outgrowing the existing 50 square-metre office. Hard work and determination have helped the KZN team buck the trend in a flat market, recording 12% growth. 

A further feather in Tyson Properties cap came with the recent naming of the company in the Standard Bank KZN Top Brand awards. It named Tyson Properties in the top 10 out of more than 500 entrants and the only real estate company among the front-runners, which included household names.  

In Gauteng, the company continued to solidify its position.  It was on track to double its agent numbers in Gauteng in 2019, coupled with a marketing drive throughout the province, said Tyson.  

“My mission is for Tyson Properties to be the employer of choice for the very best agents. Apart from creating a happy and professional working environment, our success offers them good earning potential," Tyson said.  He has recently relocated to Johannesburg to drive national growth and strengthen the brand in the country's economic engine room. 

For more information, visit www.tysonprop.co.za 

Ends

Global Brands Magazine, a leading international publication providing opinions and news about top brands across the globe, has announced that Tyson Properties has won its Most Trusted Real Estate Brand Award for 2018.  

“This comes at a time when we have even bigger news – sometimes numbers speak louder than awards and, over the past financial year, we achieved 100 percent growth despite the very flat market,” said Tyson Properties’ MD, Chris Tyson.

The Most Trusted Real Estate Brand Award was just one out of two awards in the property category presented to South African companies.  

Global Brands, which is head quartered in the United Kingdom, prides itself in being an autonomous source of information about branding from across a number of different sectors. The Global Brands Awards were established to recognize performance excellence in the financial, hospitality, lifestyle, automobile and technology sectors.  

The awards also aim to identify and create awareness about the significance of exceptional service delivery.  

Every year, nominations are accepted from different countries and regions. Information supplied by the nominated brand owners together with a variety of information in the public domain is then adjudicated by an independent external research agency.  

More than 7 000 companies were evaluated for the 2018 awards.  

The Global Brands Award will be added to the collection of awards that are already proudly displayed at the Tyson Properties head office at Lion Match Office Park in Durban.  

“Winning an award such as this makes me extremely proud. It not only differentiates us from our competitors but cements our reputation as a company that can be trusted – one that values and conducts its business with honesty and integrity. Most of all, it is a recognition of the hard work of the 400 real estate agents and administrative staff that deliver on our promises on a daily basis,” said Tyson.  

Already the market leader in the KwaZulu-Natal market, Tyson Properties is making meaningful inroads into both the Western Cape and Gauteng markets which it entered simultaneously in 2015. The company is now firmly on the road to becoming an influential national player.  

“We now have 30 offices and we’re on target to meet our projected growth to 50 offices by 2020. We have had 100% growth in line with what we projected three years ago which means we have doubled the size of the company and its turnover,” he explained.  

He said that Tyson Properties had maintained its strong performance in the KZN market, adding new offices in both Richards Bay and the Bluff over the past year. In Cape Town, Tyson Properties now has five offices and 70 staff. Tyson expects to announce a franchise plan to roll out the balance of its Western Cape offices by year end. “Not surprisingly, our highest growth is coming from Gauteng.  We’ve just this month opened a new flagship office in Sandton,” he added.  

However, most importantly of all, a steady stream of quality real estate agents is joining Tyson Properties despite the challenging market. During 2017 alone, Tyson Properties added almost 100 agents which proved a strong platform for the 2018/19 financial year.  

For Tyson, the success of the company is built on the strength of its professional team which have helped grow the business.  

When one considers that Tyson Properties started out in 2005 with just a single office in  Morningside, Durban, and three agents, the company has indeed come a long way.  

Every year, it has exceeded its forecasts, grown its footprint and increased its market share, Tyson pointed out. 

“From the outset, our vision was to build a specialist agency that was not only in tune with the needs of the property market but one that offered clients exceptional service and agents a platform to excel. To attract the best property professionals, we strive to provide a happy and professional working environment, together with training, resources and innovative operational systems. To ensure happy buyers and sellers, we focus on providing quality service and working together to achieve a winning solution. To build a strong brand, we have always tried to more than meet expectations and associated our name with value creation and integrity,” he said.  

