PAM, PROPERTY AND POOCHES

THE Pinetown branch of the Dormehl Phalane Property Group is one of the most busy and successful, and contributing in no small measure to the way things tick there is a woman who has been at the branch since it opened on March 2, 2009.

She is Pam Loggenberg - current administrator and the longtime right-hand-lady to branch director Kevin Delport - who summarises her DPPG duties, with a smile, as "receptionist, secretary, admin lady... and everyone's go-to person" .

"I take over the files after bond grants and see them through to registration. I am always there to help with any queries the agents or interns might have. Kevin knows I am here when he is not," she adds.

Discussing this year marking the 10th anniversary of the company, Pam recalls that when the Pinetown office first opened it offered only four agents. "then as DPPG's success and professional approach, and loyalty to clients became known, more and more agents came to us".

Pam has been in the property world since May 1995, having started at another estate agency as a candidate agent, going on to write her board exam and qualify.

"In 1999, I moved away from property for 14 months. Then, in 2001 I saw a newspaper ad showing Owen Dormehl was looking for a rental agent for the new Acutts Pinetown Office he was opening.

"At my interview, the receptionist had not arrived, so I got that position instead. So there I was as receptionist and Owen's assistant," she explains.

Pam was at that office until 2004 when her husband took over and became principal of Acutts, Pinetown. She lost her son, Garyth, then 24, in a car accident in 2008, and that office closed later in the same year.

"I stayed at home from June 2008 to March 2009, when Owen and Kevin opened the Dormehl Property Group Pinetown Office."

Would she consider another line of work?

Pam shakes her head and replies: "I absolutely adore my job. It has its moments, but what job doesn't? I feel I am Kevin's most loyal employee."

What have been some challenges and/or interesting anecdotes over the years Pam has worked in property?

"Some clients can be very, very difficult," she replies, but is quick to add: "...that is the only unpleasant thing".

Pam sees DPPG as market leaders and rates her personal strength as being able to easily communicate with people at all levels.

"I am extremely patient and always willing to help, especially the interns. We have six at the Pinetown branch."

She adds: "I love it when DPPG Pinetown is announced as the No 1 office at the awards. This office is my baby!"

Pam was born in August 1961 in Durban. Her family moved to Pinetown when she was seven and she attended Pinetown High School when it was still co-ed.

"I could not stand the place and asked my father if I could leave after I passed Std 9. He agreed, as long as I had a job he was happy with," she says.

"I started two weeks later at Durban Post Office Training School," says this mother of two, whose daughter, Tracey, now 30, who has given her three granddaughters.

"I love spending time with Tracey and her girls Kai-Lilly, Tegan-Mae and Harper-Drew,' she says, adding that she is also passionate about her 14 bulldogs. Yes, you read correctly, 14!

"They are the most precious babies,' she says, presenting photos showing some of her furry friends winning show ribbons.

Pam is no stranger to awards, having won an award for Secretary of the Year 1999 at the previous agency for which she worked. She also took the DPPG Service Excellence Award in 2012 as well as the DPPG Blue Door Award in 2015.