The Rawson Properties' Somerset West property management team is headed by Chantelle Landers and Lilian Waldeck, who together have 13 years' experience in this field.
"Unlike most managing agents," says van der Merwe, "we are in the strong position of being able to offer a two pronged model. When taking on a new property account we divide the duties between the maintenance and the management of the scheme and finance and levy collection. The former falls under Lilian and the latter under Chantelle."
Many sectional title schemes and home owner associations, says van der Merwe, have trustees who are inexperienced in property matters although often very competent in other fields. As a result, he says, over a quarter of South Africa's sectional title schemes today are allowing their members' levy payments to lag behind, sometimes with drastic consequences for the upkeep, the provision of services and ultimately the value of the units in the scheme.
When a scheme does run into financial difficulties, says van der Merwe, it takes real effort and a great deal of skill to put it right. The rectification process can very often involve the raising of a special levy, but once a scheme has been pulled up, it should not need special levies unless some unforeseen disaster occurs or unless a further upgrade is thought to be essential.
Rawson Properties expect to take on at least two more managing agents in the coming months and to double the number of units they are handling by the end of the year, says van der Merwe.
Then, he adds, as part of their plan to offer a one-stop service, they will also establish a commercial property management, selling and renting service. (Rawson Commercial has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the Rawson Property Group over the last year and now has 21 franchises.)