For more information, visit www.tysonprop.co.za  

Unfair restraints of trade are compromising the livelihoods of some of South Africa’s best real estate agents and forcing many out of the property industry. As a result, the sector is losing valuable experience and skills.  

“Right now, the property market is challenging and many real estate agents are leaving the profession. That’s often because, when they try to move from one agency to another, punitive restraints of trade kick in. That leaves them with the choice of spending up to six months without any income or remaining with a company where they are unhappy. Unfortunately, it is the client who needs the guidance of a professional in what is often the biggest investment of his or her life, who is the ultimate loser, warns Jonathan Davies, Tyson Properties regional director for Gauteng.   

According to the Estate Agency Affairs Board, there are approximately 30 000 registered real estate agents operating in South Africa – far fewer than 10 years ago, when that number was around 70 000.  

Whereas some of the decline can be attributed to natural attrition, many agents who have built up years of experience and significant qualifications are now finding their careers compromised.  

Davies paints a picture of a talented young professional who joins a real estate agency eager to grow his career in real estate.  

“Everyone seems happy to have you on board and your future looks bright! The company you have joined presents you with your contract and, in your haste to get going, you eagerly sign it after casually browsing the terms and conditions. You notice a clause entitled restraint and, although it seems unusual in a real estate contract, you sign it. What could possibly go wrong? You have just joined a great company and your plan is to be there as a successful agent for many years.” 

But, according to Davies, things don’t always go according to plan.  

He feels that restraining an agent without financial compensation is completely one sided. “The agent carries the entire risk. Even if the company dismissed the agent, he or she would still be restrained from earning a living.” 

It could also go further than that, he warns.  

“An agent who has a restraint in play may find that he or she cannot work at any other real estate agency in his or her entire home province! They are trapped. Their only option is a costly court battle with no guarantee of winning,” he says.  In fact, two recent judgements in the High Court have upheld restraints of trade of three months and six months respectively.  

These revolved around whether or not an employee / estate agent had access to confidential information that would provide a competitive advantage and potentially harm the business for which he or she was working.  

In a tight market where buyers and sellers are hard to come by, it seems that greater value is being placed on the intellectual property, confidential information and contact details to which an estate agent may be privy.  

But Davies believes that it is relationships rather than secret formulas that count in real estate.  

“Let’s face it, real estate relies on the quality of its people. There’s no secret recipe to protect like Coca Cola. There are no engineering blue prints or product patents. Real estate techniques and practices are reasonably generic. They don’t create a successful agent. Ultimately, it is hard work, relationship building and trust that create sales, not secret formulas,” he argues.  

He believes that a good employer and successful real estate company should not need to restrain its agents.  “A company that can’t provide a nurturing environment for its agents needs to realise that it is at risk of losing them and address this problem. A restraint of trade cannot fix this problem only they can,” he points out.  However, he adds that the only way for potentially damaging restraints of trade to be eradicated is for real estate agents to more carefully scrutinize contracts and to refuse to sign those with clauses that are potentially detrimental.  

For more information, visit www.tysonprop.co.za  

The award-winning real estate group Tyson Properties recently teamed up with Ballers Soccer Club to give young boys and girls in Johannesburg the chance to take their football skills to the next level. The company co-sponsored a soccer clinic at the Pirates Club in Greenside for boys and girls in the under-6 to under-12 age groups. 

The five-day soccer camp provided an opportunity for young players to get expert coaching through a specialised programme using the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar as inspiration. 

Chris Tyson, managing director of Tyson Properties, said the company was keen to see youngsters given an opportunity to hone their skills and further their football talents.  “Involving ourselves with communities in which we sell and rent properties, and investing in the well-being of the people in these areas is important to us,” Tyson said. 

He added that as Tyson Properties had recently broadened its horizons in Gauteng, it was a good time to extend to Johannesburg its ongoing successful Cape Town sponsorship to Soccer School. Achieving important “goals” of growth and expansion were priorities for the company:  the Gauteng flagship office in the Design Quarter area of Fourways recently extended its reach to surrounding high-growth nodes. In addition, Tyson Properties has recently opened a Dunkeld branch and will have covered the north when its Westerly office opens early next year. 

