Property stokvels, EasyProperties, should I buy an excavator or a house?

If you need to make sense of everything and avoid entanglement, this is for you [Thread]
Fractionalisation is carving up an ownership into smaller pieces so you own a piece. Shares are a perfect example of fractional ownership.

The concept extends to basically anything. Today you can own a fraction of a Ferrari, rare sneakers, a Rolex & even a Picasso painting.
Another way to enter the property investment game is through a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust). These are listed companies with property portfolios across a combination of residential. commercial & industrial (sometimes all 3).

Think Growthpoint, Redefine, Hyprop, Resilient.
Before you pull the trigger on an EasyProperty investment, here's a few points to consider:

1. Diversification & managing risk
2. Liquidity & realizing value
3. Track record & experience
4. Access to capital, management & scale
5. Outlook on property
1. Diversification

If you're buying a fraction of one physical property - your risk is HEAVILY concentrated. You're not just betting on residential property but on this one specific residential property.

Benefit of buying into a REIT is having exposure to a vast portfolio.
2. Liquidity

With EasyProperties you can only sell the fraction you own once a quarter (when they hold an auction). If you need to realize cash quickly - you're stuck.

With a REIT, you can sell at any time during the trading day. You know EXACTLY what your share is worth daily.
3. Track record & experience

No matter how great the investment thesis sounds, you're always rolling the dice on a newly launched investment product. REITs have been around for a long, long time.

There's upside in waiting it out to see how the first wave of investors perform.
4. Access to capital, management & scale

Listed property hinges on optimum leverage, ability to source capital cheaply & manage interest rate exposure.

Having built hedging models for some of these guys, optimum capital structures are a priority. They also borrow very cheaply.
5. Outlook on property

SA property outlook is grim

This will affect both fractional ownership & REITs. Every round of data is progressively worse & it could get much worse before it gets better. Decision to buy really depends on your investment horizon. https://twitter.com/iamkoshiek/status/1279357976172802048?s=20
REITs have very attractive attributes relative to fractional ownership BUT the property market is challenging.

REITs are required to pay out at least 75% of earnings but they are also struggling & are pushing back on this. It really reflects the shocking state of the SA economy.
So you have a balanced argument & full set of facts. Here's the EasyEquities explainer as to why they see EasyProperties being better than a REIT.

It's important to have different perspectives (& not just the sales pitch) before deciding whether or not to invest.
EasyEquities (& RobinHood) have done a great job in democratizing investing which would previously only be available to a select few.

However, it's precisely why a higher degree of due diligence is an imperative - especially in the age of gamification of financial apps.
Here's a strong thread on property stokvels https://twitter.com/SlwaneToYou/status/1281629336810946560?s=20
Shout-out for making it to the end!
You can follow @iamkoshiek.
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