Knysna Fires Aftermath: BURNED DOWN HOMES FOR SALE - WORTH IT ??

[Pieter Torlage]

It's a buyers market. Sad to say, plenty of people will take any reasonable offer.

I think a lot of people will now think seriously about trees on their property as well as the roof materials used.

Hi jelo. I live in Lake Brenton, Knysna. Trees or no trees meant nothing during this fire. A ball of fire came flying 50Mtr from the bush across the road from me, set fire to a shrub on my property, partially burnt the wooden fence. It took only a few seconds to turn into a blase. Put the fire out and was safe. If that ball of burning wood landed 5 Mtr further on my roof or worse, blew into an open window, my house would have been gone. Trees are not the biggest problem though, it is rather the undergrowth that matters. Dry or flammable small plants are serious threats. But in a fire like this even a completely paved property stood no chance with the flames flying in like guided missiles. Roof material did also make no difference. All kinds of roofs burnt. A few streets up from me, the brick garage with iron roof burnt down to ash, while the main wooden house did not burn - no trees on the property! This was not an average fire. It has been two months + since the fire, and I still feel I am on a different planet. Nothing looks the familiar. The once green bush is now a barren sand dune landscape. As far as property purchases are concerned, it is sad to think one can buy property to make a profit after someone else lost their entire living. "Reasonable offer" ? Reasonable in favour of the person who lost everything, or reasonable in favour of the buyer? (By the way - I think my address is reflected as Nylstroom / Modimolle. I retired to Lake Brenton since I joined the forum. Time to change my details) Have a good day. Pieter

[Honey Badger]

Hi jelo. I live in Lake Brenton, Knysna. Trees or no trees meant nothing during this fire. A ball of fire came flying 50Mtr from the bush across the road from me, set fire to a shrub on my property, partially burnt the wooden fence. It took only a few seconds to turn into a blase. Put the fire out and was safe. If that ball of burning wood landed 5 Mtr further on my roof or worse, blew into an open window, my house would have been gone. Trees are not the biggest problem though, it is rather the undergrowth that matters. Dry or flammable small plants are serious threats. But in a fire like this even a completely paved property stood no chance with the flames flying in like guided missiles. Roof material did also make no difference. All kinds of roofs burnt. A few streets up from me, the brick garage with iron roof burnt down to ash, while the main wooden house did not burn - no trees on the property! This was not an average fire. It has been two months + since the fire, and I still feel I am on a different planet. Nothing looks the familiar. The once green bush is now a barren sand dune landscape. As far as property purchases are concerned, it is sad to think one can buy property to make a profit after someone else lost their entire living. "Reasonable offer" ? Reasonable in favour of the person who lost everything, or reasonable in favour of the buyer? (By the way - I think my address is reflected as Nylstroom / Modimolle. I retired to Lake Brenton since I joined the forum. Time to change my details) Have a good day. Pieter

Hi Pieter,
Thanks for your post. Glad you managed to fight off the fire!! Your observation helps explain why some places burned down and why others were untouched. We have a friend in Knysna Heights who lost her place due to this very thing. She was renting but no had no home content insurance. All other units in her complex were OK but a palm tree right next to her got "fire balled" and it crashed down onto her home from what we could understand.

I hope my post hasn't offended anyone/you. Sincere apologies if I have. I am definitely not trying to make a fast buck or gain off another's loss. Life's circumstances can deliver harsh blows, whether a fire or similar tragic event, or whether simply being forced to move to a different city because their job unexpectedly demands it etc etc. For example, I reckon we saved a couple of Rk100s when I bought my current home in Boksburg because the previous owners had a very bad experience with a previous sale falling through and did not want a repeat of that. We only found this out from them and the agent after all sale formalities had been done.

Sometime before the fires we started investigating moving to Knysna and made two trips down already to investigate areas/options/see agents etc. Now that fire happened, we have another category of places to investigate and that's where my post originated.... the so-called "part-house part-stand" property in post #1. Although we are looking to settle in Brenton on Lake (believe it or not!!), property there is limited and more homes for sale elsewhere. I will PM you sometime to pick your brain on the area if you don't mind.

Have a good one
Derek (Honey Badger)

[Honey Badger]

UPDATE:

The place in Post #1 was sold a few days ago.
Engineers report indicates that main dwelling does not need to be demolished except for the west wall and some areas above the doors/windows. Rest can be rebuilt.

Estate agents tell me they were experiencing a shortage of stock before the fires and even more so now. Prices have risen by at least 20% since 2016 and expect this trend to continue. Many homes that were destroyed will not be rebuilt by present owners and agents are already seeing an increase in vacant stands being marketed.

[Londo]

Deleted - Duplicate post

[cobusr22]

If the foundations are good, maybe consider rebuilding using reconned containers... Water proof, relatively fire-proof and very elegant if done right..?

[Honey Badger]

Container Homes and Tiny Houses are such a brilliant alternatives to the traditional brick and mortar homes.
This is the reason we are 70:30 Build vs Buy.
Work out exactly what you want / need and build that.... don't just buy what the previous owner built or bought from the previous owner, from the previous owner etc etc #minimalism (but that's another thread)