Disappearing Ballito ‘for sale’ boards are costing estate agencies thousands to replace

Estate agents are appealing to residents to keep an eye out for the thief who has been stealing and dumping ‘for sale’ boards, causing them exorbitant expense.

Earlier this month, an agent was phoned by a Pietermaritzburg man, Brian Chifasu, who was interested in buying a property near Mooi River in the Midlands.

The man had got her contact details from a ‘for sale’ sign on the property he was interested in.

The agent then learned that boards belonging to several Ballito estate agencies had been dumped in the area.

Upon investigation, Property Matchmaker owner, Una van Jaarsveldt found a number of her own agency’s boards dumped, as well as 15 boards belonging to agencies such as Rawson, Pam Golding, Seeff, Harcourts and Cornerstone Property.

It was thought that this was a random occurrence, however boards continue to be stolen across Ballito, with some agents reporting as many as 28 having been removed.

At first it was thought that the boards had been removed by the KwaDukuza municipality, which is empowered to do so if boards do not follow certain criteria.

But this was not the case, boards removed had been marked with the municipality’s approval stickers.

“The implications of these boards being stolen have far-reaching consequences going beyond just the agencies. Sellers are also impacted owing to the potential loss of a buyer,” said Van Jaarsveldt.

Each board costs about R250 to make, depending on the materials.

Pam Golding estate agent, Anton van der Merwe said it was not only the cost of replacing boards which hits the pockets of agents, but the loss of municipal approved stickers which are required to be displayed on boards.

“Depending on the size of the batches of stickers ordered, costs can run between R2 000 to R6 000, more in some agency’s cases,” he said.

For Van Jaarsveldt, the cost of municipal stickers which go on their boards, averages between R250 to R300 a sticker which they pay as an annual expense.

“Generally estate agencies get about 20 stickers per agency, with each agent getting about 10. We pay about R250 per month just for the rights to display our boards with the stickers on them,” she said, adding that it would cost R7 750 to replace her boards.

As the frames of the signs are often made of metal, it is thought that they could be stolen for sale as scrap metal.

Van Jaarsveldt has reported the matter to police.

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