Balwin Properties
reviews and complaints

I rented and apartment unit at the Sandown for my elderly parents when we moved for Johannesburg to Cape Town. When we left the handover inspection was done and Ruben mentioned that the vanity in the second bathroom was damaged to which I told him was impossible as we didn't use the second bathroom and that it was always that way. After having to follow up on my deposit refund a month later, they deducted R6000 for a new vanity which I complained about and asked for before and after pics. They have not sent me my complete report and are holding my full deposit ransom unit I accept the charges

When Baldwin built our home they ran the waterline into another lot. Now that lot is in the building phase and cut our waterline while digging for the foundation. Baldwin did not run out waterline on our property. Called to ask them to come and look to find out a fix on how to proceed. They will not even come out to look at it and was told I can file a lawsuit. Would not allow me to talk to a supervisor. This is not the first issue we have had. At the 1 year inspection they gave us supplies and 60 dollars and asked us to fix the issues ourselves. They are not customer friendly and do not follow through on their responsibilities.

Good day

I have an issue with regards to my deposit, i enquired with sales team (Carmine lord - the reid) while browsing on the net about 2bed apartment and they said for me to get full info i should pay a deposit online, which i did and received AOS doc which i then realised that not really what i want and i then ask to cancel the deal which they say i have to sign AOS to get refund.

I signed AOS from there they switched on me that they need to get decline letters from all the banks which they only got one approval which was very expensive at 7.95% interest rate and 30 years term unrealistic.

I am not happy with the deal and they are forcing me to a deal otherwise i have to forfeit my deposit, i mean the system doesn't provide a clause upon making online payment.

email: [protected]@gmail.com
cell number: [protected]

My son KC PILLAY purchased an apartment from Balwin Developers for the amount of R 499.000, Apartment 1321 in Greenpark
my son and his boss viewed and apartment on 20 August 2020 and was happy with the apartment
The keys to apartment 1321 was handed to his boss in December because my son was working from home in Durban. He paid occupational rent for DECEMBER AND JANUARY. The property was registered on his name on the 28 January 2021

When my son went to Greenpark JHB on Saturday 20 Feb 2021, He noticed the number on the door changed to 1325, He was never contacted with regards to this number change . The lights and water is registered on his name for apartment 1321 which has now become 1325

my son emailed Raymond White to sort the issue of the number change, he did not get a response. He now being told the apartment he has is R630.000

my son has never met his sales agent Raymond White until today 24.02.2021 - All the appliance fixtures says its apartment 1321
Please dont rob us Balwin - It's is fist time home owner

Firstly I have complained multiple times before and nothing was done.
We were charged occupational rent for an apartment that was ALMOST COMPLETED, however it is far from being suitable to live in.

Every morning Monday to Sunday, without fail at 6:30am the construction workers begin on site and finish work at 6pm. Including Public holidays, I may add. Since the 1st of December 2020 until today 23 February 2021 we have only had 1 week of sleep and that was around Christmas. 1 WEEK OF SLEEP IN 3 MONTHS.
The noise is unbearable and you we cannot sleep through it. The shouting and whistling of workers, the grinding, JCB and stampers comes right through our closed doors and windows. I have recorded everything and will attach some of the many videos I have of just how ridiculous this really is.

Other than the noise we have water and electricity cuts daily! We have construction workers up and down our staircase all through the day. Often even opening our front door mistakenly thinking it is a unit they are working on.

Balwin offers 12 month levy holidays and R50, 000 Take A Lot vouchers but you can't look after your current clients in making them happy. It is seriously ridiculous!

Either stop working from 3pm on Saturdays and all of Sunday or compensate us for the inconvenience of having this disturbance to ease the constant burden.

The Blyde is a residential estate for individuals and families who want convenience and fun for themselves and their families.

That has been nothing but a fairy tale for those that bought property with the intention of living in the estate and raising the childrenin the estate as the estate has become a BnB.