The Cape-based Soccer School runs all year-round training for children in the Under-4 to Under-14 age-group categories. Owner and founder Liam Shirley, explained that “It’s designed to instil confidence in youngsters’ soccer ability.  It is an all-inclusive programme for children of all abilities that focuses on helping them leave our sessions with increased confidence.” He thanked Tyson Properties for their support in making the Ballers Soccer School clinic more accessible to more children.  

For more information, visit www.tysonprop.co.za 

The August launch of The Docklands, an upmarket apartment block in the highly desired Prestwich Street in De Waterkant, Cape Town comes at just the right time.  

There is a variety of apartments in a number of Cape Town CBD and Foreshore developments currently under construction or about to be released on to the market. However, there is very little stock available in the trendy and cosmopolitan De Waterkant neighbourhood, according to Jayson Sprawson, who will be marketing the new development as part of Tyson Properties Cape Town.   

He says it’s important for those wishing to buy at The Docklands to get in early as those who invest in properties in that neighbourhood seldom sell. 

The apartment block – which includes a variety of one and two bedroomed apartments as well as two 144m² penthouses – has drawn a great deal of interest since construction began late last year.   

Designed by FWJK Developments’ architectural division, it sports an edgy architectural style and comes with luxury interiors. “In short, The Docklands fills a long-standing gap in the Cape Town real estate market for stylish, contemporary accommodation,” Sprawson points out.  

According to Dave Williams-Jones, CEO of FWJK Developments, The Docklands offers residents the must-haves for modern daily living including high speed, fibre optic internet, secure undercover parking and 24/7 manned security with access control and a white glove concierge.  

The development is one of FWJK’s projects under construction in Cape Town totalling R1,8 billion,” added Williams-Jones. 

“What’s really important is that we are selling a lifestyle that is on par with some of the most fashionable in the world,” says Sprawson.  

The Docklands comes with a magnificent roof top pool deck and entertainment area with stunning views of South Africa’s most beautiful city, the mountains and the sea. The Vida E café on the ground floor not only serves superb coffee but adds to the urban chic vibe.  

Sprawson says De Waterkant, which is the mother city’s IT playground and home to a host of creative and communications companies, has its own unique energy and pulse.  

The city’s top restaurants and eateries are virtually on the doorstep and both the nightlife and sporting events in Cape Town that can help stressed city slickers to kick back and chill are also close by.   A retail experience second to none is just a stroll away with some of the country’s best shopping at the V&A Waterfront, iconic Foundry and historic Cape Quarter which offers an upmarket and sophisticated take on the precinct’s unique history.    

Sprawson says an apartment at The Docklands is an excellent investment for both those wishing to live alongside the city beat and those looking for the ideal lock-up-and-go residence.  

“The area is equally attractive to foreign buyers and local people buying to live the trendy and upmarket lifestyle of De Waterkant. Semigrating South Africans as well as straight forward investors also want in as the demand creates excellent capital growth and a good rental return. The Docklands is also positioned perfectly for Airbnb as so many travellers love the area,” he says.  

Apartments are priced from R2,85 million for a one bedroomed apartment to R9,4 million for a penthouse apartment.  The development is scheduled for completion in August 2018.  

For more information, visit www.tysonprop.co.za or http://www.thedocklands.me/  Ends

Tyson Properties is spreading its wings to Richards Bay – one of South Africa’s fastest growing cities.  

Regis Usaiwevhu and Linah Marijeni, who opened the new branch in the Richards Bay CBD this month, confirmed that the city that has built up around Africa’s deepest port and one of just two national Special Economic Zones in KwaZulu-Natal was attracting a stream of young professionals.    The end result is a strong and growing property market.  

“Richards Bay is home to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (the world’s largest coal exporter) fertilizer manufacturer Foskor, Richards Bay Minerals which mines iron ore, titanium oxide and zircon, SAPPI, Mondi, Hillside which is the biggest aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere and Bell Equipment, amongst others. The support industries that supply these big corporates are numerous and a hub for employment creation. The service industry is also buoyant with serious growth potential,” explains Usaiwevhu who is the managing partner.  

