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Property Profile Ian Slot, Seeff

I can see why models wear sunglasses all the time,’ quips Ian Slot, MD of Seeff Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl, as he crosses the road from his office to the dazzling white sands of Camps Bay beach, which borders some of the most sought-after real estate in Cape Town. The palm trees, sultry breeze and salty tang of sea water are a far cry from the dusty, stuffy courtrooms where Ian started his career.
After finishing matric at Herzlia, this ‘born and bred Capetonian’ went off to the University of Cape Town to do law. But it wasn’t his only choice; he also registered for graphic design in the hope of pursuing a career in architecture. ‘Then they told me that I had to produce two works of art over the weekend to qualify for the design course. I didn’t like the idea of art being commercialised like that, so I stuck with law,’ says Ian.
He practiced for many years and the firm he started with, Frank Bernadt Joffe, represented Nelson Mandela when he was incarcerated on
Robben Island and in Pollsmoor Prison.

As an attorney, Ian also helped many white men win legal deferment and exemption from military conscription. ‘From 1986 to 1992, I was virtually a one-man business challenging call-ups. When my wife Denise was pregnant, a doctor recognised me as the lawyer who had successfully argued his case. I like to believe that I helped keep some highly skilled people here who would otherwise have left the country.’
But the political changes in South Africa also brought changes in Ian’s career. ‘Lawyers must be the only people who get up in the morning to fight with their colleagues. Brain surgeons don’t spend their days fighting with other brain surgeons. I found myself involved in acrimonious divorces where couples would instruct their attorneys to hold on the video machine at all costs. I had practiced for 20 years and had developed a very jaundiced view of people and life.’

The time was right for Ian to make a move into property. He had played social soccer with the Seeffs, acted for them as an attorney, launched Seeff Homeloans with them and Boland Bank, and his brother was also involved in real estate. ‘In the mid-nineties, the market wasn’t what it is today. When my brother built a block in Clifton, they couldn’t give the flats away. Now each flat sells for more than they achieved for the entire building.’ With those close to him involved in property, Ian started a ‘no-brainer’ second career in 2000. He is not an agent, but facilitates the conditions under which his agents work so they can perform at their best. ‘I love what I do now,’ he says simply.
Then personal tragedy struck. Ian was diagnosed with cancer. From being a healthy guy on the right side of 50 who swam, water-skied, played tennis and ran regularly, he found himself spending months in intensive care, sometimes in a coma and often not able to see his children. The keen athlete even had to learn to walk again. But there was a silver lining to the cloud of illness: ‘After the diagnosis I changed my view about people. People I didn’t really know put handwritten notes in my postbox to support me through the treatment. There was no benefit to them in doing that. I realised that people are intrinsically good and caring, and that we pay lip service to the idea that “life is short.” Life is short and, if you want to do something, do it now.’

In many ways his diagnosis was part of the ‘best and worst’ year of his life. Ian says that it now takes a lot to upset him and that he is no longer ‘work obsessed’ in the driven way that he once was. He still goes into the office on Saturday mornings but he takes his two eldest daughters, aged 10 and eight, with him. Afterwards they go for ice cream. ‘The girls start planning what flavours they’ll choose on Thursday night. And I don’t mind having three daughters at all: I’ve embraced multi-culturalism and look forward to all the lobola one day,’ he chuckles.
Although he enjoys his new profession, Ian would like to see some changes in the industry. Barriers to entry, he believes, should be made more stringent; the cooling-off period should be changed to protect vulnerable and first-time buyers; and financial institutions should look into reverse mortgages, so that the elderly can borrow against the only asset they may have, their paid-off homes. Ian argues each change sensibly and passionately, and you can see the solid training he received as an attorney has paid off.

Ian still works hard (‘because I love seeing happy agents and clients’), but is soon taking a five-week holiday for the first time in his life. ‘I’ve never done that before,’ he explains. And he is back to swimming and running, where he does his best thinking and which he finds cathartic. The plan is to swim in the Australian Masters in two years’ time.
But before that, perhaps he’ll finally find the time to use the shower next to his office: ‘I installed that shower a year-and-a-half ago so I could go surf-skiing and come straight into the office. But I’ve never used it!’ With the beach on his doorstep, don’t be surprised to see Ian don a pair of sunglasses and head for the waves.