The owners no longer enjoy the beauty of the lifestyle center as it is overcrowded by visitors to Bnb.
The security Risk is very high as you have new tenants every week gaining full access to the entire estate.
The noise levels are unbearable as most coming to the BnB party every weekend till late.(leading to a call to security to manage noise levels as part of your weekend routine)
The Estate has become a super spreader for Covid as we have different people from difference provinces each week going in and out of the estate.
New neighbors every week, and parties every weekend creates discomfort and insecurity especially for those with children, families and valuables in their units as this in its own is a security risk.
Traffic congestion at the entrance is long due to the sign in of visitors to BnB especially on weekends.

Buying property at The Blyde has now become a nightmare to families and individuals living in the estate and definitely leads to minimal enjoyment of all the benefits of buying property or living in the beautiful estate.

We have been told the developer has approved this and allowed it.

Can the developer please consider the security, the health and life's of those that purchased property and those that live in the estate and PLEASE RECONSIDER THIS DECISION

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It is unfortunate that I have to write this email.

It seems that balwin properties has jumped to the top of my list of worst investment decisions I have ever made in my life.

I am a home owner (14 months now) at your the reid complex and I have lost so many electronics, light bulbs and I cannot even comprehend the cost of all the spoilt food, due to continuous power failures not including load shedding. This is not funny anymore.

I have been sitting without power for 20hours straight and I have to make a living working from home. Yet your company doesn't even consider adapting the existing solar panels into emergency power supply solutions for your residents.

What is worse, your construction continues in the complex luring in potential new homeowners whom doesn't have a clue what nightmare they are buying into. That seems a lot like a dodgy deal to me, which I would have never suspected from such a reputable company as balwin properties.

Please don't come with the excuse that it is an old area with sub-standard infrastructure or that it is because of theft. Each one of these excuses should just raise more alarms on balwin's capability to conduct a proper survey and preplanning before taking on such a construction project in any area. Either it is a question on professional capability or it goes back to balwin knowingly continuing with such a project understanding the limitations of the area. Again, I hope it is the first option as the latter would be scandalous.

What is balwin properties doing about this situation? The continuous whatsapp and email excuses are not worth anything and only coming across as passive and an inability to connect to your resident. Your residents needs to see proper action, if you are such a huge player in the residential market of south africa. This situation is getting lose to becoming a huge public meltdown on your reputation and your residents are deserving your fullest attention and priority.

Upon viewing an apartment at Paardevlei (Balwin Properties on 07 June 2020) the property agent advised we need to transfer a deposit (R20 000), sign the sales agreement (which has a suspensive condition clause) and then complete income and expenditure profile on the website. This is to start the process, nonetheless, we fulfilled the requests within 2 days. The bank came back approving 80% first (on the 25th June 2020), then they resubmitted it and came back with 100% (on the 06 July 2020). Upon viewing the 100% approval from the bank, we saw that it wont be feasible to proceed considering the monthly installments, insurance, estate levies etc. and still maintaining the life style we currently have. With this in mind we decided to not go ahead. The Developer insist on us proceeding with this deal (due to the suspensive condition clause) and is refusing to cancel the agreement and refund our deposit. Then the Bond Manager said they will process the cancellation, then she changes her story and says senior management says they not going ahead with the cancellation. I would like this to be investigated, cancel this agreement and have my deposit refunded please. This platform does not allow me to attach documents, however, if you do require documented evidence please let me know and I will gladly forward it. Thank you.

Hi, I have complained about your faulty alarm to your Facebook messenger but I am being ignored.

Your new development which you just recently started advertising for selling has a faulty alarm which goes off every 2-5 minutes the whole night.. This has been going on for a month now and I cannot understand why it is not being repaired.

We are living in a residential area and not an industrial area, this is causing a disturbance during the night.

Please can you fix the alarm and consider us your fellow neighbors who have to still wake up for work the next day. It is really becoming difficult to sleep at night..

Regards

I am never renting from balwin again, and I will suggest the same to everyone that I meet.
Your utilities collection is absolute rubbish, getting billed every month now for payment they failed to collect because they read the meters wrong, every month I am being billed hundreds extra for something I assumed I had paid months ago... If it werent for this immoral contract you have me tied to I would be gone in a heart beat... Suck it balwin! I had such high expectations from you but you let me down on all fronts.

