A hot model is South Africa’s idea of the perfect neighbour, according to research by South Africa’s largest online search portal, Propertygenie.co.za, which lists more than 125Â 000 properties nationwide.
Johan Strydom, general manager of Propertygenie.co.za, says that the survey was carried out in late October and early November this year to probe South Africans’ attitudes to their neighbours, and 27% of respondents said a hot model would be their perfect neighbour.
“Former South African president and international icon Nelson Mandela came third in the survey, garnering 22% of the votes, while the second-most-popular neighbour was the ‘someone just like me’ category, which gained 26% of the votes.
“‘A sweet old lady’ was the fourth-most-popular neighbour with 14% of the votes, followed by ‘a prize-winning author’ with 7%. Surprisingly, despite the high levels of crime in the country, only 4% of people named a police station as their ideal neighbour.”
Strydom notes that one the most important things buyers should consider is exactly who or what they will be living next door to.
“No one wants to live next door to the Addams family. The ‘neighbours, neighbours, neighbours’ mantra is right up there with ‘location, location, location’. While checking our properties and prices on a website like Propertygenie.co.za is a great starting point for home hunters, checking out the neighbours could make the difference between heaven and hell.”
When it comes to complaints about neighbours, 30% of those surveyed said that noisy kids or dogs was their biggest gripe, followed by loud music and parties at 20%. Bad parking habits was third with 13%.
Says Strydom: “DIY disturbances and domestic arguments each got 7% of the votes. But encouragingly, nearly a quarter of those asked — or 24% — had no complaints at all about their neighbours and ticked the ‘My neighbours are great’ box.”
Other results from the survey showed that 50% of those logging on to Propertygenie.co.za were actively looking for a home while 15% were searching for a second home as an investment.