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"Buying a holiday home abroad involves many questions,
such as where to look for, whom to trust, what to
be careful at, not to mention all the technicalities.
So I felt I really needed someone who would make
me feel comfortable when dealing with all these
questions. Sue and Darren McDermott have been perfect.
They made it an exciting experience to find exactly
what I had been looking for and helped me with the
nitty-gritty, so I could concentrate on what really
matters: being delighted with my new holiday home!
I am very grateful to them for the very professional
and competent manner in which they helped me through
the process from the beginning to the end."
M. O., Switzerland, owner
of a holiday home in central Franschhoek
"Acheter une maison, c'est aussi beaucoup de démarches et d'interrogations... Vais-je trouver la maison de mes rêves ? Où chercher ? A qui faire confiance ? Quelles sont les formalités ? A quoi faut-il penser en achetant à l'étranger ? Avec Sue et Darren McDermott, j'ai trouvé la réponse à toutes ces questions et j'ai pu me concentrer sur la seule chose qui compte vraiment : le bonheur d'avoir trouvé la maison de mes rêves ! Ils ont fait preuve d'un grand professionnalisme et ont su me soutenir du début à la fin, ne ménageant aucun effort pour trouver exactement ce qu'il me fallait.
Si c'était à refaire, je n'hésiterais pas !"
M. O., Suisse, propriétaire
d'une maison de vacances au coeur de Franschhoek
"Darren and Sue McDermott have managed and co-ordinated
all aspects of the purchase of our new home in Cape
Town, South Africa. Throughout the process, which
at times became very ‘drawn-out’ and
‘fraught,’ they were extremely professional
and helpful.
From the beginning of our search, they spent a considerable
amount of time and effort, clarifying with us exactly
what we required and expected. This involved detailed
discussions and emails between the U.K. and Cape
Town before we arrived in South Africa to view the
possible options. They asked many questions to establish
what our particular family situation was and why
we were considering the purchase, as well as our
budget, to give them an understanding of the type
of people we were and to inform their ‘search’
of the Cape Town property market before we arrived.
When we arrived, they had arranged a very detailed
information pack of their 8 short-listed properties
which met our criteria. This was not standard estate
agent ‘blurb’, the pack contained their
own views and extensive photographs of each property
– highlighting the issues and specifications
we had provided initially. The day we spent viewing
the properties was extremely well arranged - no
time wasting and we saw all the properties in a
single day. It saved a considerable amount of time
and we were still able to enjoy our holiday! All
the properties we viewed we liked! However Darren
and Sue had arranged the viewings so that each house
appeared to be better than the last! Inevitably,
we made an offer on the last house which was undoubtedly
our ‘dream home’
The negotiations were difficult, but superbly managed
by Space. We made a number of bids before there
was final agreement. The house was on the market
for R4 950 000 and Space was able to get agreement
to R4 550 000 - a saving of some R400 000. All the
subsequent mortgage arrangements in S.A were professionally
arranged through brokers arranged by Space.
The property is now managed in our absence by Space
and they provide an excellent service to co-ordinate
home improvements and arrange maintenance for the
garden and building.
We are absolutely delighted with our new home and
very grateful for all the help we have received
from Darren, Sue and Serena”
Mr and Mrs T Pons, Returning
South Africans.
“We decided to look for a property in
Cape Town, without having been there! After surfing
on various real estate pages on the web, Darren
and Sue´s Space SA appeared. The Space SA
case stories were quite interesting and we wanted
to explore what they could facilitate for us –
a Danish family who wanted a property with a rental
income for some years and at the same time the potential
to become our second home later on.
The initial contacts by phone helped us to sharpen
up the profile – which in the beginning could
be anything from a flat downtown Cape Town, to a
villa in the suburbs. Actually the most difficult
part for us was to decide the profile of the property
– but with Darren´s knowledge of the
market matched and with our budget, it became clear
that we needed to look for a 3-4 bedroom house with
pool in either Tokai or Hout Bay areas.
Our trip to Cape Town was planned for March 07,
and a few days before departure we received a presentation
on 6 possible properties which perfectly matched
our expectations. We spent half a day viewing houses
and narrowed it down to 5 properties for second
view, where one stood out as the perfect one. The
offer was made, and before the end of the week,
we had an agreement with the owner to buy the house.
The service from Sue and Darren was excellent, from
the very first discussions about our needs, the
efficient communication during the process, and
the very honest opinions they give.
We are sure that Sue and Darren really care about
facilitating the right property to the right people.
They are in our view real professionals with an
extraordinary level of empathy.
We can highly recommend Space SA as your partner
in South African property search.”
Bodker Family, Denmark.
During a series of E-Mails and
telephone conversations, Darren helped us clarify
in our undecided minds the type and location of
our proposed property investment. He showed us ten
properties within our price range over a time period
of one and a half days and once we found our ideal
property he negotiated successfully with the estate
agent. We signed the contract at 4p.m. on the second
day.
Using the services of Space made the experience
enjoyable, eliminated time wasting and costly mistakes
and provided introductions to valuable professional
personnel.
We have no hesitation in recommending the services
of Space and consider the fee “money well
spent”. We offer Darren and Sue our thanks
and appreciation.
M & M Mescall, Ireland
"We initially thought that purchasing a property
in Cape Town would be difficult, particularly as
we live in England and only had limited opportunity
to go to Cape Town due to work commitments. However
it could not have been easier. From the first moment
we contacted Space to the final confirmation that
we are now property owners in Cape Town everything
went smoothly. We received a professional and personal
service from Sue and Darren and would recommend
Space Home Search & Relocation to anyone."
