Extreme Way Togo is a property letting business with a unique market focus: rentals capped at R5 000 per month. These are mostly rooms, but owner Sandile Gumede also owns a few small flats.
Based in Durban and operating in the city and Pietermaritzburg, Extreme Way Togo was registered in 2017 and currently owns 85 properties that are rented out. The business employs two full-time employees to handle the significant administrative load.
Gumede is a civil engineer by profession and plies his trade in the consulting engineering firm he also owns. His journey as a landlord started when he invested in two rental properties years ago. “As I learned more about the property business, I grew to like it,” he says. “I also like working with people, so becoming a larger scale, professional landlord was the next logical step.”
South Africa’s highly regulated and tenant-friendly rental market can be a nightmare for property owners to negotiate. Gumede’s business model developed from this consideration, as well as his assessment of living standards and housing demands in the country. “I have found that lower-value tenants are easier to manage and less likely to start legal proceedings when they are in default.”
The good relationship Gumede seeks to maintain with his tenants is illustrated by the fact that when people struggle to make ends meet temporarily, he is willing to give them a payment holiday for a month or two.
Business Partners Ltd provided Gumede with a loan to expand his portfolio and may be called upon to do so again, if Gumede’s ambitions are anything to go by. “My plan is to expand throughout South Africa and even into our neighbouring countries and further afield if possible. The business model I have works for me and for the thousands of people who need decent, affordable housing.”
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