Many investors get bogged down in buy-to-let properties that can initially show a rather limited return once they have long-term tenant.
There are other types of property investment out there that should be explored.You can buy/build a parkade or parking spaces with the intention of charging for the use of them.This gives you the ability to charge competitive rates and guarantee a steady income if you are in the right location.
Parking in the CBD’s of all major cities, or anywhere there is a demand for it such as security complexes, is always in great demand.Parkades are popular because they also offer some level of security to drivers when they park there for the day.As we all know it is getting more and more expensive to park anywhere in the city these days and until we have a vastly improved public transport system that negates the need for so many people to drive to work a parkade could be a very lucrative investment.
It has the distinct possibility of becoming a positive cashflow property if managed correctly.There will be costs involved in the running of it but many things are also automated these days which could bring costs down.
I doubt South Africa is going to achieve the level of convenience and cost effectiveness in public transport that we see in European public transport for at least twenty years to come.So there will certainly still be parkade users for many years to come.
And your tenant would call you to fix a toilet, because there are no toilets in parking bays.
Trading in parking bays in city’s like London is big business and you have not seen much of it here in SA. Maybe it is because we have more space.
I wonder what the demand for parking will be around the Gautrain stations?