Rita and Yvonne - Berkshire,
UK.
"We were looking to buy an investment property
in Cape Town and contacted Space after our initial
own research from the UK. As we only planned one
visit to Cape Town, Space's services proved invaluable.
We gave them certain criteria to work with and the
selection of properties they put together for us
to view was very good. The process of decision making,
putting in an offer and having it acepted was quick
and without any problems. Sue and Darren were flexible
and always available for help and advice, so that
our search for the right property was completed
within a week and left us plenty of time to enjoy
a fantastic holiday in South Africa."
Jon and Anja, Sussex,
UK. - This property was subsequently let under the
facilitation of Space within one week of transfer
of ownership.
"From the first email back in February through
to Sue and Darren meeting us at Cape Town Airport
- complete with welcome banner, goodies for the
kids, flowers, wine....!' Space have been totally
and utterly amazing! Emigrating to South Africa
from London with young children is quite an undertaking,
but Space have made the whole thing feel quite effortless.
Sue answered every possible query I had over the
7 months, and often before I'd even asked the question!
We have managed to buy our dream home, and that
was purely down to Darren spending days negotiating
on our behalf with the vendor and estate agent.
And our children are into the school and nursery
of our choice, largely down to Sue having built
a relationship with the relevant admissions staff.
Basically, I can't thank Sue and Darren enough,
as we keep telling them! I truly don't believe I
could have done this without them. They have been
totally professional, reliable, honest, diligent
and fun from start to finish!"
Mr and Mrs E Saunders,
now living in Hout Bay, Cape Town.
“We have been thoroughly delighted and extremely
pleased with the services that have been provided
to us from Space Home Search and Relocation in South
Africa. We were keen to invest in a holiday/rental
property in Capetown and felt we needed to deal
with someone with experience in this area and that
we would be comfortable dealing with them on a trusting
and personal level and this company managed to do
that impeccably. My correspondence with them was
always answered quickly and accurately and indeed
still is and all the various aspects of buying property
were covered and taken care of with full advice
, detail and precision which was outstanding. We
had visited estate agents in the Capetown area before
finding out about Space Home Search but found them
rather impersonal and often gave inaccurate information
about Mortgages and sometimes required you to arrange
your own solicitor for the property buying process.
When buying abroad, I feel you need someone you
can fully trust and are comfortable dealing with.
Space Home Search do that brilliantly, and I fully
recommend them.”
Mr and Mrs Lyons from
Limerick, Ireland
“I googled property search firms in the
Western Cape area and I hit on Space. I made an
initial email enquiry and was very impressed with
the speed and professionalism of the response. Darren
followed up with some telephone calls to help narrow
down my search requirements and was able to prepare
a thorough short list of suitable properties for
me to inspect when I visited South Africa. When
it came time to purchase he walked me through the
process and provided introductions to reputable
lawyers and mortgage brokers. All in all a very
satisfying experience.”
Nick Hellen, an Australian
living in Hong Kong who bought an off-plan apartment
in De Waterkant.
"(I) feel that the money has been very well spent
as originally the thought of buying a property outside
England seemed very daunting but you're service
has made the whole thing seem very straight forward.I
would be more than happy to recommend yourselves
to anyone else wishing to embark on a similar venture."
Mr. Paul Gregg, owner
of an off-plan apartment in the City Bowl.
"When we decided we wanted to buy a house
in Llandudno, Cape Town we had no idea how to go
about it. A subsequent trawl on the internet came
up with the search company Space and it seemed to
meet all our needs. We signed up and started speaking
to Sue and Darren McDermott about our requirements
and needs. Over a period of almost a year we planned
our visit to Cape Town with a portfolio narrowed
down to six properties for us to look at. Sue and
Darren were convinced we would want the first property
they sent to us and which they felt was perfect.
From the photos, we decided we hated it! We looked
at the six properties and fell in love with the
one Sue and Darren had originally recommended and
subsequently are now the happy owners of a house
in Llandudno!
We would never have been able to deal with the process
of buying a property in Cape Town from England.
Sue and Darren made the whole experience manageable
and as painless as possible with their professional
and knowledgeable expertise both in the search for
the property and the handling of the purchase, dealing
with estate agents, lawyers and authorities. We
would recommend Space to anyone who wanted an enjoyable
and rewarding path into purchasing property in South
Africa."
Mr and Mrs. G, London
"Dealing with Space was a pleasure from start to
finish. From the fast response rates and excellent
home profiling, we only viewed properties that were
realistic candidates. In addition to this, the assistance
and local knowledge given meant that we got an objective
opinion 100% of the time, and a great deal on our
new home. I feel that working with Space, helped
to mitigate any potentially costly mistakes and
misunderstandings... For any person individually
buying in and around Cape Town their fees, are indeed,
money well spent."
Mat & Ali Demery,
new owners of 60 Atlantic Beach Drive, Melkbosstrand.
"Please feel free to call upon us to give references,
we have been so very impressed with your services,
especially the after sales work which you did, above
and beyond the call of duty."
Mr C Longcroft, purchaser
of an apartment in Sea Point.
"I bought a flat in Cape Town and am pretty impressed. ........... Darren has been very responsive and thorough, is very approachable, and knows his way around the somewhat Byzantine conveyancing process down there in the RSA as it applies to non-resident investors. Anyone interested in checking out opportunities down there should give Darren a call or drop him an email. I think that with the Soccer World Cup due to be hosted down there in 2010, there is "some money to be made in them there hills!""
PB, Middle East, Owner of a penthouse apartment in De Waterkant
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