Motion Is the Antidote to Stagnation

A rental flat that sits empty is rarely a sign of a dead market on its own. More often it is a sign that the landlord has stopped moving while the market kept going.

Say a flat in Polokwane has been vacant since the last tenant left. The landlord is still asking what that tenant paid, the walls still carry the marks of their furniture, and the advert still shows photos taken years ago. Meanwhile newer blocks nearby offer prepaid electricity, fibre and secure parking. Every month the flat stays empty, the bond and the levies are still paid in full with no rent coming in, and the loss grows faster than any reasonable rent reduction would have cost.

The landlord's explanation is usually that things are slow. Sometimes they are. But the rental market hardly ever stops completely, because people keep moving for work and for family. What has stopped is the flat.

Motion here does not mean panic. It means repainting, fixing the dripping tap and the broken blind, taking honest new photos and checking what similar flats in the same area are actually letting for. Sometimes the asking rent needs to come down a little. Sometimes the rent is fine and the flat just needs to look cared for. Either way, a small step this week usually fills a flat sooner than a perfect plan does.