Meet our Atlantic Seaboard Agents

Amanda Croker

I am originally from Johannesburg but travelled the world for seven years and upon returning to South Africa settled in St. Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape. I have resided in Cape Town since 1998, and although I still love to travel, I am proud, happy and content to call Cape Town home and would not choose to live anywhere else. I have two grown-up children and am Nana to two beautiful granddaughters. I have always had a passion for architecture, building and interior design, but I fell into this industry when I lived in St. Francis and bought an existing real estate company. By the time I sold the business to move to the Cape, I had increased the portfolio of holiday and managed homes from 16 to 95. My day-to-day job involves meeting with clients to understand their needs; showing properties and highlighting their unique features; negotiating deals and coordinating the often complex paperwork. The challenges of the role can be considerable and include market fluctuations and economic uncertainty and managing client expectations and their emotions, which can run high. However, there are so many positive aspects as well, such as building long-term relationships with colleagues and clients, the diversity of our clients, who come from all over the world, and simply witnessing the excitement when I manage to find a client their dream property. 

Real estate is one of the most misunderstood professions anywhere, and ‘popular’ misconceptions include that it is all about making quick and easy money from commission and that anyone can become an agent without much effort. If only! I often call upon the two best bits of advice I have been given in relation to our industry, which is to treat every client as if they were your only client, and never to stop learning. Both have stood me in good stead. We are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, and Cape Town, with all her diversity and beauty, makes it impossible to have a favourite part. I embrace it all, and don’t take for granted any of it. I enjoy coastal living along the Atlantic Seaboard, the trees and greenery and the mountains in the Southern Suburbs and spectacular Chapmans Peak Drive, one of the most beautiful drives in the world. In my spare time, I love being with my family and friends, hiking, exploring the winelands and visiting favourite and new restaurants in Cape Town.

Enzo Lezzi

My parents came from Italy. My father worked for Crown Mines outside Johannesburg, and then moved to the Northern Free State to the gold fields, which is where I grew up, attending an Irish Christian school. Funnily enough, my father later became a successful property developer. As for me, I came into property by chance, when my partner, Amanda, who was already working in the industry, suggested I give it a try, and we became an agent team at another company. We joined E&V in 2012 and the rest is history! As a property practitioner, my first priority is to sell and rent property, for which I need to first list property!  And networking is key to that. It is no secret that my greatest love is cycling, and in fact cycling has been a fantastic way for me to network and make contacts, and even after so many years I am always acquiring new ones. This career is not for the faint-hearted - if you don’t sell or rent, you don’t survive. We have no fixed salary, earning only commission, so it is a very big challenge indeed. That being said, there are many aspects that I really enjoy, such as meeting different people. 

I am an athlete and have met some really great people from the sporting field in my line of work - Sol Campbell, John Barnes, Craig Bellamy, Graziano Pele and the cyclist Geraint Thomas, to name but a few. The misconceptions about us, as professionals, and the industry in general can be upsetting. Not all of us are unethical and dishonest!! We have to study and take exams to practice and we take our roles and responsibilities very seriously. All we can do is keep our feet on the ground and remain modest, even if we go through successful periods - it is not always like that. Be honest, have integrity, and you will succeed. My grandfather, a wise man, taught me a phrase in Latin which I try to practise daily: verbat volat scrita manet. Literally, it means verbal flies away, writing remains. Get and put everything in writing! And from my dear father, another piece of wise advice: whatever you do in life, try and be good, and don’t do bad. If somebody knocks on your door and you can open it without feeling anxious, you know you’re doing well. Open that door knowing you have hurt no-one and you owe no-one. What do I do to relax? To keep fit? To pass time? Cycling is the answer to all of those questions! It is fantastic for both mind and body and I love cycling in our beautiful nature - on Chapman’s Peak, Red Hill, Black Hill, and down to Cape Point. Wonderful!