One of her philosophies is to dedicate every decade of her life to a different career path. Which is exactly what award-winning media and content specialist turned property expert, Zamantungwa Khumalo, did.
After spending her 20s making a name for herself in the media industry, the headstrong Zamantungwa has now ventured into the property space, where these days she spends her time consulting and helping first-time home buyers with their journey.
“I help clients with choosing their property and show them how to go about negotiating the purchase price. I aim to make people’s property ownership journeys easier, better, and as painless as possible,” she tells us.
A solid foundation
Although property was not the first passion she focused on in her life, Zamantungwa says that it’s something that’s always been part of her journey, even from an early age.
“I always share how my mother used to buy homeowner magazines every single month when I was younger, and because of that, I got to learn about the property world from when I was still very young.
"When the family home was being built, my siblings and I got to experience that buying and building process firsthand. Our parents would take us with them when monitoring the progress – from when the land was bought to when the foundation and the different rooms were being built. By the age of eight or nine, I understood how to read house plans,” she explains.
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Making mistakes
Having started thinking about owning property from her early 20s, Zamantungwa felt intimidated by the whole process, and invested in her first property only when she was in her mid-20s.
As a first-time homeowner, she made a few mistakes, which she believes could have been prevented if she’d had more knowledge at the time.
“I had read a lot and had done a lot of research, but there weren’t a lot of resources then and most things were based on the property industry in other countries. After saving up, I bought two properties at the same time, and made the mistake of thinking I needed only one attorney per bonded property and so I budgeted for only two attorneys for both properties – but that was not the case,” she says.
According to Zamantungwa, when buying a bonded property, one would need two attorneys per property: a transferring attorney and a bond-registration attorney.
This is when she realised that there was a gap in the property industry, in that many people did not have someone to go to, to ask advice about the technicalities that came with owning a home, as well as the legal and financial implications that came with home ownership.
Using her media roots to inform
Throughout her career in the world of media, Zamantungwa had started to become part of the property industry on an individual basis, working with agents on her own properties, and learning about the business as she went along.
“The switch from being a media practitioner to becoming a full-time property investments consultant came about after I was approached by Private Property, when I first consulted with them to put together a property show,” she says.
But because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the show had to be cancelled.
Zamantungwa was then asked to put her radio skills to use by starting a property podcast show, which was meant to have only five episodes.
However, The Private Property Podcast Show with Zamantungwa Khumalo now airs daily and is the only daily property talk show in South Africa.
In the future, Zamantungwa will also be writing bi-monthly property columns for TRUELOVE magazine, and she says that readers can look forward to a lot of topics connected with property.
“What readers can look out for is, firstly, getting property insight, tips, and analysis from a trusted property expert. I speak to a lot of other experts in the industry every day, so some of the insight I’ll be sharing in the columns will be from my discussions with them.
"Readers can also expect to get the kind of tools that will help them make good property decisions and establish whether they are getting a good deal. The content in the columns will cater to first-time home buyers, established homeowners, tenants and landlords, and will also cover all the legalities and financial responsibilities that come with buying and owning property.”
As lockdown levels are lowered, more people are returning to the office. International trends indicate, however, that many organisations will see a hybrid arrangement of combining in-office days with working from home continuing indefinitely.
Forbes suggests that most employees would prefer to continue working remotely, which presents some challenges for team leaders. Sustaining company culture and keeping a team productive require continuous communication. Three ways to keep a team functioning as a team when everyone’s at home:
Be purpose-led
Ensure everyone is familiar with the company mission and values. Uncertainty breeds mistrust, so it’s imperative that the team is kept abreast of any strategic changes. Link individual goals to the company’s vision so that each person feels like he or she is working towards a higher purpose.
Be open
Host regular check-ins and team building meetings. Communicate your business’ finances to the team and be open when issues arise.
Be understanding
Leaders who show compassion now will earn loyalty in the long term. Learn to listen and prioritise your team’s mental health over productivity – it will work out better for everyone in the end.
Also, consider offering coaching or counselling. Santam has been supporting women in business for many years and understands how difficult the entrepreneurial journey can be.