As a finance executive with over 15 years’ experience working at senior and strategic levels in industry and commerce across KwaZulu-Natal, he has done the due diligence and meticulously explored the prospects.   “I have a special interest in real estate and property development and it has always been my aspiration to take up entrepreneurial opportunities in these fields,” he explains.  

He quotes Statistics SA’s census figures which show that the population within the entire Umhlatuze Municipality (under which Richards Bay falls) has grown by 11% between the 2011 Census (334 000 people) and the 2016 Community Survey (371 000).  

“Richards Bay has immense growth potential and is constantly innovating. There are a number of turnkey projects that are being considered or are being implemented as we speak,” he continues.   These include the establishment of an aluminium hub which is expected to attract downstream industries that will beneficiate aluminium and also iron, steel, and titanium. With 30% of the world’s titanium and 30% of its high-quality pig iron produced in the region, this also offers significant downstream opportunities for the automotive sector.   Other developments that have been mooted include the setting up of a liquefied natural gas power plant, a R2 billion biomass electricity generation plant, the installation of a dry dock at the port, the setting up of a paint manufacturing plant and the establishment of a water desalination plant.   With an uptick in commodity prices and signs of an economic recovery, the prospects of the port through which by far the majority of South Africa’s commodity exports depart are also extremely positive.  

“For all these reasons, the Richards Bay region is a strategic blip on our radar. We have partnered with people who have a strong knowledge of the area and we are looking forward to strong growth,” says CEO of Tyson Properties, Chris Tyson.  

Tyson Properties, which is now a national company with strong referral networks, is already on a strong growth curve. According to Tyson, the company grew by 70 percent over the past 12 months and is adding over 100 agents per year.   It was also recently acknowledged for its achievements internationally with Westville and Hillcrest agent, Debra Maddocks, accepting the prestigious International Property Awards 2016 Best Real Estate Agent South Africa and Best Real Estate Agent, Africa at a gala even in London last year.  

In Richards Bay, Marijeni is also making her mark. She has the hands on experience and passion to drive another key fundamental in the property market – good relationships.  

“I am a sales and marketing practitioner with experience in the automotive and real estate industries. My real estate experience spans over seven years in Richards Bay and the surrounding areas. I have always been immensely passionate about marketing as well as real estate. Destiny knocked on my door in 2010 when I embarked on my real estate journey,” she explains.  

Marijeni and Usaiwevhu approached Chris Tyson in November 2016 with a view to opening a Richards Bay branch.  

“The brand has a solid and consistent track record. It met our selection criteria which included a solid reputation, a strong brand identity, top-notch quality, huge growth potential, strong systems, effective support services and a customer centric orientation.

Furthermore, the brand places a strong emphasis on upholding the highest levels of professionalism and ethical standards,” says Usaiwevhu.  

Marijeni believes that the opening of the new Tyson Properties branch comes at an important time. With greater demand for properties, there will be more competition and demand for better service delivery.  

Tyson Properties’ Richards Bay branch, which will also service nearby Empangeni and Mtunzini and has a catchment area that could extend as far Hluhluwe, will start with six agents.   Within the next six months, the partners plan to open a dedicated Empangeni office.   Once they have established themselves in the residential domain, they will turn their attention to commercial property.   

Drawing on the Lightstone Report, Usaiwevhu notes that they will be growing their agency off a strong base. Over the past couple of years, sales have consistently been above 700 property registrations and these are expected to grow in line with the expected increase in economic activity.    Prices averaged R1.2 million for freehold properties and R600 000 for sectional title properties which are the most popular with buyers.  

“Over the past 12 months (Feb 2016 to Mar 2017), 79% of buyers were aged between 18 and 49. When it comes to sellers, 56% were between 18 and 49. If you take a closer look, you will see that 36% of the recent sellers had owned their properties for less than five years. The 50 years and above bracket is also very busy, particularly on property sales. This strong sales activity tends to organically have a trickle effect on rentals,” Usaiwevhu points out.  

With a steady influx of young professionals into the area, he says that there is also growth in investors buying to let.  

For more information, visit www.tysonprop.co.za