I am disgusted in the manner management at green park boksburg is conducting themselves.
They have illegally cut the power and solar water to our unit due to us been 7 days late on rent! This is against the law and I have had enough and will be pursuing legal action against all who are guilty of this. I was told that power will be restored when I give them a date that I can pay which I have done and they have done nothing to rectify the wrong doings on there part.

I would recommend that you hire people that are not going to run your brand into the ground as this is morally and criminally wrong punishable by a fine and /or imprisonment which I will now pursue.

I hope that all responsible realise the gravity of taking the law Into their own hands.

Disgusting!

I recently bought in the Amsterdam complex and loaded my snags as I moved in. Both my showers had leaks which I loaded snags for. They had come four times to seal off showers and refuse to listen that the doors are the issues. On top of this, I had visitors over who were staying over for the first time and was told by the maintenance manager Tyrone not to use the showers so that the next morning at 8am the showers can be dry for him to test. I made my visitors wait at home the entire day waiting for Tyrone. He came at 15:00 to sort it out but still the problem wasn't fixed. Plus came with a stinking attitude and couldn't apologize for not informing us that he could no longer make it to come at 08:00 or that I had to sacrifice my entire day waiting for him to come over. So now the long weekend is almost over and showers are still not fixed. I feel really embarrassed that my guests that to use a bucket in the bath tub to have a bath.

Absolutely PATHETIC AFTER SALES! Warning all do not fall for Balwins so called fancy apartments.

I am appalled at the lack of services, which I have received to date from The William Estate Manager, Sandi Watters. On Wednesday, 16 August 2017 the louvres and gutter at our unit were damaged by strong wind. This matter was brought to the attention of Ms Watters soon thereafter, and my tenant and I had to listen to a wide variety of excuses and reasons why the repairs are being delayed. One of them is that the supplier has taken 3 months to supply a quotation for the material needed to do the repairs. My tenant and I did regular follow ups with the Estate Manager, who were full of empty promises but no delivery. On 16 January 2018 this matter had been unresolved for 5 months! In the mean time, all the rain water, and water from the upstairs unit runs onto our balcony and causes damage to whatever is on the patio. If I contact the Estate Manager, she blames it on Balwin, and if I contact Balwin, I get referred to the Estate Manager. No one takes responsibility for getting this matter resolved, and I have lost a very good tenant because of this slack behaviour. Ben from Balwin tried to assist by having a second hand, bent, gutter put up. This gutter has splashes of green paint and concrete on it and looks atrocious! I will be happy to forward all email correspondence to you upon your request, so that you can see what we have been struggling with for over 5 months. I am at my wits end, and if I don't get a result, communicating this to you, I shall explain my story on social media such as Facebook, with photographs to proof my point. I bough a property in a good, reputable area form a so-called good developer and this is the service I get! I was planning to purchase another investment property in a Balwin development but have now come to my senses. I would appreciate your urgent response to my urgent query! Konrad Duvenage: [protected]

Good Day,

During the month of June 2017 I submitted an application for a 1 bedroom apartment at Balboa Oakdene, I gave them clear instructions to only submit a bond application with the bank I am currently working for. My application got declined with the bank that I was working for. Which was okay. I was never interested in a bond with any other bank. I did respond to their email stating that I am not interested in a bond with any other bank. But they still sent my application to other bank which has now affect my credit record negatively. What I would like to know is what right do they have send my private and confidential information to other banks without my permission. I am really disappointed in your companies behavior .

Stayed in Balwin Properties rental in Van Buuren Estates Bedfordview, never resigned my one year lease so we automatically went onto month by month rental agreement. Got broken into at 5am, police recommended more burglar bars, asked Balwin properties, denied immediately by email, moved out next day and requested return of deposit(as reasonable request for increased security was not honored), just received email(4 months later), no return of deposit and invoicing me for loss of occupancy for 4 months from the Chairman of Balwin Properties.