In the eight years Jaco and I have lived in Cape Town, we’ve moved six times. What a journey, as my teenagers would say!
The Western Cape property market feels like a competitive sport – you either win, or you walk away empty-handed and try again. When we first arrived, we planned to rent a small property in a nice estate for six months while finalizing the sale of our home in Gauteng. But things didn’t go according to plan, and the sale took longer than expected. Despite this, we loved our new little spot and stayed for 10 months while we met wonderful people in the area.
As time passed, we realized that property prices in Cape Town were much higher than what we were used to in Gauteng. So, we decided to keep renting while we searched for something affordable and suitable for our family. Fast forward eight years and about 100 property viewings later, we were ready to give up on finding a home.
Then, one morning before heading to the gym, Jaco sent me a link to a house that seemed too good to be true – in a beautiful area, close to our kids’ schools. I was cautiously optimistic. If the house looked like the pictures, it could be the one.
We viewed the house and immediately made an offer. But so did a couple of other families, so the competition was on. We were overjoyed when the agent told us the owner chose to sell to us. We had to negotiate, and in the end, we bought the house with all the furniture included to seal the deal. Suddenly, we had a house and a secondhand furniture store in our garage!
Some things are just meant to be. We’re thrilled to have found our home and look forward to caring for it – knowing it will care for us in return for many years to come.