Balize Private Estate

The FNB Property Barometer reports that the number of new townhouses and apartments nationally accounts for 60% of all new stock on the South African property market. This is a significant increase of almost 50% in just the last three and a half years; previously reported as 29% in 2015, and 13% in 2000.

Peter Cameron, Balize Private Estate Sales Director explains, “There is an ever-growing demand for sectional title homes, especially where security is guaranteed. The latest data shows that nationally, we are in a huge property growth phase when it comes to the development of new stock to feed this growing demand. The main reason for this trend is the need for greater security- people want to know that they’re safe; feel they’re safe and they want to see real-life security measures and systems in place.”

With the changes in the real estate market, and increasing competition, developers are offering buyers a host of modern conveniences and attractive additions, among them smart-ready homes.

“A smart-ready home is the first step in having ultimate control on shaping your home environment to suit your lifestyle. A smart home is a home in which you can monitor, measure and control various aspects via smart appliances. All these appliances are connected to the internet and talk to each other through a home app on your phone or tablet-that’s what makes them ‘smart’. They’re on a conference call with each other 24/7.” Says Cameron.

There is virtually no limit to what can be done to make a home smart. Aspects such security, lighting, heating and cooling are among the top reasons for people choosing to have a smart home. Globally, people are shifting focus from having stuff to having experiences, and with the greater convenience and comfort this technology affords us, comes more time and choice. Having a smart home is one of the ways in which homeowners can create more time for themselves by letting smart appliances take control of the day-to-day minutiae.

Cameron says, “The daily stuff could be as simple as your home cooling system automatically switching on at a set time, cooling to your preferred temperature and then monitoring and adjusting its output to maintain that temperature without you having to be a part of that process at all. On the flip side, you could have something as grand as mood lighting, a personal music selection and a pre-heated oven ready for cooking when you walk through the door. As you can see, by setting up and tweaking each of these aspects, you can create more time for yourself. Every little minute you may spend setting the oven for cooking, or choosing mood music, pulling your blinds down and adjusting the cooling all adds up. Imagine if you could take all those hundreds of minutes every week and channel them into something you actually want to do?”

Living in a sectional title home within a residential estate is following this global trend of experiences over stuff. Scaling back is not downgrading in any way, it is the conscious decision to free up time for desired experiences and smaller homes are helping people to do that. Among the benefits of living in an estate are lowered monthly running costs, less general maintenance, and full-time security. Many of these things add a hefty bill to any household’s monthly expenses.

“All our Cabanas, Villas and Penthouses come smart-ready, that means you can customise your home to be whatever you want, from the frivolous to functional and with that, potentially lower your monthly costs. What isn’t attractive about that? By living smarter and embracing the technological shift, you are buying yourself the time to just ‘live life’.” Continues Cameron.

US data shows the top reason for people opting to own a smart device in their home is to save time, followed by money. Smart devices can also track household energy consumption so there is a greater social conscience tied to the benefit of cost-saving. On a global scale, the most-used smart devices are locks and alarms- these equate for 63% of the worldwide total.

Cameron elaborates, “Balize Private Estate benefits from triple-layer security, starting with living in the managed Sibaya Coastal Precinct, then the Balize Private Estate Security and the last layer, your own home security. However, having smart home security devices such as an alarms, locks or CCTV adds the fourth layer and a whole new dimension of control. Being able to control access to your home remotely, and also to monitor activity, is a game-changer.”

As the early adopters of the snowballing trend, the developers of Balize Private Estate are giving their owners a way to ultimately extract the greatest value out of their asset, and adapting your home into a smart home will undoubtedly add value to your investment in years to come. The addition of smart devices that introduces ease, convenience and a more-savvy way of day-to-day living.

“We know that the demand for smart homes is growing, and this appeals to a group of buyers, especially above a certain price bracket, who won’t have their needs and wants compromised. By turning your home in to a smart home, you can potentially increase its market value up to as much as 7%.” Says Cameron.

With the Government’s grand plan to have the whole country connected come 2020, all other industries will have to shift gear to keep pace, as the change is inevitable.

“By 2020, the government wants to have Fibre-optic cables throughout the country. What that means is internet access for all homes in the decade to follow, with the quality of connectivity improving substantially. As it stands right now, 42% of internet users nationally experience connectivity speeds which are 90% faster than just last year! This is making quantum leaps and everything else has to keep up with that; it is inevitable.” Cameron ends.