Many home buyers might shy away from buying in an estate because of the perceived restrictions in living in a walled environment controlled by a Homeowners’ Association or Body Corporate, and the possible higher price tags of homes in estates.
The disadvantage of many estates is that they often come with high security costs and amenities to maintain, whereas if the estate has been planned to be secure enough, with access control at the gate and a strong sense of community with neighbours aware of what is going on in their complex, these costs can be kept to a minimum.
This is according to Lanice Steward, managing director of Knight Frank Residential South Africa, who says there are two homes that have just come on the market through their Newlands and Claremont agents that have the benefits of living in an estate, but are both full title properties with either low or no levies.
The disadvantage of many estates is that they often come with high security costs and amenities to maintain, whereas if the estate has been planned to be secure enough, with access control at the gate and a strong sense of community with neighbours aware of what is going on in their complex, these costs can be kept to a minimum.
The first home is a four bedroom, three bathroom home in the Hen and Chicken Estate area, in a complex of six houses.
The house size is 271 square metres on a 493 square metre stand, and is priced at R7.6 million.
Steward says this is a fairly new complex which has been built with luxurious finishes and careful thought to the planning of the space.
The kitchen has been fitted with state of the art appliances, with a gourmand in mind. The hob offers a six plate Mielé gas cooker with two stainless steel digital extractor hoods above them. The appliances (which include two Smeg ovens, a wine cooler and a plate warmer drawer) have been built into the cabinetry, creating clean lines, and the countertops are white Caesarstone. There is a separate prep area with its own sink.
The open plan lounge and dining areas have fold-back doors which open onto a covered patio and the swimming pool area.
Steward says the second house is a lock-up-and-go townhouse in Newlands, which is on the market for R4.95 million.
This home has two large bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living rooms, a study, two garages and two parking bays. The second living room is a conservatory type room with large skylights which open onto an entertainment terrace.
It has been beautifully decorated in white and country-style finishes, and is in impeccable condition, she says.
“Both of these homes, if compared to freestanding homes in the area, match them rand for rand and have the same amount of floor area. What you have here, however, is the benefit of having a gated community without the possibly high levies that sometimes come with homes in estates.”
Steward says homes in estates generally tend to be 20 percent more expensive than those on freestanding stands, which is not the case here.
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